By Teemu Virtanen
The United States of America may not be the biggest cross-country skiing nation on earth, but there are thousands of enthusiastic Nordic skiers in that country and countless great cross-country ski resorts. Even in California, which is known for its beaches, palm trees and laidback atmosphere, there are many superb places to go Nordic skiing.
The professional skiing has always been quite strong in America going back to the days of Bill Koch who managed to win the World Cup and get a silver medal at the Olympics and a bronze at the World Championships – he was the first American to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing. Today, some of the American female skiers are on top of the world, and Jessica Diggins and Kikkan Randall won the Olympic gold in women’s team spring in 2018.
Now, an American Pro Skier is stepping into the arena of long distance skiing and the Visma Ski Classics Pro Tour. Meg Lane, 24, is going to represent Sven Münch’s German Pro Team Tri Nordic Coaching (formely known as Team Forever Nordic). She is not the first American to be a part of the games as Holly Brooks did it before her, and Meg already raced at two of our events last winter; Jizerska Padesatka, 33rd, and Engadin Skimarathon, 49th. In 2018, she finished 17th at La Diagonela in Switzerland.
She is not a likely candidate to grace the podium in Season X, but she will certainly bring in fresh blood and enter into the spirit of things by showing us the American way. Stay tuned for an interview with her in the near future!
