By Teemu Virtanen/Johan Trygg
It is the time of the year when peaceful tranquility lingers on, and people get together to celebrate the holidays. For children, Christmas comes with presents and joy, for adults it is a moment of harmony in the midst of hectic running around, for athletes it is a break from intensive training, for some it means jingle bells, Christmas carols and festivities, and for everyone it is a perfect time to appreciate the true values of life.
To honor this special occasion and the wonderful time of the year, we give the stage to our Pro Teams and their athletes to wish you all very Merry Christmas, tell us what this holiday represents to them and what they wish for Christmas.
“I wish that my family stays healthy, so I don’t need to celebrate Christmas on my own. The second wish is a lot of snow in the whole Europe, and especially in Seefeld.”
Andreas Nygaard, Team Ragde Eiendom
“Christmas wishes, I don’t have any gifts in mind, but I wish to have a good time with my family - eating, playing and relaxing with my kids and wife, and spending some time with her family and some friends of ours. Then at the same time keeping the training up at a good level and come out with even more energy and better shape when the holiday is over. Maybe that is too much to ask for?:-)”
Petter Eliassen, Team Ragde Eiendom
“Christmas is all about family and winter wonderland. Skiing, playing outside with the kids and traditional food!”
Tord Asle Gjerdalen, Team Ragde Eiendom
“I wish you all a merry Christmas and a nice holiday, hopefully with a lot of snow. I will
spend the holidays with my family and my relatives. A lot of rest and good food and then a lot of training in Orsa Grönklitt to prepare for the rest of the season.”
Britta Johansson Norgren, Lager 157 Ski Team
"Christmas gives me a chance to slow down and spend some quality time with my family. I can stop and think about other things than skiing and double-poling. I get to eat good food and take a traditional Finnish sauna. After Christmas, I will train intensively for two weeks so that I will be able to perform well when the five-weekend race challenge begins."
Ari Luusua, Vltava Fund Team
“In Russia, New Year and Christmas are very big holidays, for 10 whole days the whole country is resting. Traditionally, everyone strives to celebrate the New Year in the parental home with family and relatives. Russia has 11 time zones, therefore already in the afternoon when the New Year begins in Kamchatka, everyone starts congratulating each other. We decided not to go to China so that everyone could spend the holidays with their families. On January 5, we’ll go to Seefeld for a training camp.”
Andrey Tyuterev, Russian Winter Team Director
“For me, Christmas means a peaceful time with my family eating well and relaxing. Traditionally, I go out for a long and easy ski workout in the morning on Christmas Eve. My favorite seasonal dish is salmon.”
Heli Heiskanen, Vltava Fund Ski Team
“Christmas this year will be a lot of work trying to finish my thesis. However, I usually spend the Christmas time at home with my parents. Christmas is the last period where we have time to put in some real work before all the races start in January. So, I try to get in as much training as possible.”
Tore Bjørseth Berdal, Team Koteng
