Olympics-Biathlon-Wax works a model of cooperation in bid to concoct perfect ski sauce

By Philip O’Connor

ANTERSELVA, Italy Feb 17 (Reuters) – The Olympic biathlon races have showcased the skills of both the well-resourced traditional superpowers of the sport and the less-established nations, and nowhere is the gap between rich and poor more obvious than in the waxing cabin. 

In a specially built trailer tucked away in the corner of the car park at the Olympic venue, Sweden has a team of eight technicians working long hours to ensure their skis are prepared for whatever the snow Anterselva provides, while the likes of Denmark and Britain are dependent on the kindness of others. 

“We are always on site six hours before the first race starts, then we prepare the skis for the day, and three and a half hours before the start we go out and start testing the skis,” Sweden’s waxing team boss Ulf Eriksson told Reuters. 

“We do this until about an hour before the start, and then we wax the skis according to what we have found during those tests.”

Ski wax is the unseen secret sauce of winter sports like biathlon and cross-country skiing, with competitors seeking the perfect blend of glide through the snow on downhill and flat parts of the track, and grip under the bindings that attach to their feet for climbing the hills. 

With different wax required depending on the type of snow, the temperature and altitude, it is part art-form, part alchemy.

“The snow in Anterselva is dry and fine-grained, and a little bit rough because of the altitude,” Eriksson said. “But we have the same routines regardless of the weather and the conditions.”

Eriksson’s technicians also look after waxing for the British team, but they often remain tight-lipped about the details of what they do. 

“Absolutely no way, no chance,” American biathlete Campbell Wright said with a grin when asked if other teams would share waxing knowledge or tips.

TEAM OF TECHS

Having a team of wax techs is fine for a nation like Sweden which has expectations of making the podium in every race, but for the less-established nations, a lack of resources is an issue. 

“Germany has been very, very helpful, they have waxed amazing skis both on the sprint race and the pursuit for me which has been so nice, and I owe them a lot – what they did has been big part of my skiing times both in both races,” Greenland-born Danish biathlete Sondre Slettemark told Reuters.

“We don’t have the funds or the people to wax our own skis at all, so that Germany is able to help us like this is absolutely crucial for our skiing and our competitions.”

The International Biathlon Union encourages bigger nations to help smaller ones as part of its “Closing the Competitive Gap” programme. 

“The waxing is one of those things that we are just not able to do ourselves at all,” Slettemark said.

Most athletes wax their own skis at the beginning of their careers, but the thought of doing so again for an Olympic race caused Finnish pursuit bronze medallist Suvi Minkkinen to recoil in horror. 

“I couldn’t, I think my skis would be ruined if I waxed them myself,” she told Reuters. 

(Reporting by Philip O’Connor, editing by Ed Osmond)