An update on "Period 1" of the cross-country skiing World Cup is forthcoming, but for now I just want to highlight an interesting difference among the ski-racing countries. Virtually every national ski team has a big corporate sponsor - the Germans and a little shoe company, for instance. Having a big sponsor is pretty important: a deep pocketed sponsor can make it possible for skiers to train full time, to get better coaching and care, to use better equipment, and so forth.
Needless to say, the U.S. team - which is slowly rising back to international competiveness - doesn't have a very big or potent sponsor, as shown by this photograph (bigger version) of the top three finishers in last weekend's women's sprint in Rybinsk, Russia. (The photo was taken by Andy Fecteau, who's working with the XC team; there are many more photos in the team's semi-official story on the race.)
On the left, in second place, Astrid Jacobsen of Norway, wearing on her hat the logo of Cresco, a big credit-card company in Norway and part of a big Norwegian financial services conglomerate that's a major player in Europe. (Jacobsen's only been racing in the World Cup for two seasons, but has seven podium finishes and two medals (a gold and a bronze) from last season's world championships.) On the right, in third place, is Natalia Korosteleva of Russia, wearing a hat emblazoned with the name of Lukoil, the massive Russian gas-and-oil company. (Korosteleva has a bronze from the 2003 world championships and five podium finishes in the regular world cup.)
In the middle, in first place, is Kikkan Randall, whose hat bears the logos of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Association and a well-known fast food chain. But Kikkan's not even sponsored by the chain itself - just by the franchises in Alaska. If I lived up there, I'd be eating footlong subs every day, just to send a few more pennies to her. That she's won a World Cup race with such comparatively paltry support is remarkable - both as testimony to her dedication (and that of others on the team) and as a symbol of our country's screwed-up priorities. I'll bet a 30-second Super Bowl spot costs substantially more than it takes to support Randall for a full year of racing and training.