American Olympic news coverage LOVES to pick a handful of athletes and focus most of their attention on them. It’s usually well-known and media-friendly favorites for medals combined with a few folks who have some extraordinary backstory about overcoming odds.
But we sent 224 athletes to the games, most of any country. The majority won’t be on the podium at the end of the day, won’t be on any primetime coverage and I’d like to give some of them a little attention. So here is the first post of the “3 CHEERS” series for 2022.
3 CHEERS for Scott Patterson – Skiathlon
What? You don’t know what skiathlon is?
Scott knows because he got 11th. He improved on his 18th place finish in 2018 to get the best finish by an American man ever. GO SCOTT! Scott is from Anchorage, Alaska, and also is a very accomplished mountain runner according to his blog.
Jokes aside, it’s time to learn. Skiathlon is a 30km race where they complete the first 15k (9.3 miles) in the classic technique of cross country skiing. Stop. Change their skis. Complete the second 15k in the free technique.
Classic style is what you do on a NordicTrack. They use the parallel grooves in the snow when going uphill and on flat terrain. It’s easier but also slower, kind of similar to the backstroke in the pool. Free, just like freestyle in the pool, is faster. It involves movements that are more similar to ice skating. It is a little harder though because you have the potential of tangling your skis. Scott did the free portion of the race about 3 minutes faster than the classic for a total time of 1 hour, 20 minutes to give you a little more context. He was actually the fourth fastest on the free portion of the race, probably that mountain running helping him keep a lot in the gas tank.
So now you know Skiathlon and now you know Scott Patterson. 3 CHEERS.
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