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The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 took place February 22 - March 4 , 2007 in Sapporo , Japan . This was the second time this city has hosted these championships, doing so previously at the 1972 Winter Olympics , having been voted at the 43rd FIS World Congress in Portorož , Slovenia on June 6 , 2002 . It also marked the third time these championships were hosted outside of Europe ( Lake Placid, New York , USA in 1950 and Thunder Bay, Ontario , Canada in 1995 were the others.) in a non- Winter Olympic year, and the first that occurred in Asia . The ski jumping team nomal hill event was not held after being competed in 2005 .


HIGHLIGHTS

  • The big winner of the event was Finland 's Virpi Kuitunen who won three golds (Team sprint, 30 km, and 4 x 5 km) and one bronze (Individual sprint).

  • 20-year old Astrid Jacobsen won three medals in women's cross country with a gold in the individual sprint and bronzes in the team sprint and 4 x 5 km.

  • Lars Berger of Norway became the first person to win medals at both the Biathlon and Nordic Skiing world championships in the same year with Nordic skiing golds in the 15 km and 4 x 10 km events and a silver in the 4 x 7.5 km biathlon relay in Rasen-Antholz , Italy in February.

  • Indoor skiing was held for the first time at the Sapporo Dome with the cross country sprint and the Nordic combined sprint events.

  • Germany 's Ronny Ackermann became the first person to win the Nordic Combined 15 km Individual Gundersen event in three straight championships.

  • Hannu and Pirjo Manninen of Finland became the first brother and sister combination to win gold medals at the same championships with Hannu's wins in the Nordic combined 7.5 km sprint and 4 x 5 km team events and Pirjo's win in the women's 4 x 5 km cross country relay.

  • Belarus earned their first championship medal with Leanid Karneyenka 's surprise silver in the 15 km event.

  • Petra Majdič of Slovenia earned her first championship medal and the first for the nation both for women and in cross country skiing.

  • Switzerland 's Simon Ammann won medals in both individual hill competitions (Silver: normal, gold: large) and had the longest jumps in the team large hill events.

  • Adam Małysz of Poland won his fourth world championship gold medal with the largest victory in the history of the individual normal hill event, his third win in event of the last four championships.

  • Despite being well run and well-organized, the championships attendance was only 90,000, mostly at the Sapporo Dome and the ski jumping hills of Miyanomori and Okurayama. This amount was only a third of what was there at the previous Games at Oberstdorf .

  • A record 697 1 million for the 2006-07 season at all skiing disciplines for all championships.FIS Newsflash Edition 125. May 2, 2007.



MASCOT

The mascot of the championships was ''Norkey,'' an Ezo Deer (Ezo was the former name of Hokkaidō Island in Japan) named for combining the words "Nordic" and "ski" who wears a scarf in the symbol colors around his neck.


WORLD CUP DISCIPLINE LEADERS PRIOR TO THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS

As of February 16 , 2007 , the top three World Cup positions were as follows: Men's cross country skiing World Cup standings Women's cross country skiing World Cup standings Ski jumping World Cup standings Nordic combined World Cup standings

Cross-country skiing's Tour De Ski winners were Kuitunen for the women and Angerer for the men; both got 400 World Cup points for their respective TdS victories. Jacobsen won Ski jumping's Four Hills Tournament , and Manninen won Nordic combined's Tour Of Germany .

The last officially published entry list included 485 athletes from 49 countries. Preliminary Team Entry for FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Sapporo 2007 , from sapporo2007.com This included 125 women from 33 nations and 197 men from 48 nations in Cross-country skiing, 68 men from 17 nations in Nordic combined, and 93 men from 21 nations in Ski jumping. FIS Nordic World Ski Championships open in Sapporo - An Asian premiere - accessed February 21, 2007.


NON-SPORTING EVENTS LEADING UP TO THE CHAMPIONSHIPS


  • Media accreditation closed on September 30 , 2006 . During the event, Hiroshi Takeuchi of the '' Kyodo News (Japan)'' served as chief of the National Press and head of the Press Centers, and Kurt Henauer of the FIS served as International Press Chief. September 13, 2006 FIS news information on final championship preparations As of January 31, 2007, at least 1150 international media earned accreditation.FIS Newsflash Edition 112. January 31, 2007.

  • Members of the organizing committee attended a technical directors' seminar on cross country skiing in Tokyo on October 28-29, 2006 in an effort to expand cross country in Japan, South Korea , and China FIS Newsflash Edition 99. November 1, 2006.

  • FIS Vice President Yoshiro Ito of Japan, who is also on the event's organizing committee, stated in an interview with FIS that he sees growth will develop among Asia n nations following this event since Skiing in general is weak in Asia.FIS Newsflash Edition 108. January 3, 2007.

  • Sapporo Mayor and Event Organizing Committee Chair Fumio Ueda, in an FIS interview, stated that "I am convinced that the Championships - held in Asia for the first time - will provide many children and young people, our future leaders, with lofty dreams and great hopes, and will enable everyone around the globe to share the emotions of this event, thus contributing to the pursuit of world peace."FIS Newsflash Edition 112. January 31, 2007.

  • 450 pre-competition Doping tests occurred for all cross country skiers and Nordic combined skiers coordinated by the Japan Anti-Doping Agency (JADA) with support from the FIS Doping Control Coordinator from the FIS-appointed specialist agency, IDTM. Post-competition doping results were conducted by JADA with urine samples taken during the press conferences. The testing samples were conducted by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) testing facilities in Tokyo . The top four athletes plus two randomly-chosen athletes in all events were subjected. Out-of-competition testing was also conducted as well, a program that began in the aftermath of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2001 doping scandal in Lahti , Finland that has been successful in the Winter Olympics of Salt Lake City ( 2002 ) and Turin ( 2006 ) and the World Championships of Val Di Fiemme ( 2003 ) and Oberstdorf ( 2005 ). FIS continues fight against doping - accessed February 21, 2007.



PARTICIPATING NATIONS

49 nations were listed on the preliminary entry list.


VENUES


  • The ski jumping individual normal hill competition (and 15 km individual Gundersen) took place at Miyanomori (Hill Size (HS) of 100 m (HS100)) where the individual normal hill competition and the ski jumping competition of the Nordic Combined At The 1972 Winter Olympics took place. Information on Miyanomori and Okurayama ski jumping hills. - Accessed March 4, 2007.

  • The ski jumping individual and large hill competitions (and 7.5 km sprint and 4 x 5 km team) took place at Okurayama (HS of 134 m (HS134)) where the individual large hill competition of the 1972 Winter Olympics also took place.Ibid.

  • The Sapporo Dome hosted the opening ceremonies, individual and team cross country sprint events, the cross country portion of the 7.5 km Nordic combined sprint event, and the closing ceremonies of the championships. It marked the first time in the championship's history that a skiing event was held both indoors and in the evening. Information on the Sapporo Dome. - Accessed March 4, 2007

  • The remaining cross country skiing events took place at the Shirahatayama cross-country course. Information on the Shirahatayama cross-country course. - Accessed March 4, 2007.



OPENING CEREMONY

The opening ceremony took place on February 22, 2007 at 19:30 ; and Ms. Harumi Takahashi , Governor of Hokkaido. His Imperial Highness Prince Akishino also delivered words of welcome, followed by numerous performances paying tribute to local traditions. After the opening ceremonies were completed, the men's and women's individual sprint cross country skiing competitions took place. FIS Nordic World Ski Championships open in Sapporo - An Asian premiere - accessed February 21, 2007


ATTENDANCE

Though the attendance on the first day of the championship, which included the opening ceremony, was nearly 30,000, Official website press release on opening ceremony attendance - Accessed February 26, 2007. the total attendance over the eleven days of the championships numbered around 90,000. Wenig Zuschauer: WM-Veranstalter droht Finanzloch , from 2007


CROSS COUNTRY SKIING

''For more detailed information, please see the article Cross-country Skiing At The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 .''

Medal table - men's cross country skiing

Medal table - women's cross country skiing


MEN'S NORDIC COMBINED

''For more detailed information, please see the article Nordic Combined At The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 .''

Medal table


MEN'S SKI JUMPING

''For more detailed information, please see the article Ski Jumping At The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 .''

Medal table


DOPING CONTROVERSY

On February 21 , 2007 , Sergey Shiryayev of Russia was involved in pre-competition testing for Doping with a blood and urine sample. The blood sample in the "A-test" turned out high in hemoglobin, so the "B-test" was evaluated and confirmed to contain EPO . Shiryayev, who had his best finish of 11th in the 15 km event at the championships, was subsequently disqualified on March 4 , 2007 . FIS President Gian Franco Kasper expressed both disappointment in Shiriaev's doping actions and happiness in the efficiency of FIS's doping controls. Shiryayev tests positive for doping at the championships - Accessed March 4, 2007. At the FIS Council Meeting in May 2007 at Portorož, Slovenia,FIS Newsflash Edition 117. March 7, 2007. Shiryayev received a two-year ban from FIS competition. (Two Russian coaches were also sanctioned, by the Russian ski federation.) FIS Doping Panel sanctions four athletes


POST-CHAMPIONSHIP COMMENTS

FIS President Gian Franco Kasper expressed his thanks to the careful attention paid by FIS Vice-President (and Organizing Committee Chair) Yoshiro Ito over the detailed planning, arrangements, and execution of the championships, including Television and Internet coverage. Kasper also expressed displeasure in the poor attendance of the events.FIS Newsflash Edition 117. March 7, 2007.


MEDALS TABLE

  • Last updated: Mar 4''




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