Athlete profile: Marit Mikkelsplass

Posted: Tue February 3, 1998 at 5:00 PM ET

Athlete notes

Mikkelsplass will be one of the favorites for the first medal awarded at the 1998 Olympic games in the 15km classic February 8th at 9 am...she excels at the longer distances and is a better classical-style skier than skating..."I think our team is weakest in the skating," says Mikkelsplass. "Elin Nilson is one of our only really good skaters"... Mikkelsplass' best Events is actually the 30km classic, the Events in which she won a silver medal at the '94 Games in front of the home crowds who roared in appreciation..."It was very special because I was always waiting for this race," she says of her silver in Lillehammer. "I was very nervous, but on the day of the race I was calm. I saw that I had good times, but I couldn't think about it. I just had to continue racing. I watched a video of the race a few days ago and I get freezing"... this year, the long distance Events has been designated as freestyle, so Mikkelsplass will not have a chance to repeat...but she will have a chance in other events, among them the 15km classical... "I feel like I'm at the same level I was four years ago," says the Oslo native...she thinks the fans in Japan will also be very enthusiastic, though she does not think about the crowd while racing..."All that matters is if you are in good shape," she says about the tough course in Nagano. "When you are skiing you just notice that there is noise in the background. But you are basically in your own world"... the past year has been especially tough for Mikkelsplass...she was bed-ridden for five days with a cold leading up to the 1997 World Championships in Trondheim, and was elated to grab the bronze in her premier Events behind Russia's Yelena Vaelbe and Italy's Stefania Belmondo...then she had her studies with which to contend -- with her studies to become a nurse and her preparations for exams this past fall, she has not had much time to work-out..."Training was very different than from earlier years," says Mikkelsplass. "It is a special situation because I'm a full-time student. I train about two-thirds of what I used to -- only once a day -- but I train harder and faster"... sometimes she trains with her husband, Paul Gunder, a coach for the Norwegian men's C-team, other times she just goes running...unfortunately for Mikkelsplass, when it first snowed this winter in north/central Norway, she was still stuck in Oslo studying for exams..."I hope it snows soon in Oslo, otherwise I think World Cup competitions might be the only time I actually get on the snow," she joked earlier this fall...aside from training with personal coach Orel Joergenson, Mikkelsplass still attends the national team camps when she can...she has been skiing ever since she can remember, when her parents and brother would take her out on skis..."I feel like I've always been doing it," says Mikkelsplass looking back on her younger days. "I had my first race when I was eight. I wasn't so fast then, but I liked it"...her father is a teacher and her mother is also a nurse...Marit and Paul do not have any children, she says they themselves are children enough...at 32, she does talk of retirement and only stuck with it this year to prove to herself that she could study and train at the same time..."I can't promise that this will be my last year," she says. "It depends on the feelings. But I have only one more year of studies and it is an easier year next year, so maybe I will still ski"...as for the favorites, she likes her own team's chances, as well as the Russians..."It'll probably be the same teams that win," she says. "They always do"...she speaks good English...