Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Glitter, Bows, and Braids: Rituals on Race Day


In the past couple of years, the U.S. Women's team (and U.S. ski racing in general) has been at the center of an emerging trend, most noticeably seen through the increasing popularity of race rituals that aren't exactly the "norm" in nordic skiing.

The U.S. Ski Team ladies rocking the podium, and some awesome socks. 
What's the trend? Girl-ing out ski racing.  Replacing war paint with glitter, throwing bows in our hair, wearing elaborate race braids and fun socks, and adding pink or purple accents to our race suits and warm ups. And although commonly associated with sports far away from the cold winter trails, these trends can now be seen all the way from the World Cup and Olympics to the newest emerging high school skiers. And not just in the fun costume races. Glitter is for the big races. The important ones.

Recently, I tried to explain to a friend WHY exactly the glitter effect exists. And for some reason I found it more difficult than I expected. So OBVIOUSLY the only solution is to write a blog about it.

Here’s the thing. No, we are not 12.  The bows and braids aren’t driven by the need to “glam” ourselves up for racing. We know that when we’re racing, there is sweat, snot, saliva, and tears. We know we usually look like we’re in huge pain anyway. We realize that our sport isn’t geared towards glamorous.

It’s not about appearances.

It’s about the same reason Fast and Female has gained so much ground so quickly. The same reason the U.S. Women have become a team that competes with the best in the world. And the same reason Nordic skiing is slowly growing in popularity amongst the younger generations.

Team energy.

The Norwegian skiers have this pre-race ritual of skiing a “hot lap” (an interval) the day before a race to warm themselves up. Which is what most skiers do; it’s part of the training plan. Only the difference is that the Norwegians ski the lap as a team, all wearing their race suits. It doesn’t matter if there are people in their way, they will zoom around them and stick together, pushing each other and mentally preparing to race together as a team.

And not only does it prepare them, it sends a message to their opponents.  “We are here. And we are ready.” It’s pretty intimidating, not gonna lie. Granted, other teams have picked up on this and followed suit. But the idea behind it is that the lap puts you in the mindset of a team. Because while Nordic skiing is incredibly individual in that in the end, your race is purely determined by what is under your control, the truth is that a team is what backs you up. You train together, you live together, you travel together, and you race together. So why not use that to your advantage?

The U.S. Women’s team has done exactly that. Only in a slightly different form. A new race day tradition was created: braiding hair, writing "USA" on cheeks in glitter, and handing out ribbons. For the first time in U.S. nordic ski history, "team spirit" became a pre-race ritual. And it quickly spread. 

It reminds a team that although the race is up to each individual, you're all here together, and you're all facing the same opponent and obstacles.  Not only that, but like any race morning ritual, it prepares you for the challenge ahead. Only instead of the nerves associated with force feeding yourself oatmeal and dragging yourself out of bed for a run, overtones of excitement are added to the morning of races. It takes a little bit of the pressure off and reminds you how lucky you are to be here, racing as hard as you can, leaving it all out on the course. It gets you psyched to represent whatever team you're a part of, whether it be a country, a club, or a relay team. 

And not only does it prepare you, it sends a message to your opponents. 

“We are here. We are ready. And we are excited.”

Braids and bows on race day
We sat down as a U23 women's team at the beginning of the week here in Kazakhstan, and our coach Kate Barton (she rocks) had us write down team goals. We were told to have 5 process goals, and 3 outcome goals. And one of the process goals we created was having good team energy. Supporting each other, picking one another up, racing with one another, helping each other out in warm-ups, cheering for each other, and just being plain excited for one another was something that we all agreed would help us ski faster individually. Team energy would be something to work for on race day.

And so we did. The first day of World's we saw Annie Hart qualify for the classic sprint heats and fight her way to the finish. We watched Ben Saxton ski to a 6th place overall (!!!) in some gnarly sprint heats. And we cheered Thomas O'Harra on to a 14th place and Logan Hanneman race hard in the U23 heats. And although some of us didn't qualify, we were so psyched to represent the USA and have the opportunity to race hard and learn from it. 

Next up is the 10k/15k Free race tomorrow!

If you're interested in following the races LIVE, download the FIS Ski app (it's free) and it gives you live updates for the races. You can even select your favorite country (cough.. USA) and all of its skiers will be highlighted in blue, making it easier to spot us as we come through. Send good vibes!

The bottom of the sprint course
Basically the entire sprint course, minus the stadium.
USA girls with our awesome ambassador Altnyai

2 comments:

  1. Great post!
    I totally agree that even in individual sports it helps to work as a team.
    Good luck on your ski racing and have fun!

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  2. Well said. Keep up the good work and continue to be awesome ambassadors for the USA.

    ReplyDelete