RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GLIDE SPEED AND OLYMPIC CROSS-COUNTRY SKI PERFORMANCE

While the scientific literature has confirmed the importance of high m aximal aerobic power to successful cross-country skiing performance, t he same cannot be said of skiing technique or gliding characteristics of skis. The purpose of this study was to determine whether glide spee d was related to Olympic race performance. Male competitors in the 50- km freestyle event were videotaped during the 1992 Winter Olympic Game s. Glide speeds of the entire field were measured through a 20-m flat section at the bottom of a 150-m, 12-degrees downhill. A significant c orrelation (r = -.73) was found between finish time and glide speed, s howing that the more successful competitors tended to have faster glid e speeds through this section of the course. A predictive model of gli de speed suggested that the faster glide speeds were due primarily to differences in friction. There was little evidence to suggest that dif ferences in air drag, body mass, or initial speed accounted for the ma jor differences in glide speeds.