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 Freezing
The weather conditions in the Hamar-region are fairly extreme during
the championships, even by local standards, with temperatures
dropping below -30 C. Media veterans will surely remember similar
conditions during the glorious days of the ’94 winter Olympics.
The extreme high pressure (1045 millibars) has obvious consequences
for the skating conditions in the Vikingship. Low air pressure
“lifts” the arena and gives “thinner air”, while high pressure has
the opposite effect. The venue is located on 125 meters above sea
level. Saturdays pressure conditions put the venue 100 m below sea
level, with “thicker air” and more air resistance to fight for the
skaters.
PHOTO: SVEN KRAMER DURING HIS 5000 SATURDAY.
(PHOTO: DOUWE BIJLSMA)
PBs
We saw a limited number – six in total - of PBs during the first
day of the championships: 2 on the ladies’ 500m (the Norwegian
skaters Hege Bøkko – bringing her to the podium for the first time -
and Ida Njåtun), 3 on the men’s 500m, and 1 only on the ladies’ 3K
(once again by Hege Bøkko – a slight comfort for the family on a day
that saw her brother Håvard fall in the last outer turn on the men’s
opening event and his withdrawal from the competition with an
injured left shoulder).
Power plant
More weather information coming up: The temperature in the
Vikingship was Saturday stable on 15 degrees Celsius, making the
difference from outdoor conditions 45 degrees. The energy used to
heat the arena is incredible 2600 kw (kilowatt) per hour, which
equals 10% of the energy spent per year by an average Norwegian
household.
Vast media interest
The packed media stands, with a total of 81 journalist and
photographers accredited (plus radio and TV crew), is no surprise
for the organisers. 2010 is an Olympic season with the winter games
in Vancouver, Canada, only a month away and even media is affected
by the “Olympic flu”. |
