January 19, 2025
Over in the alpine wonderland of Les Rousses, French racer Hugo Lapalus might have felt like he was skiing in quicksand rather than powder, finishing fifth in a race that became a showcase for a thrilling Swedish and Norwegian showdown. Lapalus valiantly trailed behind the winner, William Poromaa, who seemed to find a bit of magic on his skis to edge out Finnish veteran Iivo Niskanen by the blink of an eye.
Poromaa's win, his first in a World Cup event, had fans of Swedish skiing tossing their knit caps in the air with joy. It was a race so intense that Poromaa quipped he couldn't see much during the last stretch, presumably because of the excitement—or perhaps the sheer effort seeping out of his eyeballs.
Speaking of extraordinary performances, Frida Karlsson returned like a force of nature, conquering the women's 20 km mass start with such ease that she practically rolled through the finish line with a smile and a wave for all the other competitors behind her. Her extraordinary victory left her peers undoubtedly scratching their heads and their stopwatches.
Meanwhile, as Ida Marie Hagen effortlessly glided to her season's sixth win at Schonach, our Polish comrades in the ski jumping circuit faced more of a "well, close enough" situation. Pawel Wasek's respectable showing didn't quite skyrocket Poland in the Nations Cup rankings. It's said that a Polish ski jumper's best friend is gravity—unfortunately, it seems that gravity has also befriended Polish jumpers from Switzerland.
And what about those Italian biathletes? Tommaso Giacomel heroically claimed Italy's first win in years, leaving competitors rubbing their eyes in disbelief. His victory was so impressive it nearly declared itself a national treasure; had Galileo been there, he might have traded his telescope for a ski rifle and a set of cross-country poles.
The beautiful dance of wins and losses across these Nordic disciplines allows our skiers to wear the snow on their noses with both triumph and bemused resignation, as winter sports never fail to blend their two most cherished qualities: the thrill of victory and the comedy of errors.