Let's get the Cross-Country season started!
Nov 21, 2022·Cross-Country
A new season is around the corner which means some changes for the Coop FIS Cross Country World Cup. From 25th November, Cross-Country action will get underway again in Ruka, Kuusamo (FIN). The FIS Cross-Country family is on it's way but before we get started, let´s look at the latest changes for this season.
Did you know..?
Who is tracking new records in the history of Cross-Country skiing? Who has the most victories and who will be a podium rookie? All you need to know for the 42nd Cross-Country World Cup season can be found here, under the section pre-competition facts.
Rule updates from 2022:
Team Sprint
The Team Sprint format has been developping since many years. After the exciting final World Cup competition in Falun, the following changes will be implemented this season:
Qualification system
Instead of semi-final heats, qualification rounds will take place to find out the fastest teams for the finals.
In qualification, every athlete has to ski one lap of the Sprint course
All athletes from leg 1 start with a 15 second interval. After all athletes of leg 1 are in the finish, athletes from leg 2 will follow in the same time frame.
The times of both athletes will be cumulated and the best 15 teams will be qualified for the finals.
Final heats
For the final heats, all athletes have to ski three laps, in between every lap, the exchange has to be made with contact.
In the heats, there will be NO elimination system.
World Cup Point system adjustment
In the upcoming season all 50 top ranked athletes per competition will get World Cup Points (instead of top-30 as until now). This decision was taken to engage the fight for the top spots in the Overall World Cup standing, as the distribution mainly of the top-4 positions sees a big change.
No individual World Cup points will be distributed in Team competitions.
The full distribution of lists can be found in the World Cup Rules under article 3.1.
Prize money
In addition to the final step of prize money increase that the Cross-Country World Cup circuit has undergone in recent years, FIS decided in summer to increase the World Cup prize money of all its disciplines by 10 per cent starting from this season. Thus, all World Cup events, for both men and women, will see a financial boost. FIS Cross-Country will contribute 20 per cent of the daily prize money and all individual event organisers are providing the rest.
The overview of the total prize money can be found in the World Cup rules under article 3.5.
Mixed Relay starting order
For the Mixed Relay competitions, each nation will have the right to enter 2 teams per nation. The starting order will alternate between women and men.
Mixed Nations in Relays
Teams can be built with athletes from maximum two different nations, if one nation does not have enough athletes to form their own team.
