PhD, Department Head N.B. Novikova¹
Researcher G.G. Zakharov¹
Researcher I.G. Ivanova¹
PhD, Department Head A.I. Golovachev²
PhD, Department Head A.V. Kubeev^2
1Saint-Petersburg scientific-research institute for physical culture, Saint-Petersburg
²Federal Science Center for Physical Culture and Sports, Moscow

Objective of the study was to analyze the competitive performance of the world skiathlon leaders in the 2021 World Ski Cup.
Methods and structure of the study. Subject to the study was the 30km skiathlon event of the Cross-Country Word Cup in Obersdorf (Germany) in January 2020. We shot the competitive performance videos on a 10° ascent in a key point of the eight lap by a video cam fixed on a tripod perpendicular to the track. The video captures were processed and analyzed using the DartfishPro 9 software toolkit to obtain the individual ascension speeds, stride lengths, frequencies and kick-off times for the 25 world strongest skiathletes. We also analyzed the individual times/ speeds in every track section versus the terrain conditions, with the speed profiles verified by the formal competitive reports and analyses, including the detailed event statistics.
Results and conclusion. The skiathlon leaders’ racing tactics profiled by the macro-kinematics analysis provides an insight into the individual speed control patterns. We found the speed meaningfully falling on ascends in the skating-stride lap five and six and growing in the final lap. The race outsiders ranked 11-20th on the event scoreboard were tested with the lower speed variations, although their speeds and stride lengths in lap six were tested higher than the leaders’ ones. The ascension speed was tested to grow in both the leaders and outsiders groups. We found the individual speed and kick-off power acceleration resource mobilized in the final lap being critical for success in the race. We recommend the study data and findings for application in the precompetitive training systems by the potential qualifiers for the World Championships 2021.

Keywords: cross-country skiing, tactics, skiathlon, macro-kinematics, competitive performance, elite cross-country skiers.

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