The

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship e ...

2009 ( cs, Mistrovství světa v klasickém lyžování Liberec 2009) took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in

Liberec Liberec (; german: Reichenberg ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants and it is the fifth-largest city in the country. It lies on the Lusatian Neisse, in a basin surrounded by mountains. The city centre is well preser ...

Czech Republic The Czech Republic, or simply Czechia, is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Historically known as Bohemia, it is bordered by Austria to the south, Germany to the west, Poland to the northeast, and Slovakia to the southeast. The ...

. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in the Czech Republic or in

Czechoslovakia , rue, Чеськословеньско, , yi, טשעכאסלאוואקיי, , common_name = Czechoslovakia , life_span = 1918–19391945–1992 , p1 = Austria-Hungary , image_p1 ...

, having done so at

Janské Lázně Janské Lázně (; german: Johannisbad) is a spa town in Trutnov District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 700 inhabitants. It lies in the Giant Mountains. Geography Janské Lázně is located about northwest ...

(

1925 Events January * January 1 ** The Syrian Federation is officially dissolved, the State of Aleppo and the State of Damascus having been replaced by the State of Syria. * January 3 – Benito Mussolini makes a pivotal speech in the Italia ...

) and

Vysoké Tatry Vysoké Tatry (; hu, Magastátra, ; german: Höhe Tatra, ; pl, Wysokie Tatry, ; cs, Vysoké Tatry, ), formally Mesto Vysoké Tatry () is a town at the feet of the Slovak part of High Tatras in Slovakia including all the major resorts in that ...

(in both 1935 and

1970 Events January * January 1 – Unix time epoch reached at 00:00:00 UTC. * January 5 – The 7.1 Tonghai earthquake shakes Tonghai County, Yunnan province, China, with a maximum Mercalli intensity scale, Mercalli intensity of X (''Extrem ...

). The biggest sports event in the country's history, it hosted 589 athletes from 61 countries. Women's

ski jumping Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the final ...

and Men's

Nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympic ...

10 km mass start events debuted at these championships, both won by

Americans Americans are the Citizenship of the United States, citizens and United States nationality law, nationals of the United States, United States of America.; ; Although direct citizens and nationals make up the majority of Americans, many Multi ...

Lindsey Van Lindsey Marie Van (born November 27, 1984) is an American former ski jumper who won her first of 13 U.S. National Ski Jumping Championships in 1998 and competed in her first FIS event in 2002.Todd Lodwick, respectively.

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

won the most medals with twelve and most golds with five, all in the men's

cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing where skiers rely on their own locomotion to move across snow-covered terrain, rather than using ski lifts or other forms of assistance. Cross-country skiing is widely practiced as a sport and recreation ...

events, including three from

Petter Northug Petter Northug Jr. (born 6 January 1986) is a Norwegian former cross-country skier and double Olympic champion. He won a total of 13 World Championship and two Winter Olympic gold medals with 20 medals overall (two gold, one silver and one bronze ...

. Germany finished second in the total medal count with nine though none of them were gold (eight silver and one bronze).

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

finished third in the medal count with eight with three golds, all from

Aino-Kaisa Saarinen Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (born 1 February 1979) is a retired Finnish cross-country skier who competed in the World Cup between 1998 and 2018. With 354 individual World Cup starts, Saarinen is the current record holder for both men and women, with St ...

in women's cross-country skiing. Fourth in total medal count, but second in gold medal count was the United States with six, including four golds, who prior to these championships, had won only three medals in all of the previous championships combined, including four medals in Nordic combined (Lodwick: two golds,

Bill Demong William Demong (born March 29, 1980 in Vermontville, New York) is an American former Nordic combined skier and Olympic gold medalist. Demong is a five-time Olympian, having competed in Nagano, Salt Lake City, Torino, Vancouver and Sochi. Career ...

: one gold and one bronze).

Kikkan Randall Kikkan Randall (born December 31, 1982) is an American, Olympic champion cross-country skier. She has won 17 U.S. National titles, made 29 podiums on the World Cup, made five trips to the Winter Olympic Games and had the highest finish by an indi ...

became the first American woman to medal in cross country skiing at the world championships with her silver in the individual sprint. Besides the debut of women's ski jumping at these championships, the big winner in the jumping events was

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

with three medals and two each for

Wolfgang Loitzl Wolfgang Loitzl (born 13 January 1980) is an Austrian former ski jumper. He was the winner of the 2008–09 Four Hills Tournament and the 2009 Normal Hill World Champion. Career He won seven medals at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships wit ...

and

Gregor Schlierenzauer Gregor Schlierenzauer (; born 7 January 1990) is an Austrian former ski jumper who competed from 2006 to 2021. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers of all time, having won the Ski Jumping World Cup overall title, the Four Hills Tourname ...

. Adding the 10 km mass start, the Nordic combined format was changed from 7.5 km sprint and 15 km individual Gundersen to 10 km individual large hill (aka Large hill Gundersen) and 10 km individual normal hill (aka Normal hill Gundersen), respectively.

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

Andrus Veerpalu Andrus Veerpalu (born 8 February 1971) is a retired Estonian cross-country skier. He is Estonia's most successful Winter Olympian, having won the gold medal in men's 15 km classical in 2002 and 2006, and silver in men's 50 km classical in 20 ...

became the oldest gold medalist at 38 when he won gold in the men's 15 km event. Despite concern over the lack of snowfall that plagued event preparation prior to the championships, the championships themselves had an abundance of snowfall and wind that caused the ski jumping part of the Nordic combined mass start to be postponed for a day and the ski jumping individual large hill competition to be limited to one jump. Attendance was between 180,000 and 200,000, twice the number at the previous championships in

Sapporo ( ain, サッ・ポロ・ペッ, Satporopet, lit=Dry, Great River) is a city in Japan. It is the largest city north of Tokyo and the largest city on Hokkaido, the northernmost main island of the country. It ranks as the fifth most populous city ...

, but 35 to 40 percent lower than the 2005 championships in

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

FIS FIS or fis may refer to: Science and technology * '' Fis'', an ''E. Coli'' gene * Fis phenomenon, a phenomenon in linguistics * F♯ (musical note) * Flight information service, an air traffic control service * Frame Information Structure, a Se ...

President Gian Franco Kasper commented at the closing ceremonies of the 15 nations earning medals at these championships, along with the successes of the

television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

coverage by Czech TV and the success of the women's ski jumping at these championships would pave the way for inclusion into the

2014 Winter Olympics , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

. A broadcast report from the

European Broadcasting Union The European Broadcasting Union (EBU; french: Union européenne de radio-télévision, links=no, UER) is an alliance of Public broadcasting, public service media organisations whose countries are within the European Broadcasting Area or who ar ...

released on 4 June 2009 had total viewership of 666 million global viewers, higher than that of the 2005 championships and the 2001 championships.

Competition format changes

The initial schedule for the competition was approved at the FIS Council meeting in

Portorož Portorož (; it, Portorose) is a Slovenian Adriatic seaside resort and spa town located in the Municipality of Piran in southwestern Slovenia. Its modern development began in the late 19th century with the vogue for the first health resorts. In ...

Slovenia Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...

during the weekend of 25–28 May 2007. Women's ski jumping became an official event for the first time at these championships on the normal hill which took place 20 February. This was approved at the May 2006 FIS Congress in

Vilamoura Vilamoura is a coastal resort in the Loulé municipality in Algarve, Portugal. It is one of the three corners of Algarve's Golden Triangle. Vilamoura comprises one of the largest single tourist complexes in Europe and with about 2,000 hectares ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

. Cross country skiing events had its classical interval start events adjusted to include a 5 km qualification event for women and a 10 km qualification for men for the women's 10 km and men's 15 km event with the top 20 finishers in each qualification advancing to the main events. These events took place 18–20 February. Nordic combined had the greatest changes in it schedule with the debut of the 10 km mass start that was also approved at the 2006 Congress in Vilamoura, and the replacement of the 7.5 km sprint and 15 km individual Gundersen events with two separate 10 km individual events. The first event, replacing the 15 km Gundersen, was a single jump from the individual normal hill followed by a 10 km cross country event using the Gundersen system while the second event, replacing the 7.5 km sprint, was a single jump from the individual large hill followed by a 10 km cross country event also using the Gundersen system. The Nordic combined changes were approved at an autumn seasonal meeting in Zurich,

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

, the week of 29 September 2008. Other changes listed in the ski jumping part of the Nordic combined team event was only one jump and being listed was the point-time differential at 1 point equaling 1.33 seconds.

History

2004 – June 2007

The host of the 2009 World championships was awarded at the 2004

Congress in

Miami, Florida Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a East Coast of the United States, coastal metropolis and the County seat, county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade C ...

, USA on 3 June 2004. The opposing candidate city to Liberec was

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

. Norwegian Ski President Sverre Seeberg stated to the Norwegian press before the voting started that he "thought it would be a close call, but not as close for FIS President Kasper to use his deciding vote." The fact this was the fourth time in a row that Liberec applied for the championships, and that it was almost 40 years since it last was arranged in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural, and socio-economic connotations. The vast majority of the region is covered by Russ ...

(1970 in Vysoké Tatry, Czechoslovakia) might give Liberec an advantage, according to Seeberg. Liberec was selected 11–4 over Oslo, and since there were 17 FIS members, Kasper did not vote. Seeberg was ineligible to vote, even though he served in place of the late Jan Jensen. The Oslo committee quickly announced after the loss that they would apply for the 2011 championships, which they got awarded two years later. Prior to being awarded the World championships in 2004, Liberec had hosted a total of 40 cross country skiing, Nordic combined, and ski jumping competitions though it had not hosted a cross country World Cup event by June 2005. At a 24–25 May 2005 meeting, a report was given by the Liberec committee to the FIS race directors on course inspection, including layout of the courses. On 10 May 2006, a coordination group meeting was held led by Roman Kumpošt, the first organizing committee chair, regarding venue construction, television production, and construction within Liberec itself in preparation for the championships. A coordination meeting took place in Liberec 18–19 April 2007 to discuss venue information and event preparation.

July – December 2007

Czech cross country skier and six-time

Winter Olympic The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were hel ...

medalist

Kateřina Neumannová Kateřina Neumannová () (born 15 February 1973) is a Czech retired cross-country skier. She won an Olympic gold medal in the 2006 Winter Olympics, in the 30 km freestyle event. She is one of five cross country skiers to have competed at s ...

was originally an honorary vice president of the organizing committee. On 25 July 2007, Neumannová was appointed as the new president of the organizing committee as approved by the organizing committee, replacing Kumpošt. She also served as a World Cup organizer for the second of the

Tour de Ski Tour or Tours may refer to: Travel * Tourism, travel for pleasure * Tour of duty, a period of time spent in military service * Campus tour, a journey through a college or university's campus * Guided tour, a journey through a location, directed ...

events that took place in

Prague Prague ( ; cs, Praha ; german: Prag, ; la, Praga) is the capital and largest city in the Czech Republic, and the historical capital of Bohemia. On the Vltava river, Prague is home to about 1.3 million people. The city has a temperate ...

on 30 December 2007. During the week of 13 August 2007, a delegation visited the FIS headquarters in Oberhofen, Switzerland and met with FIS President Kasper. This delegation included Liberec Mayor Jiří Kittner, Organizing Committee Secretary Marek Rejman, Czech Ski Association President Lukáš Sobotka, and its General Secretary Norbert Pelc, and all four confirmed the work toward the sites used for the championships were proceeding as planned with test events that occurred in February 2008. Financing issues for the event were also clarified. The next scheduled update occurred at the FIS Autumn Meeting in Zurich during the week of 24 September 2007. Progress was given by Organizing President Neumannová and Executive Director Marek Rejman while at Zurich, including updates on the venues (shown in the next section), and focused on the sports organization (including the technical directors); and the marketing and promotion of the test events. Liberec had also confirmed their support of the governmental financing for the university campus which served as the village for the teams in 2009.

2008

FIS President Kasper stated that the first test weekend of 8–9 February 2008 "went well" in terms of sports organization. Kasper also expressed concerns about the cost for accommodation for skiing officials and media for the upcoming events. A spring coordination meeting was held the week of 7 April 2008 that discussed preparations for the event. Among the participants were FIS, the EBU, and marketing partner APF, whom focused on lessons learned from the test events held in February 2008. Coordination group members were pleased in what transpired during the February 2008 test events, including an athletes' village that was constructed at the local university. Final competition schedule was confirmed by the FIS Council in its May 2008 meeting in Cape Town, followed by a final inspection on 13 October 2008. Following the final inspection that day, a six-hour press conference was held on the status of preparations. Detailed reports were given on the test events held in February 2008 and the lessons learned from them. FIS President Kasper expressed his support of the organizing committee's efforts to present the best championships ever. Neumannová stated that the cross country skiing facility at Vesec was ready while the ski jumping facility at Ještěd was ready in the fall once construction of the access road and surrounding area was complete. The main concern of Neumannová's was the weather given the problems with the test events in February and the need for snow making equipment. The Czech government gave the organizing committee an additional

CZK The koruna, or crown, ( sign: Kč; code: CZK, cs, koruna česká) has been the currency of the Czech Republic since 1993. The koruna is one of the European Union's 9 currencies, and the Czech Republic is legally bound to adopt the euro curre ...

189 million (

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists ...

7.3 million) in financial support. At the end of 2008, the championships were the biggest sports event in the history of the Czech Republic. On 16 December 2008, FIS Secretary General Lewis, FIS Event and Sponsor Manager Niklas Carlsson, Neumannová, and other key Organizing Committee staff met to discuss promotional activities for the event, including ceremonies, social events, and the accreditation system. That same day, an entire inspection of the team village took place at the

Technical University of Liberec The Technical University of Liberec is a university in the city of Liberec, Czech Republic. The university has undergone great transformation in its over sixty-year history. When it was founded, it was called the Institute of Mechanical Engineerin ...

where the entire complex was renovated. The students at the university left at the end of January 2009 for the teams to arrive on campus in mid-February.

2009

As of 21 January 2009, there were a total of 600 competitors from 59 nations, both Championship records. Neumannová stated that the area had about of snow at both testing areas. She also stated that Czech representatives had tested both Ještěd and Vesec and were satisfied with both areas. Free public transportation in Liberec and tram transfers from the neighboring town of

Jablonec nad Nisou Jablonec nad Nisou (; german: Gablonz an der Neiße) is a city in the Liberec Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 45,000 inhabitants. It is the second-largest city in the region. It is a local centre for education, and is known for its glass ...

were organized. Doping programs that were successful at the previous World Championships in Sapporo continued with 78 EPO and 430

blood Blood is a body fluid in the circulatory system of humans and other vertebrates that delivers necessary substances such as nutrients and oxygen to the cells, and transports metabolic waste products away from those same cells. Blood in the c ...

testing on athletes in 1–15 February period prior to the 2009 championships. 450 pre-competition blood tests were conducted with the top four finishers plus two randomly selected athletes of each event, totalling 120 for the championships. These tests were conducted by the Czech National Anti-Doping Agency with assistance of the

World Anti-Doping Agency The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA; french: Agence mondiale antidopage, AMA) is a foundation initiated by the International Olympic Committee based in Canada to promote, coordinate, and monitor the fight against drugs in sports. The agency's key ...

. Testing costs for the program were CHF 1.5 million. As of 25 February, a total of 90,000 spectators had attended the championships. Prior to the championships, there was concern of the lack of snowfall during the championships. During the championships, there was continuing snowfall. On 23 February, Czech Republic Senate Parliament chair

Přemysl Sobotka Přemysl Sobotka (born 18 May 1944 in Mladá Boleslav) is a Czech physician and politician who served as the President of the Senate from 2004 to 2010. Sobotka was a candidate in 2013 Czech presidential election, in January 2013. In the first ro ...

presented FIS President Kasper with a silver commemorative medal of the Senate for his merits in the development of world skiing. Kasper lead the FIS delegation to this ceremony that took place in Liberec with Sobotka which included FIS officials and representative of all 61 teams. Included in this delegation were Milan Jirasek, FIS Council Member and Chair of the

Czech Olympic Committee The Czech Olympic Committee ( cs, Český olympijský výbor) is the National Olympic Committee (NOC) representing the Czech Republic. History The Czech Olympic Committee is one of the oldest NOCs in the world, having been founded in 1899 as Bo ...

, and Neumannová

Media accreditation and television coverage

Media accreditation was available online until 17 October 2008.

Television Television, sometimes shortened to TV, is a telecommunication medium for transmitting moving images and sound. The term can refer to a television set, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertisin ...

coverage was provided by

Czech Television Czech Television ( cs, Česká televize, italics=no ; abbreviation: ČT) is a public television broadcaster in the Czech Republic, broadcasting seven channels. Established after the Velvet Revolution in 1992, it is the successor to Czechoslov ...

(CT), the host broadcaster. CT expected to produce over 60 hours of international coverage with a total of 54 TV cameras connected to of cables. Over 1500 international media were onsite for the event. A total of 771 cumulative broadcast hours took place during the championship event, 70.3% shown live with the rest being tape-delayed.FIS-Ski.com 4 June 2009 article on TV coverage of the FIS Alpine and Nordic World Championships 2009.
- accessed 6 June 2009. 17 national broadcasters televised the championships along with 69

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia. Owned by Warner Bros. Discovery through Warner Bros. Discovery Sports#Warner Bros. Discovery Sports Europe properties, its international sports unit, it operates two ...

and Eurosport Asia-Pacific nations., resulting in a total of 666 million global viewers The top events with the greatest naitional live audience was the men's ski jumping individual large and normal hill event from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populous ...

TVP1 TVP1 (TVP Jeden, ''Program I Telewizji Polskiej'', ''"Jedynka"'') is the main public television channel of TVP (Telewizja Polska S.A.), Poland's national television broadcaster. It was the first Polish channel to be broadcast and remains one ...

with 5.0 and 4.4 million viewers respectively. Germany's

ZDF ZDF (, short for Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen; ; "Second German Television") is a German public-service television broadcaster based in Mainz, Rhineland-Palatinate. It is run as an independent nonprofit institution, which was founded by all fe ...

had the 2nd highest national event ratings with 4.0 million viewers for the ski jumping men's team large hill event.

Mascot

The mascot was announced by the Organizing Committee during the week of 30 June 2008. It was a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

named Libi and it made its first appearance in the Czech Republic with Neumannová and Czech Republic prime minister

Mirek Topolánek Mirek Topolánek (, born 15 May 1956) is a Czech politician and business manager who served as the prime minister of the Czech Republic from 2006 to 2009 and the leader of the Civic Democratic Party (ODS) from 2002 to 2010. Between 2006 and 2 ...

at a meeting that same week.

Social programs

Among the social programs involved during the event were the opening ceremonies at the Tipsport arena. Included were musical performances from the English rock band

Deep Purple Deep Purple are an English rock band formed in London in 1968. They are considered to be among the pioneers of heavy metal music, heavy metal and modern hard rock music, but their musical style has changed over the course of its existence. Ori ...

, who performed at the opening ceremony 18 February, and the Slovak band Elán, who performed on 20 February. Concerts took place on the Liberec main square where medal award ceremonies occurred. In addition, there were special themed days, including Italian Day, Czech Day, Norwegian Day and Slovak Day. One recurring theme of this was free beer for people from these countries in some pubs at happy hour. The most famous fans at the championships were the Norwegians, who were very numerous compared with the other countries.

World Cup discipline leaders prior to the World championships

As of 15 February 2009, the top three World Cup positions were as follows: Cross-country skiing's

winners were Finland's

Virpi Kuitunen Virpi Katriina Sarasvuo (née Kuitunen, born 20 May 1976) is a Finnish former cross-country skier who competed from 1995 to 2010. She won a bronze medal in the team sprint event (with Aino-Kaisa Saarinen) at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin and ...

for the women and Cologna for the men; both got 400 World Cup points for their respective TdS victories. Loitzl won Ski jumping's

Four Hills Tournament The Four Hills Tournament (german: link=no, Vierschanzentournee) or the German-Austrian Ski Jumping Week (german: link=no, Deutsch-Österreichische Skisprung-Woche) is a ski jumping event composed of four World Cup events and has taken place in ...

Participants

589 athletes from 61 countries were entered to compete for the championships. These include 239 men and 155 women from 60 countries in cross country skiing, 77 athletes from 18 countries in Nordic combined, and 79 athletes from 22 countries in ski jumping. Additionally, 39 women from 13 countries competed in the premiere world championship ski jumping event. FIS President Kaspar hoped that the women's ski jumping event did well enough for inclusion in the 2014 Winter Olympics in

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a List of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia, Northern Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the ...

Venues

At a coordination group meeting on 18–19 April 2007 in Liberec, the event and facility preparations were discussed. A review was also done for what could have done better from the previous World Championships in Sapporo earlier that year. According to FIS Secretary General Lewis, she was pleased about the construction progress of both Ještěd (ski jumping) and

Vesec Vesec () is the 25th of the 35 districts of the city of Liberec, Czech Republic. Located in the south of Liberec, it was used for the 2009 Nordic World Ski Championship for the cross-country skiing Cross-country skiing is a form of skiing w ...

(cross country skiing) and both venues were used as test events for the upcoming World Cup season. Organizing Committee chair Kumpošt stated that both venues would be completed by fall 2007 in order to ensure FIS certification. Also in attendance was the EBU and the organizing committee for the 2011 Championships in

. Snowfall that started on 17 November 2008 made it possible to produce man-made snow for the event, according to Vesec cross country skiing venue manager Robert Heczko. In ideal conditions, fourteen days of snow production were required to create the needed of

snow Snow comprises individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water throughout ...

to ensure coverage of all competition courses at Vesec. Over 20

snow cannon Snowmaking is the production of snow by forcing water and pressurized air through a "snow gun", also known as a "snow cannon". Snowmaking is mainly used at ski resorts to supplement natural snow. This allows ski resorts to improve the reliabilit ...

s were used in the snow-making process when temperatures dip below freezing according to Heczko.

Cross country skiing

The cross country skiing venue took place at Vesec which had two 3.75 km loops in 2007. These loops were shortened to 3.3 km and 2.5 km, and then combined. Four additional loops of 1.2 km (women's sprint), 1.3 km (men's sprint), 5 km, and 7.5 km were also created. At the fall 2007 meeting in Zurich during the week of 24 September 2007, it was announced that Vesec had completed paving the courses for roller skiing and in-line skating, finalization of bridges, access roads, and permanent facilities; and installing snow-making equipment. The test event for cross country occurred during the weekend of 15–17 February 2008. Because of warm weather and the lack of snow, the organizing committee was forced to bring snow from the mountains surrounding Liberec. As a result, the races were held on the paved roller skiing track. Initially on 16 February they were scheduled to be pursuit events, but were changed to interval start events. The winner of the 10 km women's event was Norway's

Astrid Jacobsen Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen (born 22 January 1987) is a Norwegian cross-country skier and a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). She skis with the IL Heming club in Oslo, near Holmenkollen. Her greatest achievement is winning the g ...

while the winner of the 15 km men's event was Jean Marc Gaillard of France. Team sprint winners on the 17th were both from Norway with the ladies going to

Marit Bjørgen Marit Bjørgen (born 21 March 1980) is a former Norwegian cross-country skier. She is ranked first in the all-time Cross-Country World Cup rankings with 114 individual victories. Bjørgen is also the most successful sprinter in Cross-Country W ...

and Astrid Jacobsen and the men going to

Martin Johnsrud Sundby Martin Johnsrud Sundby (born 26 September 1984) is a former Norwegian cross-country skier who competed between 2003 and 2021. He is a two time Olympic champion at the 2018 Winter Olympics in the team sprint and relay and was also a silver and bro ...

and

Simen Østensen Simen Østensen (born 4 August 1984) is a Norwegian cross-country skier. He skis with the club Fossum IF. He finished third in the 2006-07 Tour de Ski. Before that, Østensen had started in a World Cup race only once (the 50 km in Holmenko ...

Snow was lacking at the cross-country course as of 16 December 2008, but organizers were ready for expected cold temperatures from

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus, Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a religious and cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by country, around t ...

2008 onward to prepare the courses for the championships. As of 14 January 2009, about of snow had been produced using between 20 and 27 snow guns and two snow lances. Tracks were groomed, widen, and maintained in preparation of the Slavic Cup (Czech Republic,

, and

Slovakia Slovakia (; sk, Slovensko ), officially the Slovak Republic ( sk, Slovenská republika, links=no ), is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east, Hungary to the south, Austria to the s ...

) events that took place the weekend of 17–18 January 2009. Courses were covered with snow of as of 11 February 2009. Snow reserves guaranteed the best conditions even if warm weather hit the Jizera Mountains. Closing ceremonies of the championships were held at Vesec.

Ski jumping

The ski jumping venue took place at

Ještěd Ještěd (; german: Jeschken) is the highest mountain of the Ještěd–Kozákov Ridge in the north of the Czech Republic, at . It is the symbol of the city of Liberec. On the summit is the Ještěd Tower restaurant, hotel and television tower, ...

which has two hills that were already to FIS specifications. The normal hill size (HS) was 100 m (HS100) while the large hill size was 134 m (HS134). Both hills were used for FIS ski jumping World Cup venues with Finnish ski jumper

Janne Ahonen Janne Petteri Ahonen (; born 11 May 1977) is a Finnish former ski jumper and drag racer. He competed in ski jumping between 1992 and 2018, and is one of the sport's most successful athletes of all time, as well as one of the most successful from ...

holding the record jump of 139 m on the HS134 hill in 2004. Modifications were done to the outrun and data was gathered on the wind flow within the ski jumping area from January to March for 2006 to 2009. At the fall 2007 meeting in Zurich during the week of 24 September 2007, it was announced by the Organizing Committee that construction was proceeding according to schedule, with completion in mid-December 2007. The test event for Jested took place on 8–9 February 2008. A grandstand of 10,000 spectators was constructed in order to have night time ski jumping the weekend of 9–10 February 2008. The hill suffered a landslide caused by continuous rainfall around the hill during the week of 28 January 2008, but the outrun was not affected by the event, according to Liberec mayor Jiri Kittner. On 1 February, Neumannová stated that the ski jumping events took place as scheduled. The lift to the ski jump that was not working during the FIS World Cup B Nordic combined event in January was fixed. The winners of the ski jumping test event at the HS134 hill were

Thomas Morgenstern Thomas Morgenstern (born 30 October 1986) is an Austrian former ski jumper who competed from 2002 to 2014. He is one of the most successful ski jumpers of all time, having won the World Cup overall title twice with 23 individual wins, the Four H ...

of Austria on 8 February and Anders Jacobsen of Norway on 9 February. An Alpen Cup competition took place on the weekend of 20–21 December 2008 to have final test procedures and infrastructure for the championships. As of 14 January 2009, the main grandstand was complete while the teams worked on proper shaping of the hills for use. The large hill was closed while the normal hill was designated for ski jumper and Nordic combined athlete training. Further construction during the week of 19 January 2009 included spectator stairs on the side of the hill, mobile containers for the athletes and their service teams; and a spectator

catering Catering is the business of providing food service at a remote site or a site such as a hotel, hospital, pub, aircraft, cruise ship, park, festival, filming location or film studio. History of catering The earliest account of major services be ...

tent was set up.

Nordic combined

The

nordic combined Nordic combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing (sport), cross-country skiing and ski jumping. The Nordic combined at the Winter Olympics has been held since the first ever 1924 Winter Olympics, Winter Olympic ...

events used both venues listed for cross country skiing and ski jumping. The test event for Nordic combined occurred during the weekend of 15–17 February 2008. Because of the lack of snow and warm weather prior to the test event, the schedule for the test event was adjusted to the sprint event on 15 February, the Gundersen event on 16 February, and the sprint qualification event on 17 February. The sprint event on 15 February was cancelled to changing winds. Meanwhile, the Gundersen event on 16 February was changed to a mass start event won by Norway's

Petter Tande Petter Laukslett Tande (born 11 June 1985 in Oslo) is a Norwegian former nordic combined skier who has been competing between 2002 and 2011, representing Byåsen IL. He has three medals in the 4 x 5 km team event at the FIS Nordic World Ski ...

. Two unsuccessful attempts at the ski jumping part of the sprint qualification event to high winds on the 17th resulted in the event's cancellation. A World Cup event leading up to the championships was to have taken place 13–14 December 2008 in the 10 km individual large hill event as a test event, but was cancelled on 6 December 2008 to warm weather and lack of snow. Neumannová stated that they had a second plan in getting snow from the Jizerske mountains higher elevations where there were better conditions for snowing. of snow at Bedřichov and Albrechtice were prepared for two nights. The third plan proposed two large parking places in the Krkonoše Mountains with natural snow collected for use in the Vesec area. Neumannová assured everyone "that the entire team is working very hard in order to deliver a successful FIS Nordic World Ski Championships." and could not wait to "welcome all the teams, the international media, our guest, and of course, thousands of fans to Liberec in February."

Tipsport arena

The Tipsport Arena in Liberec was used as the operational center for the championships. This included accreditation for the athletes, location of the organizing committee support staff, an international media center, and individual race offices. It also served as the site for the opening ceremonies of the championships.

Cross-country skiing

The main winner in the cross country events was Norway with seven medals, including five golds, all in the men's events. Petter Northug of Norway won three golds, earning them in the 15 km + 15 km double pursuit, 50 km, and 4 x 10 km relay. His teammate, Ola Vigen Hattestad, won golds in the individual and team sprint events. Estonia's Andrus Veerpalu became the oldest winner at 38 in the men's 15 km event. Kristin Størmer Steira was Norway's only medal in the women's events with a silver in the 7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit event. For the women's events, the biggest winner was Finland's Aino-Kaisa Saarinen with four medals, including three golds (Team sprint, 10 km, and 4 x 5 km relay) and one bronze (7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit). Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk won three medals at the championships with two golds (7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit and 30 km) and a bronze (10 km). The only gold not awarded to either Kowalczyk or Saarinen was the women's individual sprint won by Italy's Arianna Follis. In that same event, Kikkan Randall became the first American woman to medal in cross country skiing at the world championships with her silver. Medal table – men's cross country skiing Medal table – women's cross country skiing

Men's Nordic combined

The United States was the big winner at these championships with four medals. Todd Lodwick and Bill Demong each won two medals with two golds for Lodwick (10 km individual normal hill, 10 km mass start), and a gold (10 km individual large hill) and a bronze (10 km individual normal hill) for Demong. Demong's disqualification in the ski jumping part of the 4 × 5 team event led to the United States withdrawal from the cross country part of the event. This led to a surprise gold medal for the Japanese in the team event, their first at the world championships in this event since

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. ;Medal table

Ski jumping

Women's ski jumping debuted at these championships which was won by American Lindsay Van. She was also the first North American to medal in ski jumping and the first American woman to medal at the championships. On the men's side, Austria was the big winner with three medals and two each for Wolfgang Loitzl (golds in men's individual normal hill and team large hill events) and Gregor Schlierenzauer (gold in team large hill and silver in individual normal hill events). Both Loitzl and Schlierenzauer, World Cup leaders prior to the championships, joined Switzerland's Simon Ammann in the podium of the individual normal hill event. Ammann's teammate Andreas Küttel won gold in the individual large hill event in which only one jump was performed to unstable weather conditions. Norway also won three medals in the championships with a silver in the team large hill and bronzes from Anders Jacobsen (individual large hill) and Anette Sagen (women's individual normal hill). Medal table – men's ski jumping Medal table – women's ski jumping

Closing ceremonies

At the closing ceremonies of the championships, FIS President Kasper expressed great satisfaction with the championships, stating that it was the first time that a nation without any successful national favorites (The Czech won only one medal, a silver by Bauer in the men's 15 km) had organized such a successful championship. According to Kasper, attendance reached between 180,000 and 200,000 in the 12 days of competition. The lack of snowfall concerns prior to the championships were more than made up for with continuous snowfall though that affected spectators and competitors alike. Praise was given by Kasper both to the venue managers and Czech TV for their efforts in their successful championships. 15 different nations reached the podium at the championships noted Kasper. Kasper also state the success of the women's ski jumping event will hopefully push the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

to include the event for the 2014 Games in Sochi with a possible team event as well. Concerning the Nordic combined 10 km mass start, Kasper stated that the event will be thoroughly analyzed as part of an overall season assessment as part of the discipline's current overhaul. Finally, Kasper wished everyone the best and looked forward to seeing everyone at Oslo for the next Nordic World Ski Championships.

Post-event information

The organizing committee for the 2009 championships met in Oslo with the organizing committee of the 2011 championships on 20 April 2009 to discuss lessons learned. In the presentation was a comprehensive and frank analysis of the critical areas of Liberec's organization. Key success factors were detailed and lessons learned were elaborated, including several recommendations to both the 2011 championships and the organizing committee for the 2013 championships in

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, Italy. Besides the 2009, 2011, and 2013 organizing committees in attendance, other attendees included the

Norwegian Ski Federation The Norwegian Ski Federation ( no, Norges Skiforbund) is headquartered in Oslo, Norway and is the national representative of the International Ski Federation. Founded on 21 February 1908, it covers the skiing disciplines of alpine, cross-countr ...

, the

television, FIS, and the APF marketing partners. Of the 73 skiers who won medals at these championships, 34 of them would medal at the

Winter Olympics The Winter Olympic Games (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques d'hiver) is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were h ...

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

the following year. Three of the skiers who won the world championships in their respective events, Bill Demong in the nordic combined 10 km individual large hill, Justyna Kowalczyk in the cross-country skiing women's 30 km, and Petter Northug in the cross-country skiing men's 50 km, would win Olympic gold in those same events.2010 Winter Olympics Cross-country skiing 28 February 2010 men's 50 km classical mass start results.
- accessed 28 February 2010.

Medal table

Top nations

Medal winners by nation.

Top athletes

All athletes with two or more medals.

References

External links

Official website

from ''

-ski.com'' {{DEFAULTSORT:Fis Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in cross-country skiing 2009 in Nordic combined 2009 in ski jumping International sports competitions hosted by the Czech Republic Sport in Liberec 2009 in Czech sport Nordic skiing competitions in the Czech Republic February 2009 sports events in Europe March 2009 sports events in Europe