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Start: Marcus Hellner (SWE), r: Petter Northug (NOR)
Finish: Petter Northug (NOR) shows Marcus Hellner (SWE) who is the boss
Las Vegas
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Racing: Rollerski desert duel: Northug (NOR) beats Hellner (SWE)
The rollerski match sprint was the second stage in a three-part Vegas showdown between the two Fischer athletes Petter Northug (NOR) and Marcus Hellner (SWE). It featured a head-to-head poker game at the Palms Hotel and Casino won by Hellner. This was followed by the rollerski races which took place in a parking lot at the Palms Resort and Casino, just off of the Vegas Strip. What a place to match…
The Vegas heat abated a little which seemed to be good news for Peter Northug and Marcus Hellner. Black tarmac. Little wind. Even so nearly everyone including the two athletes, was drenched with sweat after the first 15 minutes in the morning sunshine. And there were even a surprising number of spectators present, giving the impression that the organizers must have rounded up all the Norwegians they could find in Sin City.
The race
The event itself was comprised of a best-of-three head-to-head series of sprint heats, each heat being two laps of a figure-eight course. On the tight, twisting loop around two traffic islands, the start made all the difference. Northug and Hellner threw dice for starting position. The Swede won, which gave him the advantage in two out of the three heats.
After the first two rounds, it appeared that it would be the dice, not fitness, that would decide the outcome, because the man with the inside line to the first corner took each heat—Hellner the first and Northug the second. So for the final heat, the staff moved back the start line a few meters, giving Northug more time to overcome his unfavourable start spot on the outside. Using his trademark explosive speed, he won the determining third head already at the start and never looked back.
“It was still fair, because I got the best start position. He’s a quicker starter than me - that made all the difference,” said Marcus Hellner, laughing. Petter Northug agreed: “In the first heat, Marcus was first out, and it was difficult to pass him. But in the two last ones I was waking up, and was hearing the home crowd here…I took the start in the last heat, and that was important.”
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