According to Nielsen’s annual report, commissioned by the International Ski Federation (FIS), women had 519 million spectators in total during the World Cup, while men had 367 million. This means that women had 41.4% more spectators than men. Indeed, it was a very exciting year for women’s cross-country skiing, with many athletes fighting for the podium in every single race. “On the women’s side, there are a few more nations fighting for victory. It helps to increase the interest. It was very exciting last year […] That is understandable” Johannes Høsflot Klæbo tells NRK. In the 2021/22 season the difference had only been 8% more spectators for the women. “With the women it was exciting. For the men it was the Norwegian Cup” says Lotta Udnes Weng to NRK. “Both Tiril (Udnes Weng) and I fell asleep during the men’s relay at the World Championships” says Anne Kjersti Kalvå to NRK. There, Norway won a stunning but predictable World Championships gold, with Finland second about 1’30” behind the Scandinavians. In the past World Cup season, 27 out of 30 men’s races had Norwegian winners, who also took 63 out of 90 places on the podium. On the women’s side, seven nations came out on top with 14 different winners: Sweden had twelve victories, with 32 top-three finishes, while Norway had nine, taking ‘only’ 28 of the 90 podium places available.
Read more on NRK.no
