Venezuela, Tanzania & Co: The exotics at the Nordic World Cup

Eduardo Artega sat on the ground and first formed a snowball. The Venezuelan laughed and threw the wet, white ball at his cross-country skiing opponent Pedro Montes de Oca from Mexico and didn't let his 83rd place in the ten-kilometer qualifying race dampen his mood at all. “What a great camaraderie here,” said the 43-year-old enthusiastically after the competition between the Nordic exotics, which traditionally marked the starting signal for the World Cup before the opening ceremony on Wednesday. “I love the snow, it has changed my life,” Artega exclaimed. Like Venezuela and Mexico, Tanzania is not exactly known for its cross-country ski trail specialists. “We brought the African sun with us,” joked Nzumbe Nyanduga in view of the double-digit temperatures and bright sun in Oberstdorf and was happy to have competed for his home country. The fact that cross-country skiing isn't particularly popular at home didn't bother Nyanduga or Nicholas Lau from Trinidad and Tobago. “My compatriots find the sport difficult to imagine, but they know what a World Cup means,” said the 41-year-old. A Colombian woman wants to make history Fiorella D'Croz Brusatin was the first to hit the track on Wednesday morning - with wide skis instead of sunglasses. “Maybe I’ll start a new style,” said the Colombian and laughed. Without the big glasses, the cold wind brought tears to her eyes, explained the 41-year-old, who was completely overwhelmed at the finish. “It was crazy for me,” said Brusatin, who has only been cross-country skiing for a year and was competing in her first ever race in Oberstdorf. With her arms outstretched, she pointed to the idyllic mountains and said: “This is better than the Olympics!” Brusatin originally comes from Cali, but now lives in Norway and is training there for her big goal: “I want to be the first Colombian woman to take part in the summer and winter games.” In 2004, she competed in triathlon at the Olympic Games in Athens. The next goal: Beijing 2022. Regina Lorenzo Martinez also wants to go to the Winter Olympics in China. For the Mexican, the manageable hype of the Ghost World Cup and the interest in it was sensational. Unlike many professional footballers, she was happy about every question and smiled and thanked the journalists for their time. “It would have been nice with spectators, but that would definitely have distracted me,” says the 28-year-old and laughs.

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Venezuela, Tanzania & Co: The exotics at the Nordic World Cup

It's rare for a Mexican and a Venezuelan to talk about a cross-country race at the finish line. The time has come for the Nordic World Ski Championships. The race of the unusual cross-country skiing nations shows that you don't need a medal to be in a good mood.

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