The athletes of the Fischer Nordic Racing Team have got off to a magnificent start in the 13l14 Olympic season. Whether it was Klingenthal (GER), Kuusamo (FIN), Lillehammer (NOR), Östersund (SWE) or Hochfilzen (AUT), the Fischer team had every reason to celebrate.
"Before the season begins we are in the same position as the athletes," says Gerhard Urain, Nordic Racing Director at Fischer. "You know you've worked hard over the summer months, but you don't know how much it's really worth until the races actually get underway." The fact that the remarkable work of his service team has paid off became clear as soon as the first weekends of the season came.
In the cross country skiers' sprint events in Kuusamo, the winners of the opening races – Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) and Eirik Bransdal (NOR) – likewise came from the ranks of the Fischer team. These were joined by numerous podium finishes which prompted a delighted Gerhard Urain once again to comment as follows: "We have never come away from Kuusamo with such good results."

The biathletes also made their mark on the winners' lists in Östersund and Hochfilzen, and with Gabriela Soukalova (CZE), Gregor Schlierenzauer (AUT), Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR), Marit Björgen (NOR) and Eric Frenzel (GER), the yellow leader's bibs in five of the seven Nordic World Cups currently belong to Fischer athletes.

Equipment is ideal
Besides the results there was also positive news to report on the equipment front. There have seldom been so many new ski models in use at the start of the season as there are this year. Gerhard Urain explains: "The Speedmax with its new production process makes our job easier: as soon as the athletes have tested the skis, they find their speed absolutely convincing."

There have also been developments in the boot sector: Therese Johaug (NOR) and her team colleague Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR) decided to change to Fischer boots just before the start of the season and are now competing for points and medals with the special ladies' models RCS Carbonlite Skate and Classic WS. With success, as you can see.

We can look forward to further exciting and hopefully successful competitions this weekend. The biathletes will be fighting for World Cup points already on Thursday in Annecy,