 Official logo for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 | |
| Host city | Liberec, Czech Republic |
|---|---|
| Nations | 61 |
| Athletes | 589 |
| Events | 20 |
| Opening | 18 February 2009 |
| Closing | 1 March 2009 |
| Main venue | Tipsport Arena |
| Website | Liberec2009.com |
| FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 | ||
|---|---|---|
Cross-country skiing | ||
| Sprint | men | women |
| Interval start | 15 km men | 10 km women |
| Pursuit | 30 km men | 15 km women |
| Mass start | 50 km men | 30 km women |
| Team sprint | men | women |
| Relay | 4×10 km men | 4×5 km women |
Nordic combined | ||
| Normal hill | Individual | Mass start |
| Large hill | Individual | Team |
Ski jumping | ||
| Normal hill | Men | Women |
| Large hill | Individual | Team |
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 (Czech: Mistrovství světa v klasickém lyžování Liberec 2009) took place 18 February – 1 March 2009 in Liberec, Czech Republic. This was the fourth time these championships were hosted either in the Czech Republic or in Czechoslovakia, having done so at Janské Lázně (1925) and Vysoké Tatry (in both 1935 and 1970).
The biggest sports event in the country's history, it hosted 589 athletes from 61 countries. Women's ski jumping and Men's Nordic combined 10 km mass start events debuted at these championships, both won by Americans Lindsey Van and Todd Lodwick, respectively.
Norway won the most medals with twelve and most golds with five, all in the men's cross-country skiing events, including three from Petter Northug. Germany finished second in the total medal count with nine though none of them were gold (eight silver and one bronze). Finland finished third in the medal count with eight with three golds, all from Aino-Kaisa Saarinen 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: one gold and one bronze). Kikkan Randall 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 with three medals and two each for Wolfgang Loitzl and Gregor Schlierenzauer. 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's Andrus Veerpalu 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, but 35 to 40 percent lower than the 2005 championships in Oberstdorf.[1] FIS 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 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. A broadcast report from the European Broadcasting Union released on 4 June 2009 had total viewership of 666 million global viewers, higher than that of the 2005 championships and the 2001 championships.
- ^ "Wenig Zuschauer: WM-Veranstalter droht Finanzloch" (in German). Deutsche Presse-Agentur. 4 March 2007. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 6 March 2007.