The History of Cross-Country Skiing in FISU
Cross-Country Skiing has been a popular and compulsory sport on the FISU Games sport programme since the inaugural edition of the Winter Universiade in Chamonix, France, in 1960. Up to that point in time, Cross-Country Skiing had been on the programme of the traditional International Winter Weeks which were held in 1951 in Bad Gastein, 1953 in Saint Moritz, 1955 in Yugoslavia, 1957 in Oberammergau, and 1959 in Zell am See. The programme of Cross-Country Skiing at the first edition included the individual competitions of men’s 12 km C and women’s 8 km C, as well as men’s 4x8 km relay and women’s 3x4 kmrelay. The men’s and women’s competitions were dominated by the Russians (USSR) who finished always among the top six. Former medallists who have participated in the FISU Games include Olympic and world stars such as Justyna KOWALCZYK (POL).