What kind of training has made Qiang Wang so good? Former U23 World Champion Ole Marius Bach talks about the training program behind the success.

Ole Marius Bach came from Inderøya in Trøndelag, Norway, and was a great talent in cross-country skiing just over ten years ago. In 2010 he became U23 World Champion in the sprint in Hinterzarten, Germany. He also took silver in the skiathlon race in the same championship. In 2009, as a 21-year-old, he took bronze in the 30km race during Norway’s National Championships in Gjøvik. 

Since 2018, he has been a coach for Qiang Wang and followed his development towards the top.

The National Team Head Coach is a Chinese woman. Still, Bach, together with the Olympic Champion Nikita Kriukov, from Russia, has been responsible for the daily follow-up of the skiers.

“It is the Chinese Head Coach who has the last word. Both Nikita and I are more assistant coaches. We set up the daily program but get to hear it if something she does not like,” says Bach to Langrenn.com.

“For the past six months, Nikita has been responsible for Qiang Wang, and he sets up the daily training plan. We have divided the training group in two, and I am responsible for the second part, but we work closely on the scheme,” Bach explains.

Granåsen and Meråker

Ole Marius joined the project in 2018. He was brought in by Bernhard Rønning. The first year they stayed in Granåsen, then a year in Meråker, Norway.

“When we started in 2018, there were ten athletes. Before the corona pandemic, we were up to 50. When the corona pandemic came, many were sent home, and the best who were in Lillehammer and Meråker was further invested in,” says Bach.

“After the corona pandemic came, everything was moved to China. Since the end of September, he has lived there in the run-up to the Olympics.”

He characterizes the training conditions as ok.

“The summers are very nice in China, but the winters are a bit too cold and without so much natural snow. There will be many laps in artificial snow tracks. The skiers also benefit greatly from coming to Falun and Kollen to ski with klister; they do not have much experience with that,” Bach explains.

Typical Norwegian training

The applied training philosophy is typical Norwegian training.

“Qiang Wang has trained according to a normal Norwegian training philosophy since we came into 2018. He had a lot of natural speed in his body and could not tolerate extreme volumes.’ Roughly speaking, he is around 7-800 hours of training a year with two to three hard sessions a week.”

“The special thing about him is the speed potential. Not many people have that. It is the increased endurance that has now enabled him to fight at the top,” says Bach, who believes it is still possible for the Chinese, who turns 29 in April, to become even better.

“I think there is a lot to go on. He can still get much better with the right follow-up. Now he has also really got blood on his teeth after the good results in recent weeks and is entering his best years as a skier.”

What about the other skiers?

“It’s a bit down to the rest of the Chinese athletes, but there is potential in some of them.”

“We have some other skiers who can rise. Especially a couple of girls who have not made it all the way since we returned to Europe, but they have the potential to go far,” Bach states.

He is primarily talking about Xin Li and Chunxue Chi, who have been involved since Granåsen in 2018. The two Chinese athletes, Dinigeer Yilamujiang and Qinghua Ma, who Kristian Bjune Sveen trains, have also shown great potential in recent seasons.

Earlier this year, NRK made a documentary about sports cooperation between Norway and China. Bjune Sveen has been interviewed. He trains another group of Chinese athletes. Bernhard Rønning, Ole Marius Bach, and Nikita Kriukov have had their own scheme. Since September last year, the two groups have been together in China, and they are now traveling to the World Cup as a group.

What now?

 When the season is over after this weekend’s race in Falun, the four-year commitment in China is in all probability over for Bach. With three children at home on Inderøya, he cannot be away for six months at a time.

“My contract with the Chinese expires after this season, and I think my time in China is over. It’s too much time away. Considering that this is now the end, it was very fun that we had some good races with Qiang Wang to show what he is good at.

What will Bach do now?

“I want to be more at home. I also thrive as a coach and want to continue with it,” Bach concludes.

There is a classic sprint in Falun on Friday, where Qiang Wang will be one of the favorites after what he showed in Drammen a week ago.

Read Part 1 on Qiang Wang here.