Abstract

Cross country skiing is strongly anchored in Norwegian culture and history and represents a significant focus in the nation's athletic arena. In women's skiing, however, the Soviet Union/Russia has historically been 'primus inter pares', an issue of Norwegian national concern, although from time to time Norwegian women have competed on even terms. In a 1998 investigation of this performance gap, Solbakken and Vikander uncovered a constellation of psycho/social/behavioural characteristics favouring the performance of the Soviet/Russian women over their Norwegian counterparts. The present inquiry extends this mode of analysis into the specific goal-setting area in the quest to further explain the performance differential beyond the traditional parameters of variations in training programs, exercise physiology, and biomechanics. Through a detailed analysis of the role of goals for international medalists from both countries, further explanations are sought for the Soviet/Russian women's greater stability at the highest performance levels. In spite of the voluminous research literature in the area of goals, there exists a serious lack of detailed knowledge of how in fact athletes, particularly at the highest levels, go about their goal-setting actions. It is in the spirit of contributing to a diminution of this lack, within the context of factors outlined here, that the present investigation of goal-action variations between Soviet/Russian and Norwegian women ski medalists should be viewed. Aus der Einleitung