The championships feature cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined. Dalarna University researchers can offer insights into training, technique and athlete health, as well as television production, sponsorship, working conditions in tourism and young people’s opportunities to participate in sport.
Competition, technology and health
Cross-country skiing: technique, performance and endurance
Tomas Carlsson, Senior Lecturer Medical Sciences, Exercise Physiology and Associate Professor Sport and Health Sciences. He researches movement economy, how the body adapts to training, and factors that can predict a cross-country skier’s performance. He can answer questions about endurance training, pacing strategies and how different techniques can help skiers use energy more efficiently during a race.
Sports technology, concussions and safety
Mikael Svarén, a researcher in Sport and Health Sciences, can answer questions about how training watches, apps and sensors are used to guide training and recovery. He can also discuss when performance data may create stress or cause athletes to stop paying attention to signals from their bodies. His research also covers sport-related concussions, how to prevent and detect them, and how technology can support a safer return to sport.
Movement analysis
Wim Grooten, Professor of Physiotherapy, researches movement science, biomechanics and motor control. He can explain what movement analysis can reveal about technique and movement quality, how physical loads affect joints and muscles, and how measurement technology can be used to analyse movements in sport.
Pain and rehabilitation
Linda Vixner, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Medical Science, researches persistent pain and pain rehabilitation. She can answer questions about adapting physical training for people experiencing pain and tailoring rehabilitation to the individual.
Media, marketing and sport management
Skiing, media and commercialisation
Marit Nybelius Stub, Senior Lecturer in Sport and Health Sciences, researches the growing influence of media on sport, with a particular focus on cross-country skiing, ski jumping and Nordic combined. She is also knowledgeable about other skiing disciplines within the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and the organisation as a whole. She can discuss, for example, how media and commercialisation affect skiing, athletes and FIS. She has also researched the conditions faced by women in ski jumping and their campaign to compete at Olympic level.
Marit has extensive experience as a television commentator for ski jumping and Nordic combined.
Live sport and television production
Andreas Andersson, Lecturer in Image Production, teaches television production and production technology and has industry experience from Swedish public broadcaster SVT. He can answer questions about how live sporting events are planned and produced, how multicamera production is used to cover competitions, and how content is adapted for television, streaming services and social media.
Marketing, sponsorship and sport management
Sara Otterskog, Lecturer in Business Administration and Programme Director of the Sport Management Programme at Dalarna University. Her areas of expertise include marketing, service businesses and sport management. She can offer perspectives on how sporting events are marketed, how organisers, sponsors and audiences interact, and how commercialisation affects the organisation and brands of sport.
Children, sport and volunteering
The pursuit of elite performance in children’s and youth sport
Erik Backman, Associate Professor of Education specialising in Sport Science, researches how children’s and youth sport is changing through greater performance demands, early specialisation and selection, rising costs, commercialisation and shifts in the sporting landscape. He can discuss how the emphasis on performance in elite sport affects young people and how this can be balanced with play, enjoyment of movement, community and inclusion.
Young people’s participation in sport and unequal opportunities
Ali Abdelzadeh, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Political Science, studies how neighbourhood socioeconomic conditions, length of residence and moving home affect young people’s participation in sport. He can answer questions about why young people have different opportunities to participate and about possible differences related to gender and ethnic background. His research also covers segregation, civil society and social trust.
Volunteering and the role of civil society
Erik Lundberg, Associate Professor and Senior Lecturer in Political Science, researches civil society, civic engagement and democratic participation. He can answer questions about how engagement and trust develop and the role that associations and other civil society organisations play. His expertise is relevant to the volunteers and local organisations on which major sporting events depend.
Exercise for children, pregnant people and older adults
Mikael Nordlander, Professor of Exercise Physiology, researches how exercise can be adapted to a person’s age, circumstances and individual needs. He can answer questions about strength training and motor development in children, high-intensity training for older adults, and physical activity and heavy lifting during pregnancy. His research sheds light on how people can exercise safely and improve their strength, balance, fitness and recovery.
Tourism, visitors and working life
Event tourism, visitors and planning
Tobias Heldt, Professor of Tourism Studies, conducts applied tourism research drawing on behavioural economics. He can answer questions about visitor choices, mobility, funding for recreational areas, and how large datasets and geographic information systems (GIS) can be used in tourism and community planning. He also teaches event tourism and tourism economics.
Working life and social sustainability in the hospitality industry
Maria Thulemark, Associate Professor of Tourism Studies and Senior Lecturer in Human Geography, researches work and social sustainability in the hospitality industry. She can answer questions about how work is organised, how sustainable working conditions can be created, and how gender, power and place affect the labour market. Her expertise is particularly relevant when a major event increases demand on hotels, restaurants and other parts of the hospitality industry.
