As the U.S. cross-country ski team gears up for the world championships, it's not too consumed with competition to invest a little time into some good old-fashioned Internet fun. The team is swinging for the viral fences with a lip-sync and dance video set to the hit song, Uptown Funk, by Bruno Mars and Mark Ronson.
The video is very well done from a technical standpoint, and that's no accident: The crew reportedly took three weeks to put together the four-minute video. During that time, America's best skiers were lip-syncing the lyrics, learning dance moves and polishing tough tricks like the moonwalk -- while wearing ski boots.
The video was shot in both Switzerland and Sweden, where the team is currently training.
Taking on such a large project so close to championship competitions -- the nordic skiing world championships began Thursday -- might seem risky, but the team actually found it a welcome distraction as the stress of competition started to creep up on the team.
"It's great team bonding, especially when people are getting nervous about worlds," said Jessie Diggins, a former skiing champion who directed the video, to The Associated Press. "We'd have dance practice in the hallways and meeting rooms for weeks.
"I'd wake up and come outside in the morning and the boys would be out in the hallway on their own practicing. It was so cool."
