At last. Now we’re there. The time is 10:35. The skis have been marked, I glide up towards the start line. As always I focus on doing every detail correctly. Place the skis in the track, but keep moving them to avoid any icing of the klister. Take a couple of deep breaths. Thinking I need to calm down. Same procedure as so many times before. Don’t get too exited. Too many times I’ve started...
Thursday, December 19, 2002, Linz, Austria  It was an exciting day for the Canadian National Cross Country Ski Team as Beckie Scott added a third World Cup bronze medal to her collection and Sara Renner raced to a personal best 8th in the World Cup skating sprint event held this evening in Linz, Austria.  Scott, an established power-house sprinter with two other bronze medals in this event, is continuing to produce consistent top-10...
I pull the curtains to the side and open the window. It’s cloudy and mild. This is good. I have a pair of fantastic skis for these conditions. Per Knut Aaland, who is our kick wax expert, has shown many times that he manages to find the perfect wax for the snow we have today. Moreover, klister conditions fit my explosive style of classic technique. Yup, it looks good. Can I have the perfect race?...
Hello, I am Duncan Callahan. I currently race for Western State College in Gunnison, Colorado, which competes in NCAA division I ski racing. I am in my third year at school and my second year of college racing after a red-shirt year. I am coached by Kendall Butts. I am very happy with where I am. Originally, I am from Glens Falls, NY where I started skiing six years ago, as a freshman in High...
Some of the soggier memories of ski racing in New England flooded my mind this weekend at the Continental cup races being held in Rossland, BC. New England ski racers are brought up in an atmosphere of rain, slush, red klister, and back up race sites, so I felt right at home this weekend racing in a cool slushy drizzle. I’ve been on the road for almost two months now and I believe this weekend’s...
After having both of their winning streaks ended in yesterday's skate races, both Kris Freeman and Wendy Wagner were back on top on Sunday's 10K & 5K classic races in the Rossland, BC Continental Cup. Freeman (USST) edged out Saturday's winner, Carl Swenson (USST) by 8 seconds. The next skier, David Chamberlain (Maine MSC) was 45 seconds out. The course was substantially longer than the normal 10K distance, with the winning time being 37 minutes....
US Ski Team veteran Carl Swenson continued his mastery of long skate races today in the Nor Am Continental Cup race outside of Rossland, BC. On the women's side junior skier Kristina Trygstad-Saari won her first Continental Cup race, beating out two skate distance specialists in the process. This weekends races were moved to the Paulsen Cross Country trails about 30 minutes from Rossland because of lack of snow in town. Instead of a sprint...
East: The eastern race season got underway this weekend with the Grafton Eastern Cup. Saturday race was a sprint and two veterans, now coaches, used their experience to take the wins. John Farra (Maine Winter Sports Center) won the men's sprint, ahead of David Smutok and Ryan Foster of Stratton. Coreen Woodbury (UNH coach) won the women's ahead of Morgan Smith and Gretchen Czaja, a J1 from Vernon, VT. On Sunday, junior Carina Hamel of...
Today's classic World Cup sprint competitions in Cogne were completely dominated by Norwegian skiers. Tor Arne Hetland won the men's A-final, while the Bente Skari led a Norwegian sweep in the women's competition. Hetland powered away from the strong Finn Lauri Pykkönen in the last 100 metres to add another sprint triumph to his merits. He has won all the World Cup sprints so far this season, and took over the lead position in the...
US Ski Team veteran Carl Swenson continued his mastery of long skate races today in the Nor Am Continental Cup race outside of Rossland, BC. On the women's side junior skier Kristina Trygstad-Saari won her first Continental Cup race, beating out two skate distance specialists in the process. This weekends races were moved to the Paulsen Cross Country trails about 30 minutes from Rossland because of lack of snow in town. Swenson, who is always...
FasterSkier ed. note: North Americans Sara Renner and Milaine Theriault were 39th and 37th. Beckie Scott (sickness) and Justin Wadsworth did not race. A Return to Form for Norwegian Men Today's 30 classic for men in Cogne gave Norway a much longed for triumph. Frode Estil won the race, two centimetres ahead of teammate Anders Aukland. The participants in today's mass start for men woke up to sunshine and excellent conditions in the tiny Italian...
Surprisingly, the pre-Christmas season was perfect. Surprising, since many distracting tasks and problems caused me to have too much to think about. And it would become even worse. Soon after New Year’s celebrations, we traveled to Kavgolovo in Russia for World Cup events. The day before the World Cup race, our team manager Ulf Morten Aune asked me to come see him in his room in the army facilities we were staying at. He then...
Norwegian newspaper Adressavisen has calculated that Larissa Lazutina owes Bente Skari approximately $3000 in prize money, although Bente is not counting on ever seeing any of it. At a World Cup race in December 2001, Lazutina tested positive for NESP—a blood enhancer similar to the more-common EPO. The positive result was not known until later in the season, allowing Lazutina to race until the end of the Olympics. Another positive test in conjunction with the...
Nov 19, 2002 Dear friends, family, and fellow cyclists, On or around the 22nd of November, certain information regarding myself will become public. It will not be good news but I thought that hearing my side of the story first, might lessen the shock a little when you do read this, or hear about it in a few days. Some of what you will read in the media and hear on the streets will be...
Marit Bjœrgen secured her second World Cup triumph this season by winning today's sprint competition in Clusone, Italy, She beat the runner-up, Germany's Claudia Kuenzel, by 0.4 seconds. Bjœrgen was one of three Norwegians in the A-final. Teammate Anita Moen went out very hard, perhaps too hard, and faded to fourth in the last lap. Kuenzel held the initiative until Marit Bjœrgen made a decisive move up the last hill. The powerful Norwegian managed to...
Tor Arne Hetland controlled the men's A-final in today's sprint competition in Clusone, Italy, from start to finish. After a 10th place in the qualifying round, Tor Arne Hetland, advanced through the quarter-finals and semi-finals to win the A-final in grand style. Germany's René Sommerfelt finished second, while Sweden's Anders Högberg og Jörgen Brink finished third and fourth resepectively. Brink was unfortunate to fall as the athletes entered the finishing straight. Besides Hetland, Trond Einar...
Bente Skari gives assistant coach Egil Kristiansen most of the credit for the huge technical improvement she has made in skating this year. – He's been very patient, says Skari, who explains XC-skiing.com's readers how she has become a complete cross-country skier. Egil Kristiansen have seen it and Bente have felt it. A breakthrough was imminent. A great deal of hard work and close attention to technical details have contributed to a gradual improvement in...
Now it is serious. In the half-dark I get to my feet. Room six at the Tambartun School, where we have been provided housing, isn't big, but it is enough. Of course it's a mess. I step over bags, training gear, water bottles and newspapers. And over there is a marzipan pig I have gotten for Kristen Skjeldal. He is my idol. If everyone in the world were like him, there wouldn't be any wars....
The official website of US Nationals is now online. You can get all the info you need here:
Norway Dominates Relays in Davos.The official results show, however, that Italy won the men's relay ahead of Norway's first team which had a set-up consisting of Odd-Bjœrn Hjelmset, Frode Estil, Kristen Skjeldal, and Espen Bjervig. But, both teams were beaten by Norway's second team which consisted of Anders Aukland, Tore Bjoneviken, Tor Arne Hetland, and Thomas Alsgaard. The Norwegian first team controlled the women's relay from start to finish. Russia finished second and Germany third....