Last week, Norwegian national-team staple Kristin Størmer Steira announced her retirement following a dozen years on the World Cup. "I’ve experienced so much as a cross-country skier and I love ski racing, but the time has come to find a new track," she said in a press release. "And that won’t be a ski track."
What started out like any other cold turned into a season-ending downward spiral for Devon Kershaw, who, in the midst of what would have been his eighth World Championships, had to forgo racing and leave Sweden early to recover at his fiancée’s home in Oslo, Norway.
Russian Yulia Tchekaleva won the women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon Sunday by 15.6 seconds, earning her first-ever World Cup victory and delivering her best result of the season on home turf in Rybinsk, Russia.
Liz Stephen marked yet another historic race with a second place in the 10 k freestyle in Rybinsk, Russia. The 27-year-old not only earned her first-ever World Cup podium, she also notched the best finish by an American woman in a World Cup distance race.
Kristin Størmer Steira's in the game for another season, but she's not so sure what the next four years hold -- definitely some school and not another Olympics. "I learned from my earlier mistakes saying this is my last year, but I don’t think longer than Falun ... we’ll see," she says in an exclusive interview.
Devon Kershaw's friends said he'd never make it to the summit of Mera Peak -- not without popping the question to his girlfriend Kristin Størmer-Steira first. But he didn't crack in Kathmandu, like they predicted, before their three-week climbing trek in April.
Teammates on the U.S. Ski Team and Alaska Pacific University, Kikkan Randall and Sadie Bjornsen tallied the best distance results of their respective careers on Sunday at Holmenkollen, the ultimate distance race of the season. Randall worked her way up and attacked late to finish 12th, and Bjornsen skied consistently with a pack of Norwegians to place 14th.
With three teammates skiing at the front of the women's 30 k freestyle mass start from start to finish, it was no surprise it was Norway, and it wasn't exactly stunning that they dominated the podium. However, the last several hundred meters of the race turned out to be the most exciting, with Marit Bjørgen executing in her usual fashion. The victory made her the most successful woman in Winter Olympics history.
With Kikkan Randall, Liz Stephen, Holly Brooks, and Jessie Diggins all scoring World Cup points, the American women's team was happy with their day in Saturday's 15 k skate. Were there any personal bests? No, but a few of them cracked a tough Davos course that has given them trouble in the past.
"So I tried to do my own race and not think about the other ones being in front of me," said Norway's Marit Bjørgen after her win in Davos today. She wasn't kidding around - not only was she the last starter in the 15 k freestyle, but she also wasn't winning at the early checkpoints. But if anyone can turn the tables, it's Bjørgen.
While the Norwegian women's team seized a predictable victory in the Lillehammer World Cup 4 x 5 k relay on Sunday, Finland and the U.S. duked it out for second, with a late crash taking the Americans out of the running for their best-ever relay result.
Earlier this month, Devon Kershaw packed his bags for Europe, where he'll spend essentially six months between the World Cup, Tour de Ski and Olympic competitions. It was tough, he said, but an opportunity he couldn't pass up between seeing his girlfriend, Kristin Størmer Steira, and training with the Norwegian men's team in Val Senales, Italy.
If you noticed the slew of photos from a ski race in the Yukon last week, you weren't dreaming. The second-annual JP Grand Prix, hosted in a backyard in Whitehorse, was held on Friday complete with live music, a barbecue, TV crew and, yes, snow. Welcome to the world's coolest ski race.
When you’ve already got 11 World Championship golds, it takes something really special to bring you to tears for the 12th one. Marit Bjørgen was overcome with emotion after winning Saturday's 30 k classic mass start, a race she had been focusing on for the last few years.
Though Marit Bjørgen made the last-second decision to skip Sunday's race, the Norwegian women were just fine in her absence. Therese Johaug claimed her first individual-start win in the 10 k in Davos, Switzerland, for a confidence-boosting tune-up before World Championships. She bested Justyna Kowalczyk and teammate Kristin Størmer Steira on the challenging course.
Kristin Størmer Steira went with her instinct on Saturday and decided to go for it shortly after the halfway point of the pre-Olympic 15 k skiathlon in Sochi. The 31-year-old Norwegian stayed ahead and won by nearly 20 seconds for her first individual World Cup victory in four years.
Things almost looked scary for Norway when Heidi Weng fell and broke a pole in the first kilometer of the 4 x 5 k relay in La Clusaz, but even the tangle couldn't stop Marit Bjørgen from finishing with a 27-second gap on the field. Finland finished second and Norway II took third.
With four women starting in the top top ten spots in the 10 k classic mass start, Norway seemed to have an opportunity - albeit a slim one - to steal at least some bonus seconds from Justyna Kowalczyk. But it was to no avail as the Polish star cruised to another victory and more or less sealed her Tour title. Kikkan Randall, meanwhile, is in seventh and hoping for a better climb than she's had before.
FasterSkier contributor Gerry Furseth recently asked a few top European World Cup skiers about their favourite places to race internationally. Of course, there's some bias (since the interviews were done in Canmore), but several athletes didn't hesitate to reveal their top picks.
Justyna Kowalczyk knows a thing or two about racing in Canmore, and she used her calm approach to win Sunday's 15 k skiathlon, her second title at the Alberta World Cup, by nearly 35 seconds.