The 2010 men’s World Cup field should be as deep and competitive as always. FasterSkier previews the top men in the world, and makes some predictions. Petter Northug (NOR) He can do it all and has the best finish in the game. Some question the sportsmanship of his tactics, but regardless of morality, they work. Prediction: After being left off the ’06 Olympic team, he has something to prove. He will go for a sweep,...
Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) Kowalczyk is last year’s overall World Cup Champion and should be considered the favorite to repeat. Her versatility and stamina are her strengths. She’s just as capable of winning a sprint as a 30 km., and last year she missed just one race, scoring World Cup points in every start. She had a total of nine podium finishes, including five victories. Kowalczyk was not dominating last weekend at FIS races in Sweden,...
Oh, sure, every World Cup Nordic ski team needs a good waxing crew, but they need something more — a top-notch costume disciplinarian. I’m not talking about some Scandinavian blonde with a whip (though there were those rumors about the Austrian team). I mean a no-nonsense fashionista who will insure that the team not only skis fast, but looks good — with consistent logos, flags, advertising, and color schemes. Someone who is not afraid to...
The Whistler Question reports on the issue of home-fieled advantage at the 2010 Olympics. Whistler – Coach Geret Coyne and the Canadian biathlon team spend most of their time during the winter in Europe, living out of suitcases while competing on the World Cup circuit. Their European rivals are often just a few hours from home, and normally, the “home” teams gets plenty of perks beyond just having the home crowd on their side. So...
We have now run two live chats – one with USST Coach Chris Grover in February, and one with Andy Newell earlier this week. Both were great successes and we are planning more. Please let us know who you would like to see, and what time/day of the week works best! Use the comment section to post your requests for participants. You can read the transcripts from both chats: Live Chat With Andy Newell –...
Three races are left in the World Cup Final – who do you think will take hoome the extra 200 World Cup points for claiming the overall victory? [poll id=”7″] [poll id=”8″]
Petter Northug (NOR) has been on a roll recently, winning three gold medals at the World Championships and then besting sprint specialist Ola Vigen Hattestad in the first World Cup sprint following Liberec. Northug has come under constant criticism for his cocky and disrespectful attitude. He has routinely made headlines in European papers for his lack of tact. In one notable incident, after taking out Swede Thobias Fredriksson in a sprint, he told the...
Were you wondering what to do with those extra two sets of fast skis? Looks like FIS has a new rule regarding equipment exchanges during competition, but I don’t see it in the current (2008) rule books. Can you exchange your poles too? Because dang, dawwg, that would totally improve my Tour time. How much more is a fast race going to cost a poor program? Will coaches gradually lose the ability to wax for longer...
