The 2008/2009 World Cup season gets under way this weekend in Gaellivare, Sweden with a 10/15km Freestyle on Saturday and the traditional 4×5 and 4x10km relays on Sunday. All races will be available to watch on Universal Sports (formerly WCSN). The schedule can be found here. All video on Universal Sports is currently available for free – no paid subscription is necessary.
Kris Freeman is currently the only scheduled starter in the 15km free, according to US coaches. The US men will then field a team in the 4x10km relay. With just four skiers in Europe, all will participate, making a team of Freeman, Chris Cook, Andy Newell, and Torin Koos (note: this is not necessarily the team's running order). The later three are primarily sprinters, though both Cook and Newell raced one of the 15km FIS races in Muonio last weekend, and Koos posted strong results at US Distance Nationals last spring.
Says Newell, “The focus will be on the relay in Sweden. We will for sure start and I think the team is looking strong and we want to show everyone what we can do.”
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<p>Despite Newell's optimism, it is unlikely the US team will be competing for a top spot. The competition will of course be fierce, and none of the sprinters have yet to post top international distance results. Says Freeman “The sprinters don't focus on long races so we have no expectations. Tell Kuzzy, Noah, Leif, James, Lars and everyone else to ski fast and get over here!” But it is exciting to have a US team in the mix, and it already appears that we will be seeing more US skiers in distance events this season.</p>
<p>USST Head Coach Pete Vordenberg is keeping expectations low for Freeman in Gaelivare. “Historically Kris takes three weeks in Europe before he hits his stride and this is only the second week,” Vordenberg said. “I think we can look at a top-30 result, but next weekend we should start looking for some great results.”</p>
<p>He continues, “I am really confident about the preparation we've done this year. We could surprise ourselves with a good result, but I'm really looking down the road. I'm viewing this as more of a preparation weekend.” </p>
<p>The Canadian team will start two skiers in the distance race in Gaellivare – Devon Kershaw and Stefan Kuhn are in Europe and are ready to go.</p>
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