Alex Harvey rocked the 30 k skiathlon, executing a tried-and-tested strategy to a 'T' and staying out of the way of trouble. The Canadian won the penultimate race of World Cup Finals to put himself in podium contention for the overall World Cup, which would be the icing on his most successful season to date. Devon Kershaw placed 12th, and Ivan Babikov finished 23rd for Canada.
Kaisa Mäkäräinen made winning at home a habit in the second-straight IBU World Cup sprint in Kontiolahti, Finland, edging Tora Berger and Gabriela Soukalova, who both cleaned. Susan Dunklee rose to eighth for her second-best sprint result of the season and her career. Two other Americans and three Canadian women made Sunday's pursuit.
Reese Hanneman came within 0.45 seconds of becoming the third American man to make the World Cup heats this season, and Jessie Diggins was just over a second shy of qualifying in her first race back since getting sick post-Sochi. The two logged top-40 results again on Saturday, along with Ida Sargent, in the World Cup Finals skiathlons.
Three U.S. women and one man qualified for the rounds on the first day of World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden, a strong start to what turned out to be a solid day for the Americans. Kikkan Randall and Sophie Caldwell once again made the final as a unit, and Sadie Bjornsen narrowly missed out on advancing to the semis after placing third behind them in their quarterfinal. Andy Newell made the semifinals to finish eighth overall.
A look at the action that took place last Friday at U.S. Junior Nationals in the 15-, 10- and 5-kilometer freestyle mass starts in Stowe, Vt.
For many, the Holmenkollen 50 k freestyle mass start on Saturday was all about larger goals -- not just the race itself. But to achieve those goals, one had to do well enough in the challenging six-lap race. Alex Harvey improved from 46th to 14th with that mindset, and Noah Hoffman put it all on the line for bonus points.
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.
Giving credit where it's due, a look at the top-10 teams on the last day of racing at U.S. Junior Nationals in Stowe, Vt., in the 3 x 3-kilometer freestyle relays. New England ran away with the Alaska Cup after topping the podium in three out of the six races on Saturday.
Race highlights, the effects of a major crash, top results, and interesting facts about some of the winners in Friday's freestyle mass starts -- the last individual races of U.S. Junior Nationals.
The age-group winners of the Junior Nationals classic sprints chat on camera about their races and how they topped the competition on Wednesday in Stowe, Vt.
Fifty-four heats and nine hours after the 1.4-kilometer classic sprint qualifier kicked off on Day 2 of U.S. Junior Nationals, six national champions were crowned throughout Wednesday afternoon. Here's who also made All-American status.
A video from Day 1 of U.S. Junior Nationals where we caught tons of classic-skiing action in the 5- and 10-kilometer individual starts at Trapp Family Lodge in Stowe, Vt.
Marit Bjørgen had what she considered a perfect day in Sunday's 10-kilometer freestyle individual start in Lahti, Finland. After a strong start, the Norwegian paced herself to an even faster tempo as she ticked off the kilometers, beating the likes of Charlotte Kalla and Therese Johaug for the World Cup victory.
The first thing U.S. women's coach Matt Whitcomb tweeted after Saturday's freestyle sprint, the first World Cup since the Olympics: "We are back!" Randall had won another skate sprint to rise to the top of the World Cup sprint standings, and Sophie Caldwell joined her on the podium -- the first time two U.S. women have shared an individual World Cup podium.
For Canada, the 30-kilometer freestyle mass start was less about results and more about the emergence of a unified women's team, which finished within places of one another and stuck together even after the race. While one is continuing on the World Cup, national-team veterans Dasha Gaiazova and Chandra Crawford will not be racing this weekend in Lahti, Finland.
In three Olympic competitions in Sochi, U.S. Nordic Combined didn't end up with the fairy tale some had come to expect after the 2010 Vancouver Games. But with icons in Billy Demong and Todd Lodwick likely in their last Olympics, the story was more about the team closing one book and opening another.
Sunday's 50-kilometer freestyle mass start was the kind of race Russia had been dreaming of since it won the bid to host the 2014 Winter Olympics nearly six years ago. For the first time in Olympic history, the Russians swept the podium, and for the first time in 78 years, a single nation took all three medals in the 50 k.
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.
The US Biathlon women came out with both a fire and a desire to enjoy themselves in their last race of the Sochi Olympics: the 4 x 6 k relay. It worked as Susan Dunklee, Hannah Dreissigacker, Sara Studebaker, and Annelies Cook captured seventh -- an Olympic record for their program.
While U.S. Nordic Combined undoubtedly has its work cut out for its four-man team, Thursday marks the day they've been looking forward to at this Olympics: the 4 x 5 k team event.