Marit Bjørgen stuck with Justyna Kowalczyk during her typical attack on the last lap, and went on to drop Kowaczyk and the rest of the women in Saturday's 10 k classic mass start at World Cup Finals. Norway swept the podium, and a deflated Kowalczyk decided to call it quits.
A year after Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw topped the podium in the World Cup Finals prologue, the Canadian team was looking for some positives on Friday, but would have to settle for two top 30s on a challenging day.
Just when spectators thought he might falter, Petter Northug rebounded from a nearly five-second deficit midway through Friday's 2.5 k prologue to win his second-straight race of World Cup Finals by 2.1 seconds over teammate Pal Golberg. Norway showed its strength on the modified course, putting six in the top seven.
Just over a year ago, Yulia Tchekaleva had her first child, and while she enjoyed the pregnancy and much-needed break from training, she entered 2012/2013 with a new kind of drive. Without an individual World Cup medal before this season, she's now got four, including one from World Championships.
For every Canadian qualifier except Dasha Gaiazova, the quarterfinals of Wednesday’s World Cup Finals 1.1-kilometer classic sprint were a second chance, an opportunity to get it right. Gaiazova had qualified in a career-best fourth, but Devon Kershaw on skate skis and Lenny Valjas on classic had narrowly made it through in 28th and 30th, respectively. All three went on to make the top 20.
Petter Northug sheltered himself from the wind then surged to the front when it counted, winning each of his heats and ultimately Wednesday's final for his first sprint victory in Stockholm. The win put him ahead of Alexander Legkov and Dario Cologna in the overall World Cup standings and in prime position for the rest of the World Cup Finals.
Several U.S. skiers competed in the Engadin 42 k marathon two weekends ago in Switzerland, with Hannah Dreissigacker and Matt Liebsch both finishing in the top 25. Oliver Burruss blew away his top-100 goal in 50th. Burruss and Dreissigacker recall their first Engadin.
Therese Johaug knows how to win big at Holmenkollen, but she outdid herself in Sunday's 30 k freestyle mass start, beating Justyna Kowalczyk by 46.6 seconds and skiing alone for nearly 23 k to do so.
Devon Kershaw was the top Canadian in the men's 50 k freestyle mass start in Holmenkollen in 29th, not quite his 10th-place result in the 50 k classic there last year, but an improvement over his recent outings. Ivan Babikov followed in 33rd, and Alex Harvey did not finish because of back pains.
Gabriela Soukalova didn't want to race Thursday morning. Who could blame her? It was freezing in Siberia and she was set to start a 7.5 k sprint that evening. The Czech overcame her dread and won the IBU World Cup race over Germany's Andrea Henkel and Miriam Gössner. Susan Dunklee led the Americans in 29th.
Starting hard in her quarterfinal but missing out on advancing, Dasha Gaiazova led the Canadians in 15th in the Drammen classic sprints. Qualifying in 29th and 30th, Lenny Valjas and Alex Harvey were glad to make it through, but wanted a little more after finishing 16th and 20th, respectively.
Petter Northug put himself in prime position heading into the final World Cup races of the season, beating Alexey Poltoranin in Wednesday's classic sprint in Drammen, Norway, with one powerful finish.
Typically known as a sprinter, Dasha Gaiazova is knocking on distance racing’s door. The 29-year-old notched her second-best result of the season in a distance event, placing 33rd in Sunday’s 10-kilometer classic individual start at the World Cup in Lahti, Finland.
Just when people were starting to doubt Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk, the 30-year-old put down a pace no one could keep up with – not even four-time 2013 World Champion Marit Bjørgen – on Sunday in Lahti, Finland.
Utah senior Miles Havlick did it again, defending his mass start title at NCAA Championships, and this time leading his teammates to second in the team standings after Colorado University.
Colorado University seniors Joanne Reid and Eliska Hajkova went 1-2 in Saturday's 15 k freestyle mass start, the last race of the 2013 NCAA Championships, to lift the Buffs to a national title.
Three Scandinavians swept the podium on the first day of nordic racing at the NCAA Championships in Ripton, Vt., with Norwegian Rune Ødegård of the University of Colorado leading the charge in the 10 k classic individual start.
From a new 5 k homologated course to the largest snowmaking system of its type in North America, Middlebury College's Rikert Nordic Center in Vermont is on the cutting edge of cross-country ski racing. It did so largely in part to attract events like NCAAs, which start today.
Alex Harvey hung with the group for the first half of Sunday's 50 k, but dropped out of contention and didn't have the skis or the body to catch back up in the final race of the 2013 World Championships. He finished 28th, Graham Nishikawa was 48th and Ivan Babikov pulled out halfway through.
Johan Olsson surprised most everyone and held his own for nearly 30 k on Sunday, skiing alone with a relentless drive for gold in the World Championships 50 k classic mass start on a hot-and-slushy afternoon.