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Alex Kochon

Alex Kochon (alexkochon@gmail.com) is a former FasterSkier editor and roving reporter who never really lost touch with the nordic scene. A freelance writer, editor, and outdoor-loving mom of two, she lives in northeastern New York and enjoys adventuring in the Adirondacks. She shares her passion for sports and recreation as the co-founder of "Ride On! Mountain Bike Trail Guide" and a sales and content contributor at Curated.com. When she's not skiing or chasing her kids around, Alex assists authors as a production and marketing coordinator for iPub Global Connection.
Bankes Gets Gold #2 for Canada with Perfect Shooting at IBU Junior Worlds

(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Megan Bankes.) Just to review: 2004: Jean-Philippe “JP” Le Guellec becomes first Canadian to win an International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth World Championships title (in the youth men’s sprint). 2009: Kurtis Wenzel becomes second Canadian to win at IBU Youth Worlds, with a gold medal in the youth men’s sprint. 2012: Wenzel does it again as a junior, winning the 15-kilometer individual at IBU Junior...

The Next Le Guellec? Grandbois Canada’s Third IBU Youth World Champ

It was raining hard on Wednesday at the biathlon stadium in Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia. Like, cats and dogs, “des grenouilles” (frogs, in French), or “junge Hunde” (puppies, in German). But that didn’t stop Biathlon Canada press release. told Biathlon Canada. “It has always been my goal to be like him so to follow that path and do what he did is an amazing feeling. “The nicest message I received today was from JP,” he continued. “He...

Bailey Caps World Champs Mass Start in Sixth; Schempp Finally Gets Gold

Before this year’s International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships, American Lowell Bailey had never cleaned a 20-kilometer individual or 15-kilometer mass start race. In layman’s terms, he had never hit all 20 targets in those types of races — the longest formats on the circuit. Not in a World Championships, not in a World Cup. That’s not to say shooting isn’t his strength; that’s just extremely difficult to do. Fast forward to Sunday, the last...

Feeling Like His Old Self, Sundby Handily Wins Otepää 15 k; Harvey 19th

If the Otepää World Cup = a World Championships tune-up, consider Martin Johnsrud Sundby primed and ready. On Sunday, the 32-year-old Norwegian put together one of his best races ever from start to finish, by his own assessment, which resulted in at 37.1-second win in the men’s 15-kilometer classic individual start in Otepää. For the last four years, Sundby (the 2014 and 2016 Overall and Distance World Cup winner, who was overall World Cup leader...

Nilsson Cements Sprint-Favorite Status; Diggins 5th in Otepää Skate Sprint

At 23, Sweden’s Stina Nilsson has nailed a business-like approach to World Cup starts. Standing 5-foot-9, she appears to tower over most of her competitors, and before her signature races (sprints) she appears deep in contemplation, definitely in the zone. During those races, she’s usually the one setting the pace, and afterward, she’s almost always celebrating at the finish. So far this season, Nilsson has won seven World Cup races — including today’s freestyle sprint in Otepää,...

Germany Wins First Gold of IBU World Champs; France and Russia Steal Mixed-Relay Show

Germany was front and center for the first race of 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Championships on Thursday in Hochfilzen, Austria, but there was a sideshow that stole a good chunk of the limelight between France (namely Martin Fourcade) and Russia (namely Alexander Loginov). The action began with the 2 x 6 + 2 x 7.5-kilometer mixed relay, a co-ed event where teams start women for the first and second legs, followed by men for the third and...

For fans of North American skiing, some of the last races of U23 and Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, proved beyond captivating, surpassing most expectations and previous results. But for the U.S. junior women’s relay, a group of four that had set a goal two years ago at a U.S. development training camp, the podium was exactly where they had envisioned themselves. Relay bronze Hailey Swirbul, Julia Kern, Hannah Halvorsen, and...

FIS Nordic Combined Junior World Championships (Park City and Midway, Utah): Normal hill/5 k [UPDATED] In the individual normal hill/5-kilometer Gundersen on Saturday, the last nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic Junior World Championships, American Ben Loomis captured his first top 10 in his third Junior Worlds in ninth place. Eighteen-year-old Loomis jumped to 10th then picked off one place in the 5 k to finish ninth, 1:22.3 minutes behind the winner, Germany’s Vinzenz Geiger. Geiger...

Ogden Claims Bronze, First U.S. Individual Medal at Junior Worlds

Almost exactly two years. That’s how long 19-year-old Katharine Ogden recalled her longing for a medal at Junior World Championships, but she can trace her inspiration back to much earlier as a kid growing up in southern Vermont. Her father, a ski coach,  third in the World Cup classic sprint in PyeongChang, South Korea. That got Ogden excited for the day, and she went on to navigate her usual pre-race nerves, which were somewhat amplified...

Earlier this week, Gareth Williams, 19 of Kelowna, British Columbia, had no idea what to expect in his first Junior Worlds Championships race. Was top 20 realistic? He’d soon find out. Williams, of the Telemark Race Team, which, he explained will soon be known as the Okanagan Racers, raced to 20th to lead Canada in the told the U.S. Ski Team in a post-race interview. “When I did the first race in the sprint, I...

(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Paddy Caldwell.) Three years ago, American Patrick “Paddy” Caldwell made his debut at Junior World Championships, racing to classic sprint. Then, on Thursday in the men’s 15 k freestyle, he cracked the top 10 for the first time in his U23/Junior Worlds career. “I was really excited going into today’s race,” Caldwell wrote in an email on Friday morning. “15km FS is one of my...

(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Americans Katharine Ogden and Taeler McCrerey, as well as Canada’s Gareth Williams.) Katharine Ogden’s name had already been in the target race on Friday. “In the skiathalon I’m really hoping for another top 6 and maybe (hopefully) a podium.” “It’s really encouraging to know that all those U.S. Ski Team girls that are doing so well [on the World Cup] right now were in the same place that...

Two weeks after being Cole Morgan still felt like he had something to prove, goals to chase, races to qualify for. That’s where U23 World Championships came in. For Morgan, a former University of Vermont skier who graduated last spring and began a professional racing career with the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation (SVSEF) in Sun Valley, Idaho, his goal for the one race he was competing in at his first U23 Worlds was to finish in the top...

Schumann Races to 10th at Home NoCo Junior Worlds

Sixteen-year-old Stephen Schumann knew the drill when it came to Nordic Junior World Championships. He had been to his first Junior Worlds last year in Rasnov and Cheile Gradistei, Romania, and competed in three events: two individual and the team 4 x 5-kilometer relay. This year, he’s on his home turf in Park City, Utah. And while most U.S. nordic-combined up-and-comers migrate there to train with the U.S. Ski Team at Utah Olympic Park, Schumann...

A year ago, Canada’s breakthrough at the Ski Tour Canada classic sprint in Canmore, Alberta. Beatty lives and trains in Canmore as a member of both the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) and Canadian National U25 Team. She led the NorAm (Continental Cup) standings at the end of last season, reiterating her position as freestyle sprint prologue at U.S. nationals at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Then on Tuesday, on the same 1.3-kilometer sprint course...

Germany, Germany, Germany. That was the way the women’s 1.3-kilometer classic sprint started on Monday at the first day of Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, with Antonia Fräbel putting down the fastest qualifying time in 3:40.83, a full 6.15 and 8.03 seconds faster than her German teammates Coletta Rydzek and Julia Richter, who qualified in second and third, respectively. The 10th woman to qualify (out of 30), Russia’s Polina Nekrasova, was...

On the first day of 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, there was one man who appeared to be dominating the 1.5-kilometer classic sprint from top to bottom. Norway’s 19-year-old Petter Stakston, in his second Junior Worlds, started Monday off with a qualifying win, by 0.61 seconds over Finland’s Turo Sipilä, in 3:45.33 minutes. Then he won the first men’s quarterfinal of the day and proceeded to win the first semifinal as...

Iversen Redeemed in Falun 30 k Classic; Harvey 15th on Tough Wax Day

$33,500: the post-race interview with VG. The victory, which he secured by 3.7 seconds over his team’s superstar Martin Johnsrud Sundby in the men’s 30-kilometer classic mass start in Falun, Sweden, was his Saturday. Second place by 0.06 seconds was unacceptable, and the look on his face and the pole he snapped in two after the men’s freestyle sprint final said it all. “I’ve been pretty mad at my little brothers, but I don’t think...

First Win of Season for JT Bø; Bailey 16th, Scott Gow 30th in Antholz Mass Start

Remember Norway’s Bø brothers? Younger Johannes Thingnes, who famously spray painted his rifle gold when he started winning International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cups four seasons ago? And his older brother Tarjei, a two-time individual World Champion (in 2013 and 2011) who earned an Olympic gold with the 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay in 2010? Well, now they’re a little older, at 23 and 28 years old, respectively, and not on quite as hot of a streak...

Germany Ekes Out Win in Antholz Relay Photo Finish; U.S. Men Sixth

For Germany and Norway, it was a two-way battle for first following the final exchange of the men’s 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay on Saturday at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in Antholz, Italy. There, thanks to third-leg Johannes Thingnes Bø, Norway had taken the lead by 17.7 seconds over Germany and built a 38-second gap to Russia in third. Ukraine was another nine seconds back in fourth, skiing just ahead of France and...