In Drammen, Norway, on Wednesday Justyna Kowalczyk continued the momentum from her distance win in Lahti and charged to victory again, this time in a 1.3 k city sprint. Save for a challenge from Heidi Weng (NOR) in the final round, the Polish star blew the competition away all day, and in the process secured the overall World Cup crystal globe for the 2012-2013 season and for the fourth time in her career.
With only a few weeks left of racing across the nordic sports at each competitive level, the season is beginning to show distinct signs of drawing to a close. Most notably, Kikkan Randall (USA) won her one and only shot at a freestyle sprint duel with Marit Bjørgen (NOR) in Lahti, Finland, and in the process locked down the sprint crystal globe a full three competitions before the end of the season. Emil Joensson (SWE) did the...
At the first World Cup since World Championships, the American men posted two top-30s between the freestyle sprint and 15 k classic in Lahti, Finland. Kris Freeman was 25th in the distance event and Andy Newell placed 27th in the preceding sprint. Neither result was stellar, but it was Freeman's best finish since his top-10 in Canmore.
The disappointment of World Championships now well behind her, Sadie Bjornsen led the American women in the Lahti, Finland, 10 k classic with another personal best: 18th place, six notches better than her previous high water mark. Liz Stephen and Kikkan Randall tied for 28th to put three American women in the top 30.
Sadie Bjornsen notched a career-best ninth-place finish in the Lahti, Finland, freestyle sprint on the same day her teammate, Kikkan Randall, secured the crystal sprint globe for the U.S. "She almost stole the show, in a way," said USST women's coach Matt Whitcomb. Seven American women in all competed on Saturday; Jessie Diggins followed Bjornsen in 25th.
In her 100th career World Cup start in Lahti, Finland, on Saturday, American Kikkan Randall won a photo-finish with Marit Bjørgen in the freestyle sprint and locked down the season-long quest for the crystal sprint globe for the second year in a row. "If you put in the work and stay dedicated then you can be the best in the world. And it’s pretty fun," Randall said afterwards.
Last season Anja Gruber wasn't on the University of Vermont's NCAA squad, this year she's the 5 k classic national champion. "It’s pretty unbelievable right now — I’m not sure if this actually just happened!" she said. Dartmouth's Mary O'Connell claimed second and Marine Dusser (UAA) took third. UVM leads CU after the first two NCAA Championship events at Middlebury College.
Men’s and women’s giant slalom kicked off the 2013 NCAA Championships on Wednesday at the Snow Bowl in Middlebury, Vt. The University of Vermont leads the team scores after the first of four events; nordic races begin on Thursday with a 5/10 k individual classic. Here’s a preview of who to watch as the East vs. West showdown heats up at Rikert Touring Center.
Noah Hoffman skied with a breakaway on the first lap of the 50 k classic on Sunday at World Championships and eventually faded to a 27th-place finish to lead the American men on the final day of racing in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Kris Freeman was 37th, Tad Elliott finished 40th and Erik Bjornsen placed 52nd.
The World Championship 30 k wasn’t the perfect race for the American women, but all things considered Liz Stephen and Ida Sargent were satisfied with the effort it took to ski a race that was dictated by slow, saturated snow, 50-degree heat and tricky waxing conditions. Stephen was 16th and Sargent finished 25th. Jessie Diggins DNF after an early crash and Kikkan Randall did not race.
With glitter and American flags painted on their faces, Andy Newell, Kris Freeman, Noah Hoffman and Tad Elliott skied to tenth place in the men's 4x10 k relay at World Championships on Friday in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Elliott created some excitement with a surge in the last leg that bridged a minute-wide gap back to the leaders, and though he later faded the Americans were psyched to have been in the hunt.
Expectations were high for Sadie Bjornsen, Kikkan Randall, Liz Stephen and Jessie Diggins in the World Championships 4x5 k on Thursday. They’ve tasted the podium and wanted to reach it again, but after four gutsy legs the Americans finished fourth for what was still the best relay finish the U.S. has ever had. "As a team you always hope for a medal, but man, fourth feels like a medal to me today,” Stephen said.
Noah Hoffman executed his race plan perfectly in the 15 k freestyle at World Championships on Wednesday, moving from 40th on the first lap to 15th by the finish line. It cut his previous best from Oslo two years ago nearly in half. Tad Elliott was 34th and Erik Bjornsen was 48th for the American men.
Liz Stephen’s performance undoubtedly headlined the day for the Americans in the women's 10 k, but further down on the results her teammates felt only “not great” to “satisfied” about their top-30s. Jessie Diggins placed 23rd, Holly Brooks finished 27th and Kikkan Randall was 30th. Still, they expect to feel fully recovered for the 4x5 k relay.
Demonstrating once again the power of a goal and unwavering belief in it, Stephen achieved exactly what she set out to do on Tuesday in the World Championships 10 k individual freestyle by finishing fifth, a career-best. "I'm pretty ecstatic," Stephen said. "I'm so lucky to be part of something so big right now."
In a video interview on Sunday night, newly-crowned World Champions Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins talk more about their race, how they stayed calm through a missing pole and what their gold medals mean for cross-country skiing in the U.S.
Athletes and staff each have roles to play on race day, and on Sunday at World Championships every one of them was executed perfectly to help Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall to earn an historic gold medal in the team sprint. The wax, the skis — and that replacement pole!
A few hours before their teammates made history in the women’s race, Americans Andy Newell and Erik Bjornsen got unlucky in the team sprint semifinals at World Championships. Bjornsen fell in a tangle with France and Finland on his third leg the U.S. lost contact with the leaders as they began to take off at the front. They wound up finishing seventh overall in the heat, 26.97 seconds behind the leaders, and failed to advance to the final.
With a performance that the American ski community will talk about for a long time to come, Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins became World Champions on Sunday in Val di Fiemme, Italy, with a 7.8-second win in the team sprint over Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla and Ida Ingemarsdotter. This is the first World Championship gold for the United States in cross-country skiing.
For the second day of the 2013 Nordic Ski World Championships, the 15 and 30 k skiathlons were not what the Americans were hoping for on Saturday. But through less than optimal outcome the team’s collective outlook was on the upswing after racing concluded. Liz Stephen posted the only top-20 for the team, and she and several Americans found reasons to be positive about certain bright spots they think bode well for upcoming distance events in Val di Fiemme.