Jason Albert – Page 13

Behind the Scenes Organizing the Dresden City Sprint with Race Co-Director Torsten Püschel

Jason AlbertMay 2, 2019

Dresden City Sprint World Cup – Torsten Püschel Interview April 29, 2019 In the lead-up to the Minneapolis World Cup in March 2020, there are some parallels to the city sprint weekend in Dresden, Germany. Both are urban events relatively new to the World Cup circuit. What are the motivations and goals behind hosting a World Cup? What does it take to get a new event on the calendar? What has the Dresden World Cup...

General News World Cup

World Cup Prize Money and the Distribution of Wealth

Jason AlbertApril 25, 2019

If you’ve read the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) website in the last few weeks and deviated from exploring the cross-country sub-site, U.S. alpine star Mikaela Shiffrin has been prominently featured. Her season was record-breaking. With 17 wins, she set a FIS World Cup record for alpine victories in a single season. With the fattening of her win total, was the commensurate growth of her bank account. She became the first World Cup...

Multimedia Nordic Nation Podcasts

Nordic Nation: The Proudly Alaskan Episode with Reese Hanneman

Jason AlbertApril 19, 2019

He is proudly Alaskan and has resisted the temptation over the years to migrate elsewhere. We are talking about twenty-nine-year-old Reese Hanneman who has in fact migrated from his hometown of Fairbanks to the more southern maritime climate of Anchorage, Alaska. So the question has been, is Reese Hanneman retired? After many years on the SuperTour, winning five national titles, stints on the World Cup, and an Olympic team nomination last year, the answer to that question...

Biathlon General News

Lowell Bailey and the High Performance Vision

Jason AlbertApril 17, 2019

For years under the leadership of Bernd Eisenbichler and Per Nilsson, US Biathlon was a polyglot enterprise. It’s often claimed the high performance staff at USBA had a decidedly United Nations vibe. As a sport firmly entrenched in Europe, siphoning some of that expertise into the U.S. program paid dividends over the past two decades. IBU World Cup podiums and World Championship medals were the payback. Lowell Bailey, at thirty-seven years old, is a hybrid...

Book Review News

Turning the Pages: “Training for the Uphill Athlete”

Jason AlbertApril 11, 2019

For many who read FasterSkier, going uphill remains the name of the game. Although we assume the fidelity to nordic skiing is strong we know many dabble in several outdoor pursuits. Some athletes nordic ski as a means to remain aerobically and anaerobically sharp to parlay their fitness into proud adventures or race efforts far from a PistenBully’s corduroy. In many mountain towns, Crested Butte comes to mind, cross-country skiing becomes a default post-work burn...

Biathlon General News

Bernd Eisenbichler and his US Biathlon Legacy

Jason AlbertApril 9, 2019

“Twenty years and two months ago I began with US Biathlon,” Bernd Eisenbichler said to FasterSkier last week during a phone call to discuss his March 31, resignation as high performance director. For those of you unfamiliar with the name, Eisenbichler has worn many hats during his tenure with US Biathlon: Ski/wax tech, high performance director, and chief of sport. With a title like chief of sport, more fitting head-ware might have been a crown....

Continental Cup General News Racing

2018/2019 SuperTour: Over and Out

Jason AlbertApril 4, 2019

Over and out on the SuperTour. The season-long series of races running from December in West Yellowstone, Montana to SuperTour finals in Presque Isle, Maine have concluded . Eighteen competitions in total with points allocated for each race, athletes are ranked in three categories: Overall, sprint and distance. The overall winners on the SuperTour, male and female, are guaranteed Continental Cup winner starts for World Cup Period 1 beginning in Nov. 2019. Kyle Bratrud (SMS...

Biathlon Racing

Egan Takes Third in Oslo; Finishes Season Ranked 18th

Jason AlbertMarch 24, 2019

Love the Norwegian crowd at Holmenkollen. They know a solid performance when they see it. Regardless of team uniform, the cheers are exuberant when there’s a good show. With the curtain pulled up, the fourth shooting bout, prior to the final ski loop, was when the drama unfolded. Up to that point, Sweden’s Hannah Öberg had missed a single shot after three shooting bouts, Norway’s Tiril Eckhoff had missed two, and Clare Egan of the...

News Racing World Cup

Clutch Down the Finish Straight: Nilsson Edges Johaug in Québec

Jason AlbertMarch 23, 2019

The build-up was immense. Head to head skiing. A mass start classic race with 10-kilometers to prove world-class stamina with Québec City’s cross-country ski fans lining the course. In a world now rife with data and the application of that information enmeshed in sport, the calculus seemed simple enough. Norway’s Therese Johaug has made a clean sweep of every World Cup distance race she’s entered this season. Nine World Cup wins. Then add three distance...

Racing World Cup

Keep it Simple: Klæbo Wins with Harvey in 10th, Hamilton 13th

Jason AlbertMarch 22, 2019

How to play the Johannes Høsflot Klæbo sprint game? It has got to go through every sprinter’s mind. As the day’s fastest qualifier, Klæbo set the tone in 3:07.61. Prior to Friday’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint in Québec, the young Norwegian had started nine World Cup sprints this season. He had won seven of them and placed second in another. And he had already locked up another sprint cup crystal globe becoming the first to win the...

News Racing World Cup

Nilsson Grasps Sprint Cup with Québec Win: Bjornsen sixth, Caldwell seventh, Diggins 10th

Jason AlbertMarch 22, 2019

There was wind. Some snow. And certainly 1.6-kilometers of soft leg-sapping snow during Friday’s freestyle sprint in Québec. This was no 2.5 minute in duration hard-pack speed fest. It was a grind. Take off too early and plenty of real estate remained for a decaying fade. Sit back, control the effort, ride the draft a bit on the skier train and the slow snow could, in fact, keep those more tempered athletes in the game....

Collegiate General Interviews News

From Colorado to Mora, Sweden to UVM: Evelina Sutro

Jason AlbertMarch 21, 2019

In a year of outstanding performances from junior and under-23 U.S. skiers, Evelina Sutro has been a force to be reckoned with. She had a debut performance of 18th in the 10-kilometer freestyle at World U-23 Championships in Lahti, Finland and went on to sweep every EISA freestyle race this season. Sustaining that benchmark, Sutro placed third last weekend in the NCAA 5 k skate, a mere 1.09 seconds behind winner Julia Richter from the...

Biathlon News Racing

Rise and Shine for Joanne Reid in Östersund, Sweden

Jason AlbertMarch 19, 2019

A World Championship. A career-best result. For Joanne Reid of the US Biathlon team in Östersund, Sweden, the recently concluded IBU World Championships were a highlight. It was a fine series of races for the twenty-six year old last week — it was a great moment for her to rise and shine. Out of 93 starters, she placed 15th in the 7.5 k sprint. She followed that result several days later with a 10th overall...

Multimedia Photo Gallery

A Look back on Seefeld

Jason AlbertMarch 18, 2019

Vermont based photographer John Lazenby was recently immersed in Seefeld, Austria shooting images of the World Championships. We’re posting this gallery with a few select images from Lazenby’s shots. There’s some culture and some race grit. Two weeks at the world nordic ski championships in Austria meant a lot of people met, a lot of stories seen and heard, and a lot of photos taken, from the ski jumper flying toward the Alps to the...

General News Racing World Cup

Bolshunov wins 15 k in Falun and the Distance Cup; Harvey 11th, David Norris 16th

Jason AlbertMarch 18, 2019

Sunday’s men’s 15-kilometer freestyle individual start race in Falun, Sweden, was the final European stop for the World Cup. With the race concluded, athletes will pack up ski bags, moth-ball the wax buses, and jet across the Atlantic. Next week athletes will race amidst the crowds and city-scape of Québec. The final Euro-leg of the World Cup saw Alexander Bolshunov of Russia win his third individual race in a row. His top-step effort was his...

Racing World Cup

Nilsson Takes the Falun Duel with Falla; Bjornsen in 10th, Caldwell 11th

Jason AlbertMarch 16, 2019

The two skiers have commanded the wins this season for the overall sprint cup. Stina Nilsson of Sweden and Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla remain the speed skiing torch bearers. Only Nilsson and Falla have won multiple sprints in 2018/2019. Falla won the World Championship sprint in Seefeld and the last three of four individual sprints coming into Falun’s sprint on Saturday. Earlier in the season Nilsson went on her own run — winning four individual...

News Racing World Cup

Finding his Top Gear, Klæbo is Gone in Drammen

Jason AlbertMarch 12, 2019

For the rare athlete the field of play is truly a stage. A place to perform in the moment and seemingly acknowledge the moment as it happens. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo appears to have many of these days. And as he crossed the line in today’s 1.2-kilometer classic sprint in Drammen, Norway, Klæbo may as well have taken a bow. It was again a virtuoso sprint performance. In 2:37.90 minutes, Klæbo earned another win in Drammen...

News Racing World Cup

Falla Locks Up Drammen Sprint; Diggins Strides to Fifth

Jason AlbertMarch 12, 2019

The World Cup entourage gathered Tuesday at the head of the Drammensfjord in Norway. The 1.2-kilometer classic sprint in Drammen, Norway — the post-Holmenkollen sprint stop on the calendar — was held under overcast skies and within a city center jammed with fans. Coming into Tuesday’s classic sprint, Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla had claimed two individual World Cup sprint victories this season and a World Championship sprint win in Seefeld, Austria. Falla remains consistent, having...

News Opinion Racing World Cup

Ben Berend: The Two Sided Fence

Jason AlbertMarch 11, 2019

There are two sides to any fence. This fence here, it separates pain and pleasure. Flags wave with pride, flasks are filled, beers are drank, and chants are yelled triumphantly for all to hear. Inside the fence, the sound of nerves echo silently- the loudest noise you’ll never hear. The sound of poles colliding with the snow, skis gliding delicately, and the heavy breath which always accompanies such ache. This ache starts as a...

General News

Welcome to the Elite Wave

Jason AlbertMarch 7, 2019

If you’ve ever wondered what the elite wave is like compared to one of the larger later starting waves here is a crash course. A little background for context, the 2018 American Birkebeiner was my first introduction to the Birkie and the 50K distance. I started in wave 2 and paired with perfect conditions my first Birkie is by far my favorite race I’ve done. Wave 2, while crowded and congested (think penguins huddled...

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