goatee’d wonder Axel Teichmann. He had his worst points total in ten seasons on the World Cup, finishing in the top five just once before the bronze medal in the relay at World Championships, and ending his season after Oslo. So if the Germans were that bad, how did they finish sixth? It was scoring World Cup points by committee for the red, yellow, and black suits, as 13 men and seven women chipped in....
massive black visor was so our preview last seasonwe were excited about the group Cologna had supporting him, and in 2010-2011 they showed why. In the very first relay of the season they were outstanding, finishing fourth. Three weeks later in La Clusaz, France, the foursome cruised to a 30 second victory over an incredibly talented Russian team. Of the three non-Cologna Swiss primarily distance-skiing men, Perl was by far the best, finishing a career-high...
With anticipation for the first bit of racing in Europe and North America reaching a fever pitch, attention has turned to attire. Specifically, the Canadian National Ski Team (CNST), and the digs they’re going to be sporting this winter. When the Canadians inked a deal earlier this year with OneWay Sport, the nordic equipment manufacturer, the announcement raised some eyebrows. OneWay has a history of making some exciting suits, including the intense Slovenian neon, and...
which FasterSkier did some interesting work on), the outspoken Pole was thoroughly dominated by Norwegian superstar Marit Bjoergen whenever the two raced head to head. The Pole won just three of those face-offs, and lost to Bjoergen all four times they raced against each other at World Championships, leaving little doubt as to who was the superior skier. She probably doesn’t care all that much, but Kowalczyk didn’t make any friends stateside after her little...
least impressive finishing sprint last season. Of course, Jaks may be following a little too closely in Bauers’ footsteps. The 25 year old qualified in just two sprints on the season (both during the Tour), although he finished a surprising impressive seventh in one. Lukas Bauer himself was his usual strongman self, especially on the Final Climb during the Tour de Ski. The Czech slow-twitch muscle wonder topped Alpe Cermis 30 seconds faster than his...
Whether or not the World Cup opener happens in Beitostolen or elsewhere, the season will start eventually, and in doing so, will feature new rules and schedule changes. Top Teams Required to Compete One of the changes which could have a large impact on the World Cup scene is a new rule requiring the top teams to compete in all but one World Cup weekend. According to the recent FIS Cross Country press release; “The...
she proclaimed that she returned with her eye on the Crystal Globe, Majdic was a tad disappointing during distance racing in her final year, picking up a single medal, a bronze in the 5 k classic during the Kuusamo mini-tour. We know, it’s crazy that someone who won the Sprint Cup, finished 13th in the distance rankings, and sixth in the overall could be called ‘disappointing’, but that’s the standard her rabid fans, and she...
recorded his first-ever World Cup victory. It may have taken him seven seasons to get it, and FIS may consider it a ‘stage victory’ rather than a full on win, but for everyone else, Kershaw has stood on the top step, and is now a truly elite skier. Not to be out-done, Alex Harvey popped over to Under-23 World Championships for a one-race guest appearance in the 30 k pursuit. After a thrilling battle with...
a new profile picture. While Freeman was strong, Randall was pure dynamite. The exciting Alaskan earned 400 more points than her previous best season on the World Cup, finishing 10th in the race for the crystal globe, and third in the Sprint Cup standings. She even had the Norwegians shaking in their boots before World Championships. Randall earned four World Cup medals last season, including two gold. One in a skate sprint in Drammen, Norway,...
FasterSkier tipped ‘Polto’, as he is affectionately known around the office, as the man to watch. The young Kazakh did not disappoint, as bagging a silver medal in the sprint during the Kuusamo mini-tour, before falling to 15th in the overall Tour standings. The following weekend in Davos, Switzerland, he Vladimir Smirnov? We here at FasterSkier aren’t willing to call it quite yet, but we’re convinced he has the skills to be pretty darn successful....
an injury forced him to sit out of his final World Championships, and call it a career. The Estonian strong-man was feted, celebrated, patted on the back, and given rounds of applause – until he The lawyers are still battling it out) and opted to retire before World Championships. This created a not-insignificant amount of outrage both pro and con-Veerpalu, but Odd-Bjorn Hjelmset demand more. What You Need To Know for This Season The hurricane...
this cool split graph of the relay race to see just how impressive the Japanese were. Oh, and just in case you think that FasterSkier is under-selling the achievement of the young Japanese men, they have a grand total of 62 career World Cup starts combined. For comparison, the Russian team that they edged out for 6th has over 170 trips to a World Cup start line between them. After the tragic earthquake and tsunami...
winning the 42 k freestyle La Sgambeda in Livigno, Italy, last December. What You Need To Know for This Season Despite being one year older, and seeing her numbers continuously decline, Shevchenko is Ukrainian Ski Association website lists 15 members of the National Team, as well as no fewer than six coaches. Also, when translating the page, a certain skier comes up as ‘Alex Fast’ or ‘Alex Speed’ and
Last winter, the Canadian NorAm series embraced the mini-tour concept with open arms. With four events over the course of the season, athletes, coaches, race organizers and fans alike had the opportunity to experience the new race format, which has become a significant part of the World Cup circuit. Hosted at four separate locations – Rossland, B.C., Orford, Quebec, Nakkertok, Quebec, and Kelowna, B.C., the mini-tours were spread out—both geographically, with two in the East...
recent interview, Prochazkova is skipping the first World Cup weekend in Beitostolen, Norway, in favour of focusing on the mini-tour in Kuusamo, Finland, the following week. In the interview she also mentioned her goals were to finish in the top 10in the Sprint Cup, and that while funding for Slovakian sport has been reduced, she has not been affected. Who You Should Watch Peter Mlynar is still young, and has had a few bright spots,...
qualifying win during the skate sprint in Toblach, Italy, on the Tour de Ski before dropping to 11th on the day. Tritscher also paired up with Austrian A-Team member Harald Wurm to finish 4th in the Dusseldorf team sprint, out-gunning the Russians second team of Nikita Kruikov and Andrey Parfenov to the line. As for the Austrian women, Katerina Smutna was the only game in town. She was fairly consistent in sprinting, but she took...
fourth place finish in the 30 k pursuit shocked many who were not familiar with the big-game performing Byelorussian, but it was his participation in the 50 k freestyle that really turned heads. With just over one kilometer to go, Dolidovich was cruising along comfortably in second place when disastrous sprint relay at the Olympics two seasons ago, the Byelorussians failed to score a single point in the team event this past year. And speaking...
Asian Winter Games, held in Almaty, Kazaksthan. The event was not classified as an FIS race, but did feature some top Kazak and Japanese skiers in addition to the Chinese. While the fields were certainly not deep (the average starting numbers were around 8 skiers) young Dandan Man had the best outing, finishing 4th in the sprint, just .1 of a second behind Kazakh World Cup sprint regular Oxana Jatskaya. The Chinese also have their...
this group, which made a pretty decent video, or the two team sprinters who have been battling for positions on the World Cup, it’s a possibility that down the road they will become a regular presence on the circuit. As the largest of the three Baltic states (Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania), if skiing becomes an entrenched part of the culture, it is possible that they could punch above their weight. Next season won’t be the...
this summer (links may require translation), and then became Spanish National Champion in mountain running. The men’s team, which has long been anchored by Ruiz, Vilarrubla and Javier Gutierrez is in a bit of a decline. Ruiz has been a regular on the Spanish National Team since 1998, when he started his first World Cup. However, at 35 years old, he seems to be targeting marathon ski racing events over the World Cup. He’s still...