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Kieran Jones

Czech Republic Nations Cup Ranking: 11th (1640 pts) Men: 9th (1335 pts) Women: 14th (305 pts) 2010/2011 A Team Men Lukas Bauer Martin Koukal Jiri Magal Martin Jaks Dusan Kozisek Women Kamila Rajdlova Ivana Janeckova Eva Nyvltova What you may have missed last season: The Czech men’s 4×10 k relay coming from virtually nowhere to win the bronze medal at the Olympics. Most skiing fans would have picked the Russians, the Germans, the French, the...

Team 12: Canada

Canada Nations Cup Ranking: 12th (1161 pts) Men: 10th (848 pts) Women: 13th (313 pts) 2010/2011 A Team Men Alex Harvey Devon Kershaw George Grey Ivan Babikov Women Chandra Crawford Dasha Gaiazova What you may have missed last season: The sheer amount of injuries and setbacks the Canadian team endured this season, especially at the Tour de Ski.  The World Cup circuit had barely kicked off when former head coach Inge Braten slipped and fractured...

Team 13: Kazakhstan

Nations Cup Ranking: 13th (1033 pts) Men: 13th (502 pts) Women: 10th (531 pts) 2010/2011 A Team Men Nikolay Chebotko Alexey Poltoranin Yevgeniy Velichko Sergey Cherepanov Yevgeniy Koshevoy Denis Volotka Women Svetlana Malakhova-Shishkina Elina Kolomina Oxana Jatskaya What you may have missed last season: While the team is led in points by Nikolay Chebotko, a solid classic skier who struggles almost every time he puts on a pair of skate skis, the Kazakh man you...

Estonia Nations Cup Ranking: 14th (971 pts) Men: 11th (648 pts) Women: 12th (323 pts) 2010/2011 A Team Men Andrus Veerpalu Jaak Mae Kein Einaste Women Kaija Udras Kaili Sirge What you may have missed last season: After a three-year retirement, Estonian legend Kristina Smigun-Vaehi came back for the Olympics and had an incredibly strong year. Despite starting few World Cups, she was competitive in every one she started, knocking down four top-10 finishes. In...

United States of America Nations Cup Ranking: 15th (803 pts) Men: 12th (527 pts) Women: 16th (276 pts) 2010/2011 A Team Men Andy Newell Kris Freeman Women Kikkan Randall Liz Stephen Morgan Arritola What you may have missed last season: Let’s be honest, you’re reading FasterSkier – you probably have not missed a thing on the American World Cup squad. When an article on the US team changing the color of their ski suits garners...

Team 16: Slovakia

Slovakia Nations Cup Ranking: 16th (419 pts) Men: 14th (211 pts) Women: 18th (208 pts) 2010/2011 A Team (Best estimate) Men Ivan Batory Martin Bajcicak Peter Mlynar Michael Malak Women Alena Prochazkova What you may have missed last season: Alena Prochazkova finally cementing herself firmly in a position of authority in the Sprint Cup rankings. Prochazkova had sprinting dialed in last season, making the heats in every start she had on the World Cup. Furthermore,...

Team 17: Ukraine

Ukraine Nations Cup Ranking: 17th (394 pts) Men: 19th (25 pts) Women: 11th (369 pts) 2010/2011 A Team (Best estimate) Men Ivan Bilosyuk Women Valentina Shevchenko Lada Nesterenko Zoya Zaviedieieva Maryna Antsybor Kateryna Grygorenko Tatjiana Zavalij What you may have missed last season Much of Ukraine’s success on the World Cup this season came from one woman – Valentina Shevchenko. While the 35 year old police officer never stood on the podium, and struggled every...

Team 18: Japan

Japan Nations Cup Ranking: 18th (353 pts) Men: 16th (163 pts) Women: 19th (190 pts) 2010/2011 A Team (Best estimate) Men Yuichi Onda Nobu Naruse Women Masako Ishida Madoka Natsumi What you may have missed last season: Two years ago, during the 2008-2009 World Cup season, the Japanese ski team made history. Masako Ishida became the first Japanese national to win a World Cup medal by

Team 19: Belarus

Nations Cup Ranking: 19th (229 pts) Men: 15th (179 pts) Women: 20th (55 pts) 2010/2011 A Team (Best estimate) Men Sergei Dolidovitch Leanid Karneyenka Women Olga Vasiljonok Nastassia Dubarezava Alena Sannikova What you may have missed last season: Belarus very quietly made their way into spot number 19 on the Nations Cup. Dolidovitch and Karneyenka were regular starters who picked up the odd point where they could. The greatest success on the team came from...

Team 20: Austria

Austria Preview Nations Cup Ranking: 20th (229 pts) Men: 20th (19 pts) Women: 17th (210 pts) 2010/2011 A Team Men Markus Bader Aurelius Herburger Manuel Hirner Jurgen Pinter Women Katerina Smutna What you may have missed last season: Before it was all the rage to pile on the Russians for doping transgressions, the Austrians were the preferred whipping boys, and man, did they ever get whipped. This was mostly due to one exciting, in a...

Team 21: Spain

Spain Nations Cup Ranking: 21st (33 pts) Men: 18th (33 pts) Women: N/A 2010/2011 World Cup Team (Best estimate) Men Vincenc Villarula Diego Ruiz Women Laura Orgue What You May Have Missed Last Season: On the World Cup, the Spanish were incredibly quiet most of the year. But like a couple of teams (see Canada, Sweden), they had a proportionally  impressive Olympics. Vincenc Villarula finished in 31,  a heart-breaking .1 behind Jean-Marc Gaillard and a...

Team 22: The People’s Republic of China

People’s Republic of China Nations Cup Ranking: 22nd (20 pts) Men: 22nd (8 pts) Women: 21st (12 pts) People’s Republic of China Nations Cup Ranking: 22nd (20 pts) Men: 22nd (8 pts) Women: 21st (12 pts) 2010/2011 World Cup Team (Best estimate) Men Qinghai Sun Xu Wenlong Women Li Hongxue Dandan Man What you may have missed last season: The Tour de Ski China. In the 2010 edition, the Chinese took city sprints to an...

Team 23: The Bulgarians!

Bulgaria Preview Nations Cup Ranking: 23rd (10 pts) Men: 21st (10 pt) Women: N/A 2010/2011 World Cup Team Men Ivan Burgov Stanimir Belomajev Veselin Tzinzov Women Antonia Grigorova-Burgova Teodora Maltcheva What you may have missed last season: Veselin Tzinzov was the only Bulgarian to score points, and his 10 came from one stop. Not to take anything away from his achievement (the majority of the FasterSkier staff admit that they would struggle to score points...

For Athletes, Shifting Sprint Distances Force a Fine Balance

Since sprinting was first introduced, at the 2001 World Championships in Finland, the International Ski Federation (FIS) has constantly fiddled with the format. The number of heats, the number of athletes in each one, and the total number who qualify for the rounds—all have been altered at one point or another. But one of the most contentious—and significant—changes has been the length of the sprint race. Changes Were Necessary, Officials Say According to FIS Cross-Country...

Early season skiing is always tough. A lucky few end up on glaciers or live in locations that benefit from early snowfalls, but the majority must make do on rollerskis. However, Canmore, the epicenter of Canadian cross country skiing, has hit on a new way to get on snow early. Beginning this weekend, staff at the Canmore Nordic Center (CNC) in Alberta will roll snow into a loop in an operation nicknamed ‘Frozen Thunder.’ The...

Crawford Back in Business

In North American cross-country skiing, there are few bigger names than Chandra Crawford. The 27-year-old Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) member has an Olympic gold from Turin, Italy in 2006, multiple World Cup medals, is the brains and face for her own organization, Fast and Female, and was featured on an episode of MTV’s Cribs. Yet despite her high profile, at the recent CNST camp in Quebec City, Chandra Crawford was generous enough to allow...

Canada Lays Claim to Rollerski World Record

Usually when athletes go for a rollerski, they deal with a variety of challenges. Crappy pavement, angry drivers, and constant “where’s the snow” heckling is pretty standard no matter where you pick for a ski. But this past Saturday in Gatineau, Quebec, the greatest hazard was a rare one: other rollerskiers. The 257 rollerskiers who gathered together in the Gatineau Park signed in, posed for a picture, and then skied en masse for about 2...

Pros of Tomorrow: Len Valjas

You may not have heard of Len Valjas, but if you were at a NorAm or a SuperTour where he was racing this winter, you would have noticed – there aren’t many cross-country skiers who stand at 6’6″. The 22-year-old Canadian who skis as a member of the Pierre Harvey National Training Center (CNEPH), based in Quebec City, Quebec may not be a household name yet, but this past winter he posted a top-10 result...

Canadians Head to Quebec to Focus On Speed, Intensity

No one could ever accuse the Canadian National Ski Team of a lack of variety in their training locations–this summer alone, the team has held camps in Bend, Oregon, the Snow Farm in New Zealand, and the Haig Glacier.  The current camp, however, has the team  training in Mount Saint Anne, Quebec, home of Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) member Alex Harvey. According to Justin Wadsworth, the CNST’s head coach, the focus of this particular...