Canadian star Alex Harvey had been pondering an unorthodox plan to classic ski up the Tour de Ski's final climb, but he pulled out after a lackluster result Saturday.
With Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan shouting encouragement, Kikkan Randall won her second straight race in front of a home crowd on a sunny Sunday at Kincaid Park.
It's not every day you bump into the Estonian prime minister, especially on the ski trails in Sochi, Russia. Yet FasterSkier Olympic reporter Nat Herz did just that, and asked the ski aficionado a few questions about his take on the sport.
When Alex Harvey tripped over a pole broken by U.S. skier Noah Hoffman, it summed up the whole Olympics for the Canadian team: if one piece was there, the rest was unlucky. Harvey, Ivan Babikov, and Graeme Killick finished 19th, 20th, and 28th, while Jesse Cockney was "just thrilled to have the start."
Russian anchor Anton Shipulin using perfect shooting and blistering skiing to emerge as the fastest of a four-man lead pack in the waning minutes of a scintallating men's biathlon relay race, capitalizing on a stunning collapse by Norwegian anchor Emil Hegle Svendsen.
A strategic decision to switch to new skis at the 10-kilometer mark let the pack get away from Liz Stephen, and she never caught up. The story was the same for Holly Brooks and Kikkan Randall, all of whom had been advised to make the exchange by the U.S. coaching staff.
The case of German biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle seems different from other recent doping cases that involved substances with clearer benefits to endurance sports.
German biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle was caught using a banned stimulant at the Sochi Olympic Games, as American cross-country skier Kikkan Randall called her “the last person, really, that you would suspect.”
German biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle, 33, has tested positive for the use of a prohibited substance, according the German news agency DPA.
The Canadian team sprint pair of Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey was eliminated from the race without even qualifying for the final round. Head Coach Justin Wadsworth said: "This is the worst feeling I've had since I've been with the team."
A rookie and veteran teamed up to claim a gold medal for Finland in the men's Olympic team sprint, after a finish that was marred by a crash in the lead pack.
Japan's Akira Lenting, 23, got one start at the Olympics, in the men's relay. But a bad day for the rest of his team meant that things didn't go as planned.
Feeling under the weather, Andy Newell is no longer part of the American duo for Wednesday's team sprint. Instead, Erik Bjornsen will join Simi Hamilton. For the women, Kikkan Randall will keep her spot despite difficult races so far this Olympics, and Sophie Caldwell, who turned in the best U.S. women's performance ever in the individual sprint, will be her partner.
Germany’s Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle came a single second away from a bronze medal in Monday’s Olympic biathlon race, despite taking up the sport just a year-and-a-half ago.
For Norway, the country's collapse at the Olympics has prompted fevered news coverage, and speculation that the team’s coaches, and ski technicians, could lose their jobs after the games.
The U.S. biathlon team grinds their skis in Sochi in a ramshackle orange shipping container cluttered with machinery and coiled extension cords—with a couple of full beer cans propping up their jury-rigged waxing bench.
Devon Kershaw said he felt better skiing Friday than previously at this Olympics, but it was hard to tell with too much grip on a klister day in extremely soft and warm conditions. Kershaw placed 35th, his teammate Ivan Babikov finished 39th, Graeme Killick was 65th and Alex Harvey did not finish.
Today's Olympic 15 k saw a podium made of exclusively of skiers that had suffered injuries over the past year, led by Switzerland's Dario Cologna, just three months removed from ankle surgery.
On Thursday, two days after a disappointing result in the Olympic sprint, U.S. skier Kikkan Randall talked about how she'd been buoyed by her fans, her attitude in the days after the race, and her preparation for the rest of the events at the games.
American Biathlete Lowell Bailey skied and shot his way to eighth place at the Olympics on Thursday, relying on the calm and poise that he had been missing earlier this week. The result was the best-ever Olympic finish in biathlon for the U.S.