UVM has promoted two-time Olympian and National Champion Patrick Weaver to head coach. Paul Stone, the former holder of that position will stay on as the assistant coach. Said Bill Reichelt, Director of the UVM Ski Program and Head Alpine Coach in an official press release, “Patrick’s personal career as two-time Olympian and two-time national champion is an outstanding testament to the knowledge he will bring as head coach and his experience with the program...
If skiing were baseball, APU would be early winners in the 2010 free-agent class. Two-time National Champion, and former NMU standout, Morgan Smyth, and 20-year-old Sadie Bjornsen, a veteran of four World Junior Championships, have joined the Anchorage-based squad. Smyth was not re-nominated for a fifth year on the US Ski Team after struggling through a challenging 2010 season, undergoing surgery for compartment syndrome and battling mono. Still only 24, Smyth won a National Title...
With Thursday’s announcement of team nominations, seven skiers are in line for spots on the 2011 US Cross-Country Ski Team. This number is down from the 11 last year, and 18 in 2009. One rookie was nominated, and five athletes were not invited back, accounting for the decline. According to USSA Nordic Director John Farra, the decrease in team size was not due to budget cuts. While the there was belt-tightening across the board when...
The Tour de Barents, a “mini-tour” modeled on the Tour de Ski is halfway done with a small, but elite field battling for the overall title. The event consists of four races in the Barents region of northern Nroway and Finland. Racing action began on Wednesday with a 5/10km individual start classic race. Finnish World Cup star Sami Jauhojärvi (FIN) skied to an impressive win in the men’s race, besting fellow Finn Mikko Koutaniemi by...
In a surprise move, the Pulitzer board has created a new category, increasing the number of annual awards to 22, and awarded it not to an individual, but to a general community. The new “Excellence in Anonymous Website Commenting” Pulitzer was awarded, en masse, to the nameless individuals who have provided supplementary commentary on FasterSkier.com. “This is truly a great day,” said FasterSkier editor Topher Sabot. “It is so rewarding to see our vision come...
The World Cup season has come to an end, and with it, so have a number of prominent careers. Retirements always spike at the end of an Olympic year, and 2010 is no exception. The list includes Virpi Kuitunen (FIN), Sabina Valbusa (ITA), Laurence Rochat (SUI), Reto Burgermeister (SUI), Rene Sommerfeldt (GER), Sarah Renner (CAN), Milan Sperl (CZE) and Anna Olsson (SWE). Kuitunen is the biggest name among the group. She won consecutive overall World...
The SuperTour Finals fits into a relatively new genre of competition – that of “mini-tour.” The term derives from the Tour De Ski, the multi-stage World Cup event featuring eight races in ten days. And while World Cup points are awarded for each individual race (half points actually), the big prize is the overall title. The success of the Tour on the global stage has led to the concept of the mini-tour, a similar format...
The most prestigious end of the year awards go to the overall World Cup Champions – the top man and woman receive a large crystal globe and a boatload of cash. Petter Northug (NOR) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) wrapped up the overall titles some time ago. Kowalczyk accrued an impressive 2064 total World Cup points in 2010. She scored points in every race she entered, and missed just two events the entire season, the freestyle...
Andy Newell set a new American mark by finishing 4th in the FIS Sprint Cup standings, just 34 points behind Alexei Petukhov (RUS) in 3rd, and a single point ahead of Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR), the two-time defending Sprint Cup champions. Newell entered the final sprint of the season with a chance to move up as high as second, but he was unable to advance past the quarterfinals and was defeated by both Petukhov and...
Falun, Sweden – The results sheet showed an amazing comeback by Frenchman Maurice Manificat, who chopped 45 seconds off of Petter Northug’s lead in just 2.2 kilometers. Somehow the fading Northug was able to recover and rally for yet another stunning finish charge and the World Cup Final victory. Or not. The video tells an entirely different story, with Mr. Northug cruising into the stadium with a huge lead, stopping to take a flag and...
Falun, Sweden – She wasn’t completely unbeatable, but for the past two months, Marit Bjoergen (NOR) was pretty darn close. Starting with her three golds, a silver, and a bronze at the Olympics, Bjoergen streaked to the end of the season with 10 victories in 14 starts (including relays). And the other four races? All either 2nd or 3rd. Starting with a 50 second lead on rival Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), Bjoergen easily maintained the gap...
Falun, Sweden – The sight of Petter Northug (NOR) powering away from the field in the final meters of a race has almost become predictable. The Norwegian star once again used his brutal finishing punch to claim victory in the 20km pursuit, and gain a significant margin in the overall World Cup Finals’ standings. Northug started quickly and won the first intermediate sprint to gain 15 bonus seconds. He then dropped back in the pack,...
Falun, Sweden – For the second time in a week, the Norwegian women swept the World Cup podium, with Marit Bjoergen, Kristin Stoermer Steira, and Therese Johaug taking the top three spots. Kikkan Randall (USA) had a career-best distance finish of 14th in the 10km pursuit event. The impressive Norwegain trio finished in the same order seven days ago in Oslo in the 30km mass start. In that race they broke away relatively early and...
Rogla, Slovenia – The Spring 2010 OPA Cup trip came to an end with the last race of the OPA Cup Finals on Sunday. The US ended the European tour in fine form, posting excellent results in the three race mini-tour. The competition featured a 2.5/3.5km classic prologue on Friday, a mass start 5/10km classic on Saturday, and the final 10/15km handicap start on Sunday to determine the overall winners. Mike Sinnott led the way...
On Sunday Kikkan Randall finished 2nd in the freestyle sprint at the Holmenkollen Ski Stadium in Oslo, Norway. This was Kikkan’s third career World Cup podium finish along with her World Championship silver medal. Randall was coming off an excellent Olympics where she raced extremely well in every start. She took some time in the midst of a busy post-race evening to answer a few questions about the day. 1). You looked strong, relaxed and...
With his 10th place finish in Holmenkollen on Sunday, Andy Newell moved into 4th in the overall Sprint Cup standings. He is now just two points behind Petter Northug (NOR), who did not race today. While Emil Joensson (SWE) has locked up the overall, Alexei Petukhov (RUS) in 2nd is still within striking distance, 17 points up. There is only one sprint competition remaining – a classic city sprint Wednesday in Stockholm. As it is...
Oslo, Norway – The Norwegian men may be lacking depth on the distance side, but in the sprint, they are still blessed with an abundance of riches. Anders Gloeersen won the Holmenkollen freestyle sprint in a preview of the 2011 World Championship course, despite being left off the Norwegian Olympic Team. Gloeersen’s Vancouver chances were hurt by the fact that he is a better skate sprinter – one of the best in fact, as he...
Oslo, Norway – Marit Bjoergen (NOR) has been nigh on unstoppable since the beginning of February, and has won every World Cup race since the Olympics. Today was no different though Kikkan Randall nearly pulled off the upset, leading the Norwegian star into the homestretch of the freestyle sprint in Oslo. Bjoergen won both races at the famed Holmenkollen Ski Stadium, and showed no ill effects from yesterday’s 30km. The sprint victory did not come...
Oslo, Norway – Maybe it is ski switching, maybe the courses are harder, or most likely, the skiers are more aggressive. Whatever the reason, the long mass start races that are now standard on the World Cup are becoming more and more consistently exciting. Last year the traditional Holmenkollen 50km was held in Trondheim due to construction at the Oslo venue, and the race set a new standard for a World Cup mass start race....
Rogla, Slovenia – Nine American skiers are currently in Slovenia contesting the OPA Cup Finals, an event modeled on the popular Tour de Ski and World Cup Finals. Racing started on Friday with a 2.5/3.5km classic prologue, and continued Saturday with a 5/10km mass start. The overall winners will be determined in a 10/15km handicap start based on the overall standing from the first two races. The first across the line is the champion. The...
