The 4×10 relay. It is rarely raced outside of major championship events, yet is still the most prestigious cross-country event in existence. There are no World Cup points to be won, no individual glory, just the hopes and dreams of an entire country resting on the shoulders of four men. Who can forget 1994, when Italy spoiled an otherwise perfect Games for host Norway in a race for the ages? Or the rematch in 2002...
Whistler, British Columbia – The two skiers swept around the large curve down into the stadium, Billy Demong of the USA in the lead, Austrian Mario Stecher right on his heels, the gold medal waiting, just 200 meters away. Stecher stepped out, tucking past Demong. There would be no sprint for the line. The gap was enough, and Austria champions. The American team, in claiming the silver, made US Nordic Combined history for the second...
There are few opportunities to list American Nordic skiers as gold medal favorites, but the US Nordic Combined squad has changed that over the last few years. And in today’s team event, there is no other nation that can match the depth and ski speed of the Americans. With three skiers all capable of winning individual events, and the up-an-coming Brett Camerota who had a fantastic jump in the first individual competition, the US is...
Whistler, British Columbia – The US men’s sprint relay team of Torin Koos and Andy Newell finished 9th after advancing out of the semifinals with a strong performance, before falling off the back with a lap and a half to go. Koos and Newell finished 2nd in their semifinal, edging France in a photo finish. The top three automatically advanced so the lunge at the line was not critical. It might have been had not...
Whistler, British Columbia – Another race, another record. The Canadian men’s cross-country team upped the ante once again, setting the third new mark for best Canadian men’s finish at the Olympics for the third time in the past 10 days. Ivan Babikov bettered Pierre Harvey’s 14th in ’88 with his 8th in the 15km. He then placed 5th in the pursuit, and now the team sprint of duo of Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey did...
Whistler, British Columbia – He had to wait, but Petter Northug finally got to show off his dominating sprint finish against his perennial whipping boy Axel Teichmann. Northug and teammate Oystein Pettersen won the first gold by the Norwegian men’s cross-country ski team since 2002 in the team sprint competition at Whistler Olympic Park. The high-pressure system that has brought unusually sunny weather to Whistler held out for one more day. Firm tracks in the...
Whistler, British Columbia – Evgeny Ustyugov (RUS) won the first biathlon Olympic men’s gold for Russia in 16 years, skiing away from bronze medalist Paval Hurajt (SVK) in the final lap. Martin Fourcade (FRA) overcame three misses, including two in the first prone stage to take the silver. Emil Svendsen (NOR) and Simon Eder (AUT) set the pace early, leading the pack that still numbered 16 strong after the first shooting stage. Fourcade was not...
The expanded result sheet says it all. At 11.25 kilometers, Kris Freeman was in 23rd place, in the lead pack, 10.9 seconds behind Lukas Bauer (CZE). At the next time check, 1.35 kilometers later, Freeman was 47th, just under three minutes off the pace. Freeman crashed, but not in the usual way. “I went from feeling fine and relaxed to ‘oh this is hard’, to not standing, in three minutes,” Freeman told FasterSkier. And just...
Southam, the only American other than Kris Freeman to start the 30km pursuit, skied to a solid 34th place finish. This result is on par with his performance at the World Championships in Liberec last year. Despite this consistency, Southam was not entirely pleased with his race. “The classic didn’t go as planned. I never felt quite in rhythm classic skiing out there.” He was skiing right around 30th place when he fell, not long...
Entering these 2010 Olympic Games, the top result by a Canadian man was a 14th by the legendary Pierre Harvey in 1988. Ivan Babikov bettered that with an 8th place in the 15km, but the best was yet to come. Pierre Harvey’s son, Alex topped his father’s result, finishing 9th today. And he was the just the third Canadian across the line. Babikov set yet another new record, finishing 5th, and in medal contention until...
The cross-country men will have a difficult time matching the women in today’s 30km pursuit. An exciting fast paced race featuring a photo finish for third highlighted another beautiful day at Whistler Olympic Park. The men’s race will most likely remain tightly packed, with a lead group of 20+ for much of the race. While the Whistler course features several large climbs, there is significant rest after each. This coupled with flat rolling terrain will...
Two days after winning the 100th gold medal in Norway’s Winter Olympic history, Marit Bjoergen wasn’t ready to stop. She added to that tally Friday, skiing to an impressive victory in the women’s 15km Pursuit at Whistler Olympic Park. Bjoergen put on a powerful move on the second-to-last climb of the race, leaving her competition in the dust. She was able to celebrate down the finish stretch in front of the cheering crowd while the...
The Whistler weather continues to surprise – in a good way. For the third consecutive day the sky is clear and the sun strong. Temperatures are climbing rapidly and will be well above freezing at race time. The women’s 15km “pursuit” is set to start at 1:00PM local time with a field of 68. Waxing for the classic portion should be relatively straightforward klister, and by the time the skate leg roles around, the course...
Jean Phillipe LeGuellec (CAN) is making the most of Canada’s first home Olympics in 22 years. With his 13th place finish today, he has now finished 6th, 11th and 13th on winter sports biggest stage. He once again thrilled the home crowd with his strong skiing and solid shooting, finishing 2:24 behind winner Emil Svendsen of Norway. LeGuellec overcame a slow third lap to finish strong. “I slowed down a little and focused on my...
Whistler, British Columbia – As the second starter in the women’s individual 15km, Tora Berger (NOR) had a long wait to see if her 1st place time would hold up, and when her last competitor crossed the line, the tears of joy started flowing. “It was very hard to wait, not a good time, but I had no time to think because there were so many interviews. But then I was very happy – they...
Whistler, British Columbia – Kikkan Randall (USA) already has made history countless times in her storied ski-career. On Wednesday, at Whistler Olympic Park, she did it again. Randall posted the best Olympic result ever in US women’s cross-country skiing, finishing 8th in the classic sprint. She beat her own mark of 9th, set in 2006. This is just one more notch in her impressive belt of accomplishments. Last year she became the first US woman...
Whistler, British Columbia – Stefan Kuhn thrilled home fans with a blistering qualification round in the men’s classic sprint. Kuhn was the 10th fastest qualifier, just 3.78 seconds behind Alexander Panzhinskiy (RUS). Kuhn has been on a role lately, at least in the qualification round – he was 7th last week in the Canmore World Cup. In a tough quarterfinal, he was in strong position throughout much of the the first part of the heat,...
With three men lined up in the final, including perhaps the most dominating sprinter in the short history of the event and his teammate, the best all around skier in the world, Norway looked good to put the ghosts of 2006 to rest for good. With Marit Bjoergen winning the women’s final, the team had already captured their first Olympic Gold since 2002 – a drought of unacceptable proportions for the ski powerhouse. But the...
Whistler, British Columbia – Marit Bjoergen (NOR), with a bronze medal under her belt already, set herself up for a run for the gold in the women’s classic sprint. Bjoergen posted the fastest qualifying time on the 1.4km course at Whistler Olympic Park. With cold weather overnight, and clear skies for a change, the track was hard and fast. Bjoergen posted a time of 3:38.05 on the relatively long Whistler course. Finland’s Aino-Kaisa Saarinen was...
Sunny skies and warm temperatures greeted sprinters on their arrival at Whistler Olympic Park this morning for the men’s and women’s sprint. This is a big chance for the Canadians and the U.S.—all six Americans are capable of qualifying for the heats, with three medal hopefuls in Kikkan Randall, Torin Koos, and Andy Newell. The Canadians are set up just as well, with Devon Kershaw, Sarah Renner, Dasha Gaiazova, and Perianne Jones gunning for the...
