Rogla, Slovenia – On a cold, snowy day, Petter Northug (NOR) won the World Cup classic sprint on a long challenging course at altitude, adding to his overall World Cup lead. Andy Newell (USA) won the qualification round by two seconds, with Northug nearly nine seconds back. But with heat times pushing the four minute mark, distance skiers fared quite well. “It was a pretty long sprint, so those guys [distance skiers] were getting stronger...
Yet another big weekend of racing is already underway, with a Nordic Combined World Cup this morning. In addition to two more NoCo races, you can take your pick of World Cup XC, World Cup Biathlon, NorAm sprints, and US Biathlon World Team Trials. Add to that a bevy of regional events and if it was on cable, your weekend would be set. Just a quick overview this week… World Cup Cross-Country The cross-country World...
Russian skiers Elena Vedeneeva and Dimitry Osinkin have been red flagged by FIS and are not permitted to start any FIS-sanctioned events. Vedeneeva were suspended for refusing an out-of-competition doping control, while Osinkin has retired. The issue came to light at last weekend’s La Sgambaeda Ski Marathon, the first event in the FIS Marathon Cup. Vedeneeva’s situation appears somewhat complicated. When doping officials showed up at her house in October, they were allowed in, but...
With one more race weekend on the docket for the first World Cup period, the US Ski Team has dispersed to various spots around the globe. On the Road Again The World Cup Team has been split in half, with Andy Newell, Kikkan Randall, Kris Freeman, Torin Koos and Lars Flora, along with coaches/servicemen Wadsworth, Augustson, and Johanson made the nine hour drive to Rogla, Slovenia yesterday. Newell describes the first-time World Cup venue as...
This morning we crossed the 50% mark in the Sean McCabe Memorial Fundraiser! We had a large spike in donations following my rather vehement expression of displeasure at the initial response. Since that article, we have had an additional 63 individual donations, totaling $3600. It has been great to see the response – and from such a wide range of people. Kikkan Randall posted a message of support on her blog and backed up her...
Morgan Arritola (USA) finished 34th in yesterday’s 10km freestyle, her best result in a European World Cup. This is Morgan’s first season racing regularly on the World Cup circuit. You had a great result today, did you feel this was one of your top international performances? I have not been satisfied with how I have been racing since arriving in Europe, but today was a step in the right direction. I still don’t have that...
Davos, Switzerland – The Davos World Cup weekend drew to a close with an exciting sprint on a notoriously long course. John Kristian Dahl (NOR) claimed his first World Cup victory. Competitors described the win as “well deserved.” “I’m very happy,” said Dahl. “This victory is my first World Cup win and I feel amazing. It is a tough and long course for a sprint, but that suits me. Petuhkov and Petter were strong competitors...
Davos, Switzerland – Alexey Petukhov (RUS) showed last week’s domination in Dusseldorf was no fluke. The Russian sprinter posted the fastest time in the men’s 1.7 km freestyle sprint qualification this morning. Arianna Follis (ITA) was the fastest woman in qualification – for the second week in a row. Petukhov’s time of 3:43.34 was 1.52 seconds faster than runner-up Jesper Modin (SWE). Anders Gloeersen (NOR) qualified 3rd. Despite the long course, only 8.46 seconds separated...
Overall it was a successful day for the US and Canada in Davos. Read the race reports for details onthe results: Women’s 10km Freestyle The top performance of the day belonged to Kris Freeman, finishing 7th. “It feels really good. I tried to ski like I did in Kuusamo. I just went out conservatively and was able to really take it in,” Freeman said. “I’d like to be able to take a little more, but...
Davos, Switzerland – Matti Heikkinen (FIN) joined Irina Khazova (RUS) as a firs time World Cup winner today. Heikkinen skiied to a 14 second victory over Marcus Helllner (SWE) in the 15km individual start race, while Maurice Magnificat led a strong French showing in 3rd. Like Khazova, who won the women’s race, Heikkinen had never stood on the top step of the World Cup podium. Just a week shy of his 26th birthday, his previous...
Davos, Switzerland – Kikkan Randall (USA), coming off two of her top World Cup distance races ever, struggled to 65th today. FasterSkier checked in with her following the race. You did not have a good result today, especially in light of your recent distance performances. What happened? I think I started a little too slow, loosing too much time in the first 2km. The middle part of the race was decent, Therese Johaug caught me...
Please take a minute to Women’s 10km Freestyle – Complete Results
Another big weekend of racing awaits! From the World Cup to Olympic Biathlon Qualifiers, there will be plenty of action. Continental Cup The North American Continental Cup circuit moves from the US, and SuperTour competitions, to Canada, and the NorAm series. Top US and Canadian skiers will be present, and the races are the first Canadian Olympic Qualifiers. Canadian World Cup team members Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, George Grey, Ivan Babikov, Chandra Crawford, Perianne Jones...
We launched the Sean McCabe Memorial Fundraiser just over a week ago. In that time we have raised $2500 – reason to celebrate? I don’t think so. Last night a reader posted the following comment on the You can read more about the fundraiser here.
The US Ski Team has regrouped in Davos, Switzerland, with the sprinters joining the distance skiers after the conclusion of the Dusseldorf World Cups. All skiers are healthy. Lars Flora is recovered from illness that kept him out of the Kuusamo races, and he Liz Stephen, Morgan Arritola, and Kris Freeman have been training in Davos, where the conditions are good. There was no snow a week ago, but a storm moved in just in...
Dusseldorf, Germany – The Italian Team of Magda Genuin and Arianna Follis took the victory in the women’s Team Sprint this morning in Germany. The Italians were content to stay just off the lead until the last lap, when Follis, who posted the fastes qualifying time in yesterday’s individual sprint, took control and skied to .7 second victory over Sweden and Norway. “I’m happy, happy, happy,” exclaimed Follis after the race. “Last year we were...
Dusseldorf, Germany – The Russian team of Nikolay Morilov and Alexei Petukhov controlled the final of the Men’s Team Sprint competition this morning. The Russians led at every exchange, and at one point opened a gap of 3.6 seconds on the field. Petukhov, clearly in top form, won yesterday’s individual sprint with relative ease. He anchored the Russians today, outsprinting the usual loaded final. Norway took second, .8 seconds back, and Sweden II was third....
Dusseldorf, Germnay – Alexei Petukhov (RUS) backed up a blazing qualification time with the overall victory in the men’s freestyle sprint in Germany. Petukhov posted the fastest time in qualification by just under 2 seconds – a fact that is especially impressive when you consider that only 5.43 seconds separated 2nd and 30th. Today’s performance marked the first World Cup victory for the 26-year-old Russian. He did have two second place finishes last season, both...
Dusseldorf, Germany – Hanna Falk (SWE), just 20 years old, won her first World Cup race, in only her third start. The young Swede qualified 4th before advancing through the heats. Falk finished 7th in the classic sprint last weekend in Finland. Her only other World Cup start was in March 2007 – a classic sprint in Stockholm where she finished 49th. She skied aggressively in the heats, taking control early and leading into the...
With the dawning of December comes the flood of races that characterizes the winter season. The US SuperTour moves a bit north to Bozeman, Montana, the World Cup heads to Germany for a weekend of high speed sprints, World Cup Biathlon continues in Sweden, and the US Nordic Combined team makes its 2010 World Cup debut. Women’s Ski Jumping gets underway midweek next week in Finland. SuperTour Last season the Bozeman SuperTour (and the Park...
