This week’s edition of the Devon Kershaw Show comes in hot with a recap of the city sprint in Dresden, Germany. The breakdown includes solid American results and a tragic crash for a Canadian sprinter, plus some Kremlinology about Alexander Bolshunov and the Russian Ski Federation, discussion about the internal dynamics of the Swedish sprinters, and a reminder about how you’re lucky to live outside Norway if you want to go to the Olympics for...
Davos brought another entertaining weekend of racing for American ski fans, with Rosie Brennan in the mix in both competitions, a podium from Jessie Diggins, and breakout performances from Hailey Swirbul, Sophia Laukli, and Novie McCabe. Devon Kershaw and FasterSkier’s Nat Herz take us through the results with special guest Eirik Brandsdal, the longtime, now-retired Norwegian World Cup sprint racer. Have questions for Devon or Nat? Send them to devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com to have them answered. We’ll be...
It was another hot weekend of racing in Lillehammer, with another epic Johaug–Karlsson duel, some legit results from American racers, and some breakout performances from some new names. Today, Devon Kershaw and Nat Herz break it down, with the added bonus of Kershaw’s firsthand experience of waxing for the Canadian team on-scene. Come for the race breakdowns, stay for the monologues about TV production and the cross-country ski boot supply chain. Send your questions...
We’re back with this week’s episode of the Devon Kershaw Show! Devon and FasterSkier’s Nat Herz break down the World Cup’s exciting season-opening weekend of racing in Finland, along with a special guest: U.S. Olympian Sadie Maubet Bjornsen, who retired in the spring. The trio breaks down Ruka’s frigid temperatures, legit results from North American racers, Frida Karlsson’s surprising victory over Therese Johaug, and some Russian men’s distance domination — with the inevitable aside about...
The Devon Kershaw is back from summer hibernation! This week, Devon takes a break from medical school to break down the first big tune-up races of the season in Muonio, Finland. Joining him are the show’s new co-host, former FasterSkier reporter Nat Herz, along with Canadian athlete Russell Kennedy, who popped a huge result in one of the races in Finland. Russell catches us up on the European circuit; we also discuss Charlotte Kalla’s recently...
With wildfire smoke obscuring mountain views and compromising easy breathing in much of the West, it’s safe to say it is summer. In this episode of the Devon Kershaw Show, we mostly chat with Zach Caldwell of Vermont’s Caldwell Sport. Last season, during one of our conversations with Zach, we discussed some ideas we’d like to see in terms of an enhanced broadcast from FIS for their cross-country World Cup coverage. Zach came up...
When it comes to the leading research regarding nordic sport, we often associate Dr Øyvind B. Sandbakk with publishing keen information regarding high performance. Sandbakk is the managing director at the Centre for Elite Sports Research at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) in Trondheim, Norway. Beyond just simply chit-chatting about the current state of affairs regarding cross-country skiing in Norway, Kershaw discusses the recently published paper titled, “Preparing for the Nordic Skiing...
There was a time when the Canadian National Cross-Country Ski Team was the North American team to watch. As skiers like Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins found their footing, Becky Scott, Chandra Crawford, and Sara Renner were medaling at the Olympics. Alex Harvey and Kershaw won team sprint gold at the 2011 World Championships. And Harvey continued to romp – winning the 2017 World Championship gold in the 50k. Along the way, like many...
The main point of the weekend was the coronation of Jessie Diggins as the overall winner of the cross-country World Cup. She becomes the first American woman to do so. Historic? Yes. Adding to the crystal collection, she’ll haul across the Atlantic on her trip home the distance globe too. We discuss the racing in Engadin, Switzerland which consisted of mass start classic races on Saturday and fun point to point skate races on Sunday...
We are catching our breath here with Alex Harvey with the 50 k classic rundown on the podcast. On another planet where the perceived forces of good and evil do not wear Lycra, this race is simply catalogued as another classic, not a mega-classic. Such is life and such is racing. This 50 k classic monster came down to the wire as Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov and Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo flowed into the final...
Here’s Therese Johaug after her dominant 30 k classic performance at the 2021 World Championship: “I never have been in such good shape. I am so happy. I’m 33 years and I know I’m getting older and older and I know that this time ends soon, so I am just so happy.” What the World Cup field has historically known is a Johaug in shape. Outright, she’s likely the best distance skier of all-time....
One can expect some tactics during a 4 x 10 k relay in heavy snowfall for world championship glory. To summarize nearly two hours of racing in three sentences there was this: Russia off the front, then in the middle. Norway in the middle, then off the front. Then Klæbo becoming the king of coy as he tempts Bolshunov and pounces for the win. This 4 x 10 k relay provided a wealth of storyline...
The facts are this: with Johaug in the 4 x 5 k relay mix Norway remains a force late in the race when the skate legs ensue. Today in Oberstdorf, Johaug took over the race and made it a relative yawner up-front. The real action was for third place where the U.S. and Finland threw down. Over 20 k of racing came down to the final straight when Krista Pärmäkoski and Jessie Diggins drag raced....
For what it is worth, and it is worth something, the 15 k interval start skate at the 2021 World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany lived up to the hype as the race of truth. Coming in, we would have expected Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov to search, seek, and destroy every centimeter of this salted and then melting course. It was a grind for all. And throughout the laps on a brutal course, the Russian was...
In today’s 10 k story on FasterSkier, here’s how it began: “The high pressure continued at the 2021 World Championships on Tuesday in more ways than one. Oberstdorf, Germany’s temps hovered around 50 degrees Fahrenheit for the start of the women’s 10-kilometer individual freestyle, and a rarefied number of skiers poised to step on the podium. The pressure cooker that is the individual start, with skiers setting off at 30-second intervals was on display...
In this episode, we speak with Zach Caldwell — Putney, Vermont ski whisperer, and wax nerd at Caldwell Sport. We’ve received questions from listeners asking about the difficulty of waxing (for both skate and classic) as well as ski selection when the temperatures spike beyond the melting point for snow. That has been the case in Oberstdorf, Germany the last week, site of the 2021 Nordic Ski World Championships. That said, it’s a “rest day”...
In this Sunday, World Championship team sprint episode of the Devon Kershaw Show, we have a special guest from Québec , the actual Prince of Québec … Alex Harvey. It has been ten short or long years since he and Kershaw won the classic team sprint at the 2011 Oslo World Championships. First off, before listening to the episode today…check out the videos posted below. To set the scene, this win goes down at...
The most special of special guest on the podcast today, Kristin Størmer Steira. Størmer Steira, a retired Norwegian ski star, chats it up with Devon from Lillehammer, where the two are busy raising two young daughters. According to a 2014 FasterSkier article on the couple, evidently, Kershaw’s “great smile”, a legacy of his youth in Sudbury, won Størmer Steira over. In her own right, Størmer Steira was a Norwegian ski star. Back in 2005, Størmer...
The storylines were many during Thursday’s classic sprint at the 2021 World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany. As the backdrop for the racing — the temps were high, the salted course began to breakdown in the final corner, and running uphill with skis on … at lightning speed … was mandatory. Norway swept the men’s podium with none other than classic kingpin Johannes Høsflot Klæbo taking the win. For certain, as this was on display...
The legend is set in stone: Kikkan Randall brought a new intensity and bottom-line results to the U.S. Ski Team. Three overall sprint globes to her name, five Olympics, a bronze at the 2017 Lahti World Champs in the skate sprint, a silver at the 2009 Liberec, Czech Republic World Champs skate sprint, a gold at the 2013 Val di Fiemme, Italy World Champs in the team sprint (with Diggins), and the 2018 Olympic Gold...