Norway's Celine Brun-Lie chatted with FasterSkier while wrapping up her camp with the U.S. Ski Team and APU on Eagle Glacier. She flew home Tuesday, but not before flying around Alaska, visiting cabins, eating salmon, seeing moose, lots of moose -- and training 20-plus hours for each of the last two weeks.
Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle had three of her nine supplements - recommended by an experienced nutritionist - tested for banned substances. She read the ingredient labels carefully and googled their names with the phrase "doping". But the IBU rejected the idea of accidental ingestion and slapped her with the same 2-year ban that a Russian using EPO received on the same day. Is that fair?
The International Biathlon Union has finally announced the verdict for Irina Starykh of Russia: a two-year ban beginning on December 23, 2013, the date samples were collected which eventually tested positive for recombinant erythropoetin. Starykh claims that the substance must have been in a drug she injected to improve her skin, but this seems unlikely.
For the last five years, there has been an ammunition shortage in the U.S. The shortage is most acute in inexpensive rimfire-type ammunition, particularly .22-caliber, which is preferred by competitive and recreational shooters (i.e. biathletes). Coaches from several U.S. biathlon clubs weigh in on whether they've experienced issues with obtaining team ammo.
Dasha Gaiazova was on the fence about continuing her ski career after the 2014 Olympics.The Russian-born Canadian had competed at back-to-back home Olympics, and in May, she wasn't named to Canada's World Cup or senior development teams. "I felt like I wanted to keep racing," she recalled. “The team got announced and I didn't get on the team, and I was like, I gotta think about some things.”
FIS Anti-Doping Coordinator Sarah Fussek says that her federation is in the very early stages of harmonizing their Athlete Biological Passport testing protocol with other winter sports federations, with a possible end result of the IOC taking over all testing at the Olympics. This would allow FIS to do more testing at other events in Olympic years.
Anchorage and Eagle Glacier are happening places these days, with the North American Women's Training Alliance (including Norway's Celine Brun-Lie and 13 top U.S. skiers), a couple of French biathletes and the U.S. men's team, which recently arrived for its first unified training camp in Alaska.
APU Head Coach Erik Flora isn't one to toot his own horn, but when it comes down to it, he's really in awe of the levels his Anchorage-based program has reached and his recent recognition as USOC Coach of the Year. "I had no idea it was coming," he says. "It’s such an incredible honor."
At age 21, Brian Olsen worried that coming out as gay would negatively affect his performance as a biathlete. Years later, he's using his position as an athlete rep to advocate for governing bodies in Olympic sports to think more carefully about the environment they're creating for gay and lesbian athletes. That might start here in the nordic community.
An idea from Williams' associate athletic director came to life with the help of one of the college's skiers: Will Wicherski. By 2016, Williams could be hosting its Carnival on a homologated 5-kilometer loop at Prospect Mountain in Woodford, Vt.
U.S. Ski Team Development Coach Bryan Fish fields questions from the NNF regarding the Regional Elite Group camps, like what are they, when do they happen, and who gets to go.
This spring, nordic organizations across the U.S. and Canada were hit hard by cuts from their Olympic funding partners. U.S. Biathlon Association President Max Cobb says his group wasn't one of them: USBA didn't get its full request, but it got enough. "It's a relief," he said. USBA also has the added benefit of a foundation to help with additional fundraising.
Meet the 11 candidates up for nomination to U.S. Biathlon's X or development-group teams, from high-school upperclassmen to post grads.
We practice what we preach! FasterSkier's François Léger Dionne gives us a taste of one of the variety workouts he used in preparation for the Mount Washington Road Race last weekend. "Summer is the best season to add plenty of variety to your training before the upcoming and more ski-oriented fall," he says. "I used to do this workout every week."
Sometimes a complicated meal just isn’t going to happen. This postworkout meal, one-pot quinoa, chicken and veggies, is brimming with high-quality carbohydrates and protein without a lot of fuss. If you have leftovers, it also makes a great lunch.
Despite throwing out his back two weeks earlier, Andy Newell ran to first place in the Jim Bridger Trail Run in Bozeman, Mont on June 28. He was joined by SMS T2 teammate Erika Flowers, who won the women's division of the 10 mile race that boasts over 2,000 feet of elevation gain.
The Soldier Hollow Legacy Foundation (SHLF) is excited to announce the hiring of Richard Hodges as its new Executive Director effective July 1, 2014.
Looking for motivation to get in tip-top ski shape for next winter? Check out these photo montages of the 2013/2014 FIS World Cup season.
Second of two photo montages recapping the 2013/2014 FIS World Cup season.
What happens when you live in a ski-crazy country and have a breakout race on home soil? We talked to Roman Schaad, a 20-year-old Swiss sprinter who shot into the top 10 in his very first World Cup in Davos last December. That day, it took him 2 hours to finish interviews before he could go home - to his apartment literally next to the finish line. Sponsors and an Olympic appearance followed.