Nutrition expert Georgie Fear explains how to ward off illness when training volume is at its highest. "As the season approaches, athletes want to be strong, fast, and lean, and putting in the hours to train is essential," she says. "It’s also critical for good nutrition to be a part of your routine."
Mads Strøm of the University of Colorado and Norwegian club, Bærums Verk IF, put down a ferocious last lap to win Saturday's 15 k freestyle, the last race of the West Yellowstone SuperTour weekend. Brian Gregg hung tough for second and Sylvan Ellefson edged Matt Liebsch for third.
Watching her husband in the West Yellowstone SuperTour 15 k skate on Saturday, Caitlin Gregg (Madshus/Team Gregg) had a sense it was going to be another good day. Brian Gregg placed second and Caitlin went on to win the women's 10 k individual race by more than a minute and 20 seconds. “It's incredible,” she said. “It’s so fun when this stuff happens.”
The highlight of Caitlin Gregg’s day was seeing all her Midwest fans, her Loppet Nordic Racing buddies, at the finish of each heat on Friday during the first SuperTour sprint of the season. That gave her reason to celebrate and smile every time she won, which Gregg did all morning and early afternoon in the West Yellowstone 1.3 k skate sprint.
A lot of people might not know who Emil Johansson is. To SuperTour spectators and most of the 200-plus racers in West Yellowstone on Friday, he was an unknown: a Swede racing in the green suit of his home club IK Jarl Rättvik. An exchange student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, he's not part of the team. It was hard to know what he was capable of.
The Canadian men's team continued its tear of the IBU Cup circuit, with Brendan Green - in his first season of racing since a debilitating back injury in 2012 which required two surgeries - placing second in the 20 k individual in Beitostolen. Lanny Barnes led the U.S. with an 18th-place finish in the women's race.
Moving on from last season, the Canadians are a calculated bunch and ready to get the World Cup season started -- with a goal of not overemphasizing early results in order to peak for the Olympics. For the entire team, the Tour de Ski is part of the plan.
Some of the most competitive skiers in the U.S. SuperTour circuit give thanks and express appreciation for friends and family before, during and after their Thanksgiving ski sessions in West Yellowstone, Mont., one day before the SuperTour opens there on Friday.
From across the country, all of us at FasterSkier wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving (in photos)!
Jean Philippe Le Guellec of Canada placed fourth in today's 20 k individual, the first non-relay of the World Cup season - despite the fact that he went in unsure about his current level of performance. Teammate Nathan Smith had a career-best 16th-place finish of his own and started checking off the Olympic qualification criteria.
You don't have to be a ski nerd or history buff to think this stuff is interesting. A century ago, West Yellowstone was just getting its starts as a tourist town -- one that had to deal with excessive cold and ever-piling snow. What to do? Ski!
Four years ago, Tim Burke faced a lot of pressure to become the first American to win an Olympic medal in biathlon. He's in the same situation now, but he says he much better prepared to handle it going into the 2014 World Cup season. We talked to Burke and Susan Dunklee, the top-ranked woman on the U.S. team, about expectations.
Visitor numbers are up for the West Yellowstone Ski Festival and the Rendezvous Ski Trails are open in their entirety, but the snow is a little denser than usual. "It's definitely a little odd for here," groomer Doug Edgerton said of the manmade-like conditions that are 100-percent natural. "Historically, we’re cold and dry."
Celebrating a birthday often involves cake, candles, and a bit of singing. Not so for Chris Osgood and his son Brayton who participated in what they called the 60 for 60 rollerski on Nov. 16. Every year since turning 30, Chris has rollerskied his age in kilometers, culminating in this year’s ski. Bucking the traditional birthday merriments, he celebrated his sixth decade by rollerskiing 60 kilometers.
Anastasiya Kuzmina has pretty happy memories of Canada: the Slovakian biathlete won gold and silver there at the 2010 Olympics. But she's making plenty more memories with a yearly training camp at Frozen Thunder in Canmore, thanks to Ivan Babikov and Biathlon Canada. “I hope to be back here more," she said.
The U.S. women closed out their weekend in Beitostølen on top, with Kikkan Randall winning Sunday's 1.2 k skate sprint ahead of two Slovenians and three Norwegians, including Marit Bjørgen. Ida Sargent placed 13th and three other Americans made the top 20.
The French biathlon team seemed to have mastered the blustery conditions in Ostersund - that is, until four-time World Champion Martin Fourcade took over. Instead, it was the Czech Republic who had the most to celebrate as they took the win, their first in the history of the discipline.
Nathan Smith claimed his first IBU Cup podium in two years by placing second to Russia's Timofey Lapshin in Idre today; Marc-Andre Bedard was seventh and Brendan Green ninth, while Megan Imrie and Megan Heinicke placed sixth and seventh in the women's race. One race into the season, Canada leads the IBU Cup standings - ahead of Norway, Russia, and Germany.
Placing fifth in her first FIS race of the season, Sadie Bjornsen broke up a Norwegian sweep of the top 10 on Friday in Beitostølen, Norway, along with fellow U.S. Ski Team member Kikkan Randall in 10th. Five other U.S. women finished in the top 30, and Noah Hoffman led the U.S. men in 42nd.
It's no secret what Team USA will be wearing at the opening and closing ceremonies in Sochi, Russia: lots of red, white and blue, some ugly sweaters, and clunky boots. But what about the race-day suits for the U.S. Ski Team?