At least 20 teams have a realistic chance of getting an athlete on the podium in the Olympics - or at any of the normal World Cup races this season. Watch out, big guys, you're in for some serious competition.
Mention the name 'Peter Hale' and you'll be hard-pressed to find someone that doesn't think he was one of the nicest, most giving people in the U.S. nordic industry -- and it wasn't because he was a salesman. In fact, making money might have been least important to Hale; he was in it for the athletes.
Norway, Russia, Germany, France: it's hard to see a biathlon race where these guys aren't on the podium. Here's what you need to know about the biggest teams going into the 2013-2014 season - injury updates, shooting problems, psychological battles, promising juniors, team-naming squabbles. Read on.
After a two-year review process, the World Anti-Doping Agency approved a new code last week, which intends to make it harder for cheaters to cheat. But the efforts are still ongoing, and the code and accompanying regulations aren't foolproof.
Ivan Babikov is excited, to say the least, heading into his third Olympic season. At 33, Canada's most-seasoned World Cup veteran knows what to expect and what not to get too stressed about. "[I’m] not trying to reinvent the bicycle," he says.
Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk and Kazakhstan's Alexey Poltoranin got off to a strong start this weekend, winning two of three opening FIS races in Muonio, Finland. Americans Kris Freeman and Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess made it into the top-30s, and several other North Americans competed.
Andrea Henkel of Germany vanquished Norway's Tora Berger for a second straight win at the "season start" biathlon races in Norway. But the home team had its revenge in the men's race, where Ole Einar Bjørndalen led a 1-4 sweep and Norway placed nine men in the top 12.
Sjusjøen, Norway, is hosting "Sesongstartskiskyting": opening races for the international biathlon season. Most European national teams were in attendance, and Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen and Germany's Andrea Henkel took home the wins in Saturday's sprints.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) discovered a major snafu this week in the leadup to the Sochi Winter Olympics when it rendered Moscow's antidoping laboratory -- the one that's expected to test Olympic athletes in less than three months -- sub-standard.
JP Le Guellec, Scott Perras, Zina Kocher, and Rosanna Crawford will start the biathlon season on the World Cup - but 11 other Canadians have the chance to fight it out for the remaining World Cup spots, where they can also qualify for the Olympics. The team was chosen after two trials races in Canmore this week.
On Nov. 5, the Canadian Centre for Ethics in Sport announced the creation of a new and anonymous Report Doping Hotline, funded by the Canadian government, Olympic Committee and Paralympic Committee to the tune of nearly $1 million dollars. While the idea of facilitating anonymous doping claims may seem risky, Canada isn't the first to do so and believes the benefits could be substantial.
In the second half of our "ask a psychologist" segment, we talk to Dartmouth sports psychologist Dr. Mark Hiatt about the pressure and stress that comes with qualifying for big races, and what happens once you do. Hiatt expands on suggestions for how to manage expectations, relax, and get in a positive and productive mindset.
With nearly 90 percent of its senior team still eligible for U23 World Championships, NDC Thunder Bay is hungry for some international starts, and new head coach Timo Puiras has a feeling it's going to be a good season.
Peter Hale, a fixture in the US Nordic community for decades has been battling with cancer for several years. The group of friends who have been caring for Peter has the following update on Peter's condition and instructions on how to send good wishes.
Before the start of the 2013/2014 season, 22-year-old Erik Bjornsen recently sat down with Reese Hanneman for a frank discussion about last winter and the one just ahead.
Selected to head up the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Program just three years ago, John Farra is already thinking medals for his team at the Sochi Paralympics in March, and believes they'll be on par with the Russians by the 2018 Games.
Sovereign Lake boasted "mid-winter conditions" on Saturday, so naturally, FasterSkier contributor Gerry Furseth had to investigate. What he found was 75-plus kilometres of groomed trails and a reason for switching from his rock to his race skis.
Coaches can't help with everything. We talked to Dr. Mark Hiatt, a sports psychologist at Dartmouth College, for how to deal with some common situations: what if your team is taking up too much time and eating into your life? How do you compete against your teammates? What if you hate your coach? His answers, which we hope will help you.
FS staff member Emily Schwing catches up with the voices and brains of NBC's commentary at the upcoming Sochi Olympics, Chad Salmela and Rob Whitney, who will likely cover nordic, biathlon and nordic combined at the 2014 Winter Games.
At 22, Heidi Widmer's suffered three concussions in the last four years, with her most recent resulting from a rollerski crash this fall. "I’m super lucky,” the Canadian NST member says. “There’s no internal bleeding, I’m functioning, I’m fine, but I just have to be able to take care of this and come out of it with some lessons learned for sure.”