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Thursday Race Rundown: World Championship Freestyle Sprint

FasterSkierFebruary 21, 2019

2019 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Seefeld, Austria 1.2 k/ 1.6 k freestyle sprint Welcome to The Rundown, your quick primer of need-to-know information about the day’s racing. We’ll be updating this digest as the day goes on with additional results, photos and quotes. The Rundown is NOT a race report; stay tuned for complete race reports later today with interviews from the day’s top racers. The women’s 1.2-kilometer freestyle sprint at the 2019...

General News Racing Results World Cup

Sunday Race Rundown: Cogne, SoHo & Minneapolis

FasterSkierFebruary 17, 2019

FIS Cross Country World Cup 10 k/15 k Classic Individual Start Cogne, Italy World Cup athletes returned to the Cogne race venue on Sunday for a men’s and women’s classic interval start race. In the women’s 10 k, Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen, won in a time of 27:24.8. Finishing just 3 seconds behind her for second place was Swiss skier, Nadine Fähndrich. Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva claimed third, 12.6 seconds behind the winner. Racing for the U.S., Rosie...

General News Racing Results

Sweden Snags First and Third in Lahti Classic Team Sprint

Gabby NaranjaFebruary 10, 2019

It was a weekend of sprinting in Lahti, Finland, with many World Cup athletes closing out Sunday having traversed the famed 1.4-kilometer 2016 World Championships sprint loop at top speed close to ten times. By the time Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist got on course for the final lap of the women’s classic Team Sprint, she had already tallied nine–in Saturday’s freestyle sprint she made it through the qualifier, quarterfinal, semifinal and final (placing third), and on...

Biathlon General News Racing World Cup

Sunday Rundown from Lahti and Canada (Canmore Biathlon Sprints Cancelled)

FasterSkierFebruary 10, 2019

FIS World Cup Lahti, Finland Classic Team Sprint Sunday in Lahti, Finland the women raced a 6 x 1.4-kilometer classic team sprint. U.S. fans saw their hopes for a podium snuffed out in the two semi-finals that determined the 10 teams advancing to the finals. In the first team sprint semi, the U.S. Ski Team’s (USST) Ida Sargent and Sophie Caldwell placed sixth overall and did not advance. Sargent and Caldwell, constituting team USA I,...

General News Racing World Cup

Falla First in Lahti; But Calling it For Caldwell

Jason AlbertFebruary 9, 2019

Out of the famed Lahti, Finland ski stadium and up and over the initial punchy climb, Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla, 40 seconds into the final of the women’s 1.4-kilometer sprint, charged ahead. In her draft, and sitting in fourth place around the hairpin that slung skiers back towards the stadium was the U.S. Ski Team’s Sophie Caldwell. Descending back past the stadium and into the next decisive hill at 1:35 into the race, Caldwell made...

Biathlon General News Racing

Day Two in Canmore: IBU World Cup Relay Day Rundown (Updated)

FasterSkierFebruary 8, 2019

Canmore, Canada IBU World Cup 4 x 7.5 k/ 4 x 6 k relay Friday in Canmore was team relay day. Norway’s Lars Helge Birkeland, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, Erlend Øvereng Bjøntegaard and Johannes Thingnes Bø won the men’s 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay in 1:16:36.6 hours while acquiring no penalties on the shooting range and using seven spares. In second place was France’s Antonin Guigonnat, Emilien Jacquelin, Simon Fourcade, and Quentin Fillon Maillet. The French...

Biathlon General News Racing

Canmore IBU World Cup Race Rundown: Warm Enough for Bø and Eckhoff

FasterSkierFebruary 7, 2019

IBU World Cup Canmore, Canada 15 k/ 12.5 k Short Individual Races Sun, mountains, and what may have seemed like relatively warm temps allowed the IBU World Cup events to proceed on Thursday in Canmore, Canada. It’s been Polar Vortex cold in Canmore. Cold enough to thwart the original plans for traditional length 20-kilometer and 15 k individual races, for men and women respectively. With cold temperatures predicted all week, and a window of legal-limit...

Biathlon General News

Cold in Canmore and Juggling the IBU World Cup

FasterSkierFebruary 5, 2019

“Polar Vortex” has become part of the oh-so-cold vernacular when describing seemingly locked in place artic air. Last week’s weather-related news cycle was dominated by all things “Polar Vortex”. In Canmore, Canada, the term is still being thrown around: the cold temperatures have not abated. On Thursday, the International Biathlon Union (IBU) is scheduled to begin its North American swing of races in Canmore with the men’s 20-kilometer and women’s 15 k individual races. Hold...

General News

Becoming Northug

Jason AlbertFebruary 4, 2019

(Some details and insights in this story come from a book recently published in Norwegian, Min Historie: Northug as told by Petter Northug to Jonas Forsang. This piece was written by twenty-one-year-old Maks Zechel, a Canadian cross-country skier living and training in Norway.) *** Arguably the greatest male cross country skier of all time. Certainly the most sensational. Undeniably the skier who has changed the sport more than anyone else. There never has been,...

General News Opinion

Op-Ed by Bill McKibben: Where I’m going the day after the Birke

Jason AlbertFebruary 3, 2019

Where I’m going the day after the Birke I know what you do the day after the Birke. Linger in bed. Go online to look at your time. Compare it with that other guy in your ski club’s time. And that other guy. Figure out if you were fast enough to move up a wave next year. But this year there’s another option. You could drive a few hours west to Lake Itasca State Park...

General Juniors Multimedia News Racing Video

Relay Replay: Full Video of U20 Relays from World Juniors

Gavin KentchJanuary 31, 2019

Last Saturday, the American women placed fourth in the U20 relay at 2019 World Junior Ski Championships. In any other year before 2017 this result would probably be headline news; considering that the Americans had the youngest team in the race (you can compare athlete birthdates from the women’s race here if you really want to get into the minutiae), this may well be headline news next year, or the year after that, when the same...

General News Racing

Die Hard Nordies Joda and Choudoir Make Speed … for U.S. Boardercross

Jason AlbertJanuary 29, 2019

Go with this for a moment: Boardercross, or Snowboard cross as it’s also known, is a cousin of cross-country skiing. Both are wintertime endeavors. Both involve sliding on frozen water. Let’s just say skinny skis and snowboards are within the Punnett square of crossing winter with sport. That brings us to another commonality; good glide is better. Manufacturers of nordic skis and snowboards most often use UHMW, or Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene, for its...

General Juniors News Racing

Wednesday Race Rundown: U23 Worlds from Lahti, Finland

FasterSkierJanuary 23, 2019

Four U.S. skiers began the U23 women’s 10 k skate individual start at the 2019 U23 World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland on Wednesday, all four finished in the top-30 after Russia’s Mariya Istomina claimed the win in 25:57.3 minutes. Fnland’s Evelina Pippo was second (+2.0), and Norway’s Tiril Udnes Weng third (+29.6). Istomina and Pippo are scheduled to compete at this weekend’s Ulricehamn, Sweden World Cup and have concluded their competition schedules at U23...

General Juniors News Racing

Tuesday Race Rundown: Lahti Junior Worlds U20 5 k/10k Individual Skate (Updated 2x)

FasterSkierJanuary 22, 2019

FIS Junior World Ski Championships Lahti, Finland 5 k/10k Freestyle Interval Start Tuesday in Lahti, Finland was as Finland should be: squeaky-snow-cold and cross-country ski racing on offer. Eighteen-year-old Gus Schumacher broke through for the U.S. and placed sixth overall in the U20 men’s 10-kilometer freestyle. Schumacher was the 95th starter of 102 finishers on the day. His sixth place finish was consistent with his 1.1k, 5k, and 6.6k splits where he was ranked 5th,...

General News Racing US Ski Team

U.S. 2019 World Championship Team Announced

FasterSkierJanuary 22, 2019

In a press release Monday afternoon, U.S. Ski and Snowboard announced the members of the 2019 Cross-Country World Championships in Seefeld, Austria. (Press Release) U.S. Ski & Snowboard has named 18 athletes to the U.S. Cross Country Team that will compete in the 2019 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships next month in Seefeld, Austria. The biennial World Championships brings together the best athletes in the sport for the Feb. 20 – March 3 event...

General Juniors News Racing

World Juniors Classic Sprint Rundown: Ogden 8th, Keeffe 12th

FasterSkierJanuary 20, 2019

Sunday featured the first day of racing at the 2019 Junior World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland. To kick things off at the crown jewel of Finnish ski venues was the U20 classic sprint. The men raced a 1.6-kilometer loop, the women a 1.4 k course. Several North American males qualified for the heats after Russia’s Alexander Terentev qualified first in a time of 3:28.74 minutes. For the U.S. all four athletes entered in the...

General News Racing World Cup

Norway’s Falla Leaves No Doubt with Otepää Win; Diggins in 12th

Jason AlbertJanuary 19, 2019

Some proverbs hang in there. From situation to situation they simply capture, in the moment, how best to move forward. “Patience is a virtue,” has an etymology going way back. Yet the timeworn saying and it’s wait-wait-wait underpinnings helped dictate the outcome of Saturday’s World Cup 1.3-kilometer classic sprint in Otepää, Estonia. That is until Maiken Caspersen Falla broke up the final. But we’ll get to that in a moment. It was the modern course...

General News Racing Results

Back Where It All Started, Klæbo Wins Otepää Classic Sprint; Newell 15th

Gabby NaranjaJanuary 19, 2019

If Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo felt any nostalgia stepping out onto the men’s 1.6-kilometer classic sprint course in Otepää, Estonia–it is where he earned his first World Cup sprint victory back in 2017–it by no means slowed the 22 year old down. After winning Saturday’s qualifier in a time of 3:21.99, Klæbo went on to win both his quarter and semi. He eventually crossed the final first in a time of 3:20.05 to complete his...

General News Racing World Cup

Saturday Race Rundown: Otepää Classic Sprints and Beyond (Updated 2x)

FasterSkierJanuary 19, 2019

FIS World Cup Otepää, Estonia 1.3 k / 1.6 Classic Sprint Starting the day’s performance benchmarks off was Stina Nilsson of Sweden with the fastest qualifier in the women’s 1.3-kilometer classic sprint in Otepää on Saturday. She stopped the clock in 3:07.62 minutes. The U.S. Ski Team’s (USST) Jessie Diggins was the top-qualifying North American in 18th (+5.37). Sadie Bjornsen (USST) qualified 20th (+5.71), and Ida Sargent 27th (+8.38). On a course rewarding patience and...

General Interviews News

Quick Hit Athlete Check-Ins from Under 23 Worlds: Evelina Sutro

FasterSkierJanuary 18, 2019

Cycling back before you know it — it’s the International Ski Federation (FIS) 2019 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships in Lahti, Finland which gets rolling with a U20 classic sprint this Sunday. In our quest to check in with some North American athletes in Finland, we emailed a list of quick hit questions. Twenty-two-year-old Evelina Sutro lands in Lahti as a Worlds rookie. Sutro holds Swedish-American dual citizenship and spent high school studying and skiing in...

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