Martin Rosvall, 32, works full time as an assistant professor of physics at the University of Umeå in northern Sweden. But the constraints of a full time job, work-related travel and conferences are no barriers to stellar marathon performances, Rosvall says. Point in case: In March, he finished 15th overall at the Vasaloppet, the 90 K classic race that attracts more than 20,000 skiers and was Rosvall’s main goal for the season. The legendary race...
OSLO, NORWAY – It’s a well known fact that cross-country skiing is among the worst offenders when it comes to increasing risk of exercise induced asthma and has some of the highest use of asthma medicine among elite athletes. According to the Norwegian TV station NRK, as many as half of the skiers on the Norwegian national team have asthma. “These are not exact numbers, but we test the national team every year, and about...
It’s not quite the same as a Nike-Reebok merger, but Wednesday’s acquisition of Toko by Swix Sport will dramatically alter the ski industry’s competitive landscape—at least behind the scenes. Consumers will see few changes to the products stocked on store shelves. But according to Swix Sport USA President Steve Poulin, his company now controls nearly 75 percent of the worldwide market share for wax and tools, and almost 90 percent in the U.S. According to...
What do you do when you can’t keep up with Andy Newell? For most of us, the answer is that we continue on with our normal lives, content to compete for a spot in the elite wave at the American Birkebeiner rather than the top spot on a World Cup podium. But Steinbock Racing’s Chris Cook was not so easily deterred. Instead of giving up, he turned to a sprint workout: sets of all-out 30-second...
OSLO, NORWAY – When Marit Bjørgen, 30, signed her current contract with Fischer in the spring of 2009, after having experimented with other ski brands, she took a heavy salary cut. Even though Bjørgen’s gold medal collection for the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver/Whistler is the biggest ever for a Norwegian female in a single event, the Fischer contract was non-negotiable after the season. “I have not renegotiated my contract with Fischer from 2009. That contract...
If Nicaragua is not the last place you would look for a story about cross country skiing, it’s pretty darn close. But for former Junior National Champ and Alaskan Espen Haugen, the small Central American country has become an obsession. Growing up, Haugen was an avid skier and member of the Alaska Pacific University (APU) team with such greats as former U.S. Ski Team member Nina Kempall and 2009 World Championship medalist Kikkan Randall, as...
Most of his competitors train full time; Martin Rosvall, 32, works full time. In March, Rosvall was 15th overall at the Vasaloppet, after having led the podium finishers large portions of the way from Sälen to Mora. No small feat for an amateur.
OBERTSDORF, Germany (Aug. 8) – A pair of brothers represented the U.S. Nordic Combined Team on Sunday in the final Grand Prix staged in Obertsdorf. Brett Camerota (Park City, UT) slid inside the top-10 for the first time, finishing first for the U.S., while Germany’s Johannes Rydzek won the competition. The nordic combined competition was tight, with the top nine men separated by 20 seconds as they pushed across the finish line in the cross...
Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen finished second in the 2008 overall World Cup standings, and has three career World Cup victories. She won a gold medal in the classic sprint at the 2007 World Championships. OSLO, NORWAY – Roller ski training can be a lot of different things to different people, but here is some of the information I have, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen writes on her blog. I do a fair amount of roller skiing, but I...
Sure, it’s only August. Sure, it’s the Southern hemisphere. And yeah, okay, the Americans and Canadians have been training over 20 hours a week during their camps in New Zealand. But all this notwithstanding, most people would still agree that winning a skate sprint over Andy Newell is a great way to start your rookie season on the U.S. Ski Team. And that’s what Simi Hamilton did on Saturday, nipping Newell by inches at the...
One day into their three-race series in New Zealand, it’s U.S. 1, Canada 1. In Friday’s 10/15 k classic mass start at the Waiorau Snow Farm, the North American teams stamped their authority on the trails of the southern hemisphere. In the women’s race, Liz Stephen (USA) bested teammate Morgan Arritola in a lunge at the line, while Canada’s Devon Kershaw took the victory over American Kris Freeman in the men’s edition. Kikkan Randall (USA),...
The World Cup opener is still 100 days away, but for the U.S. and Canadian national teams, the 2010-2011 cross-country season kicks off today with a 10/15 k classic mass start event. The race is part of the ANC series – the Australian and New Zealand Continental Cup. It is being held at the Snow Farm in New Zealand, and will feature an elite, if small, field. The U.S. Ski Team (USST) will start their...
In Las Vegas, where FasterSkier had the opportunity to interview Marcus Hellner, the Swedish skier was able to stay relatively undercover. At the card table, such was his anonymity that he had other players thinking he was a professional poker player, not a professional athlete. But in Europe, and especially in Sweden, Hellner is a star. At the Olympics in February, he vanquished rival Petter Northug, breaking the Norwegian’s pole on the way to winning...
The Nordic Combined season 2010/2011 is officially beginning with the FIS Summer Grand Prix that is scheduled for 7th-8th August in Oberstdorf (GER) and Oberwiesenthal (GER) on the following week-end, 13th-14th August. The FIS Newsflash caught up with Uli Wehling, FIS Race Director Nordic Combined, ahead of the competitions. Q. Uli Wehling, what are your thoughts about the summer season, which starts at the upcoming weekend? A. Nordic Combined has a long-standing tradition of summer...
At 23 years old and without a college degree, Willy Graves does not seem like the kind of guy who could compete with scientists at wax companies like Swix or Toko. But armed with a blender in the confines of his garage, Graves has invented a product that just might eat into those companies’ market shares—at least a little bit. Along with his former teammate Eric Camerota, Graves, a recently-retired U.S. nordic combined B-teamer, has...
Daniel Tynell has his eyes set on the Vasaloppet title for 2011 and adds kayaking to his strength training program.
George Grey has never been the flashiest male on the Canadian National Ski Team (CNST). He is not nearly as brash, or into Twitter as teammate Devon Kershaw. He’s not a young, fresh-faced Quebecer like Alex Harvey. He’s not a recent émigré from Russia with a sweet tooth as is Ivan Babikov. However, his ability on skis is equal to his slightly more enigmatic teammates, and the man affectionately nicknamed ‘Gino’ by the rest of...
University of Utah Director of Skiing Eli Brown has resigned, leaving his job at the helm of one of the country’s most storied programs. In an interview, Brown cited a desire to spend more time with his family combined with changes to the direction of the Utah program as the reasons for his decision. When the University finds a replacement, Brown will be heading to join his wife and two children on the family farm...
Four months after the conclusion of the Vancouver Paralympic Games, Canada’s Para-Nordic Ski Team has suffered cuts amounting to roughly one-third of its total budget. According to Cross-Country Canada Executive Director Davin Macintosh, the cuts represented 56 percent of the program’s funding from Own the Podium (OTP), the high-performance sports initiative that was set up to propel Canadian athletes to medals at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Vancouver. The exact impacts of the...