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Wilkie, McKeever, Masters All Win Gold in Last Individual Race of Paralympics

2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): 5/7.5/10 k cross-country races Saturday marked the last day of individual racing at the PyeongChang Paralympics, and as they have over the last week, the U.S. and Canadian teams did not disappoint, with the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Team adding a gold and two silvers to its medal count and the Canadian Para-Nordic Team notching two golds and two bronze medals in the middle-distance cross-country races. Seventeen-year-old Natalie Wilkie of...

Pärmäkoski Wins Another 10 k Classic; Diggins 8th, Bjornsen 11th in Falun

FALUN, Sweden — To those watching, even to those racing, the winner was the woman who had led most of Saturday’s 10-kilometer classic mass start: Norway’s Marit Bjørgen. “Marit and Tiril [Udnes Weng], another Norwegian young girl, they were skiing really fast and I thought that they would be first and second,” Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg told FasterSkier after the race. Seven minutes after the start gun, Bjørgen had moved to the apex of the...

Saturday Rundown: Pärmäkoski Beats Bjørgen in Falun 10 k Classic; Bolshunov Notches First Win

FIS Cross Country World Cup Finals (Falun, Sweden): 10/15 k classic mass starts Men’s report Day 2 of World Cup Finals in Falun entailed 10- and 15-kilometer classic mass starts on Saturday, and in the first race of the day, Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski pulled out a thrilling finishing-sprint victory over Norway’s Marit Bjørgen. After American Jessie Diggins led early in the first 2.5 k loop, Bjørgen set the tone from the front for most of...

Falk Wins Last Sprint in Falun; Caldwell 6th in Final, 3rd in Sprint World Cup

FALUN, Sweden — Even the sky had predictions for Sweden. Without a cloud in sight, cerulean blue and a golden sun served as Falun’s backdrop for the opening race of the 2017/2018 World Cup Finals on Friday: the 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint. Exactly nine weeks ago in the city sprint held in Dresden, Germany, Sweden’s Hanna Falk was showing shades of greatness. In the first race of the new year, the 28-year-old Swede claimed the Dresden...

Klæbo Hop-Skates for the Falun Sprint Win; Hamilton 14th, Bolger 30th

At 21 years old, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo of Norway had already locked up his second-consecutive Sprint World Cup Crystal Globe several weeks ago. A down-to-the-wire, season-ending finale for the sprint globe was out of the question. Klæbo has simply been that good. Out of 11 sprint races this season, Klæbo won the seven out of the nine sprints he contested. He placed second and third, respectively, in the other two. One word to describe it...

Arendz Gets Gold He Came For; Cnossen and Masters Silver in Last Paralympic Biathlon Race

2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): 12.5/15 k biathlon races Canada’s Mark Arendz captured his first Paralympic gold, the sixth Paralympic medal of his career and his fourth medal of the PyeongChang Games on Friday in the men’s 15-kilometer individual standing biathlon race — the longest and final biathlon event on the schedule. Meanwhile, Dan Cnossen of the U.S. continued his medal streak with his fifth medal in as many races, taking silver in the...

Friday Rundown: Falk, Klæbo Win Last Sprint of Season in Falun; Caldwell 6th

FIS Cross Country World Cup Finals (Falun, Sweden): Freestyle sprints Men’s report In the last sprint of the season and the first race of the three-day World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden’s Hanna Falk and Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo won their respective 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint finals, while Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla and Klæbo claimed the season-long Sprint Crystal Globes and Sophie Caldwell of the U.S. placed third in the Sprint World Cup. Falk started Friday...

Dunklee Surprises Herself in 4th, Doherty Nabs Season-Best 14th in Oslo

Susan Dunklee had been looking for something all season, a sort of spark. And while the U.S. biathlete hadn’t necessarily found it on Thursday, she had still pulled off fourth place in the women’s 7.5-kilometer pursuit at the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup in Oslo, Norway. “I feel like right now I’m relying on good habits to carry me through the rest of the season,” Dunklee, 32, of US Biathlon, said in a phone...

2018 Canadian Nationals: Skate Pursuits and Sprints

Canadian Ski Nationals (Thunder Bay, Ontario): Freestyle pursuits and sprints Ski Nationals continued Tuesday and Wednesday at Lappe Nordic in Thunder Bay, with 10- and 15-kilometer freestyle pursuits (based on second-straight title as the first Canadian in the pursuit, placing second overall, 1:03.4 behind Gregg. Annika Hicks (AWCA) was the second Canadian in third overall (+1:16.3), up from fifth in the classic race. Katherine Stewart-Jones (NTDC Thunder Bay/National U25 Team) placed fourth in the pursuit...

First Paralympic Golds for Soule and Masters; McKeever Wins Second Straight, 12th Total

2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea):  Cross-country sprints Hold onto your hats, this was a major day for both the American and Canadian teams at the 2018 Paralympics. In the cross-country sprints on Wednesday in PyeongChang, Andy Soule and Oksana Masters of the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Program both captured their first-career Paralympic golds in the women’s and men’s sitting events, while Dan Cnossen skied to his fourth medal in as many races with a bronze...

When the World Comes to Town (Craftsbury)

The following was submitted by Kevin Brooker, who attended the 2018 Ski Orienteering World Cup and Ski Orienteering World Masters Championships last week in Craftsbury, Vermont. Brooker, who wrote Alex Jospe interview on Vermont Public Radio *** About the Author: Kevin began nordic skiing to keep in shape for bicycle racing at the dawn of the skating revolution.  He lives in Vermont with his wife and two kids, who are fortunate enough to have great skiing right...

Cnossen Tallies 3rd Medal of PyeongChang Paralympics; Soule and Arendz Take Bronze

2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): 10/12.5 k biathlon races Amid soft and slow conditions at the Alpensia Biathlon Centre on Tuesday, American Dan Cnossen raced to his third-straight medal in as many races at the 2018 Paralympics, claiming silver in the men’s 12.5-kilometer sitting biathlon race just ahead of his U.S. Paralympics Nordic teammate and fellow military veteran Andy Soule, who earned bronze. Cnossen, a retired Navy SEAL, previously won gold in Sunday’s 15...

McKeever Wins Record-Breaking 14th Paralympic Medal, 11th Gold

2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): 15/20 k visually impaired and standing races Make that record-breaking medal No. 14 for Brian McKeever. In his fifth Paralympics, the 38-year-old Canadian raced to the 11th gold medal of his career (and 14th medal total) on Monday at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. He did so in the 20-kilometer visually impaired freestyle cross-country race with his guides Graham Nishikawa and Russell Kennedy, who traded guiding responsibilities during...

2018 Canadian Nationals Weekend Recap: Days 1 and 2

Canadian Ski Nationals (Thunder Bay, Ontario): Team sprints + 5/10 k classic  Canada’s 2018 Ski Nationals opened this past weekend at Lappe Nordic in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with classic team sprints on Saturday followed by 5- and 10-kilometer classic interval starts on Sunday. Nakkertok topped the podium in both the open men’s and women’s team sprints. In the men’s final, Nakkertok’s Dominique Moncion-Groulx and Patrick Stewart-Jones won by 1.95 seconds over Barrie Cross Country (BXC)...

Diggins Goes All In for the Win, Bjørgen Earns 7th Holmenkollen Title

*Update: This article previously stated that Jessie Diggins was the first American woman to reach a podium at the Holmenkollen. Diggins is actually the first American woman to reach the Holmenkollen podium in the 30 k distance, second woman to podium at a Holmenkollen in history. In 1980, American Allison Owen reached the podium in the 10 k distance.  OSLO, Norway — Some pointed to the broadcast screen in disbelief. Others began waving their Norwegian...

Sunday Rundown: Holmenkollen 30 k; Kontiolahti Mass Starts

FIS Cross Country World Cup (Oslo, Norway): Women’s 30 k freestyle mass start last race of the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea (a 30 k classic mass start), Bjørgen came from behind to win Sunday’s Holmenkollen 30 k and wasn’t able to let off too much before finish. She didn’t take the lead until less than a kilometer to go and put just enough time into her competition to take the win in 1:18:12.4...

Gretsch Scores Second Gold, Cnossen Silver, Masters Bronze in PyeongChang

2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): 12/15 k sitting cross-country races It was a gold, silver and bronze day for the U.S. Paralympics Nordic team on Sunday at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, as Kendall Gretsch raced to her second-straight victory in as many races, Dan Cnossen took silver and Oksana Masters claimed bronze in the cross-country distance events. A day after achieving a won the sitting biathlon sprint to open the Paralympics, also won...

Cologna Captures First Holmenkollen 50 k; Harvey 9th, Patterson 16th

OSLO, Norway — Thumping house music. Thousands of raucous fans, who, if not waving Norway’s flag, had their faces painted in their national colors of red, blue and white. If the American Super Bowl translated to cross-country skiing and snow, the Norwegian Holmenkollen is as close as it gets.   Saturday saw the 116th edition of the annual 50-kilometer men’s event, a race that totals roughly 6,574 feet of climbing for those who complete it...