Join the U.S. Ski Team at the biennial Coaches Education Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota. This three-day event, from September 25-27, is for all cross country ski coaches and athletes looking to improve their knowledge of the sport. The 11 presentations will address a myriad of development topics that are guaranteed to improve one’s strength as a coach or an athlete. From training and physiology presentations by Sweden’s renowned cross country physiologist Hans Christer Holmberg, to...
JohnnyKlister.com completed the week-long announcement of the first annual Johnny5, awarded to five people that are changing Nordic skiing in the US. Johnny Klister provides comprehensive descriptions of how each winner is impacting the sport. The Winners: Kikkan Randall The Nordic Combined Team www.johnnyklister.com for the full announcements and photos.
Cross Country Canada has confirmed it is sending a 23-strong team featuring six Olympians and one Paralympian to compete at Winter Games NZ on 21-30 August 2009. Olympic gold medallist, Chandra Crawford, is joined in the womenʼs team by three-time Olympian and silver medallist, Sara Renner who also holds five World Cup medals. Crawford took out gold in the Individual Sprint (free), which is also the discipline she will be competing in at Winter Games...
At its meeting in the host city for the Olympic Winter Games Vancouver 2010 on 12th June 2009, hosted by the Canadian Snowsports Association, the FIS Council dealt with a full agenda. Amongst the items there were reports from Organizing Committees from the concluded 2009 as well as the future FIS World Championships, proposals from the FIS Technical Committees with calendar updates and developments to various rules. The main decisions include the following: Decisions directly...
The annual general meeting (AGM) of the Worldloppet organizers was held in Gatineau, Ottawa (CAN) on June 14th 2009. The representatives of the 15 cross-country ski marathons from Europe, America, Asia and Australia that are united under the umbrella of the Worldloppet Ski Federation were pleased to hear the annual report of the Secretary General Angelo Corradini and short reports by each event. The highlight of the meeting was that, for the first time, the...
At long last, the votes have been tallied from the Swix/FasterSkier Photo Contest III. We assembled a panel of judges, including a professional photographer, a designer, several ski coaches, and the FasterSkier staff, to vote on the the submissions. We have included comments from some of the judges. A-Final Podium First Place “This picture is stunning- It caught my eye right away. At first I didn’t think it showed spring other then the sun...
WASHINGTON – Yesterday, President Barack Obama announced the formation of the White House Office of Olympic, Paralympic and Youth Sport. This permanent White House office will promote the values of the Olympic Movement and encourage increased youth participation in athletics. The primary function of the Office will be to enhance awareness of the Olympic Movement through promotion of its fundamental principles at the federal level. President Obama said, “It is an important goal of my...
Caribou, Maine Nintendo Wii, the world’s leading video game system, has come out with a biathlon game which features 13 World Cup venues and Maine biathlon fans will be excited to know that Fort Kent is one of them. The game is an interactive system that requires you to simulate the skiing motion with a game wand in each hand while standing on a game-board shifting your weight from side to side. While the motion...
Though World Championship silver medalist Kikkan Randall (Anchorage) is best known for carving out the history of her sport for U.S. Women, Randall has an equally large passion in building up the future of the sport through the organization Fast and Female. Fast and female is an organization that aims to build confidence in young girls and women while showing them the benefits of living a healthy lifestyle by getting them on a pair of...
Structured out-of-competition doping controls are a mandatory requirement on all International Federations under the new World Anti-Doping Code that became effective as of 1st January 2009. This emphasis is also reflected in the final statistics for the FIS testing program during the 2008/09 season. In the course of the past season, FIS performed as many as 1581 out-of-competition tests, both blood tests and urine (including EPO analysis). This is more than four times as many as the season before...
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Board of Directors met today in Colorado Springs, Colo., for its quarterly meeting and approved a budget of $16.5 million for winter National Governing Bodies. This brings the total funding from the USOC to winter NGBs over the fours years leading up to the Vancouver Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games to $58.2 million. This signifies a substantial increase from the 2003-2006 winter quad ($37.5 million) to...
Johnny Klister, providing commentary and insight on the Nordic ski scene since 2008, is accepting nominations for the first annual Johnny5. Five people who are changing Nordic skiing in the US will be selected from the nominees. Send your nominations and why to www.johnnyklister.com. According to the ubiquitous Johnny Klister, the award is pride. Lots of pride and mild notoriety on a small hiccup of a ski website. Though sources have reported that Andrew Johnson...
BURLINGTON, Vt. – University of Vermont senior Juergen Uhl
The elections for the FIS Athletes’ Commission were held during the FIS World Championships 2009. A total of 27 candidates in the six disciplines stood for election and athletes participating in any of the four FIS World Championships (Gangwon, Val d’Isère, Liberec and Inawashiro) had the chance to elect the representative(s) in their own discipline.
On invitation of the Canadian Snow Sports Federation, the FIS Council is holding its spring meeting in Vancouver, the site of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, starting on Friday, 12th June 2009. The Council Meeting also includes visits to the Olympic competition sites for all six FIS disciplines at Cypress Mountain, Whistler Creekside and Whistler Olympic Park. The FIS Council’s agenda will include, among other things, review of the FIS World Cup calendars for the upcoming season 2009/2010 following minor modifications...
Refitting the Pipeline, Version 2009 The U.S. Ski Team’s development pipeline provides direction for skiers and coaches in the hunt for an Olympic medal. The seven-stage pipeline is comprised of a multitude of successful programs, ranging from over 100 grassroots club programs, to a heavily attended Junior National Championship and a National Team with both World Cup and Development tiers. While the U.S. is propelled by the success of each of these programs, a...
Though the battered economy has caused the cancellation of events in other sports, as well as the folding of the Saab/Salomon Factory Team, North America’s biggest ski races appear to be weathering the storm. While it is still early in the year, organizers of the American and Canadian Birkebeiners, City of Lakes Loppet, Craftsbury Marathon, Yellowstone Rendezvous, Noquemanon Ski Marathon, and Mora Vasaloppet all said that their races were proceeding as planned. Many did say,...
Editor’s Note: The following is an open letter written by Hannes Larsson, President of the International Association of World Loppet Skiers (IAWLS), to the Vasaloppet. The letter has been sent to a number of Swedish newspapers and is published on
Sean McCabe, loving husband to Olympian and Factory Team member Laura McCabe and father to their two wonderful daughters, has been diagnosed with Undifferentiated Anaplastic Carcinoma, a very rare and aggressive type of thyroid cancer. We encourage you to support the family in your thoughts and prayers. To follow Sean’s therapy and the hear from the family we encourage you to go to www.SeanMccabeStudio.com
Based on a recent report from the European Broadcasting Union, the TV and marketing rights holder for this year’s FIS World Ski Championships, the FIS World Ski Championships 2009 were seen by more than 1.1 billion viewers worldwide. While more than 478 million cumulative viewers watched the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships from Val d’Isère (FRA), the multi-faceted (live, delayed, news or highlights) coverage from Liberec (CZE) was enjoyed by almost 666 million global TV...