Strengthen the glutes and the skis will follow. Well, maybe it's not that simple. In this Wednesday Workout, physical therapist Dave Cieslowski, of Bend, Ore., explains how we can build stronger glutes in hopes of becoming more efficient skiers.
News broke Wednesday that Martin Johnsrud Sundby, the three-time defending overall World Cup and Tour de Ski champion, had been handed a two-month sanction and disqualified from two races (and his 2015 Tour de Ski and 2015 overall World Cup titles). "I went into the 2015/2016-season knowing I was innocent, and also that I was acquitted," he said in a press conference. "I think the verdict is totally unreasonable."
Martin Fourcade, the most successful biathlete of the last several years, resorted to Twitter to ask his international federation about the ten positive tests by Russian athletes allegedly hidden by the Russian Ministry of Sport. He didn't get a response. Meanwhile, the IOC moved forward with re-testing anti-doping samples from all Russian athletes at the 2014 Olympics, and also called for any major events scheduled to be held in Russia to be moved.
This morning, Professor Richard McLaren disclosed his findings after looking into claims of Russian state-sponsored doping and its cover-up. Here's a quick summary of his findings, which were enough to prompt WADA to call for Russian athletes in all sports to be banned from the 2016 Olympics.
After four years of dating, Stratton Mountain School teammates and couple Andy Newell and Erika Flowers are engaged. "So much can happen in professional athletics and Erika and I wanted to enjoy each other’s company before we have to grow up and get serious," Newell said.
While we think of cross-country skiing as a low-impact sport which enjoys rather than exploits natural areas, research shows that even our small ski trails can impact wildlife through forest fragmentation and stress responses to disturbance by skiers.
Two years ago, the U.S. nordic combined community suffered a moment of letdown as its major source of funding, USSA, changed course with regard to its sport. Now, the newly formed USA Nordic Sport is spearheading efforts to rejuvenate interest in jumping and nordic combined. Its leader is Olympic gold medalist and former team veteran Billy Demong.
Eva Vrabcová-Nývltová, a Czech World Cup cross-country skier for the last decade, is headed to her first Summer Olympics to run the marathon, and she plans to skip the next ski season. “It’s great challenge and motivation, therefore I decided to focus fully on athletics,” she said.
After making the US Biathlon team and later coaching in Bozeman, Mont., Corrine Malcolm has broken out as a trail runner. While earning her master's degree, she won USATF's 50-mile trail running championship in May and earned a trip to 2016 Trail World Championships.
After recently returning from a training camp with the Norwegian women's team, Jessie Diggins describes how the opportunity came about and one of her favorite workouts from her week in Norway. "I’m always looking for ways to make summer training exciting, new and adventurous," Diggins said.
Leading up to the prestigious Mt. Marathon footrace in Seward, Alaska, APU teammates David Norris and Scott Patterson, both race rookies, were marked as strong climbers but unproven downhill runners. Would they hold back to avoid injury? They went on to place first and fourth overall on Monday in the 89th edition of the race.
Prior to June 24, Canada's Ivan Babikov was training in Canmore, prepping for the upcoming World Cup season. Then "boom", he's retired and named Cross Country Canada's national-team coach. We caught up with coach Babikov while he was in Quebec, where he is helping lead the national team's first camp of the summer.
France's Anaïs Bescond has been training with Biathlon Canada for the past two weeks and next two to come. “I think what is really interesting for me is to share our different experience about training,” Bescond said.
David Norris of APU is trying to keep the momentum up and continually build on his achievements from last season. One thing he's noticed, "In the last few summers my uphill running has improved tremendously." But what came first, the hill-climb success or leaps in ski training?
Longtime Canadian World Cup skier Ivan Babikov is retiring to take on coaching responsibility for his former teammates Devon Kershaw, Lenny Valjas, Jess Cockney, and Graeme Killick. "Ivan has been in our system and his job is to execute the plans," Cross Country Canada High Performance Director Tom Holland explains.
Athletes at all levels of the competition spectrum constantly seek the missing piece of their performance puzzle. For many years now, sport psychology has played an increasing role in solving that puzzle. From the World Cup to the junior ranks, FasterSkier explores how some skiers and coaches make use of sport psychology.
On Monday, the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association published its 2016/2017 SuperTour calendar, which includes seven stops, not including West Yellowstone. “We’ve rotated a few sites this year and will continue to move around in the future to get the SuperTour to new places," USSA Nordic Domestic Program Director Robert Lazzaroni explains. "Moving the event around helps stimulate top-level racing in America.”
On Friday, Cross Country Canada announced its veteran skier Ivan Babikov has retired from racing to help coach the Canadian World Cup Team. Babikov will work specifically with Devon Kershaw and the men’s World Cup level athletes based in Canmore, Alberta, while also serving as B-Team coach.
After delving into the computation-and-analysis side of sports, Brayton Osgood is back and looking forward to his new position as head coach of the Dartmouth men's nordic ski team. "The opportunity to coach at Dartmouth is a fantastic one and I’m eager to lead the next generation of Dartmouth cross-country skiers," the 2003 Dartmouth grad said.
The call to climb can be strong, especially if the place to climb is located in your backyard. This week, we caught up with avid rock climber Jason Brenden for a Wednesday Workout that involves traversing the holds and building strength, all on a homemade wall. "I just didn't want to pay for a gym membership," he explained.