Want to know everything about the training and physiology of the top Norwegian women? A new paper tells all, using training diaries and test data from Marit Bjørgen, Therese Johaug, Heidi Weng, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, Ragnhild Haga, and Maiken Caspersen Falla.
At the first on-snow camp of the season at Mt. Bachelor in Bend, Ore., the U.S. Ski Team aims to jumpstart its training year with high-volume training loads and a series of technique sessions. On Wednesday, they targeted uphill striding and herringboning, using instant videos to provide trailside feedback.
For Throwback Thursday, we're reposting a November editorial calling for WADA to investigate doping in winter sports and irregularities at the Sochi Olympics. How many of our questions have been answered in the last six months?
“There needs to be an investigation by WADA,” International Ski Federation (FIS) Secretary General Sarah Lewis told FasterSkier in a phone interview on Monday. “FIS totally supports it and we have already expressed that anything we can provide, we will do. And it needs to be done [quickly], but carefully.”
As the 2016 special session of the Alaska Legislature comes down to the wire, it's clear that state funding for Alaska's two NCAA cross-country ski programs is going to be substantially reduced as part of widespread cuts to the state university system. But by exactly how much and with what effects are all still up in the air.
When news broke last week that 14 Russian cross-country skiers may have doped at the 2014 Sochi Olympics, stakeholders in the sport reacted around the globe. Some, like Canada's then head coach Justin Wadsworth, essentially predicted that two years ago at the Games. Others, like French skier Robin Duvillard, tried not to get too caught up in it, but he might by default.
Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club coach Josh Smullin mixed it up at the end of the race season this March and ventured to Chamonix, France, where he took himself out of his comfort zone and into a ski mountaineer's dream trip along the Verbier Haute Route.
USSA CEO Tiger Shaw explains how the Cross Country Sport Committee unanimously voted to reaffiliate High Plains, while making a task force to examine some of the issues over the summer: "It was democratic, it went to committee, all the major players were there and had their say."
On Thursday, Beckie Scott, a Canadian Olympic gold medalist and WADA Athlete Committee chair, spoke at the WADA Executive Board meeting in Montreal and urged the agency to use its influence now. "If there cannot be a guarantee that athletes [at the Olympics] are professionally clean and not involved in doping activity, then they should not be there," she said.
Scott Perras didn't know that this would be his last season as a professional biathlete, but he's not stepping away from skiing as the new high-performance coach at the Alberta World Cup Academy. "The last seven years, I kind of got to live like I won the lottery," he reflected.
After stepping away from skiing in 2013 and shifting his focus to river guiding, Paralympic guiding, speed skating and school, Reid Pletcher is about to test himself in Season 8 of the reality TV show American Ninja Warrior. The Idaho native shares his story and how he could be the next best thing on TV.
Ever wonder what it takes to be an American Ninja Warrior? A recent conversation with former pro nordic skier Reid Pletcher revealed the answer to be a little balance, a lot of grip strength, and plenty of patience. In this workout, shoot for 100 pull-ups a day, and no, they don't have to be all at once.
After being nominated to the U.S. Ski Team D-team, Northern Michigan University junior Ian Torchia has decided to stay in school while simultaneously accepting the nod to the country's most-coveted training group. “One of the main reasons why I wanted this to happen is to show that you can do it while you’re in college,” Torchia explains.
On Sunday evening, 60 Minutes aired a 13-minute interview with Vitaly and Yuliya Stepanov, the whistleblowers who prompted a German documentary on Russia's systematic doping in track and field and WADA's resulting ban on the entire team. Vitaly suggests the corruption extends to Russian Winter Olympians as well, including at least four who achieved gold in Sochi with the help of federal agents.
"What role did you mom play in your development as a skier?" was the single question we raised to North American cross-country, biathlon and nordic combined national-team members. Many of them had a hard time holding back in their responses.
Rebecca Watson, the board chair of the High Plains division, was surprised by an email saying that USSA was ending the affiliation agreement with the division - without warning or a probationary period to improve the weaknesses that USSA says it finds in Wyoming. Others on the Cross Country Committee, which is now set to discuss the topic at USSA Congress, said they were also surprised.
In an excerpt from an interview to be aired on Sunday on 60 Minutes, a whistleblower from the Russian Anti-Doping Agency said that four Russian gold medalists from the 2014 Olympics were using steroids during the Games.
Opportunity has come knocking for Sugar Bowl Academy's 18-year-old Hannah Halvorsen. Her recent nomination to the U.S. Ski Team brings Halvorsen closer to her World Cup dreams, but she maintains she'll continue to take it day by day.
Following up on the U.S. Ski Team nominations announced earlier this week, we asked Chris Grover to explain the rationale behind some of the picks and share some insight on the coming season.
Don't live in Boulder? No problem. If you have mountains or even hills around, you can follow CU Head Coach Bruce Cranmer's recommendations for lighthearted spring training. "I recommend first and foremost, make it fun and something you really enjoy doing," he explains. "I think this is a great time to focus on non-specific training."