Finn Hågen Krogh is trying to make a case for himself to race at World Championships, and he did about all anyone could ask on Saturday and Sunday, winning the last two races before the 2015 World Championships begin in Falun, Sweden, later this week.
It had been almost two months since Emily Nishikawa raced on the World Cup, yet the 25-year-old Canadian National Development Team skier picked up essentially where she left off, collecting her second-best result of the season on Sunday in the women’s 10-kilometer freestyle in Östersund, Sweden. “It was great to get racing on the World Cup again today,” Nishikawa wrote in an email after placing 36th in Sunday’s race. “My goals for today were just...
Sweden's Charlotte Kalla won the last World Cup before 2015 World Championships by more than 36 seconds over Norway's Marit Bjørgen, leading from start to finish for the clear-cut victory. It was her first World Cup win since March 2010, and Bjørgen locked up her fourth Overall World Cup crown.
Germany's Arnd Peiffer started late and finished faster than anyone else to win the men's 10 k sprint on the second day of IBU World Cup racing at Holmenkollen, and Nathan Smith and Leif Nordgren hit 95 percent of their targets to finish in the top 30 on Saturday.
Belarusian Darya Domracheva took the overall IBU World Cup leader's bib from Finland's Kaisa Mäkäräinen with a 14.3-second win in Saturday's sprint, and Rosanna Crawford finished 1.6 seconds out of 10th in 13th for Canada. American Hannah Dreissigacker had her best result of the season in 16th with perfect shooting.
Nathan Smith shot 19-for-20 for the first time in a 20 k individual race to place 12th on Thursday, and Leif Nordgren did the same to finish 20th, which stood as career-best 20 k results for both. France's Martin Fourcade won the race with perfect shooting, and the top-three men all cleaned.
Finland's Kaisa Mäkäräinen shot 20-for-20 for the first time to win a 15 k, and Canada's Megan Heinicke and Audrey Vaillancourt cleaned as well to place 12th and 30th, respectively. It was Heinicke's fourth top-15 of the season and Vaillancourt's career best, and American Susan Dunklee raced to 11th overall.
This weekend, Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt, of Rocky Mountain Racers, will make her World Cup debut in Östersund, Sweden. Less than a week later, she'll appear at her first World Championships in Falun, Sweden, where she hopes to start the classic sprint and 10 k freestyle.
With five medals already in his possession before the last day of IPC World Championships in Cable, Wis., American Andy Soule didn't have to ski the standing, skate course in the mixed relay -- but he wanted to. Not only did it show him what he was capable of, but it allowed "a lot of people to see exactly what is possible for a sit skier, too,” Soule, IPC Athlete of the Month, said last week.
Northern Michigan University's Kyle Bratrud answers 10 questions before he premieres in his first World Cup and World Championships as part of FasterSkier's series on World Champs rookies.
We can't imagine anything much more exciting than making World Championships for the first time, so we contacted the North Americans living that exact dream this year. Here's our first of the series from Canadian national-team member Jess Cockney in his first World Champs after competing at the Sochi Olympics last year.
Late last month, Ontario and the greater cross-country ski community of Canada lost one of its most influential members, Larry Sinclair, who helped found the Highlands Trailblazers Ski Club. A "Light the trails for Larry" fundraiser is being held in his memory.
Inspired by the Maine Winter Sports Center, a small Montana community formed the Seeley Lake Regional Outdoor Center for Kinetic Sports (ROCKS) in 2010, and this spring, ROCKS will file an application to build a new Seeley Lake nordic-ski venue. If all goes according to plan, the area would be one of six venues with D-category homologation.
Three of nine athletes met Cross Country Canada's primary standards for selection to the 2015 World Championships Team, and CCC named another six skiers to the team on Monday.
Canada's Nathan Smith made headlines for the second-straight day with his second-straight clean race, hitting all 20 targets to place fifth in Sunday's IBU World Cup pursuit. Leif Nordgren led the U.S. in 20th, and Slovenia's Jakov Fak remained untouchable in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.
Darya Domracheva literally weathered the storm better than anybody in Nove Mesto, including Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen, to win Sunday's 10 k pursuit by 6.8 seconds. Susan Dunklee started ninth and led the U.S. in 18th with five penalties on an especially challenging Sunday.
Canada's Nathan Smith improved 71 places since his last World Cup sprint for a career-best seventh with perfect shooting in the Saturday's IBU World Cup sprint in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. Three Canadian men qualified for Sunday's pursuit, with Brendan Green in 22nd and Macx Davies in 54th.
Canada's Nathan Smith wasn't the only North American who tallied a career best in the men's IBU World Cup sprint on Saturday; Leif Nordgren of the U.S. finished 16th with 9-for-10 shooting and all three American men qualified for Sunday's pursuit.
Since building his confidence back at Open European Championships last week, Leif Nordgren is still on the rise, using just one spare on Friday to bring his team up to fourth in the IBU World Cup mixed relay. The Americans finished seventh and just 0.2 seconds from sixth.
With several men on the U.S. team aiming for top-15 results or better on Thursday, two of them did so and three finished in the top 20. "This male U23 group is the future of US Skiing and it is a blessing just to be a part of it," Northern Michigan senior Kyle Bratrud stated.