Just days after WADA released a comprehensive report on its findings regarding systematic doping in Russia, FasterSkier sought out the opinions of Marty Hall, a former coach of both the U.S. and Canadian ski teams. As expected, he didn't sugarcoat his reaction.
Ole Einar Bjørndalen has seen a lot in his 20-plus years on the IBU World Cup circuit. “The overall level of the athletes has changed a lot," he told FasterSkier in a recent exclusive interview in Norway. "When I first started, there were a lot fewer who skied really fast,”
20-year-old Sean Doherty surprised himself by breaking into the World Cup points in a race he doesn't consider a favored format - yet there he was, attacking his way to 17th place. Lowell Bailey was close behind in 24th and Nathan Smith led Canada in 27th.
Top skiers' message to world leaders: we want to keep having winter, so make a legally-binding climate agreement. And the message to ski fans? Andy Newell says: "We need to get on the backs of the guys and women in the U.S. who make these decisions, and put some pressure on them.”
Brian Gregg won't be racing the SuperTour this weekend in Sun Valley, Idaho, and shooting for the overall SuperTour lead for Period 1. Instead, he's already been awarded a World Cup start in Davos, the 30 k skate, on Dec. 12.
In the spirit of “Movember,” FasterSkier ranked the top mustaches found out on the trails on the second day of the Yellowstone Ski Festival in West Yellowstone, Mont., and asked about some of the athletes' race goals for the coming SuperTour weekend.
The Yellowstone Ski Festival officially kicked off on Tuesday, with numerous athletes and clubs out skiing the trails. Longtime keeper-of-the-gates at the Rendezvous trailhead, Thor Godar, sets the scene so far.
A Norwegian development-pipeline skier, Kari Øyre Slind spent this summer largely training alone, but it's worked for her. “I choose to think of the Beitostølen weekend as a performance out of the ordinary,” she told FasterSkier about her recent double podium. “But now I know that I can perform with the best on a good day.”
Devon Kershaw arrived in Beitostølen, Norway, last week without any teammates, team wax or coaching support, and worst of all, no skis. He also didn't have a race suit. “That added to the hilarity of the situation,” the Canadian World Cup Team veteran explained. And then he raced on klister when most everyone else double poled.
While "a high VO2max is never a disadvantage -- ever!” Dr. Dan Heil of Montana State University explains that honing in on upper-body strength may be the way to go. "If [an athlete is] interested in being able to track their training progress, maybe all they need to be able to track is changes in upper-body power."
FS caught up with one of the most experienced elite female coaches club in the U.S., Pepa Miloucheva. Head coach for the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, Miloucheva details the path of the program, as well as her own, over the past 20 years.
Why did World Cup veterans Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw sometimes race on what looked like antiquated Fischer skis? The duo talks about the almost-magic qualities of those boards, which belonged to a former team tech, and what life is like without them. “If I see Poltoranin on those skis, that will weird me out big time,” Kershaw says.
Head coach of the Canadian World Cup and national team, Justin Wadsworth spoke to FS at length about the team this season and how its athletes have handled summer and fall training. Bottom line: most everyone starting on the World Cup is healthy, and several are in the best shape of their lives.
Not many nordic skiers find themselves coaching professionally at the age of 24. An even smaller percentage of those coaches are women. Here is a closer look at what drives one of the few: Bernie Nelson of the Bridger Ski Foundation in Bozeman, Mont.
Former Cross Country Canada National Ski Team coach Eric de Nys has joined the staff of Biathlon Canada, after an 18-month stint with the junior nordic team at the WinSport Winter Sports Institute. The WinSport team is now in the hands of the Canmore Nordic Ski Club.
After surgery on his hand and then a knee injury, U.S. Ski Team member Erik Bjornsen recently resumed full-on training, and did so with the help of French biathlete and multiple-time world champion Martin Fourcade in France. "It's crazy to see how famous he is," Bjornsen says. "He’s just a normal guy."
XC Oregon founder J.D. Downing was recently elected president of the World Masters Cross-Country Ski Association. While he'll continue to hold his post as a U.S. national director, Downing has big goals for the international organization, including an increase in participation and keeping skiers under 55 "in the game."
The day after Kikkan Randall announced she was pregnant with her first child, FasterSkier caught up with the four-time U.S. Olympian and 2013 world champion on the phone. Listen to the full-length interview here.
Julia Kern, Clare Egan, Emma Lunder, and Macx Davies talk about adjusting to their first, second, and third seasons on American and Canadian national teams for cross-country skiing and biathlon.
After nearly nine years with the Green Mountain Valley School nordic team, Justin Beckwith decided to leave his post as head coach and program director in August and has been aiding in the transition with coach Katrina Howe and new director Garrott Kuzzy.