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Bailey, Burke Open World Cup Season in 15th, 16th in Östersund

Lowell Bailey is the two-year anniversary earlier this fall. Both are US Biathlon team veterans, and at 35 and 34 years old, respectively, they’re still lighting up the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup. The teammates and training partners, based out of Lake Placid, N.Y., finished one place and 2.1 seconds apart on Thursday, with Bailey ending up 15th and Burke 16th in the first men’s individual World Cup race of the season: the 20-kilometer individual in Östersund,...

17 Questions for 2017: Dahria Beatty

Welcome to “17 Questions for 2017”, where we are catching up with American and Canadian national-team members before the beginning of the winter season. *** The day after her 22nd birthday last March, Dahria Beatty made the case that she could be Cross Country Canada’s next star. Not only did she score her first World Cup top 30, but she nabbed a remedying some back troubles and building strength, Beatty says she looks like a...

  customerservice@jenex.com customerservice@jenex.com On a sad note, many have not yet heard the news that Robin Molis, our Production Manager for almost 22 years, passed away unexpectedly in July. We still miss her and we would like to express our gratitude for all the wonderful condolence messages that have come our way. We would also like to thank you all for your patience as we regain our footing after the loss of such an incredible...

Four Canadian Women Aim to Put Their World Cup Team on the Map

To kick off this World Cup season, Cross Country Canada (CCC) had planned to send four women for Period 1. After its men’s team has gathered most of the attention in recent years, the Canadian women are now in a position to develop depth at the top level of the sport. In her third full World Cup season, Emily Nishikawa, of Canada’s World Cup B-team, will be joined for Period 1 by national U25 Team members Dahria Beatty...

Reid Blasts into Top 30 for Career Best in Blustery Östersund

Wind and picked up the sport a little over a year ago, it’s even more impressive that she recorded her first World Cup top 30 in the longest-format (four-stage) biathlon race on one of the windiest race days in recent memory. “This was definitely my best result, probably more due to luck than anything else,” Reid wrote in an email on Wednesday night. Of 99 finishers, only one woman hit all 20 targets: third-place finisher Darya Yurkevich of Belarus....

Notes And Quotes: Östersund Mixed Relay Edition

The IBU World Cup kicked off in Östersund, Sweden, on Sunday, with a doubleheader of mixed relay action. Perhaps not surprisingly, two of the most dominant teams of last season picked up wins: Norway and France. Marie Dorin Habert and Martin Fourcade came out on top. Canada’s Rosanna Crawford and Nathan Smith finished seventh (+1:44.7) and Americans Joanne Reid and Leif Nordgren 19th (lapped). Besides being the first race of the season, with all of the...

Anti-Doping Norway Seeks 14-Month Suspension for Johaug, Case Ongoing

The doping case of Norwegian cross-country skier Therese Johaug has come to at least a temporary conclusion, with Anti-Doping Norway recommending a suspension of the star athlete for 14 months. Johaug told Reuters. “I expect they will have a hearing in February.” The proposed ban would be retroactive to Oct. 18 and last until Dec. 18, 2017, two months before the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. NRK reports that the casefile and the recommendation from Anti-Doping Norway will...

November Skiing in Canada: Where The (Skiable) White Stuff Is

As promised, the Canadian version of “Where the (Skiable) White Stuff Is” (a.k.a. November skiing) is here, minus the bit about classic sprint in Canmore, Alberta, and ending in click here).  If your favourite early season spot isn’t featured, you are in good company. Let us know in the comments below. And if you are visiting Canada, remember that the U.S. dollar is worth $1.35 up here. *** CAMPS XC SuperCamp Where: Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre and...

Join Our Team! Intern Needed

FasterSkier is seeking an intern to join our team for the 2016/2017 winter season (December-April). Essentially, we’re looking for an eager go-getter with an up-for-anything attitude and high level of interest in cross-country skiing. This person will assist our staff with daily race reporting, especially on World Cup race days (cross-country, nordic combined and biathlon), as well as larger projects. Schedule can be relatively flexible, but we expect our interns to assist with weekend race...

Niskanen Wins Another Ruka 15 k; Harvey 11th

The opening World Cup races came to a close this Sunday, with Finland's Iivo Niskanen taking the overall win in the men's 15-kilometer classic race for the second time in a row. The Finnish skier held off the likes of Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby in order to secure the victory. "This was a really important victory, because last year was so difficult," Niskanen said during a T.V. interview.

French Dream Team Tops IBU Single Mixed Relay; Canada 7th

By mid-afternoon in Östersund, Sweden, on Sunday, Norway had already claimed a win in the mixed relay. But there was another event still on the schedule: the single mixed relay, a relatively new format with just one man and one woman per team, skiing short loops of a kilometer and a half. Each athlete skis and shoots twice, then tags off, then repeats: two relay legs each for a total of eight shooting bouts. While Norway...

Bjørndalen Up To Old Tricks As Norway Strikes Gold in IBU Mixed Relay

It’s a new season on the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup, but the Norwegian biathlon team made it clear that they didn’t want anything to change: just as they won the World Cup mixed relay trophy in 2016, they picked up a 33.7-second win in the event in Östersund, Sweden, on Sunday to kick off the new year. And just as he had so many times before, it was Ole Einar Bjørndalen — the “King...

Sunday Rundown: Ruka, Östersund, Pontresina & Beitostølen (Updated x6)

Welcome to The Rundown, your quick primer of need-to-know information about the day’s racing. We’ll be updating this digest as the day goes on with additional results, photos and quotes. The Rundown is NOT a race report; stay tuned for complete race reports later today with interviews from the day’s top racers. *** IBU Cup in Beitostølen: 7.5/10 k sprints [UPDATE] With the second set of men’s and women’s sprints IBU Cup sprint on Friday.) In the women’s...

Randall Misses Heats in Kuusamo, But Optimistic About Upcoming Races

Kikkan Randall returned to World Cup racing on Saturday, with baby in tow. The verdict on her performance: neither as good as hoped for, nor worse than history would predict. On Saturday, the three-time Sprint World Cup champion competed in her first World Cup competition since 2014. Randall took the 2015/2016 season off while pregnant with her son, Breck. In her return to racing, she finished 52nd – 19.75 seconds off Krista Parmakoski of Finland’s qualifying time in...

Norway’s Subs, Golberg and Klæbo Take 1st and 3rd in Ruka; Harvey 25th

The two men who landed on the first and third steps of the podium in Saturday’s World Cup opener in Kuusamo, Finland, weren’t even slated to start as of a week ago. But 20-year-old Johannes Høsflot Klæbo’s chose to skip the opening World Cup weekend because his energy wasn’t where he wanted it to be. “It’s just so competitive [this] time of year,” Canadian Alex Harvey observed in a post-race phone interview. “The Norwegians that were first and...