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Johaug Sneaks Inside Nepryaeva’s Mark for the 10 k Interval Start Classic Win; Brennan Leads U.S in 8th

  This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. An iconic venue, Lahti’s ski jumps rise out of the pine forest from atop the rolling hills, tucked between the many lakes of the region in southern Finland. After...

Sundling Leads a Swedish Podium Sweep in Freestyle Sprint, with Diggins in Fourth and Kern Eighth

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. Snapping back after a week away from racing, the World Cup resumed in wintery Lahti, Finland with a 1.6 kilometer freestyle sprint. The American women made their presence immediately known,...

In Front of a Long-Awaited Crowd, Klæbo and Chanavat Take It to the Line in Lahti Freestyle Sprint

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com.   By Rachel Bachman Perkins and Ian Tovell During a brief reprieve from racing, the top tier of international racing made its way from the high desert of Zhangjiakou, China...

The 2022 FIS Junior/U23 World Ski Championships trip has been made possible through support from the National Nordic Foundation (NNF), which has identified this invaluable opportunity for developing athletes as one of its “Pillar Projects”. You can support the NNF and the next generations of America’s top skiers by making a donation here. Friday at 2022 FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Lygna, Norway, marked the phase that Steve Fuller, on site to take photographs...

Update: FIS Cancels All Remaining 2021-22 Season Events in Russia Including XC World Cup Finals in Tyumen

Yesterday, FasterSkier reported that the U.S. Ski Team would not be attending the World Cup finals scheduled for March 18 – 20 in Tyumen, Russia, given the nation’s invasion of Ukraine on Thursday. At that time, the International Ski Federation (FIS) had not announced whether events scheduled for the remainder of the season in Russia would be held as planned, however, a FIS official had indicated on February 15th that the situation in Russia was...

Fischer – Yellow is the dominant color on the Olympic podiums

With a cry of triumph and relief, Therese Johaug of Norway crossed the finish line of the final event, the 30K Freestyle. The outstanding Norwegian was putting a golden exclamation point at the end of the extremely successful Winter Games for the Fischer Race Family: 57.3% of all Nordic medals were won on Fischer skis. Take a closer look at the disciplines in which cross country skis are used, and it’s 62.3% of medal winners...

Alberta World Cup Academy Seeks Head Coach and Development Coach

    The Alpine Insurance Alberta World Cup Academy (AIAWCA) is growing and has current openings for a Head Coach and a Development Coach for the 2022/23 training and competition year. The Coaches would work with a dynamic team of coaches, administrative and technical staff to oversee and accomplish the goals of the AIAWCA. The AIAWCA is a designated National Team Development Center, and is part of Nordiq Canada’s national network of training centers.  Our goal is...

US xc ski team says it will skip World Cup races in Russia amid Ukraine invasion

The International Ski Federation hasn’t said whether the races, in the Siberian city of Tyumen, will go off as scheduled next month. The U.S. cross-country ski team says it will skip upcoming races in Russia amid that country’s invasion of neighboring Ukraine. A team official said Thursday that the Americans will skip the final weekend of racing on the top-level European World Cup circuit, which is scheduled for next month in the Siberian city of...

The 2022 FIS Junior/U23 World Ski Championships trip has been made possible through support from the National Nordic Foundation (NNF), which has identified this invaluable opportunity for developing athletes as one of its “Pillar Projects”. You can support the NNF and the next generations of America’s top skiers by making a donation here. Thursday marked the third day of 2022 FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Lygna, Norway, but the first day of competition for...

Opinion: Get your commentary off our bodies

The following was submitted by reader Ivy Spiegel Ostrom in response to the New York Times coverage of Jessie Diggins earning an Olympic bronze medal in the individual freestyle sprint. FasterSkier published a story expressing some of the early reactions to the NY Times piece here, along with an opinion piece by our contributor Ben Theyerl here. The viewpoints expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect that of FasterSkier’s staff or sponsors. We fully...

The 2022 FIS Junior/U23 World Ski Championships trip has been made possible through support from the National Nordic Foundation (NNF), which has identified this invaluable opportunity for developing athletes as one of its “Pillar Projects”. You can support the NNF and the next generations of America’s top skiers by making a donation here.  LYGNA, NOR — The second event of the week for 2022 FIS Junior World Ski Championships, and perhaps the most highly anticipated, was the...

Environmental consciousness without performance compromise: the MountainFLOW Eco Wax team takes on the Birkie

A team of familiar faces is soon headed to the American Birkebeiner, and rumor has it, their race suits will be something to behold.  Spearheaded by brand ambassador Simi Hamilton, the team of Sophie Hamilton (Caldwell), Sadie Maubet-Bjornsen, Liz Stephen, Matt Gelso, Sylvan Ellefson, and Erik Bjornsen will be racing as members of the mountainFLOW Eco Wax team. Based in the Roaring Fork Valley of Colorado, where Hamilton grew up, mountainFLOW Eco Wax is the...

Among the oldest races in American cross country skiing, the 2022 Stowe Derby adds to its legend

A pair of American skiing pioneers skied up Mt. Mansfield, Vermont in 1946, skied down to settle a bet, and in the process created a race that’s remained true to the individual and communal spirit that sustains nordic skiing to this day. At one point in time, skiing was simply a way to get from point A to point B. Take stock of humans gliding on snow at this moment in 2022, though, and it can...

Diggins Brings Home a Second Silver for USA in Windy 30k; Johaug Earns her Third Gold of the Games

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award.  To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. Sunday morning, battling through ripping winds, the women delivered an impressive and dramatic final cross-country event to close out the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. For the first time, skiing further...

Rosie Brennan won’t take home medals from Beijing. She still helped change U.S. cross-country skiing.

ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA — Jessie Diggins’ silver medal, the best-ever individual Olympic finish by an American woman, is what most people will remember from Sunday’s Games-ending cross-country ski race. Here’s why you should remember Rosie Brennan, too. Brennan, 33, may lack Diggins’ magazine covers and national endorsement deals. But she performed at ever-so-close to the same level in Beijing, and came heartbreakingly close to the medals. First, there was Brennan’s fourth place in the Games-opening individual...

“Chill with the judging”: Jessie Diggins has a message for Mikaela Shiffrin’s trolls

ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA — American alpine racing superstar Mikaela Shiffrin struggled at the Olympics, failing to bring home any medals. Last week, she posted a message to social media broadcasting some of the hateful criticism she’d received during the Games, telling her audience that “there will always be turkeys” and that it’s “not the end of the world to fail.” Cross-country star Jessie Diggins, after winning a silver in her final race of the Games —...

Organizers cut Saturday’s Olympic ski marathon in half. Now they’re facing a backlash.

ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA — The 28 kilometers that Alexander Bolshunov raced Saturday was only enough to take him just past the halfway point of the race he’d entered at the Winter Olympics. But Bolshunov, who competes for Russia, is still going home with the gold medal. That development is the result of a decision by race organizers to shorten the Olympics’ iconic 50-kilometer marathon event in the face of brutal wind and cold. But they’re now...

Race Suits of the Olympic Games: Women’s Skate Sprint Edition

We recently brought you a roundup of Olympic race suits from some more traditional nordic powers, focusing on those nations that had at least four men on site in Zhangjiakou and so were able to field a team in the men’s 4 x 10-kilometer relay. This article now turns its attention to athletes from some countries that you might not initially think of when you think of nordic skiing, as well as more traditional ski...

On the eve of the men’s 50 k, Russia may invade Ukraine near Bolshunov’s home

Alexander Bolshunov, the Russian skier who is the odds on favorite to win Saturday’s 50-kilometer freestyle marathon at the Beijing Olympics, may have more on his mind than a momentous ski race: A potential Russian invasion of Ukraine will likely pass near to his childhood home in the rural village of Podyvot’e, in Russia’s Bryansk region.  Bolshunov grew up in Podyvot’e where his father taught him to ski on a pair of green wooden Malyshokas...

The Chinese Ski Team’s Path to Beijing (Part 3)

This is the final installment of a three-part series on the development of the Chinese ski program. Click here to read part 1 and part 2. Part 3: Olympic Hopes and Misgivings in Norway For the Chinese cross country ski team, the 2022 Beijing Olympics opened with a blaze when Dinigeer Yilamujiang was selected to co-light the Olympic flame. It was an enormous honor for the twenty year old cross country skier from Altai, China...