The U.S. biathlon team could be forgiven for having high expectations going into this year’s Under-26/Open European Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. Last year, Leif Nordgren entered just one race at the event, and didn’t even finish. But a few weeks later, he notched three top-thirty finishes at senior World Championships. In that same U26 series in Ridnaun, Italy, Russell Currier repeatedly finished in the 20s and 30s. But just two weeks ago, he bettered those...
Thursday night, the Slovakian town of Osrblie kicked off the 2012 Open European Championships of biathlon with an elaborate ceremony featuring athletes from 32 different countries. On Friday, racers flooded past on the trails and hundreds of shots were fired on the range, by the best field the venue has hosted since its last World Cup in 2005. What are the Open European Championships? The event, which lasts a week, actually serves several purposes. It’s...
Tim Reynolds (CGRP) led a strong Craftsbury contingent in the freestyle sprint prologue on Wednesday night in Minneapolis, Minn. Reynolds edged out teammate Pat O’Brien (CGRP) by a mere 0.6 seconds on the 1.4 k course. Mark Iverson (APU) was just 0.1 seconds behind O’Brien in third. Reynolds was the first man out of the gate in the individual night sprint, and found it hard to tell what was going on out on the course....
With her second win out of three races in the Tour de Twin Cities on Wednesday, Jennie Bender (CXC) now leads the five-stage event. The 1.4 k freestyle sprint prologue was held under the lights at Wirth Park in Minneapolis, Minn., and was the final race of the Mayor’s Challenge phase of the Tour. Lauren Fritz (APU) was the runner-up and Bender’s teammate Caitlin Gregg (CXC) was third. “I really wanted to get today,” said...
When Amanda Ammar first saw the start list at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre in Vernon, British Columbia, she couldn’t help but think it was comical. Next to her name where her points total should have been was nothing – zero, zilch, nada – as if she had never raced before. Six years earlier, the Alberta native was one of the best cross-country skiers in Canada, making the 2006 Torino Olympics at age 19 and...
On home turf with his friends and family cheering him on, Matt Liebsch (Team Strong Heart/Team Birkie) won his second race of the Tour de Twin Cities on Sunday in Wirth Park. Over the 15 k freestyle course, Tad Elliott (SSCV/USST) was 12.9 seconds behind him in second and Sylvan Ellefson (SSCV/Team HomeGrown) finished third (+16.7). After he finished, Liebsch credited skiing with Elliott for a chuck of the race as having helped him along....
Note: This story has been updated to include quotes from third-place finisher and overall NorAm leader Brent McMurtry. If there’s one thing an athlete dreads besides injury, it’s sickness. Kevin Sandau felt the latter coming on Saturday in Canmore, Alberta, the night before the last race of the Western Canadian Championships. With most other NorAm races, the Alberta World Cup Academy and Senior Development Team skier would have found it easier to simply sit one...
There was no hiding in Canmore, Alberta, on Sunday. The first to start the 10 k pursuit on the last day of the NorAm mini tour, Alysson Marshall knew she’d have her work cut out for her. Mostly, it was her Alberta World Cup Academy teammate she’d have to worry about. Emily Nishikawa started 16 seconds behind Marshall in the Western Canadian Championships finale, and by the first major climb on the first of two...
Back in her stronger skate technique, Caitlin Gregg (CXC) started fast and didn’t let up while skiing to victory in the second stage of the Tour de Twin Cities. Gregg, who finished third in Saturday’s 5km classic, posted a 17-second win over Chelsea Homes (SVSEF). Maria Stuber (CGRP) was third, another 17 seconds behind Holmes in the 10-kilometer race. Racing in her adopted hometown, Gregg lives just a few blocks from the race venue. “Knowing...
After landing on the podium six times so far this winter, Jennie Bender (CXC) finally skied to the very top with her win at Wirth Park in Minneapolis, Minn on Saturday for the first race of the Tour de Twin Cities. In the 5 k classic, she ended up 10.3 seconds ahead of runner-up Rosie Brennan (APU); Caitlin Gregg (CXC) finished in third (+21.9). “I’m pumped to have a good start [to the Tour], but...
SuperTour racing resumed on Saturday at Wirth Park in Minneapolis, Minn. with a 10 k individual classic—the first of five events in the inaugural Tour de Twin Cities. Skiing in front of friends and family on his home course, Matt Liebsch (Team Strong Heart/Team Birkie) took his first win of the season by 0.4 seconds ahead of Sylvan Ellefson (SSCV/Team HomeGrown). Karl Nygren (CXC) finished third (+3.5). This was Liebsch’s first effort above threshold since...
Three months may not seem like a long time, but Alysson Marshall couldn’t wait much longer. Since her first race of the season on Nov. 13, the Alberta World Cup Academy and Canadian Senior Development Team member had aimed for the top spot on the podium. Maybe she didn’t expect it in Europe, especially at World Cup races in Kuusamo, Finland, and Düsseldorf, Germany, but she wanted it at home. In six of eight NorAm...
The fifth man at the top of the last hill leading down into the stadium, Jesse Cockney was fairly confident he’d win the final. The 22-year-old Canadian Senior Development Team member had a few things going for him – knowledge of the course, confidence in himself and confidence in his skis. Cockney’s calculations played out, as the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) skier slingshot past his competitors and kept the lead to the finish of...
On a frosty day in Canmore, Alberta, Emily Nishikawa (AWCA) skied to her third NorAm victory of the season, winning the women’s five-kilometer classic by 5.4 seconds over Alana Thomas (Nakkertok Nordic). Alysson Marshall (Larch Hills/CNT) finished third. With temperatures recorded at -15C (5F) organizers decided to move the classic distance races from Saturday to Friday, swapping with the freestyle sprint. Concerns of cancellation due to cold also motivated a contingency plan that involved a...
It’s not as if one of the top two men on this year’s NorAm circuit really had an advantage. While Kevin Sandau had more recently heaved himself up the grinding hills at the Canmore Nordic Centre with his Alberta World Cup Academy teammates, both he and Brent McMurtry (Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre) spent plenty of time training there with the Canadian National Ski Team. Both Senior Development Team members, Sandau and McMurtry also grew up...
When American and Canadian skiers start consistently winning domestic races, they face a choice: do they stay on their home circuits, or head to Europe? And if a trip across the Atlantic is in the cards, where will they race? With limited World Cup quotas and a myriad of regional race circuits, skiers have to not only choose which of the many races they might attend, but also generally organize and fund the trips themselves....
Since coming down with a whopper of a sinus infection nearly five months ago, Skyler Davis hadn’t felt like himself. In his first year on the U.S. Ski Team’s development squad, the 20-year-old tried to shake it. He tried at the U.S. Ski Team’s dryland camp in Lake Placid, N.Y, but he had to leave early to recover at home in Jericho, Vt. Afterward, Davis rallied and put forth the effort needed to earn his...
This weekend’s Eastern Cups held another weekend of racing at the base of an alpine slope on man-made snow. Due to lack of snow, Saturday’s sprints (which were supposed to be held at Bond Brook in Augusta) were moved to the same location as Sunday’s distance race, at Titcomb Mountain in Farmington, Maine. Fortunately the crew at Titcomb were prepared to make as much of a course as they could with the terrain and snow...
Note: This story has been updated to include quotes from third-place finisher Zoe Roy. On the final day of racing in the Haywood NorAms in Whistler, British Columbia, on Sunday, Emily Nishikawa (AWCA/CNST) won her second event of the weekend with her victory in the 10 k classic individual start race with a time of 33:03.1 on the course. Amanda Ammar (Canmore Nordic Ski Club) finished second (+13.6) and Zoe Roy (Rocky Mountain Racers/Stella Racing)...
Standing at the starting gate in bib No. 107 on Sunday, Brent McMurtry of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH) looked out and saw only space in front of him. Numbers 106 and 105 weren’t present, leaving empty race spots and more time waiting for the countdown. While some would view not having someone to chase in an interval start as a disadvantage, McMurtry liked it. On the last day of NorAm competition in Whistler,...