Olympics – FasterSkier

T-Minus Ten Years: Soldier Hollow’s Preparations for Salt Lake City 2034

Luke DykowskiSeptember 4, 2024

As the pageantry and athletic performances of Paris 2024 captivated audiences across the United States, a team of organizers had their eyes fixed on a target far beyond the shores of the Seine. Ten years beyond, in fact. The International Olympic Committee announced on July 24th that Salt Lake City, Utah will host the 2034 Olympic and Paralympic Games, with the Cross-Country and Biathlon events returning to the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center, site of the...

Feature News Olympics

Olympic Reflections from Paris

Lumi ExperiencesAugust 13, 2024

It’s been 14 years since I became an Olympian, competing as a cross country skier in the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver. Since then, it hasn’t been easy to get to the Olympics as a spectator. The Winter Games have been in Sochi, Pyeongchang and Beijing, while the summer games have been in Rio and Tokyo, with an interruption by the Covid pandemic. The Paris Games were finally an opportunity for me to attend my...

Community News Olympics World Cup

U.S. Nordic Olympic Women Name Julia Kern as 2022 Gold Rush Award Recipient (Press Release)

FasterSkierMay 9, 2022

As the 53 women Olympians who have represented our country in cross country skiing, and calling our group United States Nordic Olympic Women (US NOW), we give an annual award, The Gold Rush Award, to a female athlete that demonstrates outstanding quantities of grit and grace throughout the year. Huge achievements give everyone the joy of celebrating the success. We know it takes many people to realize these high goals. We congratulate and are inspired by...

Community Feature News Olympics Racing World Cup

China spent millions on cross-country skiing in the leadup to Beijing. What happens now?

Nathaniel HerzMarch 31, 2022

ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA — A month ago, I met with a source close to the Chinese government in a tiny room in this mountain resort outside Beijing, which hosted the 2022 Olympic cross-country skiing events. There, the source explained how a decision by international skiing officials to disqualify a Chinese cross-country skier from a race was like killing a baby. China does not have, exactly, a long tradition of success in winter sports like cross-country skiing. But...

Feature News Olympics

FasterSkier Needs Your Help: Consider a Voluntary Subscription

FasterSkierMarch 1, 2022

As the 2022 Olympic Winter Games draw to a close – we hope you’ve been enjoying our coverage – we need your help. FasterSkier is celebrating its 20th year and we are committed to doing what we do best in the years ahead. That means publishing robust journalism and real-time news about all things cross-country skiing. That means bringing international racing to life with athlete interviews, podcasts, high-quality photos and in-depth analysis. That means helping...

Community Feature Olympics Racing

Inside the hardest race of Diggins’ life: a unique post-30 k interview with FasterSkier in Zhangjiakou

Rachel PerkinsMarch 1, 2022

On February 20th, Jessie Diggins made Olympic history yet again, taking second in the 30 k mass start skate to round out the colors of her medal collection. Gold in the freestyle team sprint in 2018, silver in the 30 k skate, and bronze in the individual skate sprint. Now thirty years old, Diggins is the most successful American cross country skier in Olympic history. She has spent over a decade rising to the top...

Community News Olympics Racing World Cup

“So close, yet so far”: This international Olympic Covid romance is a story for our times

Nathaniel HerzFebruary 28, 2022

U.S. cross-country skier Kevin Bolger and Swedish racer Maja Dahlqvist met during the COVID-19 pandemic. The virus kept them six feet apart during the Olympics — except one celebratory hug. ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA — American Olympic cross-country skier Kevin Bolger grew up in Wisconsin. His girlfriend, Olympian Maja Dahlqvist, is from Sweden. During the Olympics, in China, they got to spend a couple of weeks in the same place. Among their options for dates: • Go cross-country...

Community Health Lifestyle News Olympics Opinion Racing

Opinion: Get your commentary off our bodies

FasterSkierFebruary 24, 2022

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...

Community Olympics Racing

Sophia Laukli was crushing her Olympic debut. Then she went the wrong way. She still finished 15th.

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 21, 2022

It had been more than a month since Sophia Laukli last wore a race bib. Her last competitions took place on January 15th and 16th during the 2022 Sun Valley Nordic Invitational, where she was second to Rosie Brennan in the 5 k individual start skate, racing at altitude on a tough course. Eleven days prior, she was the fifth woman, and the first American, to the top of the Alpe Cermis in Val di...

Community Feature Olympics Racing

Alaska physical therapist is one of USST’s secret weapons in Beijing

Nathaniel HerzFebruary 21, 2022

ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA — Just about everyone involved with the U.S. Ski Team has a story about physiotherapist Zuzana Rogers fixing some weird corner of their body. “I had a dislocated cuboid bone, and she diagnosed it over Skype and essentially talked me through repositioning it, and I was better,” said Holly Brooks, the retired Olympic cross-country skier from Alaska. “It was insane.” Eli Brown, one of the team’s ski technicians, thought he had an Achilles...

News Olympics Racing

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

Ella HallFebruary 20, 2022

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...

Community Feature News Olympics Racing

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

Nathaniel HerzFebruary 20, 2022

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...

Community News Olympics Racing

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

Nathaniel HerzFebruary 20, 2022

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 —...

Canadian National Ski Team Olympics Racing

(Press Release) Cendrine Browne Skis to Canadian Olympic Record Finishing 16th in Nordic Marathon Katherine Stewart-Jones battles to second top-30 in Beijing

FasterSkierFebruary 20, 2022

Cendrine Browne set a new Canadian Olympic record by finishing 16th in the women’s 30-kilometre cross-country ski race in the free technique in Beijing. Browne, of Prévost, Que., wrapped up her second Olympics by having the race of her life on one of the most challenging Nordic courses in the world, clocking a time of 1:31:21.6. “This feels amazing to finish the Olympics on such a high note. I’m beyond happy,” beamed Browne following her...

Olympics Racing

Bolshunov collects third gold medal while Krüger rebounds to bronze post-COVID; Patterson historic 8th place for USA

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 19, 2022

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. There were a number of stories to unpack during the men’s 50-kilometer mass start free, which was changed last minute to 28 k due to extreme weather conditions in Zhangjiakou....

News Olympics Racing

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

Nathaniel HerzFebruary 19, 2022

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...

News Olympics Photo Gallery Racing

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

Gavin KentchFebruary 19, 2022

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...

Canadian National Ski Team Olympics Racing

(Press Release) Canada’s Olivier Léveillé Skis to Second Top-30 Finish in Olympic Cross-Country Ski Distance Race

FasterSkierFebruary 19, 2022

Canada’s Olivier Léveillé wrapped up his first Olympic Games with his second top-30 finish of the week, finishing 27th in the men’s 30-kilometre free technique race. The Sherbrooke, Que. resident persevered through a broken ski and heavy winds that shortened the scheduled 5- kilometre race to 30 kilometres at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Centre near Beijing. Léveillé completed the course with a time of 1:15:54.3. “I’m very proud of my first Olympic Games. It...

Community News Olympics Other News Racing

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

Pasha KahnFebruary 18, 2022

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...

Biathlon Olympics Racing

(Press Release) Deedra Irwin 23rd in Beijing Mass Start

FasterSkierFebruary 18, 2022

BEIJING, China (Feb. 18, 2022) – Competing in the first mass start of her career on the Olympic stage, Deedra Irwin (Pulaski, Wis./ National Guard Biathlon & USBA) went toe-to-toe with the world’s best biathletes to finish 23rd in the elite field of 30 on Friday as the Beijing 2022 Winter Games’ biathlon competition came to a close at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Center. Irwin was 3 minutes, 24.1 seconds back with six penalties. “This has just been...

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