Whistler, British Columbia – As the second starter in the women’s individual 15km, Tora Berger (NOR) had a long wait to see if her 1st place time would hold up, and when her last competitor crossed the line, the tears of joy started flowing. “It was very hard to wait, not a good time, but I had no time to think because there were so many interviews. But then I was very happy – they...
Lanny Barnes is known as a good shot. But coming into the Olympics, she said she had never shot perfectly in a race with four shooting stages over her entire ten-year international career. That ended today, as the Colorado native went 20 for 20 to propel herself to a 23rd place in the women’s 15k individual start race—the best Olympic result from an American woman since Joan Smith was 14th in Lillehammar in 1994. “It...
For some people, being stuck in a quarterfinal heat at the Olympics with Emil Joensson (SWE) would be intimidating. Not for Simi Hamilton. “Those days are over,” he said afterwards. The young American sprinter provided a tantalizing glimpse of the future in the sprint yesterday, striding strongly and confidently in the lead of his quarterfinal up the course’s final climb—ahead of Joensson and other World Cup veterans like Kalle Lassila (FIN) and Peeter Kummel (EST)—before...
Whistler, British Columbia – Kikkan Randall (USA) already has made history countless times in her storied ski-career. On Wednesday, at Whistler Olympic Park, she did it again. Randall posted the best Olympic result ever in US women’s cross-country skiing, finishing 8th in the classic sprint. She beat her own mark of 9th, set in 2006. This is just one more notch in her impressive belt of accomplishments. Last year she became the first US woman...
Whistler, British Columbia – Stefan Kuhn thrilled home fans with a blistering qualification round in the men’s classic sprint. Kuhn was the 10th fastest qualifier, just 3.78 seconds behind Alexander Panzhinskiy (RUS). Kuhn has been on a role lately, at least in the qualification round – he was 7th last week in the Canmore World Cup. In a tough quarterfinal, he was in strong position throughout much of the the first part of the heat,...
With three men lined up in the final, including perhaps the most dominating sprinter in the short history of the event and his teammate, the best all around skier in the world, Norway looked good to put the ghosts of 2006 to rest for good. With Marit Bjoergen winning the women’s final, the team had already captured their first Olympic Gold since 2002 – a drought of unacceptable proportions for the ski powerhouse. But the...
If those pesky NBC producers were still searching for that perfect feel-good story, they sure got it today. After a horrifying crash in her warm-up for the women’s classic sprint at the Vancouver Olympics, Slovenia’s Petra Majdic was in so much pain that she could barely breath. But somehow, she still found the strength and courage to stay with the best skiers in the world, winning a bronze medal behind Norway’s Marit Bjoergen and Poland’s...
You had to feel for them. After four years of build-up, the top American sprinters here had a disastrous morning in the sprint qualifer, with Andy Newell crashing in an icy corner and Torin Koos never getting comfortable on his skis. “I’m crushed for Newell; I’m crushed for Koos,” said John Farra, who oversees the American cross country program for the United States Ski and Snowboard association. “What do you do? You want to hug...
Whistler, British Columbia – Marit Bjoergen (NOR), with a bronze medal under her belt already, set herself up for a run for the gold in the women’s classic sprint. Bjoergen posted the fastest qualifying time on the 1.4km course at Whistler Olympic Park. With cold weather overnight, and clear skies for a change, the track was hard and fast. Bjoergen posted a time of 3:38.05 on the relatively long Whistler course. Finland’s Aino-Kaisa Saarinen was...
Sunny skies and warm temperatures greeted sprinters on their arrival at Whistler Olympic Park this morning for the men’s and women’s sprint. This is a big chance for the Canadians and the U.S.—all six Americans are capable of qualifying for the heats, with three medal hopefuls in Kikkan Randall, Torin Koos, and Andy Newell. The Canadians are set up just as well, with Devon Kershaw, Sarah Renner, Dasha Gaiazova, and Perianne Jones gunning for the...
The changeable weather stayed constant yesterday. Once the weather gods saw off the Men’s Downhill yesterday, it snowed half the night until about 10 clock this morning. Flakes the size of coins! The Mens Combined was postponed until tomorrow. The weather forecasters say that starting tomorrow there will be a period of sunshine. So tomorrow is looking good for Alpine ski racing fans. Today the Alpine track was completely soaked from top to bottom. It...
Kris Freeman performs best when he’s angry, which bodes well for the rest of his Olympic Games. “I’m just really, really pissed,” he said Tuesday about his debacle in the 15k freestyle. Freeman blew by reporters in the finish chute yesterday, leaving fans and media without an explanation for what he called “a horrible result.” But as he wrote on his blog, that was because he didn’t have one himself. 24 hours later, though, things...
After several athletes in the men’s 12.5k biathlon pursuit started early, Swedish coaches were seen yelling at event officials, trying to get them to stop the race. You can bet they’re glad nobody listened, as one of their athletes, Bjorn Ferry, caught and passed France’s Vincent Jay on the final loop to take gold. Ferry become the first Swede in 60 years to win Olympic gold in biathlon, coming out on top in a race...
Two biathletes won gold medals in biathlon today, each of them with an inspiring performance. But sadly, the focus on Tuesday wasn’t the skiing—it was a pair of serious errors committed by organizers in the men’s and women’s pursuit that potentially altered outcomes of both races. In the women’s event, three athletes were sent out late, resulting in the replacement of the race referee, according to Norbert Baier, the International Biathlon Union (IBU) official responsible...
Magdalena Neuner (GER) left the door open in the women’s 10k pursuit. But Anastasia Kuzmina (SVK) couldn’t shut it. When a penalty by Neuner in the final shooting stage left Kuzmina trailing by just six seconds, the Slovakian had a chance to reel in the leader over the final two k loop. But Neuner put the hammer down, steadily pulling away to win her second medal in three days. After hitting all 20 shots, Marie...
Finally, the weather today was Olympic worthy and provided fair competitions. The downhill course was presented in a top-prepared state and offered a level playing field for all skiers. It was important for all service people who prepare the skis to provide enough edge grip for the snow conditions, but at the same time not too aggressive. The service people of the racers had already started a week ago to condition the ski bases with...
Whislter, British Columbia – Ivan Babikov (CAN) finished 8th in the men’s 15km freestyle, the best result ever for a Canadian man in the Olympics, besting Pierre Harvey’s 14th in the 30km classic in Calgary. Babikov was just 18 seconds off the podium, and skied up throughout the race.
Whistler, British Columbia – Over the last several years, expectations of American skiers in international competitions have consistently increased. Each year the bar has been raised, and the US ski community is no longer satisfied to settle for top-30 performances. But with high expectations comes the potential for great disappointment. With years of specific preparation and focus, these Olympics were supposed to be different, but bad days still happen, and this was one of them....
With a few hours to go before the start of the men’s 15k freestyle this morning, what was Dario Cologna thinking about? Not the pressure he was under. Not that the race was his Olympic debut. In fact, Cologna wasn’t thinking about cross country skiing at all: Instead, he was watching alpine skiing on TV, waiting to find out how his Swiss countrymen would fare in the men’s downhill race. Cologna ended up five minutes...
Whistler, British Columbia – Charlotte Kalla (SWE) skied to a 6.6 second victory in the women’s 10km freestyle under cloudy skies at Whistler Olympic Park on Monday morning. Kalla, skiing in her first Olympics, entered the race as the favorite, and did not disappoint. She held a 9.4 second lead after 5km, and held on to beat comeback-kid Kristina Smigun-Vaehi (EST). “It feels crazy right now,” said Kalla at the finish line. “I cannot believe...