The FIS released an updated Olympic quota list today. The US now has 10 total spots, and Canada 15. It is still possible that more quota spots could become available. A number of teams have a current quota higher than the number of athletes that have been. Norway for instance has named 19 skiers, but has held onto all 20 spots. One possibility is that some nations have not returned quota spots – either because...
Media attention for the Olympics is usually focused on high profile teams and local favorites. Everyone loves to read about the athletes who will represent their country or the foreign athletes from well-known ski nations, but in the cross-country skiing world there is another group heading to Vancouver that deserves some attention. Nordic skiing attracts a significant number of athletes from countries that FIS designates as “ Sand skiing on the dunes and beaches of...
CANMORE, Alta.—Canada will send one of its most talented teams of cross-country skiers to the start line with a focus on contributing to the nation’s medal count at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, Cross Country Canada announced during a media conference on Friday. The national body for cross-country skiing nominated a historic lineup of five women and six men to the Canadian Olympic Committee that will don the maple leaf race suit next month at...
New Zealand named the 2010 Olympic Team, consisting of 10 athletes across five sports. The snowboard team has not been named yet. Ben Koons (MWSC) of Maine, has officially been named to the cross-country team, along with Katie Calder. Koons was considered a sure thing, but yesterday’s announcement makes it official. New Zealand Olympic Selector and Secretary General Barry Maister also welcomed the athletes to the team and said that strategies around high performance in...
Olympian Kris Freeman is ready for the Olympic Games. He is training back at home in New Hampshire on the trails he grew up on, and soon will be on his way to Canada. Kris took the time to answer some questions about his goals for the Olympics and where he is in his preparation. You’ve stated that your training this season is focused on staying healthy and not overdoing things. This seems like it...
PARK CITY, UT (Jan. 21) – Three World Champions were among five athletes announced Thursday by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) to compete on the 2010 Olympic Nordic Combined Ski Team. Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY), Todd Lodwick and Johnny Spillane (both Steamboat Springs, CO) will headline the strongest U.S. team ever in the sport. USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt, together with the U.S. Olympic Committee and Team partner Visa, announced the roster...
From winning the SuperTour on Sunday to being named to the United States Olympic Team, it has been an exciting week for Caitlin Compton. FasterSkier was able to catch up with her as she traveled to Salt Lake City, Utah to get some training in before heading to the Canmore World Cups. FS: It sounds like the conditions were pretty sloppy out there at the SuperTour on Sunday. Can you tell us what everyone was...
PARK CITY, UT – World Championship medalist Kikkan Randall (Anchorage), along with Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT) and Kris Freeman (Andover, NH) headline a group of eight athletes announced Tuesday by the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) for the 2010 Olympic Cross Country Ski Team. USSA President and CEO Bill Marolt, together with the U.S. Olympic Committee and Team partner Visa, announced the roster of athletes to compete in the cross country events at the...
We have been making a big deal about the US Olympic Team, the first part of which will be announced today. But what about Canada? As the home country, the Olympics don’t get any bigger. Cross-Country Canada has mandated a minimum team size of 12 athletes with at least 5 men and 5 women. The maximum is 16. The 12 skier minimum specified in the qualification criteria was put in with some optimism given that...
Now that FIS has announced the quotas for the 2010 Olympics, focus has shifted to the potential for additional spots due to reallocation. The US currently has 8 spots and Canada 11. The maximum that any country can have is 20 – currently Russia, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Italy are at the maximum. Germany is not far behind with 18. But if these countries (or any other for that matter) choose not to take their...
In the final FIS quota allocation for the Olympics released this afternoon, the United States held steady with eight spots for its team in Whistler in February. That’s one more than the U.S. had earlier this year, but perhaps not quite as many as the American ski community had hoped for. Races over the weekend were the last events to count toward the quota – if results were submitted to the FIS on time. Finland,...
Norway announced that they have named seven more athletes to their Olympic Cross-Country Team, bringing the total to 11. Celine Brun-Lie, Marthe Kristoffersen, Vibeke Skofterud, Ronny Hafsås, Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Øystein Pettersen and Eldar Rønning all got the nod, and now join Ola Vigen Hattestad, Petter Northug, Marit Bjørgen and Kristin Størmer Steira with tickets to Vancouver. Norway has a total of 20 spots, but have not taken their full quota in the past. Top...
When the U.S. National Championships ended on Friday, Pete Vordenberg’s job started getting complicated. As the head coach of the U.S. Ski Team, it’s his responsibility to pick the group of athletes that will get to compete in February at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Whistler. On January 19th, after four years of hard work by the nation’s top athletes, his announcement will simultaneously crush some dreams and bring others to fruition. In his deliberations,...
NEW GLOUCESTER, Maine – The International Competition Committee of the U.S. Biathlon Association conducted a final review of results from the IBU Cup races in Altenberg, Germany this morning. As a result, the U.S Biathlon Association will forward the following list of athletes to the United States Olympic Committee. Men’s Olympic Team Nominations: 1) Tim Burke, Paul Smith’s, NY- prequalification from 2008-2009 season (2 top 15 results at WC) 2) Jay Hakkinen, Kasilof, AK- prequalification from...
FasterSkier regularly posts “Photos of the Moment.” An archive of the photos can be viewed here. [smugmug url=”http://fasterskier.smugmug.com/hack/feed.mg?Type=gallery&Data=11194624_dk4dn&format=rss200″ title=”Photos%20of%20the%20Moment” imagecount=”100″ start=”1″ num=”100″ thumbsize=”Th” link=”lightbox” captions=”false” sort=”true” window=”false” smugmug=”false” size=”M”]
With the end of the World Cup period 1, and US Nationals just days away, it is time to revisit Olympic quotas. In November
CANMORE, Alta.—Canada’s Brian McKeever has done his part, and is ready for an opportunity to hit the start line at Whistler Olympic Park in February and ski into the history books as the first-ever athlete to compete at the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. The 30-year-old McKeever won the men’s 50-kilometre Haywood NorAm individual start classic-ski race in convincing fashion on Tuesday which boosts his chances of securing a spot on Canada’s Olympic Cross-Country Ski...
STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, CO (Dec. 16) – A week from now, U.S freestyle and nordic combined athletes will have their opportunity to grab a one-chance ticket to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games when the U.S. Olympic Committee (USOC) and U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) host the 2010 U.S. Olympic Team Trials in Steamboat Springs, Dec. 23-24. Five spots from moguls, aerials and nordic combined are on the line during two days of competition in Steamboat-Ski...
After taking my first ski on the local trails yesterday, I quickly remembered how spoiled Anchoraguans are with Kincaid Park. But, a quick look at langrenn.com today offers an even better reminder of how it could be.
Holly Brooks is no ordinary story. She grew up in Seattle (“towards the end of the Seattle grunge scene”) and attended a small alternative school with classmates who smoked, worshipped Courtney Love, and thought nordic skiing was the name of a Swedish rock band. Her own high school had few sports, so she played soccer and ran track for a larger school that was nearby. When she first started skiing, it was with her family, who would...