While Noah Hoffman skied his way into the points with the 22nd-fastest time of the day, Andy Newell and Torin Koos ended up just outside the top 30 in the season-ending mini tour standings. All three men feel like they've proven something this season, including this weekend in Falun.
Kikkan Randall led three American women into the top-30 in the third stage of World Cup Finals on Saturday, a 10 k mass start classic. With 19th place on the day she moved into 15th in the mini-tour, and if she maintains that position in Sunday's pursuit she'll be able to hold off Marit Bjørgen in the overall World Cup standings.
Noah Hoffman moved up from second-to-last at the start of the 15 k mass start classic on Saturday to finish 25th in the third stage of World Cup finals, leading the American men. Andy Newell skied just ahead of Torin Koos in a sprint finish and the two ended up 38th and 39th, respectively.
Andy Newell and Torin Koos each skied top-30 finishes for the U.S. on Friday in the second stage of World Cup Finals, a 2.5 k freestyle prologue. Newell moved into eighth overall in the mini-tour with his 16th place and Koos scored the first distance points of his life in 25th. Noah Hoffman was 51st.
So much has happened since November that it’s easy to forget that, prior the first World Cup of the season, Kikkan Randall didn’t know whether she’d even come close to matching her performances from the season before. Well, she did: after finishing the last sprint of the season on Wednesday in Stockholm, she was awarded the second sprint globe of her career.
Before Andy Newell got a medal for finishing fifth in the overall sprint rankings this season, the race that took place in front of the Royal Palace in Stockholm was not quite what the U.S. was looking for from the final sprint of the year. Newell led the way for the men 11th but was aiming for the finals. Ida Sargent posted the top women's finish in 20th and Kikkan Randall was 22nd.
From Drammen to nearby Oslo, to a frigid and snowy biathlon weekend in Siberia, and Norwegian dominance and U.S. junior nationals - a lot of exciting racing this weekend, much of it with extra significance as the end of the season draws near.
After making no ski changes and competing with the first chase group for most of the women's 30 k freestyle at Holmenkollen, American Liz Stephen notched another career-high on Sunday in Oslo, Norway, with a ninth-place finish. Though happy with the result, Stephen was a bit frustrated with how the ski change tactics played out.
After taking third in the prologue at OPA Cup Finals in Toblach, Italy, Sadie Bjornsen followed up on Saturday with an outright win in the second stage of the mini-tour, a 5 k individual classic. Sam Tarling led the U.S. in the men's 10 k and Paddy Caldwell had his best classic race of the year in the junior division.
Noah Hoffman led the U.S. in the Holmenkollen 50 k on Saturday with a 24th-place finish. It was good enough to qualify him for World Cup Finals next week, but he wasn't entirely satisfied with the result. "I need to be able to have the confidence to relax early on in the race," he said.
In his first World Cup quarterfinal appearance in three years, Torin Koos finally found a result he was happy with in Drammen, Norway, on Wednesday with an 18th-place finish in the classic city sprint. Andy Newell, meanwhile, fell victim to bad luck and finished 27th after a crash.
With the season winding down, Kikkan Randall produced her best classic result of the year on Wednesday with a fifth-place finish in the Drammen, Norway, city sprints. She led the American women; Sadie Bjornsen also qualified for the heats and finished 30th.
With only a few weeks left of racing across the nordic sports at each competitive level, the season is beginning to show distinct signs of drawing to a close. Most notably, Kikkan Randall (USA) won her one and only shot at a freestyle sprint duel with Marit Bjørgen (NOR) in Lahti, Finland, and in the process locked down the sprint crystal globe a full three competitions before the end of the season. Emil Joensson (SWE) did the...
At the first World Cup since World Championships, the American men posted two top-30s between the freestyle sprint and 15 k classic in Lahti, Finland. Kris Freeman was 25th in the distance event and Andy Newell placed 27th in the preceding sprint. Neither result was stellar, but it was Freeman's best finish since his top-10 in Canmore.
The disappointment of World Championships now well behind her, Sadie Bjornsen led the American women in the Lahti, Finland, 10 k classic with another personal best: 18th place, six notches better than her previous high water mark. Liz Stephen and Kikkan Randall tied for 28th to put three American women in the top 30.
Sadie Bjornsen notched a career-best ninth-place finish in the Lahti, Finland, freestyle sprint on the same day her teammate, Kikkan Randall, secured the crystal sprint globe for the U.S. "She almost stole the show, in a way," said USST women's coach Matt Whitcomb. Seven American women in all competed on Saturday; Jessie Diggins followed Bjornsen in 25th.
The classic races of World Championships took place in Val di Fiemme: interval start, relay, marathon. Biathletes competed in Oslo, Americans held their own in Slavic Cup action, and Swedes (and everyone else) gave it their all in the Vasaloppet. Summaries of the action, along with links to reporting and results.
The World Championship 30 k wasn’t the perfect race for the American women, but all things considered Liz Stephen and Ida Sargent were satisfied with the effort it took to ski a race that was dictated by slow, saturated snow, 50-degree heat and tricky waxing conditions. Stephen was 16th and Sargent finished 25th. Jessie Diggins DNF after an early crash and Kikkan Randall did not race.
With glitter and American flags painted on their faces, Andy Newell, Kris Freeman, Noah Hoffman and Tad Elliott skied to tenth place in the men's 4x10 k relay at World Championships on Friday in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Elliott created some excitement with a surge in the last leg that bridged a minute-wide gap back to the leaders, and though he later faded the Americans were psyched to have been in the hunt.
Noah Hoffman executed his race plan perfectly in the 15 k freestyle at World Championships on Wednesday, moving from 40th on the first lap to 15th by the finish line. It cut his previous best from Oslo two years ago nearly in half. Tad Elliott was 34th and Erik Bjornsen was 48th for the American men.