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World Cup

The cream of the crop. The best in the world compete all winter long on the World Cup. We follow them at every stop with article and results. We also post occasional reports from North America’s best as they travel the globe.
The Loppet Looks Ahead: How Minneapolis is Preparing to Host a World Cup

In 2024, Minneapolis, Minnesota will host an FIS World Cup. That fact has been the source of pure excitement across US Skiing, and also of déjà vu. For many skiers and ski fans, the cancellation of the planned World Cup races at Theodore Wirth Park in March 2020 will forever be associated with those uncertain first days of the COVID-19 pandemic. American World Cup athletes had come home, the banners and bleachers were up, when...

Bonus episode: Hear us interview Petter Northug Jr. on the Holmenkollen

Oh, you thought we were done? Nat had the chance to interview Norwegian cross-country skiing legend Petter Northug Jr. for his story for the New York Times about the Holmenkollen ski marathons. Rather than leave the audio on the cutting room floor, we thought we’d share it with you. Sorry about the audio quality and the frequent interjections from Nat, but this was not originally intended as podcast-quality material — turn it off if you must. And:...

A Finnish finish: Tying a bow on the 2023 season in Lahti

This is the end. Of the 2023 racing season. Devon and Nat go without guests and are here to take you through the last three events of the winter in Lahti, Finland. And we cover a couple of retirement announcements from U.S. skiers. We’re taking a little break after this but, we promise: We won’t leave you hanging for the whole off-season. Stay tuned for more regular episodes over the course of the spring and...

Olympian Swirbul Announces Retirement from World Cup Cross Country Skiing

PARK CITY, UT (March 27, 2023) – Hailey Swirbul of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team is ready to say goodbye to World Cup ski racing. The 2022 Olympian has formally announced her retirement from the World Cup circuit hours after crossing the finish line at the 2022-23 World Cup Finals in Lahti, Finland. 24-year-old Swirbul, an El Jebel, Colorado native, has been on the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team for years, represented her country at two World...

Klaebo: Record-Tying Win, History-Defining Cup

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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.  The most dominant World Cup season ever by a male skier; a tally of wins that ties Theresa Johaug (NOR) for the greatest number of victories in a single season (20) by...

Kalvaa Gets First World Cup Win, Diggins and Brennan Top Five in Overall World Cup

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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.  Today marked the end: at the completion of today’s women’s 20 kilometer Classic mass start in Lahti, Finland, all unanswered questions would be resolved. There would not be any waiting until next...

Moa Ilar’s Sacrifice Saves a Season: Maja Dahlqvist Wins Crystal Globe

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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.  After Maja Dahlqvist (SWE) qualified third in Saturday’s classic sprint, the tension rose to a fever pitch. With ten bonus points earned, Dahlqvist had cut the Sprint Crystal Globe gap between herself...

In the Pink: Klaebo Secures World Cup Sprint Crystal Globe

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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.  By this time in his storied and much-decorated career, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) definitely knows his way around a bottle of champagne. Given enough time on World Cup podiums (as Klaebo has...

World Champions Dominate Team Sprints as Crystal Globe Race Looms

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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.  World Cup Finals began under overcast Finnish skies Friday, as the circuit looks to settle the questions of a long season over the next three days. Who was—and who wasn’t—racing in Friday’s...

Skistad Wins Again: Crystal Globe Race In Focus Under Tallinn’s Lights

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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.  For the last week of World Cup sprinting, two pairs of skis have followed each other back and forth, every stride marked in tandem with the other. Twenty meters from the finish...

Tallinn Men’s Sprint: New Script, Same Ending

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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.  All things being equal—including the wax—it appears that the fastest skier is still the fastest skier. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo’s (NOR) performance in today’s FIS World Cup Freestyle Sprint certainly proved that any...

Swinging through Sweden with Canada’s Katherine Stewart-Jones

The World Cup’s penultimate weekend of the year took us to Falun, Sweden for a trio of races, including two more fun 10 ks and a mixed relay. Canada’s Katherine Stewart-Jones joins us to recap her sensational season and what’s ahead for her next year. We’ll be back after Tuesday’s city sprint in Tallinn, Estonia. Get at us at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com.    

Swedes Bring Home Victory in Falun Mixed Team Relay

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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 had been glimpses of Swedish firepower all day. Into the first exchange, Calle Halfvarsson (SWE) had shot through the field. When Federico Pellegrino (ITA) broke away on leg three, Edvin...

Women’s Sprint Chase Remains Tight, American Teenager Sammy Smith Qualifies for Heats

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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.  The clock is winding down on the World Cup season. After this weekend, there will be only three individual races remaining—two of those are Sprints. With time running out, increased urgency has...

Falun World Cup Freestyle Sprint: It’s Klaebo’s World . . .

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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.  This guy is simply incredible . . . can we just admit that? Thirty skiers qualify for every sprint quarterfinal—all having demonstrated their sprint prowess, all with a burning desire to win—Johannes...

Falun 10 k Classic: Kerttu Niskanen Re-Energized, Klaebo Still Not Tired

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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.  She’s just so fun to watch . . . and He just keeps getting faster; together, Kerttu Niskanen (FIN) and Joahannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) demonstrated levels of dominance on Falun’s classic tracks,...

The Devon Kershaw Show: Double trouble in Norway

No rest for the weary (except those who skipped Holmenkollen): We’re back with recaps of, objectively, the most lit series of races on the World Cup circuit, in Norway. We’ve got the goods from the Holmenkollen 50 k races, including the first-ever for women, and the always satisfying Drammen sprints. We’ll be back next week. Reach us at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com.

Drammen Sprints: Redemption for Skistad, Business as Usual for Klaebo

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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.  The International Ski Federation (FIS) is not in the business of making things easy: this season’s World Cup scoring system rewards those skiers who ski every event, those who excel consistently. Gone...

Ragnhild Gloeersen Haga Triumphant in Historic Holmenkollen 50 k

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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.  “It’s the right message that we want to send to young girls all over the world: you work just as hard as the guys, you train just as much, you should get...

Norway Dominates Holmenkollen Taking Top 10 spots, Norris and Patterson Hit Top 20

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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.  No other professional ski race can match the prestige and lore surrounding the Holmenkollen 50 kilometer race held in Oslo, Norway. Win it—and your name will be etched into history. Like all...