The FasterSkier team breaks down last weekend's historic World Cup results, which included the first-ever podium for the American women in a relay.
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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.
Four-time World Champion Martin Fourcade placed 48th in Saturday's cross country World Cup, but was left disappointed on a day where he said he couldn't have done well even in a biathlon race. Fourcade told FasterSkier that biathletes have nothing to prove, and he still hopes to race the World Championships relay for France.
After Scoring Points in Gällivare, Gräfnings Earns World Cup Starts in Kuusamo, Canmore
Chelsea LittleNovember 28, 2012
A two-time NCAA Champion representing the University of Utah, Maria Grafnings earned World Cup starts in Gallivare as part of Sweden's Nations Group. There, she ran with the honors, finishing as the sixth Swede in the 10 k skate.
Alaska Pacific University coach Erik Flora discusses the best part waking up to results like those from Gallivare and why he expects his athletes Kikkan Randall and Holly Brooks to continue doing big things this year.
Weekend Race Roundup: Wow.
Chelsea LittleNovember 26, 2012
SuperTour racing kicked off on the West Yellowstone plateau with point-to-point 9k's and sprint prologues; the FIS and IBU World Cups started in Scandinavia, where the U.S. women made history and the Canadian men had a strong relay. Recap, reporting, photos, and results.
Historic U.S. Performance, Built on Teamwork and Guts, Draws Admirers in Ski World
Chelsea LittleNovember 26, 2012
GÄLLIVARE, Sweden – It’s always good to finish a race and be happy with the result. But the icing on the cake is when the entire sport seems to be behind your performance. And for the U.S. women after Sunday’s historic third-place relay finish, that was the case. As one team after another crossed the line behind them, they were hugged and congratulated – even by teams who surely wished the podium spot could be...
Notes and Quotes: Gallivare edition
Chelsea LittleNovember 26, 2012
With so much happening in Gällivare, Sweden, this weekend, we didn’t have the chance to put quite everything into our main feature stories. Here are some leftovers from the races, as well as some small pieces about the U.S. men’s and Canadian women’s relays. Women’s Relay When asked about the U.S. women’s relay podium, Development Coach Bryan Fish initially didn’t get too specific… he was just impressed. “That was exciting to watch,” he told FasterSkier...
Fifth Place for Canadian Men is All-Time Best World Cup Relay Finish, but They’re Itching for More
Chelsea LittleNovember 25, 2012
GÄLLIVARE, Sweden – When Alex Harvey said yesterday that Canada could win today’s 4 x 7.5 k World Cup relay, he wasn’t kidding. It might seem surprising after the results the Canadians turned in on Saturday, with just one racer breaking the top 20 in the 15 k skate. But Sunday was a new day, and relays always generate a little extra something for the athletes. “I love racing the relay,” Devon Kershaw told FasterSkier....
With No Need for Finishing Sprint, Northug Finds New Way to Irk Swedes
Chelsea LittleNovember 25, 2012
Norway's relay anchor Petter Northug didn't have to use his signature finishing sprint to embarrass the Swedes on their home soil. With the extra time he had on Marcus Hellner near the finish, Northug picked up a Swedish flag and skied across the line.
A Norway-U.S. Relay Battle? Norwegian Women Win Again, But Americans Notch First World Cup Podium
Chelsea LittleNovember 25, 2012
While it's no surprise that Norway's women won the World Cup relay today, their margin of victory wasn't the largest it has ever been - for two legs, they were stalked by tenacious U.S. women. Jessie Diggins dug deep to retain a podium spot for the Americans.
“Great Day” for U.S. Women; Falls Leave Stephen, Diggins Wondering What Might Have Been
Chelsea LittleNovember 24, 2012
Despite two crashes that kept Liz Stephen and Jessie Diggins out of the top ten, today was easily one of the best days in the history of the U.S. women's program. The athletes reflect on how they got here.
Babikov Leads North American Men with 14th-Place Finish, 3.6 Seconds out of Top-10
Chelsea LittleNovember 24, 2012
GÄLLIVARE, Sweden – With all of the success by U.S. women at the opening World Cup race today, it is easy to forget that lots of other North American skiers competed, too. And several had strong results – headlined by Ivan Babikov of Canada, who placed 14th in the men’s 15 k skate. Babikov declined to comment to FasterSkier after the race, but appeared to have followed the same strategy he took to a podium...
Classic Specialists No More, Sundby and Poltoranin Conquer Gallivare Skate Race
Chelsea LittleNovember 24, 2012
GÄLLIVARE, Sweden – When fans were predicting who might win this opening World Cup at Hellner Stadion, a lot of names came up. Surely it might be a Swede – Marcus Hellner, who trains here and gave his name to the stadium, or perhaps one of his teammates, like Johan Olsson or Daniel Richardsson. Or what about “Super Dario” Cologna, the Swiss star who won last year’s World Cup overall title? Maybe Petter Northug...
Bjørgen Is Back up to Same Tricks, Bests Johaug in 10k Opener; Randall Surprises With First Distance Podium
Chelsea LittleNovember 24, 2012
GÄLLIVARE, Sweden – To here the top three women from today’s 10 k freestyle race tell it, none of them expected to win. Marit Bjørgen of Norway, the hands-down favorite coming into this first weekend of World Cup racing after winning the opening race last year as well as the overall World Cup, said that she would have been happy just to be on the podium. Despite the weight of expectations after trouncing Bjørgen...
World Cup Descends on Gällivare; Athletes to Be Tested on Unrelentingly Technical Courses (With Photo Gallery)
Chelsea LittleNovember 23, 2012
Any number of Swedish men seem capable of topping the podium on home turf. Here, Marcus Hellner leads teammates on some pickups. Otherwise, the heavy hitters come at the end: Dario Cologna and Marit Bjørgen hold the honors of being last season’s World Cup winners, and so will kick off this season wearing their yellow bibs and starting last (that puts the Norwegian as bib 78 and the Swiss star as bib 97). The last...
In The Nick Of Time, Randall Returns To Race Circuit
Nathaniel HerzNovember 22, 2012
Kikkan Randall’s season hasn’t started, but she’s already claimed her first victory: healing the stress fracture in her right foot in time for the first World Cup race of the winter. Randall will compete in Saturday morning’s 10-kilometer freestyle opener in northern Sweden—her first race after
Notes and Quotes: FIS Scandinavia Extravaganza Edition
FasterSkierNovember 19, 2012
After a substantial weekend of racing, we often have interesting tidbits that didn’t make it into the main race report. Here are Notes and Quotes from races in Bruksvallarna, Sweden, and Muonio, Finland. Chandra Crawford (CAN) was plenty excited about her 2nd place finish in the FIS sprint in Brusvallarna, Sweden. She told FasterSkier that she may have let her emotions get the best of her, saying “I just wanted to be Fast & Female...
After months of training and anticipation, the nordic sports opened their seasons around the world this weekend with races around the world. Established veterans had several dominating performances, but there were new faces on the podiums as well, signaling that when World Cup racing starts next weekend, things could be pretty interesting. In Bruksvallarna, Sweden, the Swedish, Canadian, and Slovenian national teams butted heads in a three-day race series. One of the biggest surprises was...
Canadian Chandra Crawford wrapped up her pre-season tune-up in fine form, placing second to fellow World Cup sprint star Ida Ingemarsdotter (SWE) in the Bruksvallarna, Sweden skate sprint. Crawford qualified in 7th, three seconds down on Stina Nilsson (SWE) before placing second to Katja Visnar (SLO) in the first quarterfinal, in the process bumping teammate Dasha Gaiazova, who was third in that heat. In the semis, Crawford returned the favor, besting Visnar as both women...