For the last time Petra Majdic (SLO) crossed the line, arms pumping madly, yelling with joy in what has become one of cross-country skiing’s most flamboyant and predictable celebrations. The tall Slovenian, who will retire at the end of the season, locked up her 20th career World Cup caliber victory skiing away from Norwegians Marit Bjoergen and Maiken Caspersen Falla right out of the gate. Kikkan Randall (USA), showing her fifth place qualification last weekend...
The day before Wednesday’s World Cup city sprint in Stockholm, Swedish sprinter Emil Jönsson took a phone call from one Carl XVI Gustav—his king. “It was a strange thing—it does not happen every day,” Jönsson told SVT, the Swedish television channel. “He called and told me that I should ski for king and country.” When the king tells you to go fast, you do it—especially when you’re racing around, of all places, the Royal Palace....
Andy Newell saved the best for last. After a season in which he had failed to crack the top five a single time on the World Cup, the American did just that in his final sprint of the season, finishing fifth on a tight circuit around the Royal Palace in Stockholm, Sweden on Wednesday. The result wasn’t quite as good as Newell’s best in 2010, when he was third in another city sprint in Norway....
@font-face { font-family: “Times”; }@font-face { font-family: “Cambria”; }p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal { margin: 0in 0in 10pt; font-size: 12pt; font-family: “Times New Roman”; }div.Section1 { page: Section1; } Great Britain doesn’t have a strong history in biathlon, and even less so on the women’s side. In 2006, Emma Fowler became the first British woman to compete in biathlon at the Olympics; in Torino, her top finish was 67th in the sprint. But things might be changing,...
There were few participants in the Tour de Ski who were still standing after the finish of that race’s final stage, the brutal ascent up the Alpe Cermis in Italy. But an even more difficult challenge may await those athletes next season: the inaugural Uphill Trophy, a new competition format tentatively slotted into the World Cup calendar in Poland next February. The race packs a whopping 500 meters of climbing into its first four kilometers—nearly...
Marit Bjoergen may have been down on Saturday, suffering her first distance defeat of the World Cup season, but she bounced right back up to claim the victory in the women’s classic sprint in Lahti. At this point an off day for the Norwegian star means any place below the top spot, and with 10 wins in 14 individual World Cup starts this season, such occurrences have been rare. It was another Norwegian, however, who...
Short courses, long courses, steep hills, flats, dicey corners: you name it, and Emil Joensson will ski it. In Lahti, Finland on Sunday, the Swede raced to his fifth World Cup sprint victory in seven starts this season, with Eirik Brandsdal (NOR) in second and his teammate Paal Golberg in third. Joensson’s win secured his second straight title in the World Cup sprint standings—which at this point is a merely a restatement of the obvious...
Kikkan Randall (USA) and Therese Johaug (NOR) entered the post-World Championship World Cups in Lahti from very different places, but the two women both enjoyed career days in the 10km pursuit event in front of a crowd of 10,000. Randall, who crashed out of the Championship sprint, and struggled in the distance races, skied to a best-ever World Cup distance result of 11th, missing out on the top-10 in a photo finish with Norwegian Marthe...
For Dario Cologna, it’s better late than never. After enduring a brutal two weeks at the World Ski Championships in Oslo, where he was stymied by bad skis and bad tactics, the Swiss cross-country superstar finally got things back on track on the World Cup in Lahti, Finland on Saturday. At the finish of the men’s 20 k pursuit, Cologna outsprinted Frenchmen Maurice Manificat and Vincent Vittoz for the win—his first since his victory in...
The Russians had five times as many chances as the U.S. to win World Championships gold in the men’s mass start in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, today, but even they couldn’t beat out a dominant Norwegian squad which put three racers in the top six. With five of the field’s thirty starters, the home team had as good a shot as anyone at winning the mass start – and for a moment it looked like Evgeny Ustyugov...
Was U.S. biathlon head coach Per Nilsson enthusiastic about his team’s relay finish at World Championships on today? “BEST EVER!” he wrote in an e-mail on Friday evening. “[It’s] fun to show that we have a team that can fight on the highest level in the world.” While the entire team had a strong performance in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, on Friday – leadoff skier Lowell Bailey tagged off in fifth place – Leif Nordgren was again...
Today’s World Championships relay in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, was somewhat unusual, with a large number of spare rounds, quite a few penalty loops, and a small spread between teams at the finish . What wasn’t unusual? Norway finished on top, defending their Olympic gold from last year. Things got off to an inauspicious start, with at least three crashes and one broken pole in the first kilometer of racing. Lowell Bailey of the U.S. was among...
Less than a week following the conclusion of the 2011 World Championships,in Oslo, the World Cup picks back up in Lahti, Finland. This is the last event prior to the World Cup Final, where only the top-50 ranked skiers and continental cup series leaders may enter. There are a number of interesting story lines as the season winds down, mainly revolving around standings. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) has locked up the women’s overall World Cup but...
Nordic skiing already claimed the talents of one dual-sport prodigy five years ago, when Canadian Alex Harvey gave up a promising mountain biking career to focus on cross-country. Now, it has gained another: American Tad Elliott says he’s also making a shift away from mountain biking, and will put more of an emphasis on skiing this coming off-season. “That’s kind of the focus now, is putting more chips into skiing, and wanting to do World...
Canadian Chandra Crawford wrapped up her 2011 World Championship experience in front of 80,000+ passionate Norwegian ski fans in the 30km freestyle on Saturday. Crawford, known as a sprint specialist, skied to 42nd place, 12:06 down on winner Therese Johaug (NOR). “Soooo awesome,” Crawford described her experience. “One of the first days of the Championships with no fog, just a gorgeous day, perfect track.” Crawford won Olympic gold in 2006 in the skate sprint. She...
Part of every biathlete’s job is to manage conditions on the range, which includes making adjustments for the wind. But there are days when the wind makes that all but impossible and the weather seems to be laughing in the face of the world’s best shooters. Wednesday in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, was just such a day, with only a single woman in the World Championships field shooting clean, and most shooting quite far from it. “Today...
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Both cross-country skiing and biathlon have welcomed their shares of stars over the past few years, but few, if any, have exploded onto the scene as quickly as Tarjei Bø. Last season, the 22-year-old Norwegian won an Olympic gold medal as part of the Norwegian relay team, but his best finish on the World Cup circuit was fourth. This year, though, he has come on like a freight train. After collecting his first World Cup...
Billy Demong is not the first Nordic Combined skier to cross over to cross-country, but he is likely the only one do so in a World Championship 50k. When American Kris Freeman opted to sit out the 50-kilometer freestyle race that brought the 2011 World Championships to a close, Demong was given the start. One of the top Nordic Combined skiers on the World Cup circuit, Demong has three World Championship Medals, as well as...
The world’s best skiers are getting the experience of a lifetime in Oslo, competing in skiing’s ancestral homeland and getting cheered by a hundred thousand fans. The world’s best biathletes? They’re having a cultural experience too – in Siberia. World Championships are currently being held in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, a town of 70,000 inhabitants situated almost 2,000 miles east of St. Petersburg. The International Biathlon Union charters flights from Oslo and Munich to transport athletes and...