The crescendo of hype and excitement that has been building for the last few months in Norway will finally begin to crest on Thursday, as the 2011 World Ski Championships kick off in Oslo with a freestyle sprint. With the race comes North America’s best chance for a medal. Canadians Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey and the U.S.’s Andy Newell have all collected podiums in the discipline, and have legitimate medal hopes. But their female...
There may not have been medals, but a flower ceremony, the chance to stand on the podium, and most importantly a spot in the 10/15km classic race next week awaited the top finishers in today’s World Championship qualifying race. The qualifying event debuted in 2009 at the Liberec World Championships and according to FIS Cross-Country Race Director Jurg Capol, was added to rectify two issues from the 2007 Sapporo Championships. Capol cited both athlete safety...
On Sunday in Drammen, Kikkan Randall skied to her third career World Cup victory in the freestyle sprint. Here is a short series of photos documenting another great day for Randall. Once the page has finished loading, you may click images for larger versions.
The Norwegian wax truck is anything but subtle. A jet black tractor trailer with the visages of Petter Northug, Marit Bjoergen, and Therese Johaug painted with the Norwegian tri-colors and twisted into various expressions of comical aggression, the vehicle travels the World Cup circuit, the workplace of 10 to 12 committed technicians. Arch-rivals Sweden and Norway are the only two nations to possess such a convenience, the product of a passionate national following (and the...
Kikkan Randall came up with a great metaphor when she first described the Oslo World Ski Championships as the Super Bowl of skiing. The thing is, though, it’s a big understatement. To truly understand what these cross-country ski races mean to the Norwegian people, you can start with the Super Bowl. But instead of the contenders consisting of two teams with small, regional followings, imagine that the home squad represents the entire country—featuring athletes that...
FasterSkier grabbed a quick chat with former Norwegian national team racer Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset, now working as an expert commentator for the national TV station NRK.
The men’s turn. FasterSkier’s Topher Sabot was able to capture much of the action during them men’s 15km classic at the World Cup in Drammen, Norway this past weekend. Here is a small sampling of what he saw through his lens.
It was not the best day for the North American women in the 10km classical race this past weekend at the World Cup in Drammen, Norway, but hopefully things will go a little smoother at the World Championships. Here is some of the action that FasterSkier’s Topher Sabot caught with his camera.
The International Competition Committee of the U.S. Biathlon Association has announced which athletes will be competing at World Championships in Khanty Mansiysk, Russia, in early March. The men’s team is led by Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY), who has been on a tear in recent World Cup competitions. He finished ninth in the mass start in Fort Kent, Maine last weekend – a career-best result for himself, and the only top-10 finish for any American...
If the directors at the International Ski Federation had gone to Canadian Len Valjas and asked him to lay out a 1.6-kilometer course, it would have looked a lot like the one used for the World Cup skate sprint in Drammen on Sunday. Mostly flat, with a ton of V2, the 6’6” Valjas described it as “the best course for me.” “I don’t have to offset,” he said, referring to the technique Americans call V1....
Sweden’s star skier Emil Joensson refused to fly to the Norway for the World Cup last weekend and the following World Championships – opted for the Interstate.
Four weeks training at home without a race did not slow Kikkan Randall. The defending World Championship silver medalist in the freestyle sprint picked up where she left off a month ago, and found herself in the same spot – standing on the top of the podium. Randall scored her third career World Cup victory, and second in a row when she powered to the front on the tough finishing stretch in the Konnerud Ski...
For Canada’s Alex Harvey, the bad news is that at next week’s World Ski Championships in Oslo, he’s not likely to improve much on his finish in his final tune-up race. The good news is why: in Sunday’s World Cup skate sprint in Drammen, Norway, he was a stunning second place, surging on the homestretch to top Olympic medalists Petter Northug (NOR) and Marcus Hellner (SWE), and falling just a few feet short of catching...
Just because it’s flat doesn’t mean it’s any easier. A relatively tame, fast course in Drammen, Norway, was still more than enough to separate the wheat from the chaff in Sunday’s chilly World Cup qualifier—the last race before the start of the 2011 World Ski Championships in Oslo. “Here, there’s not much for offset (V1), but you still have to hammer it out,” said Canadian Stefan Kuhn, who finished in 32nd—less than a tenth of...
Last year the Canadian men proved that performance a week before a major championship event is meaningless as a predictor. The hope is that that is the case this time around, as well. Both the Canadians and Americans did not impress in their final distance tune-up prior to this year’s World Championships – but the general consensus was that there was little to be concerned about. Devon Kershaw led all North American finishers in 26th...
The fans came out in force, with flags, lawn chairs, and beer. And they wouldn’t have settled for anything less than a win. Norway’s Marit Bjoergen gave them what they came for, skiing to yet another victory in Saturday’s 10 k classic in Drammen—her ninth in 12 World Cup races this season—in front of a home crowd estimated at 15,000. With five days to go before her first race at the 2011 World Championships in...
One might say that a Swede winning a World Cup race on Norwegian soil would be reason for a national day of mourning. But despite Sweden getting the best in this stage of the great Nordic skiing rivalry, the unflagging good cheer of 15,000 Norwegian ski fans indicated otherwise. Daniel Rickardsson (SWE) turned in a dominating performance before a boisterous crowd in the last distance World Cup race prior to the start of the World...
At least there’s another week until Oslo. That was the take-away for the Americans after Saturday’s 10 k classic race in Drammen, where the top U.S. women struggled on a tough course, in a stacked field of Norwegians. In her World Cup debut, Sadie Bjornsen (USA) led the way in 52nd, 3:19 behind the winner, Marit Bjoergen (NOR). But none of the other American women came within three-and-a-half minutes of Bjoergen’s time, leaving them with...
A World Cup race in Norway is always a big deal, but with the start of World Championships less than seven days away, this weekend’s two-race stop in Drammen serves as both a tune-up, and an indicator of who will be contending for medals in Oslo. FasterSkier arrived in Oslo on Friday morning, and will be reporting live from the event! With many skiers skipping the Rybinsk World Cups two weeks ago, it has been...
The anti-doping crew announces that nightly doping raids are on tap for the Oslo World Championships.