Todd Lodwick posted a 23rd overall after jumping to 17th, while Bryan Fletcher was the second American in 28th place in the World Cup individual competition. Fletcher was 14th after the jumping in Seefeld (AUT) Saturday.
Kikkan Randall has now recorded three medals in five skate sprints. But if the enigmatic American sprint star is tired, she sure isn’t showing it, as she blasted to her first World Cup victory of the season Saturday, in a skate sprint in rainy Liberec, Czech Republic. Randall took advantage of fast skis, an advantageous situation, and a strong finishing kick to secure the win, crossing the line 0.5 seconds ahead of her closest competitor...
In a men’s field missing several top guns, including Tour de Ski winner Dario Cologna (SUI) and runner-up Petter Northug (NOR), the men’s skate sprint Saturday in Liberec, Czech Republic was awash with new faces. But at the end of the day, it was a very familiar one standing atop the podium. Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR) crushed the men’s final by a full second, but if you just looked at the results sheet, it wouldn’t...
So far this season, three Norwegian men have dominated the World Cup biathlon circuit, taking wins when it suits them and not always playing nicely together. 22-year-old Tarjei Boe currently sits atop the overall World Cup rankings, followed closely by teammate Emil Hegle Svendsen. Veteran Ole Einar Bjorndalen, who has won 92 World Cups in his career but only one this year, is third, giving the Norwegians a clean sweep of the standings halfway through...
The US Ski Team posted a solid seventh place in Seefeld (AUT) Friday, and head coach Dave Jarrett was satisfied with the overall as well as individual performance, knowing that the team can build on the experience.
To say that it was raining in Rupholding, Germany, on Thursday would be an understatement. “It was pouring rain, perhaps the worst rain I’ve ever skied in, winter or summer,” said U.S. biathlete Sara Studebaker. “It was tough out there… today was all about fighting through the conditions.” For most of the women’s World Cup field, it was a tough fight as the tracks slowed to a cement-like consistency and the downhills became rutted and...
On Wednesday the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) announced a squad of 14 skiers to attend World Championships in Oslo, Norway at the end of February. That is one more than attended the 2009 edition in Liberec, Czech Republic. The team is split evenly between men and women – seven of each gender will have the opportunity to compete against the best in the world’s greatest ski nation. The selection of the team...
With Todd Lodwick and Johnny Spillane joining the US Nordic Combined team in Europe, the crew will split into two groups for the upcoming race weekend. One group will head to the World Cup in Seefeld (AUT) while the others aim for the COC races in Klingenthal (GER).
Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway hasn’t always been the most gracious competitor. After Sunday’s mass start race in Oberhof, Germany, he told the media that he was “shocked” about how fast his teammate Tarjei Boe had become. And after the season-opening World Cups in Ostersund, Sweden, he bragged that he was “in an attacking position all of the time. I feel unstoppable, really.” Since that claim, Svendsen has indeed been stoppable, but things changed today...
January 12, 2011 (Park City, UT) – World Championship silver medalist Kikkan Randall (Anchorage) will lead a strong 2011 U.S. Cross Country World Championship Team to compete at Holmenkollen in Oslo beginning Feb. 24. Randall is one of 14 athletes named Wednesday to compete in the biennial Championships. The International Ski Federation’s 2011 Nordic World Ski Championships are especially important this year, taking place in the heart of nordic skiing and in its most prestigious...
Russian cross-country skier Nikolay Pankratov has received a two-year ban from the International Ski Federation (FIS), FIS Anti-Doping Administrator Sarah Fussek said Tuesday morning. Pankratov, who was caught by Swiss customs in September with intravenous equipment and 22 vials of Actovegin—a suspicious, though legal drug—was barred from FIS competitions through September, 2012. Pankratov was sanctioned based on article 2.6 of the FIS Anti-Doping Rules, which addresses the possession of “prohibited substances” or “prohibited methods.” According to...
After going six years without qualifying a woman for a World Cup mass start, U.S. biathlon finally had its day in the spotlight in Oberhof, Germany on Sunday. “During warmup, I think people were surprised to see an American out there,” said Laura Spector, the first American woman since Rachel Steer to compete in a mass start. “But I saw a few American flags on the side of the course, and it was really motivating...
Note: FasterSkier originally reported that Laura Spector was the first U.S. woman to compete in a mass start race. She is not; but she is the first since Rachel Steer, who started in three World Cup mass starts and one at World Championships between 2003 and 2005. With a 19th-place finish – her best ever in a World Cup – Laura Spector has earned something coveted by many a U.S. woman before, but seldom attained....
Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) became the first skier, male or female, to win back-to-back Tour de Ski titles when she staggered across the finish line at the top of the Alpe Cermis on Sunday morning. Starting with a lead of 2:08 over Marianna Longa (ITA), Kowalczyk was in no danger of being caught, but the big cushion did not make her complacent, especially with World Cup points and prize money available for the “Woman of the...
Two lines of burly men, attired in identical red and white shirts, each carrying a massive cow bell that reached from waist to ground, marched in synch up the trail. They stopped in unison, and then with less then perfect acumen settled their bells and cheered. Behind came a larger crowd, carrying massive banners and countless flags. The Dario Cologna fan club was out in force, and the parade up the final 100 meters of...
2011 marks just the second time that the US has fielded a team in the Tour de Ski. Last year, Andy Newell was the first, and only representative for the Americans, and with a focus on sprinting, he never planned to complete the multi-stage event. This year was different. Three athletes took to the line for the prologue in Obertsdorf, Germany just before the New Year, and all three planned to see the Tour through....
One stage, the renowned final climb up the Alpe Cermis, remains in the 2011 Tour de Ski. Devon Kershaw sits in fourth, just 5.5 seconds off the podium, while teammate Alex Harvey is another 5.3 seconds back in seventh. In previous years, Kershaw’s Tour has been defined by one main factor – illness. He has always excelled in the multi-stage event, and his ability to race with the best in any discipline over any distance...
It’s all over but the climbing. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), despite being pressed by Therese Johaug (NOR), all but ended the 2011 Tour de Ski, skiing to victory in the women’s 10km mass start classic, and winning every intermediate bonus sprint. Kowalczyk and Johaug shattered the field less than two kilometers in, opening a margin that would reach nearly a full minute by the end. The Pole should have no trouble defending her Tour title, now...
Bryan Fletcher posted the top American result at the World Cup in Schonach (GER), finishing in 31st place after an unfortunate turn of events on the cross-country course.
Petter Northug (NOR) did everything he could, but even a “late birthday present” from rival Dario Cologna (SUI) was not enough to get the Norwegian within striking distance of the overall Tour lead. On a warm day, starting with drizzle, and shifting to sun, Northug displayed the top form he has been struggling to find all season in the penultimate stage of the 2011 Tour de Ski. In winning the 20km classic mass start event,...