OSLO, NORWAY – The Norwegian skiers have complained about the sprint course for the 2011 World Championships in Holmenkollen. Now the Swedes are joining the debate as well.
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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.
Vittoz Looking for Success at “Temple of Skiing”
FasterSkierOctober 11, 2010
The leader of the French cross-country skiing looks back at his excellent 2010 season. He also speaks about his coaches and teammates. Vincent is fully focused at future goals and refuses to talk about his retirement from professional sports. Q: Vincent, you will soon begin in a few weeks your 16th season in the World Cup. What are the secrets of your life at the highest level?Q Vincent Vittoz: I am above all, passionate. I’m...
So much for Justyna Kowalczyk’s home-field advantage. For the first time in her career, the International Ski Federation (FIS) has scheduled World Cup races in Kowalczyk’s native Poland, in February of 2012. But if officials at FIS have their way, Kowalczyk, a notoriously poor descender, will have to successfully navigate five kilometers of technical downhill before she can step onto the podium there. According to FIS Cross-Country Race Director Jürg Capol, a federation committee discussed...
Cologna Checks Out the Oslo2011 Courses
Inge ScheveOctober 5, 2010
OSLO, Norway – Olympic champion Dario Cologna (SUI) is in Oslo to check out the courses that will be used for the upcoming World Championships in Holmenkollen.
In North American cross-country skiing, there are few bigger names than Chandra Crawford. The 27-year-old Canadian National Ski Team (CNST) member has an Olympic gold from Turin, Italy in 2006, multiple World Cup medals, is the brains and face for her own organization, Fast and Female, and was featured on an episode of MTV’s Cribs. Yet despite her high profile, at the recent CNST camp in Quebec City, Chandra Crawford was generous enough to allow...
Justyna Kowalczyk putting in big hours in Belarus
Inge ScheveOctober 4, 2010
50 days before the World Cup opener, Polish skier Justyna Kowalczyk is completing a monster training camp in Belarus: Three workouts per day for the girl who logs the most hours of any female skiers in the world.
Buoyed By Trust Fund, Callaghan Valley Readies for Future
FasterSkierSeptember 29, 2010
This article is the third in a series looking at the use of cross-country ski venues left behind by the Winter Olympics. The first two were on New York’s Lake Placid. After a Winter Olympics where nordic skiing took center stage, Whistler Olympic Park (WOP), 77 miles north of Vancouver, British Columbia, faces the future with optimism, but with plans that are still murky. Cleaning up the detritus of the 2010 Games, including grandstands, transformers,...
Suspended Biathlete Yourieva Returns
Inge ScheveSeptember 29, 2010
Russian 2008 World Champion is warning of her comeback to biathlon.
Karstein Johaug (NOR) Aiming for the Worlds
Inge ScheveSeptember 27, 2010
“For me, having a famous sibling is solely a bonus,” says Karstein Johaug, the younger brother of Olympic ski racer Therese Johaug. The 18-year-old has the 2012 World Junior Championships podium in mind, and he has a plan in place for getting there.
Randall, Freeman and Newell to Race 2011 Tour de Ski for U.S.
Nathaniel HerzSeptember 27, 2010
It’s official: Kikkan Randall, Andy Newell, and Kris Freeman will all compete in the 2011 Tour de Ski. U.S. Ski Team (USST) coaches have confirmed that the Americans will send three athletes to this winter’s race, which features eight stages at four different European venues. That triples the American presence over last year, when Newell completed four stages before dropping out. In an interview, Randall said that she was excited to get a start in...
Hellner will Greet the Fans at Worlds in Oslo
Inge ScheveSeptember 24, 2010
SWEDEN – Petter Northug is not allowed to write autographs or meet the fans during the 2011 World Championships in Oslo. That approach doesn’t appeal to Sweden’s top skier Marcus Hellner. He welcomes the public and wants lots of action at the venue, and promises to sign autographs.
The Canadian National Ski Team’s tour of North American continues this weekend, as the squad arrives in Utah for a three-week altitude camp. The Canadians are invading Park City, home base of the U.S. Ski Team, and they’ll have ample opportunity for cross-pollination. Kikkan Randall will be living and training with the Canadians for the entirety of their stateside stint, and Morgan Smyth, Katie Ronsse, Liz Stephen, Morgan Arritola, James Southam and Noah Hoffman will...
Nikolai Pankratov’s reported detainment at the Swiss border made waves in the cross-country skiing community when the news broke last week. But since then, there’s been barely a ripple of information to emerge from the International Ski Federation (FIS)—which, according to the Russian Anti-Doping Agency, is in charge of handling the case. What is known about Pankratov is this: according to multiple reports, the Russian cross-country skier was stopped at the Swiss border with intravenous...
Duel of the Marathoners
Inge ScheveSeptember 22, 2010
OSLO, NORWAY – Jørgen and Anders Aukland, Jörgen Brink, Jens Arne Svartedal and Sandra Hansson. They’ll all be on the start line as the 10K uphill roller ski time trial in Oslo gets underway today, Thursday.
The Norwegian biathlon web site Strafferunden.no got their hands on the new Rottefella binding set to launch officially in over a week.
Kalla chooses Tour de Ski, Bjoergen skips this winter
Inge ScheveSeptember 22, 2010
SWEDEN - Two of the biggest favorites for the Oslo 2011 World Championships are choosing different ways to peak for the events in February/March: Charlotte Kalla (SWE) chooses to race the Tour de Ski again, while rival Marit Bjoergen (NOR) chooses the same plan as she did for the 2010 Olympics and skips the Tour.
RUSADA: Pankratov’s Case to Be Handled By FIS
Nathaniel HerzSeptember 16, 2010
Nikolai Pankratov’s fate will be decided by the International Ski Federation (FIS), FasterSkier learned Thursday. FIS officials have refused to acknowledge the existence of a case against the Russian cross-country skier, who reportedly was caught at the Swiss border last week with intravenous equipment and 22 vials of Actovegin, a suspicious—but not banned—drug. But in an e-mail to FasterSkier on Thursday, Russia Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) Deputy Director Igor Zagorskiy confirmed that Pankratov’s alleged violations fell...
Actovegin is not a new drug on the Eastern European arena. Former Norwegian biathlon team director Kjell Ove Oftedal, found a glass vial of Actovegin next to a Russian wax trailer during a World Cup race in 2006.
U.S. Ski Team Officially Names 2010-2011 Squad
FasterSkierSeptember 14, 2010
SUN VALLEY, ID (Sept. 14) – World Championship medalistAndy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT) and top distance athlete Liz Stephen (E. Montpelier, VT) and Noah Hoffman (Aspen, CO) and 2010 Olympian Morgan Arritola, Fairfield, ID (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; Fischer, Salomon, Kris Freeman, Andover, NH (Andover Outing Club; Fischer, Alpina, Alpina, Swix ) 10/14/1980* Kikkan Randall, Anchorage (Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center; Fischer, Salomon, Salomon, Swix) 12/31/1982* Noah Hoffman, Aspen, CO (Aspen Valley Ski Club;...