Olympic gold medalist Claudia Nystad has announced she has stepped down from professional cross-country skiing. Nystad’s career marked a very succesful period for the German Ski Association, as she captured not only five Olympic medals but also five from World Championships. Eventually, the 32-year-old felt her triumph at the Olympic Games in Vancouver turn into another sensation. “The Games in Vancouver were a highlight of my career,” said Claudia Nystad. “I’ve been thinking a lot...
Kris Freeman may not have won Saturday’s Mt. Washington Road Race, but he did run quickly enough to win the next best thing: the title of Fastest Freeman. Kris held off his brother, Justin, to finish the uphill running race in a time of 1:07:56, good enough for 15th place out of a field of over 900—just over seven and a half minutes back from the winner, Chris Siemers of Colorado. Justin was 16 seconds...
FasterSkier will be in Las Vegas from July 3 to July 6 for the Petter Northug-Marcus Hellner poker showdown and rollerski race. The pair will face off in a head-to-head poker matchup on the fourth of July, play their first day of the World Series of Poker on July 5, and then compete in the rollerski race on July 6. FasterSkier has reserved a double room at the
Do cheaters deserve a second chance? Gerhard Urain thinks so. And since Urain is the nordic race director for Fischer Skis, that means that his company is willing to sponsor athletes who have returned from serving two-year doping suspensions, like Russian Olympic medalist Irina Khazova. “I always try to compare it with normal life,” Urain said. “If you sent somebody to prison…and the punishment is finished, then everyone is having a resocialization program.” In an...
Cross Country Canada’s decision not to host the continent’s first-ever Tour de Ski-style stage race in February, 2012, came despite the recommendation of an independent feasibility study commissioned by the government of Alberta, documents obtained by FasterSkier show. The study, a preliminary version of which was delivered to Cross Country Canada (CCC), the International Ski Federation (FIS), and other stakeholders in early May, urged the organizations to “immediately proceed” with the planning necessary to host...
Coming straight from a national team training camp, Petter Northug Jr. (NOR) welcomes Pietro Piller Cottrer (ITA), Anders Soedergren (SWE) and Jack Mae (EST) and other international racers in the 3-race Tour de Troendelag events next week.
At the recent International Ski Federation (FIS) Congress in Turkey, one of the hot button topics was the future of the team sprint event. In a recent e-mail, U.S. Ski Team Athlete Representative Kikkan Randall informed FasterSkier that a proposal was put forth to change the sprint racing formula for major championships. The proposed change was to remove the team sprint in favor of a second individual sprint, or add a second individual sprint in...
Lake Placid’s cross country, biathlon and ski jumping venues face the possibility of closure if the state does not appropriate money later this month. The Lake Placid Daily News reported in March that New York’s Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA), was at risk of losing all of its state funding for the coming fiscal year. The aid, approximately $6.6 million last year, comprises some 20 percent of ORDA’s budget. A member of ORDA’s board of...
NORWAY – Bjoern Daehlie is back, this time as the architect of a new sprint cup that will take place in the spring, and includes city center circuits in Trondheim (NOR), Oestersund (SWE) and Aare (SWE). “We are hoping to create a fun season wrap series where we bring together the top sprinter racers in the world for a top notch race series with a decent prize purse,” Daehlie says to the Swedish web site
With no World Championships or Olympics scheduled for the winter of 2011-2012, some ski fans may be planning on going into hibernation for the year. But they better not buy their sleeping pills just yet. During its meetings in Turkey last week, the International Ski Federation (FIS) approved a proposal for a new kind of World Championships: one modeled on the Tour de Ski—the bicycle-style stage race that has taken hold and garnered big TV...
Have you ever wanted to know how well-prepared World Cup rookies are? Or whether Axel Teichmann really is Petter Northug’s most frequent whipping-boy? Then check out FasterSkier contributor Joran Elias’s new website,
Askim, NORWAY - Kikkan Randall (USST) was treated to several new experiences at the Norwegian roller ski cup opener this weekend. Not only did Randall destroy her competition leaving a half-minute gap down to second place on the uphill time trial, she also learned to race on fast wheels – the sink or swim way.
With the release of the 2010/2011 Cross-Country World Cup schedule, Oystein Pettersen groupies will begin making their travel arrangements, while most of North America can peruse all the races they will not be watching on television. The calendar is structurally similar to last year, with several location changes and a shift in the lineup starting at the end of Period II. The one major alteration is the addition of a mini-tour on the second World...
After seven Russian athletes were suspended in the past year for doping violations, the International Ski Federation (FIS) has voted to sanction the country’s national ski association, despite arguments that the program has already cleaned up its act. “The onus is on them to demonstrate their commitment to anti-doping,” FIS Secretary General Sarah Lewis wrote in an e-mail. At its council meetings in Turkey on Thursday, FIS levied a $154,000 fine against the Russian Ski...
AUGUSTA, Maine – Presque Isle, Maine, will get a World Cup weekend of its own next winter, officials announced Wednesday morning. In a press conference at Maine Governor John Baldacci’s office, Nordic Heritage Sport Club Chairman Tim Vernon said that his organization would be stepping up to the plate to host a second World Cup weekend in Northern Maine, to go along with a previously-scheduled race in Fort Kent. The competition now set for Presque...
Dasha Gaiazova exploded onto the North American cross-country scene this past season. She dominated the Nor-Am Cup Circuit, earning seven victories, and never once did she step off the podium in her 11 starts in North America. Gaiazova also made her mark on the international arena, collecting 63 World Cup points. After being an alternate at the Turin Games in 2006, she earned her first Olympic starts for the Canadian team in Vancouver in the...
With their dominating performances at the 2010 Olympics, Billy Demong, Johnny Spillane, and Todd Lodwick have welded their names to the sport of nordic combined like Bill Koch did to cross-country skiing. But if Head Coach Dave Jarrett has his way over the next few years, they won’t be the only ones people remember. After taking three silvers and a gold from the Games, the team’s main focus for 2011 is winning more medals—they want...
Devon Kershaw had a stand-out season this winter, racking up top finishes in the World Cup (placing 31st in the overall final) and placing 16th in the Tour de Ski. But his season culminated, appropriately, at the Olympics where he had several inspirational performances, including a 16th place pursuit, 4th place team sprint with teammate Alex Harvey, and his last – and best – race, the 50 kilometer classic, in which he was just .6...
Simi Hamilton’s duct-tape days are over. After a spectacular winter that included an appearance at the 2010 Olympics and a national championship, the newly-minted U.S. Ski Team (USST) member begins the 2010-2011 season with a big jump in support and a long-term plan. Gone are the days of
After more than a half dozen doping cases among Russian skiers in the last two years, the International Ski Federation (FIS) will consider sanctions against the country at its upcoming meetings in Turkey next week. Under FIS rules, Russia’s athletes and coaches could be banned from participating in races, events scheduled in the country could be cancelled, or its officials could be stripped of voting rights at future meetings. In an e-mail to FasterSkier, FIS...