Axel Teichmann always thought that the stabbing pains in his legs at the end of races were a normal consequence of exerting himself. But revelations have emerged from Norway that he has actually been hamstrung by Haitian voodoo, practiced by none other than Teichmann’s chief rival, Petter Northug. The news of the witchcraft came out when reporters from Norway’s Dagbladet found Northug in the team’s locker room before one of the races at the World...
Engadin Ski Marathon, Switzerland, March 14 Ben Sim finished up his season with an impressive 11th place in the Engadin Ski Marathon in Switzerland. The Engadin is the world’s biggest freestyle ski marathon, with over 11000 starters racing the 42km course. Sim was only 16 seconds behind the winner, Olympic gold medalist and home favourite Dario Cologna, and was with the leaders almost all the way to the finish. Vasaloppet, Sweden, March 7 Paul Murray’s...
The World Cup season has come to an end, and with it, so have a number of prominent careers. Retirements always spike at the end of an Olympic year, and 2010 is no exception. The list includes Virpi Kuitunen (FIN), Sabina Valbusa (ITA), Laurence Rochat (SUI), Reto Burgermeister (SUI), Rene Sommerfeldt (GER), Sarah Renner (CAN), Milan Sperl (CZE) and Anna Olsson (SWE). Kuitunen is the biggest name among the group. She won consecutive overall World...
Tim Burke wrapped up a banner season on the World Cup by finishing 16th in Saturday’s 15 k mass start event in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. He finished 1:14 behind the winner, Austria’s Dominik Landertinger. Arnd Peiffer (GER) and 40-year-old Halvard Hanevold (NOR) were second and third. Like in yesterday’s sprint, Burke was again one of the strongest on the course, finishing with the fifth-fastest ski time. But he couldn’t overcome four misses. “My skiing shape was...
KHANTY-MANSIYSK, Russia – In his second to last race of the season, Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, N.Y.) came back strong with an 11th place in the 10k Sprint competition in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. With one of the fastest times on skis today, Burke finished his race in 25:07.8 minutes, 43.5 seconds behind today’s winner Ivan Tcherezov (RUS) who cleaned both shooting stages. Following penalties in both prone and standing, Burke had to ski an extra 300m. “His...
KHANTY-MANSIYSK, Russia – The 2009/2010 IBU Biathlon World Cup comes to a close this weekend in the West Siberian city of Khanty-Mansiysk. Tim Burke (Lake Placid, NY) will be the sole athlete representing the U.S. in the World Cup final. Burke looks forward to ending his personal-best season on high note. “It’s the last races of the season so I am ready to go. The track here suits me and the training felt really great,”...
The most prestigious end of the year awards go to the overall World Cup Champions – the top man and woman receive a large crystal globe and a boatload of cash. Petter Northug (NOR) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) wrapped up the overall titles some time ago. Kowalczyk accrued an impressive 2064 total World Cup points in 2010. She scored points in every race she entered, and missed just two events the entire season, the freestyle...
Andy Newell set a new American mark by finishing 4th in the FIS Sprint Cup standings, just 34 points behind Alexei Petukhov (RUS) in 3rd, and a single point ahead of Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR), the two-time defending Sprint Cup champions. Newell entered the final sprint of the season with a chance to move up as high as second, but he was unable to advance past the quarterfinals and was defeated by both Petukhov and...
Falun, Sweden – The results sheet showed an amazing comeback by Frenchman Maurice Manificat, who chopped 45 seconds off of Petter Northug’s lead in just 2.2 kilometers. Somehow the fading Northug was able to recover and rally for yet another stunning finish charge and the World Cup Final victory. Or not. The video tells an entirely different story, with Mr. Northug cruising into the stadium with a huge lead, stopping to take a flag and...
Falun, Sweden – She wasn’t completely unbeatable, but for the past two months, Marit Bjoergen (NOR) was pretty darn close. Starting with her three golds, a silver, and a bronze at the Olympics, Bjoergen streaked to the end of the season with 10 victories in 14 starts (including relays). And the other four races? All either 2nd or 3rd. Starting with a 50 second lead on rival Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), Bjoergen easily maintained the gap...
There’s one way to guarantee yourself a good result in a biathlon race: hit all the targets. In the men’s 15 k mass start World Cup in Oslo, Russia’s Ivan Tcherezov was the only one of 30 starters to do so, and he won, by 26 seconds, over Austria’s Christoph Sumann and Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen. From the first loop and first shooting stage, Tcherezov was in the hunt, ensconced in a big group and...
Kikkan Randall kept on rolling, turning in a career-best 14th place distance performance in Falun, Sweden. Randall was in the main pack for the entire 10km pursuit, and in position to finish significantly higher. She has been posting excellent result after excellent result since the beginning of the Olympics, and is now 16 overall in the World Cup Final standings. It seemed like it was pretty warm over there today, how did the snow hold...
Falun, Sweden – The sight of Petter Northug (NOR) powering away from the field in the final meters of a race has almost become predictable. The Norwegian star once again used his brutal finishing punch to claim victory in the 20km pursuit, and gain a significant margin in the overall World Cup Finals’ standings. Northug started quickly and won the first intermediate sprint to gain 15 bonus seconds. He then dropped back in the pack,...
Falun, Sweden – For the second time in a week, the Norwegian women swept the World Cup podium, with Marit Bjoergen, Kristin Stoermer Steira, and Therese Johaug taking the top three spots. Kikkan Randall (USA) had a career-best distance finish of 14th in the 10km pursuit event. The impressive Norwegain trio finished in the same order seven days ago in Oslo in the 30km mass start. In that race they broke away relatively early and...
Two athletes, two races, four wins. Saturday morning, Germany’s Simone Hauswald and France’s Martin Fourcade each took their second consecutive biathlon World Cup victory in Oslo, this time in the 10/12.5 k pursuit. Their results come after victories in Thursday’s sprint. In the pursuit races, athletes start in the order of their finish in the sprint, so to have repeat winners wasn’t unprecedented. In the women’s event, though, all three podium places were identical to...
The distance of the first race of the World Cup finals may have been unfamiliar, but the pair of names atop the results sheet on Friday were anything but. Though rarely raced on the World Cup, the 3.3/2.5k prologue was just right for Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk and Switzerland’s Dario Cologna, as each skied to a convincing victory in the first of three races held in Falun, Sweden. Men Cologna finished five seconds ahead of Mats...
Stockholm, Sweden – Anna Olsson thrilled the home crowd, leading an impressive day for the Swedish team, winning the city sprint yesterday in downtown Stockholm. Nikita Kriukov (RUS) took the men’s race in a tight finish with Petter Northug (NOR). Between the men’s and the women’s races, Sweden had secen skiers in the finals. The men placed 3,4,5,6, led by Sprint Cup champion Emil Joensson, and the women took 1,4, and 6. Olsson was able...
Stockholm, Sweden – The World Cup Finals begins in Stockholm with the last sprint competition of the year. Only the top-40 skiers in the world (by World Cup points) and Continental Cup leaders are permitted to start the World Cup Finals. This rule has an impact of the composition of the field, though the main difference we see is the inclusion of more distance skiers in the sprint competition – as they must race this...
On Sunday Kikkan Randall finished 2nd in the freestyle sprint at the Holmenkollen Ski Stadium in Oslo, Norway. This was Kikkan’s third career World Cup podium finish along with her World Championship silver medal. Randall was coming off an excellent Olympics where she raced extremely well in every start. She took some time in the midst of a busy post-race evening to answer a few questions about the day. 1). You looked strong, relaxed and...