With a few hours to go before the start of the men’s 15k freestyle this morning, what was Dario Cologna thinking about? Not the pressure he was under. Not that the race was his Olympic debut. In fact, Cologna wasn’t thinking about cross country skiing at all: Instead, he was watching alpine skiing on TV, waiting to find out how his Swiss countrymen would fare in the men’s downhill race. Cologna ended up five minutes...
The first cross-country races of the 2010 Olympics – the 10/15km individual start freestyle – may represent the best chance for medals – for both the US and Canada. Kris Freeman (USA) has twice finished 4th at the World Championships in this distance, and while he has had more success in classic, he has raised his skating to a similar level in recent years, and should be better positioned in the individual start format. While...
After Johnny Spillane won a silver medal Sunday afternoon—the first of any color in U.S. nordic combined history—his former coach, Tom Steitz, voiced the rhetorical question on every reporter’s mind here. “How do you boil up 86 years of emotion and frustration?” he asked. The answer? Todd Lodwick’s face. Struggling to explain himself and holding back tears after just missing out on the bronze, Lodwick quivered with feeling: fierce pride for his teammate and friend,...
American hopes for a medal in the men’s 10k biathlon sprint fell about as hard as the snow did in the middle of today’s race. 25 minutes into the event, the steady drizzle that came down throughout the morning morphed into a wild snow squall, slowing the skiing drastically and effectively squashing the chances of anyone still on course. The medalists in the race—France’s Vincent Jay, Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen, and Croatia’s Jakov Fak—all were...
Whistler Olympic Park, BC – Organizers of the cross country races here have been using a lot of salt recently. And it’s not because they’re hungry. With rain and above-freezing temperatures for the last few days, officials have been experimenting with ways to harden the courses. Today, FIS Cross Country Race Director Jurg Capol said, organizers tested salt on the portions of the courses that will be used for the 10/15k freestyle on Monday. And...
Breaking two bones in your hand a month before the Olympic Games doesn’t sound like good preparation. But it sure didn’t hurt Anastasia Kuzmina. Shaking off an early miss, as well as the injury she suffered in early January, the Russian-turned-Slovakian won her country’s first Olympic medal in biathlon—and its first-ever gold in the Winter Games—on Saturday in the women’s 7.5k sprint. The announcers characterized Kuzmina’s win as a surprise, but her win comes after...
As far as coaching goes, Magnar Dalen has been around the block. Formerly the head coach of the Swedish team and head wax tech for the Norwegians, Dalen has been in charge of the Finnish program for the last four years. When Dalen took over Finland’s team in 2006, the women were already strong, with Virpi Kuitunen and Aino-Kaisa Saarinen finishing sixth and 12th in the World Cup overall the year before. But the men’s...
Peaking for a specific event is not limited to World Cup athletes – anyone who races has most likely focused on a specific event, trying to maximize fitness. The Olympics, however, as the most prestigious event for cross-country skiers, biathletes and nordic combined athletes, take the concept of peaking to the ultimate level. And while it may not be surprising, it is interesting how individual preparation for a an event the magnitude of the Olympics...
After winning a World Cup competition in Dusseldorf in December, Russian sprinter Alexei Petukhov was asked to describe the source of his strength in the post-race press conference. For most other skiers, the answer would have been simple: training, talent, good technique. But for Petukhov, with four of his Russian countrymen banned from the sport over the past year for doping violations, it was a tough one, and he addressed the issue in his answer....
Canmore, Alberta – Yet another North American World Cup has come and gone, and as has been the case in recent years, it was a mixed bag for the United States. There were some obvious high points – Caitlin Compton’s 14th in the 10km freestyle and Torin Koos qualifying 2nd in the men’s classic sprint – before being eliminated in the semifinal. And one should not overlook Holly Brooks’ 24th in her first World Cup...
Holly Brooks is no ordinary story. She grew up in Seattle, a city not associated with Nordic skiing. Her own high school had few sports, so she played soccer and ran track for a larger school that was nearby. When she first started skiing, it was with her family, who would drive to find snow on the weekends. Holly skied for Whitman College, but didn’t get much racing experience and never raced at NCAA’s. After college Holly coached...
Canmore, Alberta – Emil Joennson (SWE) showed he is in fine form to challenge for Olympic gold, skiing to a convincing win in the men’s classic sprint on a sunny Saturday. John Kristian Dahl (NOR) took 2nd, but will now head home to Norway as he did not make the Norwegian Olympic team. Dario Cologna (SUI) capped a fine weekend with his 2nd podium, finishing 3rd. Tough Course, Tough Heats After a gruelling 15km on...
In the men’s classic sprint in Canmore on Saturday, there were all kinds of tactics in play. In the women’s version, there was just one: go like hell, and leave everyone else in the dust. That was Justyna Kowalczyk’s M.O. today. Using the massive engine she’s developed by racing every event in her path, the Polish dynamo crushed her competition in every single heat she skied on Saturday. In the final, she had more than...
Once again FasterSkier’s Win Goodbody gives us a look at this morning’s action of the classic sprint qualification at the Canmore World Cup.
Here are some photos from the last few minutes around the World Cup race venue in Canmore. Coaches are waxing, skiers are testing, spectators are crouding, the press' cameras are shooting...
Canmore, Alberta – Emil Joensson (SWE) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) won the classic sprint qualifier this morining on a long challenging course at the Canmore Nordic Center. Kowalczyk was dominating, winning in a time of 3:30.27, 4.55 seconds ahead of rival Petra Majdic (SLO). Anna Olsson was 3rd, another 2.2 sconds behind Majdic. The women’s field was surprisingly spread out, with a number of large gaps in the top-30 – though none was larger than...
With a thin international field here contesting the classic sprint in Canmore, for the world’s best, Saturday morning’s qualifier was just a formality. From here, the stage is set for a knock-down, drag out series of heats on what the U.S.’s Torin Koos called a “strong-man’s course.” 1.7k long and striding-heavy, the difficulty and length of the new sprint loop in Canmore will make for a tough, tactical afternoon. “Nobody’s going to want to put...
Canmore, Alberta – Rumor has it that there are days when the sun does not shine in Canmore, but over the course of two World Cup weekends, we have yet to see it. Cold, hard tracks await the sprint qualifier set to start in less than an hour. The stadium is still in shadow, and the snow will remain cold for the qualifier. Nat Herz chatted with US Coach Pat Casey. Interview below, with photos...
For the last few weeks, Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland has been training five to six hours a day. Seriously. We asked her four times, just to be sure. Granted, she said that only three to four of those hours were skiing—the rest were in the gym. But it’s still a lot of volume in advance of a World Cup. Kowalczyk’s approach to her training underscores athletes’ varying strategies during this final period leading up to...
Canmore, Alberta – World Cup racing continues tomorrow with a classic sprint on a new course at the Canmore Nordic Center. Two years ago when the World Cup came to town, many of the men opted to double pole the classic sprint on skate skis. Since then FIS has worked to hold longer, more challenging classic sprints to avoid this. Canmore is no exception. The sprint course has been re-routed to add one large climb...