Sara Renner is still trying to find her true racing form since taking time off to have her baby daughter in the winter of 2007. After a rough week of travel led to blasé results in Kuusamo, Renner was able to stay positive and by placing 25th in the 10km skate she showed a spark of the racing form she is capable of. With your 25th place finish on Saturday it looks as though you are on the right track as...
The Australian National team wins the prize for most creative press releases. We missed the first two, so here are all three 2009/2010 reports, with the most recent first. Click on the image for a larger version, and check back soon for the next exciting installment!
Morgan Arritola (USA) finished 34th in yesterday’s 10km freestyle, her best result in a European World Cup. This is Morgan’s first season racing regularly on the World Cup circuit. You had a great result today, did you feel this was one of your top international performances? I have not been satisfied with how I have been racing since arriving in Europe, but today was a step in the right direction. I still don’t have that...
Davos, Switzerland – The Davos World Cup weekend drew to a close with an exciting sprint on a notoriously long course. John Kristian Dahl (NOR) claimed his first World Cup victory. Competitors described the win as “well deserved.” “I’m very happy,” said Dahl. “This victory is my first World Cup win and I feel amazing. It is a tough and long course for a sprint, but that suits me. Petuhkov and Petter were strong competitors...
In a wild final heat in Davos, Norwegian John Kristian Dahl pulled out a squeaker of a victory over his teammate Petter Northug and Russian Alexei Petukhov. After following Petukhov up the first big hill, Dahl made his move on the course’s final rise, slotting in front of the Russian and holding him and Northug off in a drag race over the final 100 meters. It’s the first career win for the 28-year-old Dahl, who...
For the first time this year, Petra Majdic took the victory in a World Cup sprint race, edging out Marit Bjorgen and Aino-Kaisa Saarinen on a tough course in Davos, Switzerland. “I just wanted to show everybody that I can win again,” Majdic told NRK1 television after the race. American Kikkan Randall finished in eighth, just missing out on a spot in the finals with a third place finish in her semifinal heat. Majdic, in...
Davos, Switzerland – Alexey Petukhov (RUS) showed last week’s domination in Dusseldorf was no fluke. The Russian sprinter posted the fastest time in the men’s 1.7 km freestyle sprint qualification this morning. Arianna Follis (ITA) was the fastest woman in qualification – for the second week in a row. Petukhov’s time of 3:43.34 was 1.52 seconds faster than runner-up Jesper Modin (SWE). Anders Gloeersen (NOR) qualified 3rd. Despite the long course, only 8.46 seconds separated...
Overall it was a successful day for the US and Canada in Davos. Read the race reports for details onthe results: Women’s 10km Freestyle The top performance of the day belonged to Kris Freeman, finishing 7th. “It feels really good. I tried to ski like I did in Kuusamo. I just went out conservatively and was able to really take it in,” Freeman said. “I’d like to be able to take a little more, but...
Davos, Switzerland – Matti Heikkinen (FIN) joined Irina Khazova (RUS) as a firs time World Cup winner today. Heikkinen skiied to a 14 second victory over Marcus Helllner (SWE) in the 15km individual start race, while Maurice Magnificat led a strong French showing in 3rd. Like Khazova, who won the women’s race, Heikkinen had never stood on the top step of the World Cup podium. Just a week shy of his 26th birthday, his previous...
Davos, Switzerland – Kikkan Randall (USA), coming off two of her top World Cup distance races ever, struggled to 65th today. FasterSkier checked in with her following the race. You did not have a good result today, especially in light of your recent distance performances. What happened? I think I started a little too slow, loosing too much time in the first 2km. The middle part of the race was decent, Therese Johaug caught me...
Please take a minute to Women’s 10km Freestyle – Complete Results
Another big weekend of racing awaits! From the World Cup to Olympic Biathlon Qualifiers, there will be plenty of action. Continental Cup The North American Continental Cup circuit moves from the US, and SuperTour competitions, to Canada, and the NorAm series. Top US and Canadian skiers will be present, and the races are the first Canadian Olympic Qualifiers. Canadian World Cup team members Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, George Grey, Ivan Babikov, Chandra Crawford, Perianne Jones...
The Canadian World Cup Team is recharged and ready for Davos: Chandra Crawford and Perianne Jones come off a weekend of solid sprint finishes while the rest of the team had a training week of great sun and snow in the northern Alps of Italy. Currently there are seven members on the team: Men’s team: Devon Kershaw, George Grey, Ivan Babikov, and Alex Harvey. Women’s team: Sara Renner, Chandra Crawford, and Perianne Jones. While Crawford and Jones raced the World Cups in Dusseldorf,...
The US Ski Team has regrouped in Davos, Switzerland, with the sprinters joining the distance skiers after the conclusion of the Dusseldorf World Cups. All skiers are healthy. Lars Flora is recovered from illness that kept him out of the Kuusamo races, and he Liz Stephen, Morgan Arritola, and Kris Freeman have been training in Davos, where the conditions are good. There was no snow a week ago, but a storm moved in just in...
Dusseldorf, Germany – The Italian Team of Magda Genuin and Arianna Follis took the victory in the women’s Team Sprint this morning in Germany. The Italians were content to stay just off the lead until the last lap, when Follis, who posted the fastes qualifying time in yesterday’s individual sprint, took control and skied to .7 second victory over Sweden and Norway. “I’m happy, happy, happy,” exclaimed Follis after the race. “Last year we were...
Dusseldorf, Germany – The Russian team of Nikolay Morilov and Alexei Petukhov controlled the final of the Men’s Team Sprint competition this morning. The Russians led at every exchange, and at one point opened a gap of 3.6 seconds on the field. Petukhov, clearly in top form, won yesterday’s individual sprint with relative ease. He anchored the Russians today, outsprinting the usual loaded final. Norway took second, .8 seconds back, and Sweden II was third....
LILLEHAMMER, Norway – It was a great end to a weekend of competing for Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO) who went two-for-two leading the U.S., breaking a tie for fourth by winning a photo finish Sunday as the nordic combined World Cup wrapped up in Lillehammer. It was Spillane’s best result since finishing second in Kuusamo in 2007. “It was great to have a good weekend,” Spillane said. “I felt like I skied a pretty good race, I...
It has been a big weekend for Tim Burke, and he still has one race to go. Thursday’s second place followed by today’s third place finish at the Ostersund Biathlon World Cups combine to make Burke the only American to have captured 2 podium races at the same event. These were also the first (hopefully just the start!) podium finishes in Burke’s career. Burke admits that he is usually a better sprinter, but hopes that today’s successful distance...
Lillehammer, Norway – Two knee operations over the summer haven’t stopped Johnny Spillane, as the 29-year-old skied his way to a sixth place finish in the World Cup nordic combined race in Lillehammer earlier this morning. Billy Demong, also hampered by injuries this year, followed Spillane in 14th, just under a minute behind the winner, France’s Jeremy Lamy Chappuis, and Bryan Fletcher and Brett Camerota finished 41st and 56th, respectively, closing out the U.S. Nordic...
This morning in Oestersund, Sweden, Tim Burke proved that his podium performance on Thursday was no fluke by racing to another podium finish in the second of two individual World Cup Biathlon races. For Burke, whose second place finish in Thursday’s 20km race was one of the top finishes in US biathlon history, this weekend will combine to be a historic set of races for both Burke and the team. Ole Einer Bjoerndalen of Norway took first by...