Individual qualifying for the World Cup Four-Cross event in Bromont took place last night, and it was won by American Jill Kintner (unaffiliated) and France’s Romain Saladini (Team Sunn). Riders started individually and did a quick time trial down the course (the Quebecois announcer called it “contre-la-montre,” French for “against the watch”). Times ranged from 51 seconds for the top men to about a minute for the women. The course is very exciting and spectator-friendly–there...
ALBERTVILLE, France (July 22) – World Champion skier Todd Lodwick (Steamboat Springs, CO) learned Wednesday that watching the Tour de France can be as dangerous as competing. The U.S. Ski Team athlete was involved in a car-bike collision while riding back from spectating at a Tour stage. Cycling back to Albertville shortly after watching the early portion of stage 17 of the Tour on the Col de Les Saisies, Lodwick rounded a corner and, in...
Oh, sure, every World Cup Nordic ski team needs a good waxing crew, but they need something more — a top-notch costume disciplinarian. I’m not talking about some Scandinavian blonde with a whip (though there were those rumors about the Austrian team). I mean a no-nonsense fashionista who will insure that the team not only skis fast, but looks good — with consistent logos, flags, advertising, and color schemes. Someone who is not afraid to...
Tim Burke is a member of the U.S. Biathlon A Team, and has already qualified for the 2010 Olympics based on his results from last year. In 2008-2009, he finished 25th overall in the World Cup standings, with two top-ten finishes: eighth in the pursuit in Khanty-Mansijsk, Russia, and ninth in the sprint in Trondheim, Norway. He competed in the Olympics in Torino in 2006, placing 37th in the sprint. FasterSkier: You’re currently at a...
Astrid Jacobsen (NOR) who was involved in a bike accident last week, will avoid back surgery, and should be able to train at full strength in the fall. Her injuries are still considered quite serious, and she required surgery on both her jaw and her elbow. The Norwegian team is committed to the helping get the 2007 Sprint World Champion back to top form. “We are not going to hold back and are prepared to...
Finnish ski star Virpi Kuitunen presented a unique idea for aiding in doping prevention – the implantation of a microchip under the skin, allowing anti-doping officials to constantly know the whereabouts of athletes. Currently, athletes must routinely update a website with their current location, and any upcoming travel plans. Mistakes or simple forgetfulness in this process can result in warnings, and ultimately, a “positive” test. The strict requirements have led many athletes to protest on...
At just twenty years old, Canadian Alex Harvey had a breakout year in 2008-2009 with two World Cup podium finishes: third in the team sprint in Whistler, and another third in the 50 kilometer classic in Trondheim, Norway. FasterSkier caught up with him just after he finished his afternoon massage at a National Team camp in Canmore. FS: You’re out in Canmore right now training with the National Team. It seems like you have a...
FIS has released the complete event schedule for the 2011 Nordic World Championships in Oslo, Norway.
The Alberta World Cup Academy is pleased to welcome Christian Flury and Eric Groeneveld as coaches for the 2009-2010 season. Christian and Eric join Head Coach Mike Cavaliere and the rest of the Academy support group in working with the 20 athletes named to the Academy team for the upcoming year. Christian comes to the Academy from Davos, Switzerland where he was the head coach of the Swiss Sports School Davos for the past 6...
In the middle of May, the U.S. Ski Team (USST) dropped seven of the 18 skiers that were on the team. Three of those seven skiers are currently attending college: Matt Gelso and Alexa Turzian at Colorado University (CU), and Rosie Brennan at Dartmouth. Following those skiers’ dismissals, the USST released a new set of recommendations that called for elite high school skiers to take time off to train before starting college. That announcement spawned...
Structured out-of-competition doping controls are a mandatory requirement on all International Federations under the new World Anti-Doping Code that became effective as of 1st January 2009. This emphasis is also reflected in the final statistics for the FIS testing program during the 2008/09 season. In the course of the past season, FIS performed as many as 1581 out-of-competition tests, both blood tests and urine (including EPO analysis). This is more than four times as many as the season before...
On invitation of the Canadian Snow Sports Federation, the FIS Council is holding its spring meeting in Vancouver, the site of the 2010 Olympic Winter Games, starting on Friday, 12th June 2009. The Council Meeting also includes visits to the Olympic competition sites for all six FIS disciplines at Cypress Mountain, Whistler Creekside and Whistler Olympic Park. The FIS Council’s agenda will include, among other things, review of the FIS World Cup calendars for the upcoming season 2009/2010 following minor modifications...
Based on a recent report from the European Broadcasting Union, the TV and marketing rights holder for this year’s FIS World Ski Championships, the FIS World Ski Championships 2009 were seen by more than 1.1 billion viewers worldwide. While more than 478 million cumulative viewers watched the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships from Val d’Isère (FRA), the multi-faceted (live, delayed, news or highlights) coverage from Liberec (CZE) was enjoyed by almost 666 million global TV...
The FIS Cross-Country Committee met at the recent FIS Calendar Conference 2009 in Cavtat-Dubrovnik, Croatia. A number of topics were discussed, including the elimination of the B-Finals from sprint competition. Apparently the B-Final has attracted little interest from media and spectators alike. The Committee is forwarding a proposal to skip the B-Finals to the FIS Council for approval. One of the ideas behind the B-Final was to provide additional rest for athletes advancing to the...
The FIS has issued a draft of the 2009-2010 Cross-Country World Cup Schedule. The schedule will be sent to the FIS Council for approval in its next meeting in mid-June. Including the Olympics, there are 40 races on the calendar. The breakdown is as follows: Relays: 3 Individual Sprints: 13 Team Sprints: 3 Distance Races: 21 Individual Start Distance Races: 8 Mass Start Races: 8 Handicap Starts: 4 Freestyle Races: 17 (does not include relays or...
FasterSkier Cross-Country Skier of the Year This award is given to the top North American cross-country skier. Cross-Country Skier of the Year (women): Kikkan Randall (USA). Kikkan’s season got off to a slow start, but she stepped it up when it mattered most, winning the first Championship medal ever by a US woman, when she took the Silver at the World Championships in Liberec. This race netted her the FasterSKier Performance of the Year. In...
FasterSkier Performance of the Year FasterSkier Performance of the Year is given to the top single North American performance of the 2008/2009 season. FasterSkier Performance of the Year (women): Kikkan Randall (USA). Kikkan Randall won the first-ever US cross-country skiing medal when she took the Silver in the freestyle sprint at the World Championships in Liberec. This was the only the third medal won by a US cross-country skier – Bill Koch won Bronze at...
Editor’s Note: This is the third of a three part series. You can read the second part here. Torin Koos: The 1998 Nagano Olympics were your first big races. The results for North Americans were not the most promising. I remember you talking about “emerging from the disaster that was Nagano.” Sara Renner: Yes. Nagano was awful. Truly awful. I don’t think I could have expected it to be good, really. Sometimes you think that...
Editor’s Note: This is the second of a three part series. Torin Koos is a member of the National A Team for the United States. A World Cup, World Championship and Olympic competitor, Koos brings this experience to the FasterSkier sportscasting arena. Equipment: Rossignol Skis, Boots and Bindings, Toko gloves and wax, Marwe, Exel poles, Rudy Project Eyewear, Rossignol Softgoods Home Ski Club: Leavenworth Winter Sports Club (www.usapears.com) Best Western Icicle Inn (www.biosports.net) Torin Koos...