Petter Northug (NOR) has been on a roll recently, winning three gold medals at the World Championships and then besting sprint specialist Ola Vigen Hattestad in the first World Cup sprint following Liberec. Northug has come under constant criticism for his cocky and disrespectful attitude. He has routinely made headlines in European papers for his lack of tact. In one notable incident, after taking out Swede Thobias Fredriksson in a sprint, he told the...
For the first time since February 2004 the Cross-Country World Cup is making a stopover in Trondheim (NOR) from 12th to 14th March. Due to the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2011 in Oslo and the related reconstruction of the Holmenkollen Ski Stadium, the Norwegian Ski Federation applied last spring to hold the traditional March Cross-Country events in Trondheim. Trondheim hosted the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1997 and is located in the middle of...
New highlights of the World Championships from Universal Sports have been added to the FasterSkier media player. Highlights include Ola Vigen Hattestad’s sprint gold and Todd Lodwick’s gold medal performances! The media player is located on the left further down the homepage.
Phil Bowen was in Lahti over the weekend photographing all the races. Here is his slideshow form the 10/15km individual start freestyle. Use the links at the bottom of the post to view Phil’s slideshows from the other events. Phil Bowen began skiing at an early age in Grand Marais, MN and spent six years on the Continental Cup circuit and racing marathons with the Factory Team. He is currently a freelance photographer while living...
Lahti, Finland – Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) skied to a convincing 22 seconds victory over Charlotte Kalla (SWE) in the women’s 10km freestyle this morning. Marthe Kristofferesen (NOR) was third. Kowalczyk won her fourth World Cup of the season, following a successful World Championships where she won two golds and a bronze. Her victory, coupled with Aino Kaisa Saarinen’s absence due to illness, has tightened the women’s overall World Cup race. Petra Majdic (SLO) who finished 19th today,...
Lahti, Finland – Alexander Legkov (RUS) won his second career World Cup, beating Italian Pietro Piller Cottrer by 7.5 seconds. Christian Hoffman (AUT) was third. The 25-year old Legkov was first at every checkpoint en route to the victory. “I’m really happy about today’s success,” said Legkov. “It was a great race and I gave my all. Liberec was not so good for me but now I am back and would like to fight...
Lahti, Finland – Petter Northug (NOR) continued his winning ways, edging teammate Ola Vigen Hattestad by inches at the line in the men’s 1.5 km freestyle sprint. Torin Koos led three Americans in the heats, finishing 12th. Hattestad, who had won 5 of 6 sprint starts this season, was unable to stop Northug’s roll. Neither of the two Norwegians qualified at the top – Hattestad was 14th and Northug 20th. This was normal for...
LAHTI, Finland (March 7) – Billy Demong made it two podiums for the weekend, finishing third Saturday in a nordic combined World Cup in Finland. Demong jumped fourth to get things going, but a fast paced start may have kept the World Champion from hitting the top of the podium Saturday. “I had another really good day on the jump hill. I felt pretty good physically and I thought it was going to be a...
Lahti, Finland – Petra Majdic won her 6th World Cup race of the season and took over the overall World Cup lead. Arianna Follis (ITA) was seconds and Pirjo Muranen (FIN) took third. Majdic, who already clinched the Sprint Cup title, passed Aino Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) in the overall standings, and now leads her by 74 points. Saarinen did not race due to illness. Despite her season-long success, Majdic went without a medal at World...
Phil Bowen gives a visual recap of an exciting day at the Lahti sprints. Phil Bowen began skiing at an early age in Grand Marais, MN and spent six years on the Continental Cup circuit and racing marathons with the Factory Team. He is currently a freelance photographer while living with his wife and seven month old son in Kampala, Uganda.
Billy Demong made his second podium appearance in two days, finishing third in Nodic Combined World Cup action. Phil Bowen was there to capture it. Phil Bowen began skiing at an early age in Grand Marais, MN and spent six years on the Continental Cup circuit and racing marathons with the Factory Team. He is currently a freelance photographer while living with his wife and seven month old son in Kampala, Uganda.
Photographer Phil Bowen is in Lahti covering the World Cup races. He was onsite for Billy Demong’s victory today in the Nordic Combined! To read captions, mouse over the image. Phil Bowen began skiing at an early age in Grand Marais, MN and spent six years on the Continental Cup circuit and racing marathons with the Factory Team. He is currently a freelance photographer while living with his wife and seven month old son in...
LAHTI, Finland (March 6) – Fresh from his World Championship win in Liberec, Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) showed he’s still on fire Friday, earning his fourth World Cup win of the season in Finland. “It was for sure a big goal to keep the momentum going from World Championships. I felt a little tired this week, but all things considered, it was a really good competition,” Demong said. Demong headed in to the cross country...
The chaotic World Champs in Asia are history, now the US Biathlon team is looking forward to the next stop on the tour – probably the most important this year. It is the Pre-Olympic World Cup test event coming up next week on the biathlon course at Whistler Olympic Park. While other nations already arrived on the Vancouver 2010 venue to get used to the time difference the U.S. team at least does not...
Photos of the relay at the World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic, all courtesy of Swix Sport.
The penultimate day of the ski championships in Liberec, Czech Republic was one of ebullient hope for the future of American skiing with the races and results from the young women’s performances in the 30 kilometer mass start skate. This day also demonstrated the heights nordic sports the U.S. is reaching with Billy Demong’s win in big hill, single jump 10 kilometer (a.k.a. the Gundersen HS134/10.0), capping off three individual nordic combined gold medals in...
Boulder Nordic Sports Nathan Schultz was in Liberec waxing with the US Ski Team. He posted several reports, including the following on yesterday’s final event. Nathan provides an excellent behind-the-scenes look at ski preparation, and the races in general. Early reports from Nathan can be found here: World Championships Report Days 1 & 2 Northug Takes Another Gold in Fast Finish by Nathan Schultz Petter Northug won a tough 50km freestyle today in Liberec, completing...
With the completion of World Championships, the distance Red Group for the final World Cup period has been announced. The Red Group consists of the top 30 men and women in distance and sprint by World Cup points. Red Group athletes receive full travel and living expenses from race organizers. It is not used for seeding purposes. Devon Kershaw and Ivan Babikov both made the distance Red Group for Canada. Kershaw is ranked 20th with...
Liberec, Czech Republic – Petter Northug (NOR) won the men’s 50km freestyle mass start, the final event of the 2009 World Championships. Northug moved his way up thorugh the pasck over the last 10 kilometers, positioning himself for the final sprint. He crossed the line .7 seconds ahead of Russian Maxim Vylegezhanin. Tobias Angerer (GER) took the bronze, two seconds behind Northug. The victory earned Northug his third gold of the Championships. He also won...
I woke up on the day of the 15k classic World Championship race to see huge wet snowflakes falling out of the sky. The temperature was right about zero degrees Celsius. It was not the ideal weather for classic skiing. The snow fell all day and was coming down hardest in the afternoon when I arrived at the race venue. I tested three pairs of skis with my wax tech Joaquim. All three skis were...