World Cup

Less than a week after the conclusion of the pre-Olympic World Cups in Whistler, Canada, the World Cup continues in Otepaa, Estonia. Skiers will race a 10/15km classic individual start. US sprinter Kikkan Randall will be the lone North American starter. In Kikkan’s only other World Cup distance start this season, she finished a career-best 23rd. The field looks to be stronger than in Whistler, with 51 women competing, including a full contingent of Norweigans...

Whistler, British Columbia – The US Women’s Sprint Relay team of Liz Stephen and Kikkan Randall skied to a 4th place finish today under sunny skies in Canada.  The duo, racing together for the first time, moved up in the last two laps, and closed on the lead pack to finish only .9 seconds off the podium. The result did not come easy.  To even contest the final, Stephen and Randall had to advance out...

Whistler, British Columbia – The Canadian team of George Grey and Alex Harvey finished an impressive third in the Men’s Team Sprint competition this morning.  Harvey outsprinted Russia I, lunging at the line, to claim the final podium spot.  The Swedish team took the victory in a tight and exciting race. The semifinals were hotly contested.  In the first heat, American Mike Sinnott broke from the field and opened up 15 meter gap at the...

Whistler, British Columbia – Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) gained her third career World Cup victory, skiing to victory in the women’s 15km pursuit.  Kowalczyk, who won this same event in Canmore last season, was able to ski away from Italy’s Marianna Longa in the final two kilometers.  Longa set a fast pace from the start, quickly breaking apart the pack.  Kowalczyk appeared to be struggling at times, but had plenty left on the final lap to...

Whistler, British Columbia – Pietro Piller Cottrer led a strong Italian contingent, winning the 30km World Cup pursuit at Whistler Olympic Park.  The bronze medalist in the event in the 2006 Olympic Games, Piller Cottrer captured his 6th career win, the most ever by an Italian.  Piller Cotter broke from the lead back with under seven kilometers to go, skiing away to a convincing victory.  The Italian team used bicycle racing tactics to control the...

Whistler, British Columbia – Emil Joensson (SWE) clearly likes to race in Canada.  The Swedish sprint specialist won his second ever World Cup event.  His other victory came in Canmore last year.  Joensson held off a hard-charging Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR) at the line, in an A-Final that featured one of many crashes on the day.  Hattestad had won all three World Cup sprints thus far this season, and skipped Norweigan National Championships to contest...

Whistler, British Columbia – Alena Prochazkova (SLV) won her first ever World Cup, edging Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) at the line in the women’s classic sprint.  Prochazkova won the qualifying round and each of her heats en route to victory.  Her previos best finsh was a third in the same event in Kuusamo last year.  The 24 year old looked strong all day on the challenging 1.3km course. “It is amazing – I took today my...

The US and Canadian men fared well in the Classic Sprint Qualifier this morning in Whistler.  Andy Newell led the way, qualifying in third, 2.51 seconds in back of Emil Joensson (SWE).  Joennsson, a notoriously fast classic qualifier dominated, outpacing teammate, and second finisher, Bjoern Lind by 2.32 seconds.  Favorite, Ola Vigen Hattesta, looked strong and smooth on his way to the 4th spot. Newell was the only North American to crack the top 15...

Led by Kikkan Randall in 16th place, the US qualified two athletes for the sprint heats, and Canada, four.  Randall was 7.73 seconds in back of the leader, Alena Prochazkova of Slovakia.  Prochazkova’s time of 3:15.10 was 1.28 seconds ahead of the second finisher, Justyna Kowalczyk (POL).  Arianna Follis (ITA) was another two seconds back in 3rd. Morgan Smyth was the only other US qualifier, just squeaking through in 30th place.  Smyth edged Finland’s Mona-Lisa...

I arrived here at Nat Brown’s ranch, north of Princeton BC,  on Monday night.    The Slovenian team is being hosted by the Princeton Nordic community, and are staying in residences near the ski trails on Nat’s ranch.    The ranch is in a small river valley situated at 3100 feet, with open fields and wooded hillsides.   The meadows are dotted with heritage log buildings, and it’s rustic and beautiful. The Slovenian team arrived very late on...

FasterSkier is en route to Whistler, British Columbia to cover this weekend’s World Cup races. In addition to reports on the main site, we will be updating the World Cup blog with all sorts of information, so be sure to check back frequently. If you have any specific questions for athletes or coaches, or would like to see coverage of something specific, e-mail us at info@fasterskier.com, and we will do the best that we can!...