World Cup

The Norweigan team of Ola Vigen Hattestad and Tor Arne Hetland won the first team sprint of the World Cup season. The pair, who took the top two spots in yesterday’s individual freestyle sprint, edged the Swedish team of Bjorn Lind and Thobias Frederickson in a photo finish. Each athlete skiing three legs on the 1.5km course, in the freestyle technique. The race remained close to the last leg with five teams within a second...

The Russian team of Natalia Korosteleva and Natalia Matveeva edged the young Norweigan duo of Celine Brun-Lie and Maiken Caspersen Falla by .2 seconds to take the victory in the women’s World Cup Team Sprint competition. The Russians led at the end of every 800 meter leg, and were able to hold off Norway in the final sprint. Germany took third, 1.8 seconds back. The top three teams pulled away in the last leg, leaving...

Hochfilzen, Tirol, Austria, December 14. The US Relay team of Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK), Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK), Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) and Russell Currier (Stockholm, ME) finished 15th in the World Cup Relay here. The US men, with four penalties and eighteen extra rounds finished 6:00.3 behind the Russian team with one penalty and nine extra rounds. The Russian time of 1:24:22.9 easily outdistanced hometown favorite Austria by 1:41.1. The Ukrainian team finished...

Petra Majdic claimed victory on a challenging 1.4 km course in the Bünda ski stadium in Davos, Switzerland. Youngster Celine Brun-Lie and veteran Marit Bjoergen (both Norway) took second and third respectively. Arianna Follis (ITA) was fourth, while her teammate Magda Genuin took the fifth spot and Natalia Matveeva (RUS) was sixth. For Majdic, it was her first Word Cup victory and podium place ever in a free technique race. The tall Slovenian has steadily...

Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR) won an exciting and tight race ahead of teammate Johan Kjoelstad and Italian Renato Pasini in 1.7 kilometer freestyle sprint in Davos. The home favorite Dario Cologna (SUI) finished fourth with Dusan Kozisek (CZE) in fifth and Bjoern Lind (SWE) sixth. This was Hattestad's, first victory in a freestyle sprint World Cup. He has three classic sprint wins under his belt. Hattestad quaified in 11th position, 4.46 seconds ahead of Cologna....

USBA

Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) skied to an 18 second victory over teammate Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN)in the 10km individual start classic race in Davos, Switzerland. Kuitunen, the defending World Cup Champion, extended her lead from .6 seconds at the 6.8km mark with an impressive final push. This was her first victory of the season. “I like the place here. It is my fourth victory here and it seems to fit me well. I tried to focus on...

Davos, Switzerland – 28-year-old Johan Olsson (SWE) won his first World Cup event in the 15km classic individual start race. In an exciting race on a 3 x 5 km course in Davos, Olsson skied to victory in a time of 40:10.0min, 10.5 seconds ahead of runner up Axel Teichmann (GER). Third place went to Sami Jauhojärvi (FIN) 28.5 seconds behind Olsson. Olsson started the race strong and maintained his speed until the end. Teichmann,...

Ostersund, Sweden December 7. Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK), starting in 24th, position moved up to 11th place at the finish in the 12.5K Pursuit competition yesterday. Hakkinen overcame a penalty in the first stage to move up steadily through the field from that point on. In the second prone stage, he rapidly dropped the five targets. At the finish, he commented, “That second prone was very professional; the exact way I want to do it...

TRONDHEIM, Norway (Dec. 7) – The U.S. Ski Team's Johnny Spillane (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Bill Demong (Vermontville, NY) came together for two U.S. top-10 finishes Sunday as Spillane took fifth and Demong seventh in a World Cup in Trondheim. Finland's Anssi Koivuranta won. “Today was just better jumping. I was more relaxed on the hill and not trying to control things as much. I think it allowed a better jump,” Spillane said. “As far...

TRONDHEIM, Norway (Dec. 6) – The U.S. Ski Team's Bill Demong (Vermontville, NY) capitalized on perfect jumping conditions Saturday to finish fourth in the season's third nordic combined World Cup competition in Trondheim. Norway's Magnus Moan won the event. “It's a little bitter sweet. For sure you want to be on the podium, but it's also great to be back in the hunt and I think that's a big part of the game,” Demong said....

Ostersund, Sweden December 6. Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK) scored his first World Cup points of the season yesterday with 24th place in the 10K Sprint. The men had much better conditions than they faced on Wednesday evening. Snow fell lightly today, but not at the rate of Wednesday, when over 30 cm fell before and during the competition. With light winds and the stadium blanketed in artificial light, shooting conditions were excellent. Hakkinen shot clean...

La Clusaz, France – Petter Northug, winner of yesterday's 30km mass start race, led the Norweigans to victory in the men's 4x10km relay. Northug once again matched up with Sweden's Marcus Hellner in the anchor leg . At the World Cup opener in Gaellivare, Sweden, the two overcame a 17 second deficit, overtaking the lead pack and breaking away for a sprint finish. Northug got the better of Hellner, who also has an individual victory...

La Clusaz, France – Defending World Cup Champion Virpi Kuitunen turned in her best performance of the season, chewing up the field in an impressive second leg to lead Finland to victory in the women's 4x5km relay. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) started hard and turned in her own impressive performance, gaping the field by 20 seconds. But lacking depth, the Poles were never in the hunt. The pack quickly overtook Paulina Maciusek. But Kuitunen didn't settle...