World Cup

A great day for American skiing! Congratulations to Kikkan, the USST coaches, the APUNSC coaches, the race support staff, and many many other people, fans, and supporters! Photo credit: Andy Fecteau Photo credit: Devon Kershaw

Editor's Note: FasterSkier's roving reporter Tucker Sawin is reporting from Rybinsk, Russia this weekend, giving us first-hand information on the World Cup Cross-Country races. In a dominant display today, Kikkan Randall won the first ever World Cup for an American woman. She finished 2nd in qualifying and consistently distanced herself from the field in her heats. In the final, Randall came out of the pack on the climb and had a couple meters on Astrid...

Editor's Note: FasterSkier's roving reporter Tucker Sawin is reporting from Rybinsk, Russia this weekend, giving us first-hand information on the World Cup Cross-Country races. Andy Newell had an outstanding day today, unfortunately, a tangle-up at the top of the hill in the semifinals robbed him of the chance to produce a matching result. Newell qualified 10th, but went on to dominate his quarterfinal heat, exploding out of the pack mid-way up the climb. In the...

Editor's Note: FasterSkier's roving reporter Tucker Sawin is reporting from Rybinsk, Russia this weekend, giving us first-hand information on the World Cup Cross-Country races. Twenty year old, and World Sprint Champion, Astrid Jacobson of Norway won today’s women’s 15k skate out of a bunch sprint in Rybinsk, Russia. Natalia Korosteleva finished second and Liisa Roponen finished third, all three women were within 1 second of each other. The conditions were overcast and humid with a...

Editor's Note: FasterSkier's roving reporter Tucker Sawin is reporting from Rybinsk, Russia this weekend, giving us first-hand information on the World Cup Cross-Country races. Much like the women’s race, the men’s race turned into a race of attrition, followed by a mad sprint to the finish, and, once again, a Norwegian sprinter came out on top. Tor Arne Hetland won out of a bunch sprint of nearly 20 skiers, with a surprise Ville Nousiainen of...

POKLJUKA, SLO—After contemplating retirement last spring, and at risk of losing his start position on the World Cup circuit due to poor results, Canada’s Robin Clegg proved to the world he still belongs. The 30-year-old Ottawa native stormed into the top-10 for the first time of his nine-year career after finishing in eighth place, two minutes 47.0 seconds behind the leader, in the men’s 20-kilometre individual start race at the Biathlon World Cup in Pokljuka,...

Hochfilzen, Austria. Hakkinen led off for the US Team today struggling on the shooting range from the outset. He skied the first loop comfortably in the lead group. While most teams shot clean, he shot all three extra rounds, leaving the range with three targets missed. This pushed the team to near the rear of the 22-team field. In standing, the results were similar as he again used all of his three extra rounds, leaving...

The World Cup continued in Davos on Sunday with the women's 4X5K relay and the men's 4X10K relay. Norway won the women's race, finishing 4.4 seconds ahead of Germany. The Russian team finished third, with Finland missing the podium by .2 seconds. Kristen Muerer Stemland, Therese Johaug, Kristin Stoermer Steira, and Vibeke Skofterud raced for Norway today, notably without Marit Bjoergen; Norway also won the women's relay last month in Beitostoelen. The men's side was...

The Czech Republic won the Men's 4X10K World Cup Relay in Davos, Switzerland; Italy took 2nd in the exact same time. Sweden, Norway II, and Norway I rounded out the top 5. Canada and the US finished 16th and 18th respectively. More to follow. For results,

Norway won the Ladies' 4X5K World Cup Relay in Davos, Switzerland. Germany took home 2nd and Russia I 3rd. Finland, which fell just short of Russia I, and Sweden rounded out the top 5. More to follow. For results,

Kikkan Randall (USA) finished 37th, an improvement on last week's 44th in the same event. More importantly, Randall went from 3:22 behind the winner to 1:59 back. Randall, who has seen significant international success as a sprinter, is showing she could develop into a competitive distance skier as well. Finland's Virpi Kuitunen, who has not raced since the opening weekend in October due to illness, showed no ill effects due to the long lay-off. She...

Demong edged Bjoern Kirscheisen (GER) at the finish for the victory in Trondheiam, Norway. Demong stood in 8th after the jumping, 42 seconds back. He posted the second fastest ski time enroute to the win. Kirscheisen was almost able to overcome his 12th place in the jumping. His cross-country time was the best of the day, 25 seconds ahead of Demong. Johnny Spillane had a solid jump and started the cross-country in 10th position. But...

Hochfilzen, Austria, December 8. Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) and Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK) finished 48th and 49th today in the 12.5K Pursuit competition here. Bailey, who had his best result of the season yesterday with 37th in the 10K Sprint, could not move up as he picked up one penalty in each of the critical prone stages. Coming to the first standing stage, the Lake Placid native was still within 30 seconds of the...

Kris Freeman struggled to a 50th place finish in today's 15km classic. Rapidly changing weather conditions left Kris with no kick. He battled through, double poling the climbs. Read a full report with a play by play of the waxing issues on Kris' website –

Editor's Note: Since the original publication of this article, we have learned that highly variable weather conditions had an effect on the race. You can read more about Kris Freeman's race and wax – Men's 15km Classic Results Notes: – Norway placed 5 in top 10 – The home team did not fare well – the top Swiss finisher was 30th – Italy had a tough day, with a top finish of 23rd World Cup...

Hochfilzen, Austria, December 7. Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY) topped all of his US teammates with one-penalty shooting to finish 37th in today’s 10K Sprint. Bailey, who failed to make the top-60 Pursuit field last Saturday in Kontiolahti, Finland made up for it today with his best result of the season. Bailey and teammate Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK) started 1-2 in today’s competition. Throughout most of the first and second 3.3K loops, Bailey was several...

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“We can count on the disappointments just like anyone else…the good races we have to fight for every day. At no time is getting down about a bad race or being pessimistic and negative a good strategy for success. We are All In. Not just on the good days, but also on the bad ones. ALL IN.” Read more and view great photos of the races along with Pete's technique commentary Newell in the heats...

Kontiolahti, Finland, December 2. Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK) finished today’s 12.5K Pursuit competition exactly where he started, in 22nd place, while Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) slipped from 12th at the start to a 28th place finish. With today’s 22nd place, Hakkinen is three-for-three, scoring World Cup points in each competition here, making this his best-ever season opening. “I am pretty happy with the week,” he said with almost a bit of relief in his...