World Cup

New Gloucester, ME The team of four men and two women includes Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY), Lowell Bailey (Lake Placid, NY), Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK), Jeremy Teela (Anchorage, AK) and twin sisters Lanny and Tracy Barnes (Durango, CO). Burke, who finished last season ranked 25th in the world, the highest ever for a US biathlete, is expected to lead the team once again. During his breakout season, Burke scored World Cup points in 18...

Many thanks to Cameron MacKugler, a Middlebury skier studying this semester abroad in Edinborough, Scotland for providing us with these exciting photos of the World Cup Sprint! The first four photos are form the individual sprint, the last four from the Team Sprint. Tobias Angerer (GER) Newell in traffic Koos, Northug, Passini

In 2.5 weeks, the FIS Cross-Country World Cup family will meet for the second time this season in the Norwegian village of Beitostoelen at the foot of the Jothunheimer Mountains. Beitostoelen has invested a lot of money – a total of 1.5 million Norwegian Crowns – since its last FIS World Cup events in November 2005. Projects include a rebuilt stadium building, more space for waxing, and redesigned ski tracks. Finally, a 2.5 km loop...

Are you going to focus on Nordic this season? -“I can’t give a good answer, unfortunately. I’m not even sure myself.” Considering Beito The defending world champion in Nordic, Lars Berger, is still unsure whether he will open the season as a Nordic racer at Beitostœlen on November 17th. The skier from Lesja says that “the races at Beitostœlen are something I am strongly considering,” but goes on emphasize that biathlon is still the main...

Photos of Team Canada at the World Cup Sprint in Dusseldorf. Click

It didn’t totally click for the Norwegian sprinters in Düsseldorf this past weekend. Despite the podium performances, Ulf Morten isn’t completely satisfied by the team’s efforts. Uncertainty “We aren’t satisfied, especially not with Saturday. If you look at the historical results from the opener in Düsseldorf, it’s better than most years. Of course, it went extremely well last year (Ed.- Norway swept the men’s podium in the individual sprint, and took 2nd and 4th in...

US Ski Team Sprint Coach Chris Grover answered a few questions about yesterday's Individual Sprint and has stong hopes for today's Team Sprint. FasterSkier: How did you feel about the performances of Andy and Torin? From the results it looks like as deep a field as you’ll ever see on the World Cup. Chris Grover: The field was extremely tough. I think there were many more athletes in a high state of fitness here in...

Editor's Note: The original results posted on the FIS website were incorrect. The top five teams are the same as originally reported, but Norway 1 and Switzerland 1 finished 6th and 7th respectively. The standings below have been updated to reflect the correct results. Thanks to reader Nils Koons for pointing out the erroe. Sweden's second team of young Charlotte Kalla and Britta Norgren won today's Team Sprint in Dusseldorf, Germany. The Russian team of...

Sweden made it two for two today when the team of Thobias Fredrikkson and Peter Larsson won the World Cup Team Sprint in Dusseldorf. The men matched the performance of Charlotte Kalla and Britta Norgren who took the top spot in the women’s race for Sweden. Larson was a last minute substitution for Bjoern Lind who sat out with an illness. Sweden 2 completed an excellent opening weekend for Sweden, finishing third. The Norweigan duo...

22-year old Josef Wenzl of Germany won the qualification round by a stunning margin of almost three seconds over Swedish sprinting star Bjoern Lind. Finnish youngster Matias Strandvall qualified third with Oeystein Pettersen (NOR) in fourth. The freestyle sprint event, held in Dusseldorf's (GER) Old Town, was the first event of the 2007/2008 World Cup season. Action continues tomorrow with a team sprint. Wenzl raced a number of World Cup races last season, in addition...

Natalie Mateeva of Russia won the season opening World Cup event in Dusseldorf, Germany. The 21 year-old qualified 9th in the freestyle event and proceeded to win 2 of her 3 heats enroute to victory. Last season's Russian National Champion in the sprint topped her previous best World Cup result – a 2nd place last winter in Changchun, China. Marit Bjoergen (NOR) started off the season on a strong note after a disappointing 2006/2007. Qualifiying...

FasterSkier checked in with American sprinter Andy Newell after the first World Cup race of the season. Andy qualified in 14th in the freestyle sprint and was knocked out in the first round of heats, finishing 19th on the day. Last year Andy finished the season 6th overall on the World Cup in sprinting. Given his consistent top ten finishes last year, Andy was a bit disappointed with today’s performance. FasterSkier: How did you feel...

The World Cup opening weekend in Duseeldorf concludes tomorrow with the Team Sprint. The start order is determined by FIS sprint points. The American team of Andy Newell and Torin Koos are in the first position in the first qualification heat, followed by Sweden 1 (Fredriksson, Lind), Norway 2 (Kjoelstad, Pettersen), Germany 1 (Angerer, Wenzl), and Italy 1 (Pasini, Zorzi). The second heat is led by Russia 1 (Morilov, Rotchev), Sweden 2 (Hellner, Joensson), and...

The FIS World Cup will start the season for the 6th time in Düsseldorf, the German city on the banks of the river Rhine. On October 27 and 28, 150 of the best athletes from 21 nations are competing for the first points of the new season. Among the participants will be both overall World Cup winners from 2006/2007 — Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) and Tobias Angerer (GER), as well as Jens Arne Svartedal (NOR), the...

A talented group of Olympic and World Cup medallists, including the return of veteran Sara Renner, will headline the 2007-08 World Cup Cross-Country Ski Team, Cross Country Canada announced on Thursday. The young and dynamic squad has welcomed the return of Olympic silver medallist, Sara Renner, who took last season off to have her baby daughter Aria. Renner, of Canmore, Alta., will be counted on to carry the torch for a group of athletes that...

Øystein “The Sausage” Pettersen has chosen Ola Vigen Hattestad as the favorite prior to the sprints in Düsseldorf tomorrow. With a second place to show from last year’s sprint opener, Øystein Pettersen traveled with the rest of the Norwegian sprint national team to Düsseldorf yesterday. He has named Ola Vigen Hattestad as his pick for the win. ”I believe in Ola. He has impressed me in the last period. I would tentatively choose him as...

USA Men Andy Newell Torin Koos Canada Women Chandra Crawford Perianne Jones Men David Nighbor Phil Widmer Sean Crooks Stefan Kuhn, Norway Men Tor Arne Hetland, ByÃ¥sen IL Eldar Rœnning, Skogn IL Johan Kjœlstad, Skogn IL Øystein Pettersen, Bækkelagets SK Trond Iversen, Mjœndalen IF Bœrre Næss, Eftelœt IL Ola Vigen Hattestad, Ørje IL Jens Arne Svartedal, Trœsken IL Petter Northug, Strindheim IL – Ski John Kristian Dahl, Women Marit Bjœrgen, Rognes IL Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen,...

U.S. Ski Team sprinters Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT) and Torin Koos (Leavenworth, WA) will be on the start line when the 2008 FIS Cross Country World Cup season opens in front of over 100,000 spectators in Dusseldorf. The series begins Saturday on a 1.5K track of machine-made snow in a showcase event alongside the Rhine. “It should be an exciting weekend. The guys are healthy and they're ready to roll,” U.S. Sprint Coach Chris Grover...

Peter Johansson (L) and Larry Paromaa catch a quiet moment before beginning a 1600 kilometer drive up to northern Sweden. The two were in Torsby last week helping the USST sprint team test skis. World Cup service techs make for a special breed. On the U.S. team, former serviceman Per-Erik traded in waxing skis for tracking domesticated reindeer along the tundra of Alta, Norway. Lasse spent his working days away from the ski races by...

With less than a week to go to the World-Cup Opener in Düsseldorf, the organizers are working hard to prepare a perfect ski trail. This is no mean feat in October. So how is it possible to have snow this early in Central Europe? We did a bit of research and found out that it is the result of a high-tech operation involving a climate controlled dome, snow science, and a lot of manpower. The...