World Cup

Swedish skier Thobias Fredriksson is not interested in a reconciliation meeting with Petter Northug following heated exchange after Northug’s takedown of Fredriksson in recent World Cup sprint finale, reports Norwegian newspaper VG. See VG story with photo of the crash at http://www.vg.no/pub/vgart.hbs?artid=152139 The Norwegian men’s head coach Morten Aa Djupvik tried to initiate a meeting between Northug and Fredriksson in order to “move on”, but the Swedish skier was not interested in such a meeting....

Antholz, Italy, February 11. Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK) notched his best World Championships result and the second top ten finish for the US Biathlon Team in this Biathlon World Championship with ninth place in today’s 15K Mass Start competition. Hakkinen with his ninth place finish eclipsed his 10th place in last February’s 20K Individual at the Torino Olympic Winter Games. Today, he finished 52.9 seconds behind Olympic champion Michael Greis of Germany. Both Hakkinen and...

Antholz, Italy, February 10. Jay Hakkinen (Kasilof, AK) and Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) surprised the crowd today in the Men’s 4 X7.5K Relay competition, by keeping the US Team near the top of the leader board for the first two legs. The US men finished ninth, 3:26.9 behind the virtually flawless Russian team. On a perfect day with clear blue skies contrasting against the gray peaks of the Italian Dolomites, the Men’s Relay started...

Antholz, Italy, February 7. Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) placed seventh in the Men’s 20K Individual competition here, giving him the second best ever US Biathlon result in the Biathlon World Championships. Burke now ranks second only to Josh Thompson, who won a Silver medal in the same event in the 1987 Biathlon World Championships in Lake Placid, New York. Ironically, Burke is a native of nearby Paul Smiths and trains there in the off-season....

Viessmann FIS World Cup Cross-Country at Davos (SUI) on February 04th, 2007 In today’s exciting 4 x 5 km ladies’ relay competition, the team from Sweden with Lina Andersson, Anna Karin Stroemstedt, Charlotte Kalla and Britta Norgren took the victory on the difficult courses in Davos. Britta Norgren could won the finish sprint against Marit Bjoergen from the Norwegian team (Astrid Jacobsen, Vibeke W. Skofterud, Kirstin Stroemer Steira and Marit Bjoergen), who was 1,0 seconds...

The Russians men’s team with Ivan Babikov, Serguei Novikov, Ilia Chernousov and Sergej Shiriaev, won without their well known team leaders today’s 4 x 10 km relay competition in Davos, Switzerland. The Russian finished in the exciting 4 x 10 km race shortly 0,4 seconds ahead of the Italian Team (Valerio Checchi, Giorgio Di Centa, Fabio Santus and Pietro Piller-Cottrer). The third place took Team France (Jean Marc Gaillard, Vincent Vittoz, Emmanuel Jonnier and Alexandre...

DAVOS, Switzerland (Feb. 4) – U.S. women finished 11th Sunday behind Sweden in a 4x5K World Cup relay race while the U.S. men's team was 12th behind Russia in the 4x10K race. Sweden won in 53:51.6 with the four Americans 11th with a time of 58:15.7. Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, AK) and Liz Stephen (East Montpelier, VT), who made her World Cup debut Saturday, were joined by two others skiing in their first World Cup race:...

Antholz, Italy, February 3. Tim Burke (Paul Smiths, NY) finished 35th in today’s World Championship 10K Sprint, leading the US Biathlon Team, which qualified all four men and three women for the Championship Pursuit competitions on Sunday. Burke, after an amazing three competitions (13th, 11th, and 5th places) 2 weeks in Pokljuka, Slovenia, hit a bump in his outstanding season today, missing one target in both prone and three more in standing, for the first...

The Viessmann FIS Tour de Ski winner Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) could celebrate today her 6th World Cup victory (incl. the Tour de Ski) in this season in the today’s 10 km Individual start in the free technique in Davos (SUI). Kuitunen took the victory in a time of 24:40,4. On second position follows the Russian Olga Savialova, 11.9 seconds behind. She was very strong in the first part of the race and lost her lead...

Vincent Vittoz (FRA) and Toni Livers (SUI) took today together the victory of the todays 15 km Individual start in the free technique. The 23-year old Livers, whose previous best World Cup performance was 14th last season in the Pursuit races in Oberstdorf cross the finish line exactly with the same time than the French Vincent Vittoz who could manage this sixth World Cup victory. It is the first time in a men’s World Cup...

DAVOS, Switzerland (Feb. 3) – Kris Freeman (Andover, NH) turned-in his best result in nearly two years Saturday, finishing 15th in a 15K freestyle World Cup race as he began the final preparation period leading to the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships. Vincent Vittoz of France, the 2005 World Championships pursuit gold medalist, and unheralded Swiss racer Toni Livers tied for the win in 35:48.8 each. Freeman finished in 37:06.5 with James Southam (Anchorage, AK)...

The Year’s Biggest Competitions and More Antholz, Italy, February 1. In a year that has been anything but normal weather-wise, the 2007 Biathlon World Championships open here Saturday under (finally) normal winter conditions. Europe has suffered through a virtually snowless, warm winter until early last week. At that point, the moisture that has been rain in most of December and January clashed with the cold air and viola—snow! More than a meter of snow buried...

In just 22 days, the Nordic skiing world will converge upon Sapporo for the 2007 FIS Nordic Ski World Championships to be held there from February 22nd to March 4th. This will be the first time the championships have been held in Asia. With an impressive résumé as host for large sporting events such as the FIFA World Cup in 2002, Sapporo is hoping to set an example throughout the region for staging modern winter...

Last World Cup in Europe before the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Sapporo (JPN) January 31st, 2007 – For the upcoming weekend, 03rd — 04th February, the World Class athletes in Cross-Country skiing will meet in Europe's highest city — Davos (SUI). At an altitude of 1560m, the town with over 12,500 inhabitants is situated about 150 km south-east of Zuerich in the canton of Grisons. Davos – the hometown of Seraina Mischol –...

Flying above the Baltic Ocean to Russia, thoughts of the 1980 Moscow Olympics come to mind. From history’s prism, the American led boycott of 1980 Olympics hardly registers. Our athletes were political weapons in 1980; Russia returned the favor four years later at the LA Games. And Afghanistan? It would be nine more years before the tanks would retreat. Better for us to battle with bikes and javelins, or skis. “The ancient Greeks believed the...

OTEPAEAE, Estonia (Jan. 28) – Two-time Olympian Torin Koos (Leavenworth, WA) finished third and Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, WA) fourth Saturday – the best U.S. men's World Cup finish since 1983 – in a 1.2K classic technique sprint won by Norway's Jens Arne Svartedal. In 20-degree, overcast weather with occasional wind gusts, Svartedal edged Russian Vasilli Rotchev by a half-second with Koos another stride back. Chris Cook (Rhinelander, WI) was 14th while World Cup leader Virpi...

OTEPAEAE, Estonia (Jan. 27) – Kris Freeman (Andover, NH) finished 32nd and Andrew Johnson (Greensboro, VT) 51st Saturday in a windy and snowy World Cup 15K classic technique race won by former World Cup champion Axel Teichmann of Germany. Teichmann won the four-lap men's race in 41:07.0 with Norway's Frode Estil second at 41:13.4. Freeman's time was 42:58.3. Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk led from start to finish of the 10K classic, winning in 30:54.2; no U.S....

A few photos by US Ski Team coach Pete Vordenberg from the Russian World Cup sprint races. For a complete story of the historic day, visit www.teamtoday.org Also be sure to visit www.kikkan.com, which should have Kikkan's 'Race Tail' posted soon.

RYBINSK, Russia (Jan. 21) – Kikkan Randall made history today, capturing the first US Women’s World Cup Podium in Rybinsk, Russia in a 1.2 km Freestyle sprint race, finishing in 3rd place. Conditions were hard and fast on the Russian course, which made for very tight racing. Each heat was closely contested, with tactics and fast skis playing a major role. “I just felt great today, my body was awesome and my skis were very...