World Cup

The World Cup continues with races in Kuusamo, Finland this weekend. Here is the schedule as well as the Norwegian team selection of eight women and thirteen men including three biathlon skiers. The women are racing 10-kilometer freestyle on Friday while the men are skiing their 15-K freestyle on Saturday. 10-kilometer classic for women and 15-kilometer classic for men is scheduled for Sunday. Schedule: Friday: 10-K freestyle, women Saturday: 15-K freestyle men Sunday: 10-K classic...

The Norwegian men’s team did not have a great day in the 4 x 10 kilometer World Cup relay in Gallivare on Sunday. A sixth place is way below expectations, and so were the performances in the individual race.    Odd-Bjorn Hjelmeset was the top Norwegian on Saturday in 8th place.   – The opening weekend wasn’t quite what we had hoped for. We had of course hoped to have skiers higher up on the...

Here is a short report on how the Italian Skitime.it web site described the first World Cup relay of the season for the Italian men’s and women’s team:   Italy Second In Gallivare After the bad performance in yesterday’s individual classic race, the Italian athletes redeemed themselves in the 4 x 10-kilometer men’s relay, by capturing second place, just behind Germany.  Giorgio Di Centa skied very well, and was able to finish in the lead...

Germany (men) and Norway (women) won today’s relay competitions in the FIS World Cup in Gällivare, Sweden. Results Men: 1 Germany GER 1:33:37.4 0.0 2 Italy I ITA 1:33:39.2 +1.8 3 Russia I RUS 1:33:41.1 +3.7 4 France FRA 1:34:02.5 +25.1 5 Sweden SWE 1:34:18.9 +41.5 6 Norway I NOR 1:35:14.3 +1:36.9 7 Sweden II SWE 1:35:27.4 +1:50.0 8 Kazakhstan I KAZ 1:35:29.6 +1:52.2 9 Czech Republic CZE 1:35:51.2 +2:13.8 10 Finland FIN 1:35:51.2 +2:13.8...

By Langrenn.com Norwegian World Cup skier Tore Ruud Hofstad was denied start right in Saturday’s 15-kilometer classic race in Gallivare, Sweden. This was done following a pre race test that showed too high hemoglobin values – also called too high blood values. Norwegian broadcasting (NRK) reported that his values were tested to 17.2 while the limit is 17.0. He was tested in a routine health check. The Norwegian team doctor, Inggard Lerheim, tells NRK that...

Results, Men's World Cup, 15 km Classical Technique, Gällivare Sweden: 1 Teichmann Axel GER 37:40.7 0.0 2 Sommerfeldt Rene GER 38:17.5 +36.8 3 Rotchev Vassili RUS 38:18.0 +37.3 4 Pankratov Nikolai RUS 38:22.6 +41.9 5 Filbrich Jens GER 38:29.2 +48.5 6 Batory Ivan SVK 38:36.9 +56.2 7 Angerer Tobias GER 38:37.3 +56.6 8 Hjelmeset Odd-Bjoern NOR 38:38.4 +57.7 9 Fredriksson Mathias SWE 38:46.3 +1:05.6 10 Fredriksson Thobias SWE 38:47.4 +1:06.7 11 Estil Frode NOR 38:49.8...

Results Women's World Cup, 10 km Classical Technique, Gällivare, Sweden: 1 86 1303777 BJØRGEN Marit NOR 5:24.0 3 17:38.9 2 28:13.4 0.0 0.00 2 83 1094063 SMIGUN Kristina EST 5:23.3 2 17:38.7 1 28:14.5 +1.1 0.51 3 79 1166037 KUITUNEN Virpi FIN 5:19.5 1 17:39.5 3 28:22.3 +8.9 4.20 4 82 1260903 PEDERSEN Hilde G. NOR 5:26.8 7 17:50.8 5 28:30.6 +17.2 8.12 5 78 1054778 NEUMANNOVA Katerina CZE 5:28.1 9 17:43.1 4 28:32.1 +18.7...

Freeman 27th in Near-zero Cold GALLIVARE, Sweden (Nov. 20) – Battling near-zero cold, the cross country World Cup schedule resumed Saturday with Axel Teichmann of Germany and Norway's Marit Bjoergen winning classic technique races. Kris Freeman (Andover, NH) had the top U.S. result, finishing 27th. The season began Oct. 23-24 with sprints in Dusseldorf, Germany, and Gallivare was a late substitution for snowless Oestersund. The temperature was -16 C. (-4 F.) at the start of the...

American and Canadian skiers will be on the starting line with the rest of the World’s elite skiers when the regular 2004-2005 cross country World Cup starts in Gallivare, Sweden this weekend. Make sure that you check the outcome of Saturday and Sunday’s action by logging on to FasterSkier for daily results, photos and stories from the races.  The races were supposed to be held in Ostersund Sweden, but is moved to Gallivare, northern Sweden...

-17 Celsius and only 10cm of natural snow in Gallivare on Wednesday, but the courses will be ready for training Friday morning, the day before the World Cup opener.   Everyone is excited about Saturday’s World Cup opener in Gallivare, Sweden. Krister Soregard, the Norwegian men’s coach is no exception.  

There will be 98 skiers on the starting line for Saturday’s 15-kilometer Men's classic World Cup opener in Gallivare, Sweden. Rene Sommerfeldt of Germany is in the driver’s seat with bib number 98. Kris Freeman will start 77th and Carl Swenson 64th. The start order in World Cup races are no longer decided through a pre-race drawing, but decided based upon previous race results/FIS points. The one with the lowest points, which has skied the...

Lack of snow, warm weather and no changes in the forecast threatens the cross country World Cup opener that according to the plan should start in Ostersund, Sweden in a week and a half, reports Norwegian newspaper VG.   The Norwegian chief of cross country skiing Bjornar Hakensmoen does despite the problems not agree that the season opener comes too early.   – We can’t predict the weather when the race schedule is made. I...

The Swedish national team is despite lack of snow in most of the country getting in good on-snow skiing in Bruksvallarna, according to Swedish Skidsport.com The savior has as often before been the road toward Mittaklappen. Go to

Former Olympic Champion Vegard Ulvang just returned to Norway after having done a FIS inspection of this winter’s World Championship courses and the arena in Oberstdorf, Gemany. Ulvang is promising lots of excitement and loads fun.   All systems are ready Ulvang reports that the organizer is just about ready with everything for the championship that starts February 16, 2005. The only thing lacking is the snow. The arena has however had its first night...

The Norwegian women’s sprint team with Hilde Gjermundshaug Pedersen and Marit Bjorgen held the lead from start to finish in Sunday’s World Cup team sprint relay in Dusseldorf, Germany. The stage was set for an exciting race with a temperature of 20 degrees Celsius and more than 100,000 spectators in the streets of Dusseldorf. The competition knew that the Norwegian team was going to be tough to beat after they had won their semi-finale heat...

The coach for the Norwegian men’s sprint team was, despite Tor Arne Hetland’s second place in the World Cup sprint opener in Dusseldorf, Germany, not at all satisfied with the rest of the team’s performance.   -Tor Arne Hetland skied a very good race. He didn’t pay attention enough after one lap in the final and was suddenly last, but was able to miraculously move up and showed that he had the fastest sprint in...

Jallai Erki was fastest in Saturday’s prolog in the men’s sprint World Cup opener while Christian Zorzi of Italy was second. Five Swedes made it to the finals. Erki was the biggest surprise in the World Cup sprint opening in Dusseldorf. Erki has previously never captured World Cup points and ended up far down on the list in last year’s Dusseldorf sprint race. Erki skied tough and took the lead in all his heats. He...

Norway's top relay teams won both the mens and women's sprint relay races in Dusseldorf, Germany on Sunday, with Germany taking second in both races. Marit Bjoergen and Hilde G. Pedersen combined for victory in the women's 6 x 0.8 kilometre team sprint. The Norway I pair clocked 10:04.2 minutes more than four seconds ahead of their nearest rivals Germany II, Manuela Henkel and Evi Sachenbacher. In the men's race Haavard Bjerkeli and Tor Arne...

Photos from today's World Cup sprint in Dusseldorf, Germany. For more photos go to Copyright: Copyright:

DUSSELDORF, Germany (Oct. 23) – For the third straight year, Sweden's Peter Larsson won the first World Cup sprint of the season Saturday along the Rhine River in Dusseldorf, with Olympic champ Tor Arne Hetland of Norway runnerup under cloudy skies. Norwegian Marit Bjorgen made it eight consecutive women's sprint wins, edging Anna Dahlberg of Sweden with defending World Cup champion Gabriella Paruzzi of Italy in third place. No U.S. skiers raced. For complete results: