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The cream of the crop. The best in the world compete all winter long on the World Cup. We follow them at every stop with article and results. We also post occasional reports from North America’s best as they travel the globe.
Klæbo Claims First World Championship Title, Hamilton 9th Overall

It was a dramatic day at World Championships in Seefeld, Austria on Thursday. Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo can now call himself a World Champion after a tactical and hard-fought victory in the 2019 World Championship 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint. Federico Pellegrino of Italy won silver finishing 0.23 seconds behind Klæbo. Russian skier Gleb Retivykh placed third, 1.37 seconds back. Klæbo qualified fifth, then proceeded to win his quarterfinal and advance to the finals after placing second...

2019 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Seefeld, Austria 1.2 k/ 1.6 k freestyle sprint Welcome to The Rundown, your quick primer of need-to-know information about the day’s racing. We’ll be updating this digest as the day goes on with additional results, photos and quotes. The Rundown is NOT a race report; stay tuned for complete race reports later today with interviews from the day’s top racers. The women’s 1.2-kilometer freestyle sprint at the 2019...

Time to Qualify in Seefeld: 5 k/10 k Classic Qualification Races

Wednesday in Seefeld, Austria was the day to pace yourself into the 2019 Nordic Ski World Championships.  No Jessie Diggins or Alex Harvey toed the line in today’s distance qualifiers, a 5-kilometer classic for the women a 10 k classic for the men. For those skiers without the minimum International Ski Federation (FIS) distance points, qualification races are an opportunity to earn start spots in the championship’s distance events. (Athletes racing on Wednesday have not...

How to View the Seefeld, Austria World Championships

Watching the events live … ee’ve got to temper the good news. If you subscribe to the NBC Gold “Snow” Pass, then you will have live/replay access to almost all of the championship events. We cannot overemphasize the “almost”. Back when NBC announced it’s Gold Pass system, subscribers did not have access to the Seefeld championships. At the time, the rights holder in Austria was reportedly asking too steep a price from NBC to secure...

Niskanen Wins Cogne 10 k Classic; Brennan 21st

World Cup racers in the Cogne, Italy 10-kilometer classic individual start enjoyed blues skies and sunshine on Sunday,  the temperate weather seeming to have carried over from Saturday’s sprint. Winning the women’s race was Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen in a time of 27:24.8. The victory is Niskanen’s second individual World Cup win–her first came five years ago in the Lenzerheide, Switzerland 10 k classic. With Sunday’s 10 k the final World Cup regular season race before World...

FIS Cross Country World Cup 10 k/15 k Classic Individual Start Cogne, Italy World Cup athletes returned to the Cogne race venue on Sunday for a men’s and women’s classic interval start race. In the women’s 10 k, Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen, won in a time of 27:24.8. Finishing just 3 seconds behind her for second place was Swiss skier, Nadine Fähndrich. Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva claimed third, 12.6 seconds behind the winner. Racing for the U.S., Rosie...

Pellegrino and De Fabiani Go 1-2 on Home Soil; Hamilton 4th

The sun illuminated the alps in Cogne, Italy, the final World Cup stop before the FIS World Championships in Seefeld, Austria. Nestled in the mountains, the Aosta Valley is home to both Federico Pellegrino and Francesco De Fabiani, who seized the opportunity to delight the home crowd. The 1.6-kilometer freestyle race was also a chance for Pellegrino to earn his 12th individual freestyle sprint victory, tying for the second-most overall for any World Cup athlete...

Diggins Wins Cogne Sprint; U.S. Puts 6 Women in Top 30

Until the very end of Saturday’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint race in Cogne, Italy, American Jessie Diggins had those watching on the edge of their seats. She advanced as the lucky loser in her quarterfinal and then once again in her semi final, before winning the final in a lunge to the line. “Man I am glad they do lucky  losers here!” Diggins told the International Ski Federation after winning Saturday’s sprint. “It’s so fun to...

Norway goes One-Two in Lahti Men’s Team Sprint

Norway placed first and second in today’s World Cup 6 x 1.6-kilometer classic team sprint in Lahti, Finland. Skiing for Norway I were overall winners Emil Iversen and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. They won the ten team final in a time of 18:57.19 minutes. In a photo finish for second place, Sindre Bjørnestad Skar and Eirik Brandsdal of Norway II finished 0.65 seconds back to take the second podium step. Iivo Niskanen and Ristomatti Hakola of...

Sunday Rundown from Lahti and Canada (Canmore Biathlon Sprints Cancelled)

FIS World Cup Lahti, Finland Classic Team Sprint Sunday in Lahti, Finland the women raced a 6 x 1.4-kilometer classic team sprint. U.S. fans saw their hopes for a podium snuffed out in the two semi-finals that determined the 10 teams advancing to the finals. In the first team sprint semi, the U.S. Ski Team’s (USST) Ida Sargent and Sophie Caldwell  placed sixth overall and did not advance. Sargent and Caldwell, constituting team USA I,...

Falla First in Lahti; But Calling it For Caldwell

Out of the famed Lahti, Finland ski stadium and up and over the initial punchy climb, Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla, 40 seconds into the final of the women’s 1.4-kilometer sprint, charged ahead. In her draft, and sitting in fourth place around the hairpin that slung skiers back towards the stadium was the U.S. Ski Team’s Sophie Caldwell. Descending back past the stadium and into the next decisive hill at 1:35 into the race, Caldwell made...

Klæbo Tied for Second-Most World Cup Sprint Wins; US Skiers Looking for More

After two weeks away from competition, athletes revved their engines in Lahti, Finland for an individual 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint, one of the final stops on the way to the World Championships. After a string of what he deemed “bad luck” in the first sprint races of the season in Ruka and Lillehammer, Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo came into the weekend with momentum from winning the last four individual sprints. Klæbo also arrived in Lahti on...

Saturday Race Rundown; Caldwell Second in Lahti; Canadian Westerns

FIS World Cup Lahti, Finland 1.4 k/ 1.6 k Freestyle Sprint In the women’s skate sprint qualifier in Lahti, Finland Slovenia’s Eva Urevc laid down the fastest time in 2:40.67 minutes. Swiss skier Nadine Faehndrich was the second fastest qualifier, 4.21 seconds back, with the U.S. Ski Team’s (USST) Sophie Caldwell third (+4.36). Canada’s Dahria Beatty qualified 25th (+10.21). Also making the heats for the U.S. were Ida Sargent (USST) in 26th (+10.36), and Kelsey Phinney...

Russian Teams Take the Top Two Spots in Ulricehamn; U.S. in 13th

Today in Ulricehamn, Sweden, the men skied a 4 x 7.5- kilometer relay in unsettled conditions. Racers dealt with harsh conditions as the wind howled and heavy snow fell. With a softened course, it appeared most teams struggled with kick on the steeper climbs. Scott Patterson of the U.S. Ski Team (USST) commented on the conditions via email, “the race conditions were interesting with both falling snow and blasting wind. The organizers re-groomed the course...

Norway Wins 11th Consecutive 4 x 5 K Relay; U.S. in Sixth with a Diggins Charge

“We have a strong team, many girls are going fast. We do this together so we are really happy,” Therese Johaug told the International Ski Federation (FIS) after Sunday’s 4 x 5-kilometer relay in Ulricehamn, Sweden. With wind, snow, and crowds lining the course the 4 x 5 k women’s relay appeared to simply be an illustration of Norway’s astounding plug-and-play depth. Sunday marked Norway’s 11th 4 x 5 k consecutive relay win dating back...

Sunday Race Rundown: Ulricehamn, Antholz, and Lake Placid (Updated)

FIS World Cup Ulricehamn, Sweden 4 x 5 k / 4 x 7.5 k relay The sun rises, the sun sets, and Norway wins the women’s 4 x 5-kilometer relay in Ulricehamn, Norway on Sunday. For the 11th time in a row, a Norwegian women’s team bested the world in the storied race format. Heidi Weng, Therese Johaug, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg won in a time of 57:06.3 minutes. For the first...

50th World Cup Victory for Johaug; Diggins 4th

The World Cup returned to Ulricehamn, Sweden for the second time today for the women’s 10-kilometer individual start freestyle event. Ulricehamn earned rave reviews when it first hosted a World Cup two years ago, with athletes expressing their gratitude for the top notch course preparation and for the support from a huge crowd of fans. This year appeared no different; tens of thousands of people lined every inch of the 5k loop, erupting in cheers...

Manificat Gets his Win; Harvey Returns for Ninth

  The tension in the interval start race comes down to watching the clock. The seconds tick, the time checks pass, the squirm of the of the skier in the leader’s chair only quelled after the top-prospects slide past the finish — and there’s only a reference to time back. On Dec. 12, that was France’s Maurice Manificat, the thirty-two-year-old skate skiing star, residing where he often belongs, sitting in the leader’s chair in Davos,...

Johaug Returns With Win in Typical Fashion; Diggins 13th

In the first distance race after the Tour de Ski, it remained to be seen whether Norway’s Therese Johaug, undefeated in distance events, would be able to pick up where she left off in December. As Johaug sat out the TdS, her teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg entered the 10-kilometer interval start classic race with momentum, having taken the win in four distance stages of the Tour, including two 10 k classic victories. Østberg also posted the...

Niskanen wins in Otepää, Bolshunov second, Bjornsen 30th

Finland’s Iivo Niskanen took the victory in Sunday’s 15-kilometer classic individual start in Otepää, Estonia. This is Niskanen’s first World Cup win of the season and his third career individual World Cup victory. During the first half of the race, Niskanen’s splits were up on the rest of the field and by 7.5 k, he had almost 15 seconds on the next closest competitor. Niskanen finished in a time of 19:26.8. Niskanen was just voted...