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...
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...
“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...
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...
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...
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,...
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...
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...
Some proverbs hang in there. From situation to situation they simply capture, in the moment, how best to move forward. “Patience is a virtue,” has an etymology going way back. Yet the timeworn saying and it’s wait-wait-wait underpinnings helped dictate the outcome of Saturday’s World Cup 1.3-kilometer classic sprint in Otepää, Estonia. That is until Maiken Caspersen Falla broke up the final. But we’ll get to that in a moment. It was the modern course...
FIS World Cup Otepää, Estonia 1.3 k / 1.6 Classic Sprint Starting the day’s performance benchmarks off was Stina Nilsson of Sweden with the fastest qualifier in the women’s 1.3-kilometer classic sprint in Otepää on Saturday. She stopped the clock in 3:07.62 minutes. The U.S. Ski Team’s (USST) Jessie Diggins was the top-qualifying North American in 18th (+5.37). Sadie Bjornsen (USST) qualified 20th (+5.71), and Ida Sargent 27th (+8.38). On a course rewarding patience and...
This morning we’re running a few remaining Dresden, Germany city sprint images sent to FS from former U.S. Ski Team athlete and Lumi Experiences founder Garrott Kuzzy. Chemijos, lietuvių ir anglų kalbos bei matematikos korepetitorius https://intellectus.lt/korepetitoriai/
If the Grand Prix were to host a ski race, it might look like the Team Sprint in Dresden, Germany. With 10 teams racing the 6 x 1.6-kilometer final and the racetrack style, three-lap loop situated in the city’s center, the tactics of a Formula One driver seemed employable on the relatively flat course. For most teams’ skiers, that meant patience; staying in one’s lane and in contact until the last lap. Norway’s Team I...
A strip of imported snow along the Elbe river, iconic architectural reminders of old-world Europe’s city-scape in Dresden, Germany, Lycra, speedy skiers, and teams of two: all the ingredients for the men’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle team sprint. With tight pack skiing a function of the the relatively flat Dresden ski loop, the ten teams in the final attempted to play stay-out-of-trouble-skiing for the six total laps. But with a crowded tag area and tight corners where...
FIS World Cup Dresden, Germany 6 x 1.6 k Freestyle Team Sprint The first World Cup team sprint of the season was run amidst drizzle and the Dresden, Germany city-scape as the women raced a total of six 1.6-kilometer laps. Round and round on the looping course, the pace was a mix of tactically subdued speeds with sustained bursts of energy to break the pack. After all the speed changes and exchanges with one athlete...
The white ribbon of snow created a stark contrast to the green grass and gothic architecture along the bank of the River Elbe for the second year of city sprints in Dresden, Germany. As is typical in these events, the 1.6-kilometer out and back course was predominantly flat with a few short hill punches and a 180-degree hairpin turn at the halfway mark, where the race seemed to truly begin. The nature of the course...
With the 2019 Tour de Ski complete, World Cup athletes returned to competition on Saturday for a 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint. The race took place in the city of Dresden, Germany–an icy, two lap sprint course along the Elbe river offered racers the non-traditional backdrop of cathedrals and other gothic architecture. Temperatures hung around 40 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday and the snow that was trucked in to cover the streets made for a hard packed,...
FIS World Cup Dresden, Germany 1.6 k Freestyle Sprint The city of Dresden resting alongside the River Elbe hosted a 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint for the second year running. Hannah Falk of Sweden, last year’s sprint winner in Dresden, won the qualifier in a time of 3:41.85 minutes. The U.S. Ski Team’s (USST) Sophie Caldwell was the second fastest qualifier (+0.49), with Falk’s teammate, Stina Nilsson, qualifying in third (+0.80). Canada’s Dahria Beatty placed 20th (+8.72) in...
“It was just full speed to the finish and I am not stopping until the finish line now,” Johannes Høsflot Klæbo told the International Ski Federation (FIS) after his victory in Stage 6. With the 45 bonus seconds he gathered from his win in both the overall event and the bonus sprint in yesterday’s 15-kilometer classic race, Klæbo entered the final Stage of the 2018/2019 Tour de Ski with a bit of insurance on his...
As the Tour de Ski (TdS) wanes in Val di Fiemme, Italy, position in the overall standings becomes of the utmost importance as after today’s 10-kilometer mass start classic race. There will be only one more opportunity to advance in this season’s TdS – the brutal hill climb up Alpe Cermis. Ingvild Flugstad Østberg of Norway made it evident that after three podium finishes in the Tour, she no longer wished to be the bridesmaid....
*Note: This article has been updated to include comments from U.S. Ski Team B-Tean member, Kevin Bolger Without the visual of the grey and white U23 marker next to his name on an FIS results sheet, it’s easy to forget Norwegian Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is still under 23 years of age. As the Tour de Ski (TdS) celebrates its 13th edition this year, the twenty-two-year-old Klæbo (he celebrated his 22nd birthday this October) is only...