DAVOS, Switzerland — The evening before the skate sprint in Davos – Andy Newell’s last World Cup competition of 2016 – the U.S. Ski Team veteran stood in the dark outside the temporary trailer his team was using as a wax cabin and talked about doping. In particular, he talked about systematic doping in Russia and has maintained his innocence since , in her extensive investigation of retroactively-awarded Olympic medals, called this “the butterfly effect...
Norway’s ergey Ustiugov notched his first victory of the season in the skate sprint. Here’s all the reporting – and there’s a lot – that didn’t make it into the race reports. On that awesome feeling in your legs “I love lactate.” -Matti Heikkinen, Finland (3rd in 30 k) “Not so much.” -Anders Gløersen, Norway (2nd in 30 k) On how to get through a rough patch “Alex [Harvey] came through with a group, with...
A weekend of World Cup action in Davos, Switzerland, saw two Norwegian women take top honors: Maiken Caspersen Falla in the skate sprint. Here’s all the reporting – and there’s a lot – that didn’t make it into the race reports. On ending up in a sprint heat with your teammate “I picked that heat because it was just the heat with the least amount of people at the time. You never want to be...
After qualifying 29th in the men's 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint on Sunday, Russia's Sergey Ustiugov made his way to the top of the results, winning his first sprint of the FIS season and besting two Norwegians--Finn Hågen Krogh and Sindre Bjørnestad Skar--in the process. “I knew I had power to win. It is great to win here in Davos,” Ustiugov said.
DAVOS, Switzerland—After winning the first 15 k World Cup of her career on Saturday, Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg – long considered a sprint specialist – noted that maybe it was sprinting she actually needed to work on. One day later, there’s no doubt that she’s still got it. Østberg finished second behind teammate Maiken Caspersen Falla in the freestyle sprint, and took the overall World Cup lead from another teammate, Heidi Weng. “I will sleep...
DAVOS, Switzerland–A few years ago, there was rarely a World Cup sprint where the U.S. Ski Team’s Kikkan Randall and Andy Newell weren’t fighting for a top spot in the heats. The bread and butter of the U.S. sprint squad, the pair defined what was possible for American skiing in the modern era. But this season neither has made it into the quarterfinals of a sprint yet. On Sunday, Newell just barely missed the heats:...
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. *** Note: This recap has been updated to reflect the correct positions each of the four Canadian women exchanged in during Sunday’s 4 x...
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. *** Canadian NorAm/U.S. SuperTour at Sovereign Lake: Classic sprint [UPDATE] U.S. skiers filled the open category podiums on the first fully North American...
DAVOS, Switzerland — Martin Johnsrud Sundby might not have had the fastest World Cup opener (by his standards), but two weeks later it’s clear who is king of the distance field: the same Norwegian who won the World Cup distance globe two of the last three years. “I did not feel my best the last weekend, but I was able to catch the tour victory after all,” Sundby said of won this race in 2013,...
DAVOS, Switzerland — Coming off a won the day. “Working on the long distances, it’s still a ways to catch up to the girls at the top,” Diggins said. “But it’s a long season, and we have a lot of belief, a lot of sparkles on our side.” By 10 k into the race, she was up into fifth place, and within a second of the time laid down by Nathalie Von Siebenthal of Switzerland....
DAVOS, Switzerland — Ingvild Flugstad Østberg didn’t plan to start Saturday’s 15 k skate World Cup like a bat out of hell. But by 2.2 kilometers into the course, she already had a 7.9-second lead over Heidi Weng, her Norwegian teammate and the overall leader of the World Cup. That gap widened and closed and widened and closed, and at the finish Østberg had just that: a 7.9-second win over Weng, and her first World...
While reporting regarding systematic doping by Russian teams has been building up for several years, like meldonium, is a metabolic modulator which combats angina. Another athlete tested positive for “phthalates”, plasticizers which are sometimes used in IV bags and are often assumed to indicate blood transfusions. They are also, however, present in other kinds of packaging. In all of these cases the results were reported to WADA’s anti-doping test management system, ADAMS, as negative tests:...
A quick trajectory. That's a succinct way of describing US Biathlon's Clare Egan ascent onto the World Cup. She first picked up a rifle three years ago, and today you might just see her shoot clean.
Three days of racing, more than a dozen North American skiers, and one FasterSkier on-site reporter was there to witness it all — including Women | Women | Women | Diggins’s 5 k victory “Jessica can be either in the front or in the back when it comes to classic. I thought that if she has a good day, then we and Marit can try to chase Heidi, and that would be a really nice group....
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. (Note: This Rundown has been updated to include comments from U.S. Nordic Combined’s Bryan Fletcher, who placed ninth on Sunday at the World...
Three days up, three days down. The Lillehammer mini tour ends with Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby taking the win by a sliver. Canada's Alex Harvey has let the skiing do the talking with a flurry of top-tens, finishing the 9th overall.
Norway’s Heidi Weng started the 10-kilometer classic pursuit in Lillehammer, Norway, on her own, and she finished just the same: alone, and in first place. The 25 year old chalked up her first World Cup mini-tour win on Sunday, after second in the 5 k skate in Saturday. Weng started the day with a 20-second cushion separating her from second-place Ingvild Flugstad Østberg in the mini-tour standings, and extended that lead slightly by the middle...
Note: This article has been updated to include American Rosie Brennan’s result. *** There are several different ways to describe Lillehammer’s 5-kilometer freestyle course, complete with at least five notable climbs, one of which takes a World Cup skier about 3 1/2 minutes to conquer. “Fun” isn’t the word most would use, but most aren’t Jessie Diggins. A 25-year-old member of the U.S. Ski Team from Afton, Minn., Diggins rounded the one-lap course with a speed no...
LILLEHAMMER, Norway — The men’s 10-kilometer freestyle on Day 2 of the Lillehammer mini tour turned out to be a nail biter and a win-win situation for Swedish fans on Saturday. Calle Halfvarsson, who Results | Pursuit start list
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. *** U.S. SuperTour opener in West Yellowstone: Freestyle sprints [UPDATE] The U.S. domestic season opened in West Yellowstone, Mont., with 1.3-kilometer freestyles on...