USST athlete Jessie Diggins earned her second fifth-place of the weekend in the 7.5 k + 7.5 k skiathlon in Rybinsk, Russia. Diggins led the USST women to place four skiers in the top-20 with Liz Stephen in seventh, Sadie Bjornsen in 13th, and Rosie Brennan in 20th.
In the final race before a break in World Cup racing, Canada's Alex Harvey recovered from a rough classic portion of the men's 30-kilometer skiathlon in Rybinsk, Russia, to take ninth. Ivan Babikov cracked the top-20 and finished in 19th.
Russian Yulia Tchekaleva won the women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon Sunday by 15.6 seconds, earning her first-ever World Cup victory and delivering her best result of the season on home turf in Rybinsk, Russia.
It was a day of firsts for Jennie Öberg of Sweden who had her first World Cup sprint final, podium, and win in Rybinsk, Russia. Jessie Diggins skied to her best result of the season, taking fifth. The USST women placed and addition three skiers in the top 13.
After making it through the qualifier, three Americans and Canadian Alex Harvey were not able to race their way into the semifinals of Saturday's World Cup 1.3 k freestyle sprint in Rybinsk, Russia. However, American Erik Bjornsen had his best sprint result on the World Cup and reached the heats for the first time.
Italy’s Federico Pellegrino skied himself into the history books after his victory in Saturdays sprint race in Rybinsk, Russia, denying Russians a victory at home for the second day in a row.
Liz Stephen marked yet another historic race with a second place in the 10 k freestyle in Rybinsk, Russia. The 27-year-old not only earned her first-ever World Cup podium, she also notched the best finish by an American woman in a World Cup distance race.
Dario Cologna was victorious in Friday's 15 k freestyle in Rybinsk, Russia and in the process thwarted four Russians who were gunning for a home-country podium sweep.
Canadian Alex Harvey took 10th in the World Cup 15 k freestyle individual start in Rybinsk, Russia, taking 10th, while Ivan Babikov placed 22nd and Devon Kershaw finished 36th for Canada. The American men finished 40th and 50th with Erik Bjornsen and Matt Gelso, respectively.
For the third time ever, the IPC World Championships are being held in the U.S. and kick off Friday with the opening ceremony in Cable, Wis. Team USA is ready, according to coach Eileen Carey. “We are thrilled to get another chance to test out some of our training and racing strategies," she says. "Having the opportunity to do that on home snow is a great bonus for us.”
Not only has Norway dominated cross country World Cup podiums, but their skier have also taken home more than half of the available prize money. Marit Bjørgen alone has won 1/3 of the total money available to the women's field. How does everyone else stack up, and how does this relate to World Cup points?
In her second-ever team sprint (and first one since 2009), Rosie Brennan teamed up with Ida Sargent to advance to the final, where they placed sixth of 10 teams. The U.S. women's first team, Sadie Bjornsen and Sophie Caldwell placed 11th, as did the U.S. men's second team (Erik Bjornsen/Matt Gelso), and Andy Newell and Simi Hamilton ended up 19th after a late semifinal crash.
Russia's Alexey Pethukov and Sergey Ustiugov emerged as a team-sprint force to be reckoned with in the first team sprint of the season and last one before World Championships, and Canada's Jess Cockney and Lenny Valjas teamed up for eighth.
Sweden's Stina Nilsson surged past Norway's Ingvild Flugstad Østberg to win the World Cup women's 6 x 1.2 k freestyle team sprint in Otepää with the same crew that won the Olympic bronze medal at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Without the big show of Marit Bjørgen in Saturday's classic sprint, Norway's Ingvild Flugstad Østberg rose to the occasion, notching her first World Cup classic-sprint victory and fourth podium of the season.
Three Americans made the quarterfinals on Saturday in the second World Cup classic sprint of the season: Sadie Bjornsen, Simi Hamilton and Andy Newell. None of them advanced to the semifinals, and while it wasn't a bad day, most were left wanting more.
In her first World Cup of the season and best result since the 2012 World Cup freestyle sprint at home in Canmore, Alberta, Alysson Marshall launched back into international-racing action on Saturday and placed 44th in the women’s 1.2-kilometer classic sprint in Otepää, Estonia.
If he hadn’t been a Northug, one might have wondered what that 24-year-old Norwegian was doing in the men's 1.5 k classic-sprint final on Saturday.
Ivan Babikov felt faster than 12th on the day up Alpe Cermis, yet that's where he ended up for 31st overall in the Tour. Canadian teammate Devon Kershaw ended the final stage in 35th -- not where he wanted to be, either.
The Tour de Ski was the one major international title that eluded Marit Bjørgen, but she finally claimed it after an uncontested victory in Sunday's final stage in Val di Femme, Italy, a 9 k freestyle pursuit. While Norway swept the podium, Liz Stephen took fifth to earn the best Tour finish of all time for the United States.