On Sunday in Lahti, Finland, Petter Northug took his second individual victory of the season, this time in the classic discipline, winning in a time of 34:35.6. The margin back to second place finisher Alexey Poltoranin (KAZ) was a yawning 31.7 seconds, and to countryman Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR) it was 35.1 seconds. "I was hungry again today," Northug told reporters.
Sadie Bjornsen notched a career-best ninth-place finish in the Lahti, Finland, freestyle sprint on the same day her teammate, Kikkan Randall, secured the crystal sprint globe for the U.S. "She almost stole the show, in a way," said USST women's coach Matt Whitcomb. Seven American women in all competed on Saturday; Jessie Diggins followed Bjornsen in 25th.
In her 100th career World Cup start in Lahti, Finland, on Saturday, American Kikkan Randall won a photo-finish with Marit Bjørgen in the freestyle sprint and locked down the season-long quest for the crystal sprint globe for the second year in a row. "If you put in the work and stay dedicated then you can be the best in the world. And it’s pretty fun," Randall said afterwards.
Emil Jönsson (SWE) bounced back from World Championship disappointment to win the Lahti freestyle sprint, and wrap up his third overall Sprint Cup victory.
Len Valjas (CAN) led the Canadian men on Saturday in Lahti, Finland, with an strong eighth place finish. His performance was just as fueled by frustration as it was fitness. Valjas toed the line today after a miserable run of sickness. “I was sick for nine days,” he said. “I had strep throat, then a chest cold, and laryngitis. It felt good to get out of bed.” The timing of the sickness couldn’t have been worse,...
Andrea Dupont was called up by Canada to race in the sprint at World Championships, and offered a World Cup start the weekend before. But it seemed silly, she thought, to go to Europe for just a few days - and so she managed to gain a start spot in Sweden's famed Vasaloppet, where she double-poled her way to 11th place.
The classic races of World Championships took place in Val di Fiemme: interval start, relay, marathon. Biathletes competed in Oslo, Americans held their own in Slavic Cup action, and Swedes (and everyone else) gave it their all in the Vasaloppet. Summaries of the action, along with links to reporting and results.
Johan Olsson (SWE) skied what has already been dubbed the greatest 50 k of all time to close out the 2013 Nordic World Ski Championships on Sunday in front of a packed stadium. Skiing by himself for well over half the race, the performance drew admiration from his competitors and everyone present in the stands to witness it. Our images from the day.
Alex Harvey hung with the group for the first half of Sunday's 50 k, but dropped out of contention and didn't have the skis or the body to catch back up in the final race of the 2013 World Championships. He finished 28th, Graham Nishikawa was 48th and Ivan Babikov pulled out halfway through.
Johan Olsson surprised most everyone and held his own for nearly 30 k on Sunday, skiing alone with a relentless drive for gold in the World Championships 50 k classic mass start on a hot-and-slushy afternoon.
Noah Hoffman skied with a breakaway on the first lap of the 50 k classic on Sunday at World Championships and eventually faded to a 27th-place finish to lead the American men on the final day of racing in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Kris Freeman was 37th, Tad Elliott finished 40th and Erik Bjornsen placed 52nd.
When you’ve already got 11 World Championship golds, it takes something really special to bring you to tears for the 12th one. Marit Bjørgen was overcome with emotion after winning Saturday's 30 k classic mass start, a race she had been focusing on for the last few years.
Marit Bjørgen earned her twelfth World Championships gold medal on Saturday with her victory in the 30 k classic in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Even with so many titles to her name, it was still an emotional win for the 32-year-old Norwegian star. Our photos from the race.
The World Championship 30 k wasn’t the perfect race for the American women, but all things considered Liz Stephen and Ida Sargent were satisfied with the effort it took to ski a race that was dictated by slow, saturated snow, 50-degree heat and tricky waxing conditions. Stephen was 16th and Sargent finished 25th. Jessie Diggins DNF after an early crash and Kikkan Randall did not race.
Like he always seems to do at big events, Petter Northug, Jr., made sure the men's relay came down to a final sprint on Friday at World Championships so he could win the drag race, pull a finish-line smirk out of his repertoire, and leave Sweden wanting revenge for the umpteenth time. Our photos from the day.
Canada fell short of its expectations in Friday's 4x10 k relay, placing 12th of 18 teams and 2:39.3 behind the winners.
With glitter and American flags painted on their faces, Andy Newell, Kris Freeman, Noah Hoffman and Tad Elliott skied to tenth place in the men's 4x10 k relay at World Championships on Friday in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Elliott created some excitement with a surge in the last leg that bridged a minute-wide gap back to the leaders, and though he later faded the Americans were psyched to have been in the hunt.
Petter Northug played a main role in what turned out to be a nail-biting final leg of Friday's 4x10 k relay, which didn't get interesting until the last kilometer. The Norwegian attacked and proved too strong for his contenders, beating Sweden, Russia and Italy in a sprint finish.
Ivan Babikov had one of the best races of his life on Wednesday with a career-best fourth in the World Championships 15 k freestyle. After a slow start, the man affectionately known as the Canadian "Bulldog" raced to one of the best finishing times, about 30 seconds off the podium.
Coming off a disappointing team sprint, Petter Northug decided to start Wednesday's 15 k freestyle at World Championships to see what could happen. The Norwegian ended up winning the individual start, not usually his best event, to capture his eighth world title.