It makes sense that two skiers born in Alaska and Russia won Sunday's classic mass starts in subzero temperatures just above the legal limit at the SuperTour in Bozeman, Mont. "No one's psyched to be so cold, but I just try to put it out of my mind and focus," Holmes says.
Cold temperatures couldn't keep the Sovereign Lake NorAm classic sprint from going off on Sunday. Andrea Dupont and Patrick Stewart-Jones overcame windy and cold conditions to take victories in the classic sprints.
Fresh snow couldn't keep the US women's relay from matching their best ever 4.5 Classic/Free Relay time. Randall, Bjornsen Stephen and Diggins claimed a bronze medal despite near disaster and broken ski pole. A second US women's relay team clinched 12th to close the second weekend of World Cup racing
While the Norwegian women's team seized a predictable victory in the Lillehammer World Cup 4 x 5 k relay on Sunday, Finland and the U.S. duked it out for second, with a late crash taking the Americans out of the running for their best-ever relay result.
Another cold one at Sovereign Lake kept the organizers and athletes scrambling in temperatures around -20 degrees Celsius, but the end result was an exciting first NorAm of the season, with two Americans taking the top spots in the men's 15 k and Heidi Widmer winning the 10 k skate.
Four races into the 2013/2014 World Cup season and American Sadie Bjornsen already has two top 10's and the recognition that comes with it. Bjornsen placed seventh in Saturday's 10 k classic in Lillehammer, Norway, leading three U.S. women in the top 30.
A lot of people might not know who Emil Johansson is. To SuperTour spectators and most of the 200-plus racers in West Yellowstone on Friday, he was an unknown: a Swede racing in the green suit of his home club IK Jarl Rättvik. An exchange student at the University of Colorado in Boulder, he's not part of the team. It was hard to know what he was capable of.
The fourth-fastest qualifier, Andy Newell went on to place sixth in the men's 1.4 k skate sprint in Beitostølen, Norway, on Sunday -- not exactly what he was hoping for, but not bad for his first skate sprint since August. Simi Hamilton qualified in 15th and had an unlucky break that put him 27th overall.
The U.S. women closed out their weekend in Beitostølen on top, with Kikkan Randall winning Sunday's 1.2 k skate sprint ahead of two Slovenians and three Norwegians, including Marit Bjørgen. Ida Sargent placed 13th and three other Americans made the top 20.
Sjusjøen, Norway, is hosting "Sesongstartskiskyting": opening races for the international biathlon season. Most European national teams were in attendance, and Norway's Emil Hegle Svendsen and Germany's Andrea Henkel took home the wins in Saturday's sprints.
Erik Bjornsen thought he was done for. The 21-year-old U.S. Ski Team and APU skier had gone out too hard, too early in Monday’s 6 k freestyle hill climb before the real ascent up Sugar Bowl Resort even started. Somehow, he found at least three more gears and beat Kris Freeman to the top for his first SuperTour Finals title.
Ida Sargent made herself a favorite in Saturday's classic sprint, her last race of SuperTour Finals, putting it all on the line and giving Kikkan Randall someone to chase. Randall prevailed and extended her lead over Sadie Bjornsen, who was third.
Fresh off a flight from Sweden, Dasha Gaiazova entered her first race of Canadian Nationals firing all cylinders, beating Japan's Chisa Obayasi by nearly 1 1/2 minutes in Tuesday's 10 k classic interval start in Whistler, B.C. Brent McMurtry captured his first national title in the men's 15 k, 23 seconds ahead of Norway's Rune Ødegärd.
It wouldn’t quite be accurate to call Marit Bjørgen’s World Cup Finals pursuit performance on Sunday a formality. Sure, Norway’s 12-time World Champion started the 10-kilometer freestyle race a full minute and 20 seconds ahead of the field, with teammate Therese Johaug being the only one that could potentially test her. And yes, chances were Johaug would never catch her, but there’s always several races within a race – and Bjørgen had one going from the start.
Just when spectators thought he might falter, Petter Northug rebounded from a nearly five-second deficit midway through Friday's 2.5 k prologue to win his second-straight race of World Cup Finals by 2.1 seconds over teammate Pal Golberg. Norway showed its strength on the modified course, putting six in the top seven.
Petter Northug sheltered himself from the wind then surged to the front when it counted, winning each of his heats and ultimately Wednesday's final for his first sprint victory in Stockholm. The win put him ahead of Alexander Legkov and Dario Cologna in the overall World Cup standings and in prime position for the rest of the World Cup Finals.
Gabriela Soukalova didn't want to race Thursday morning. Who could blame her? It was freezing in Siberia and she was set to start a 7.5 k sprint that evening. The Czech overcame her dread and won the IBU World Cup race over Germany's Andrea Henkel and Miriam Gössner. Susan Dunklee led the Americans in 29th.
Typically known as a sprinter, Dasha Gaiazova is knocking on distance racing’s door. The 29-year-old notched her second-best result of the season in a distance event, placing 33rd in Sunday’s 10-kilometer classic individual start at the World Cup in Lahti, Finland.
Just when people were starting to doubt Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk, the 30-year-old put down a pace no one could keep up with – not even four-time 2013 World Champion Marit Bjørgen – on Sunday in Lahti, Finland.
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.