Marit Bjørgen thought today’s win was “possible”, but her 17 second head start in today’s classic pursuit over teammate Vibeke Skofterud was not enough to give her complete confidence in a win. Bjørgen blasted out of the start with a speed fitting of a 1km sprint, trying to gain even greater cushion from the very first of 10 kilometers. Racing against only the clock, with the thought of her strong competitors and teammates chasing...
The “Ruka Triple” is a three day, three race mini-tour held in Kuusamo, Finland. The excitement started today with a classic sprint, 1.4 km for the men and 1.2 km for the women. The tracks were icy and fast, the kick a straightforward klister, and both men and women’s top finish times posted in the 2:40’s. In the women’s sprint, Vibeke Skofterud of Norway took the top qualifying time, less than one second ahead of...
While most of the spotlight was focused on Lake Placid this weekend, about 60 skiers from around the country toed the line in Duluth, MN for the first ever North Shore Rollerski Marathon on September 17. Topping the podium for the 26.2 mile point-to-point tour of Lake Superior’s north shore were Duluth native Andre Watt (Rossignol), who won a close race against Central Cross Country’s (CXC) Brian Gregg, and Jennie Bender (CXC), who beat runner-up...
Bill Demong and Bryan Fletcher led their Nordic Combined teammates to a “reassuring” start of competition this weekend at the FIS Summer Grand Prix in Saturday’s Complete Results (Gundersen start)
The United States Biathlon Association (USBA) held their biggest summer event in Jericho, Vermont this weekend: the North American Rollerski Biathlon Championships, which crowned men’s and women’s champions in four different age categories as well as the masters men’s division. “Things went wonderfully,” said John Madigan, president of the Ethan Allen Biathlon Club, which hosted the races. “It is such a close and fabulous community in biathlon and it is always special when we can...
It may not have been the Olympics, but you couldn’t tell from the weather. Just like at Whistler Olympic Park last year, the weather for the US Biathlon Nationals at Mt. Itasca, MN had a little bit of everything, with some significant rain during the Sprint competitions on Thursday, gorgeous sunshine with firm snow during Saturday’s Pursuit, and light drizzle with heavy overcast for the Mass Start on Sunday. The athletes had good attitudes however,...
In the space of one minute at the World Cup Finals, Kikkan Randall (USA) went from contender to collateral damage. Randall had had a great start to Saturday’s 10 k pursuit in Falun, Sweden—the third event of the four-stage mini-tour that ends the cross-country World Cup season—and she was among the leaders, looking for another personal distance best after her 11th-place in Finland last weekend. Enter Therese Johaug. “She decided she wanted to be right...
Despite coming off of a successful World Championships in which they led the count with eight medals (including two relay golds), the Norwegian team was unable to keep their hot streak going when the World Cup landed on home turf in Oslo. At Holmenkollen Stadium on Thursday, the best the team could muster was a second-place finish by Tora Berger in the women’s 7.5 k sprint. She finished over 30 seconds behind Magdalena Neuner of...
The Russians had five times as many chances as the U.S. to win World Championships gold in the men’s mass start in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, today, but even they couldn’t beat out a dominant Norwegian squad which put three racers in the top six. With five of the field’s thirty starters, the home team had as good a shot as anyone at winning the mass start – and for a moment it looked like Evgeny Ustyugov...
Was U.S. biathlon head coach Per Nilsson enthusiastic about his team’s relay finish at World Championships on today? “BEST EVER!” he wrote in an e-mail on Friday evening. “[It’s] fun to show that we have a team that can fight on the highest level in the world.” While the entire team had a strong performance in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, on Friday – leadoff skier Lowell Bailey tagged off in fifth place – Leif Nordgren was again...
Today’s World Championships relay in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, was somewhat unusual, with a large number of spare rounds, quite a few penalty loops, and a small spread between teams at the finish . What wasn’t unusual? Norway finished on top, defending their Olympic gold from last year. Things got off to an inauspicious start, with at least three crashes and one broken pole in the first kilometer of racing. Lowell Bailey of the U.S. was among...
Part of every biathlete’s job is to manage conditions on the range, which includes making adjustments for the wind. But there are days when the wind makes that all but impossible and the weather seems to be laughing in the face of the world’s best shooters. Wednesday in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, was just such a day, with only a single woman in the World Championships field shooting clean, and most shooting quite far from it. “Today...
In biathlon, the individual format is often described as a shooter’s race. With a minute of added time penalizing each missed shot, the consequences for a single mistake while shooting are even higher than in any other format. There are many great biathletes – World Cup winners and even World Champions – who have never won an individual race. In Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, on Tuesday, young Norwegian Tarjei Bø proved that while the individual is a...
Blue skies, some uncountable number of ski fans estimated in excess of 105,000, the most prestigious individual ski race in the world, and all of it in Oslo, the self-anointed ski capital of the world. Such a day could end only one way: with Petter Northug once again accelerating away from his competition in the last 400 meters of the World Championship 50 k freestyle on his home turf. A World Cup men’s 50 k...
The American women have had highs and lows at World Championships in Oslo this week, packing three finishers in the top 30 in both of the first two races but also watching Kikkan Randall’s medal hopes in the sprint evaporate in a crash. And while the U.S. made the final in the team sprint and placed ninth in the relay, neither of those performances were quite as good as some were hoping for. On Saturday,...
Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Eldar Roenning, the first two skiers for Norway’s 4x10km relay team sat in the Photo Press Center, eyes glued to one of the many television screens, watching the race unfold. The tension was high – no laughing or joking, not even a smile. Tord Asle Gjerdalen was on track for Norway, and he, along with Sweden’s Anders Soedergren, had just been reeled in by the chase pack. The race was now...
It certainly seems cliché, but it did actually happen. As Marit Bjoergen made her way down the homestretch, Norwegian flag in hand, the impenetrable fog of an Oslo March began to dissipate, the forecasted sun making its first stadium appearance, and illuminating yet another celebration of gold. As expected, Norway skied clear of the field to win the women’s 4×5 kilometer relay, besting Sweden by 36 seconds. Finland, continuing a strong Championships, took bronze. The...
The eyes of the ski world may have been focused on Oslo today, where the Norwegian women ran away with the win in the 4 x 5 k relay, but the biathlon world is focused on Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, where World Championships kicked off today with a mixed relay. And while the result was the same – Norway on top by a solid margin – the route to victory was a lot more challenging for Norway’s...
When Dasha Gaiazova started the 4 x 5 k relay at World Championships in Oslo on Thursday, she still had a hangover. Was it from drinking? No. “We went to bed on time,” Gaiazova told FasterSkier, promising that the women’s team had behaved themselves and not celebrated too hard. But after her teammates Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw won the men’s team sprint in thrilling fashion on Wednesday and got to stand atop the podium...
Last year, Susan Dunklee’s top finish at U26 Open European Biathlon Championships was 17th place in the sprint. At the time, she was pleased with the performance, but this year, she’s eclipsed that success – twice. In the open individual race at this year’s U26 event, which took place in Ridnaun, Italy last week, Dunklee finished 15th – an auspicious start to the week for the only senior U.S. woman nominated for the races. Then...