A closer look at the U.S. Ski Team's new selection criteria for 2017 World Championships, designed to reward the top performers in a given season and discourage points chasing. “Athletes who skied fast in the spring of the previous season no longer have a potential advantage over those athletes skiing fast in the current season," U.S. Ski Team Head Coach Chris Grover wrote. "...The athlete that is winning races is most likely going to make the Team.”
With the 2014/2015 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Tuesday marks the second set of honors, going to outstanding skiers, one male and one female, on the NCAA collegiate circuit.
Never count Petter Northug out of a ski race. In the final race of the 2015 FIS Nordic World Championships, the Norwegian never cracked the top-10 of the 50 k until the last kilometer where he out-sprinted the competition to take his fourth victory of the Championships.
Canada and the U.S. men's teams battled for a close 10th and 11th positions in Friday's 4 x 10 k relay at the 2015 FIS Nordic World Championships in Falun, Sweden. While both teams acknowledged a desire for improvement, they were pleased with their respective efforts.
FasterSkier sat down with Jessie Diggins and Caitlin Gregg on Wednesday to talk about their surprise double podium in the 10 k freestyle at the 2015 World Championships, and what it means to them and U.S. cross country skiing.
Johan Olsson skied to a convincing victory in Wednesday's 15 k freestyle in Falun, Sweden in front of a home crowd. The 34-year-old who focuses solely on championship race overcame what he called a "mission impossible" after facing a year of illness and time apart from his family. He was followed by Maurice Manificat who won France's first medal in 10 years. Anders Gløersen of Norway finished third.
The U.S. Ski Team finished Sunday's team sprint in the middle of the pack, as the defending world championship team of Sophie Caldwell and Jessie Diggins skied to eighth and the American men's team of Andy Newell and Simi Hamilton notched seventh.
When Norwegian Therese Johaug threw down the hammer on Mördarbacken, a.k.a. "murder-hill", in the last lap of the women's 15 k skiathlon there was no hope for the rest of the competition. Using the hill to her advantage, Johaug skied to a World Championships gold ahead of teammate Astrid Jacobsen and Charlotte Kalla of Sweden.
Liz Stephen was the top North American in Saturday's 15 k skiathlon after she raced to 11th behind winner Therese Johaug. She said the result was unexpected given remaining fatigue from the prior week's training.
In the first nordic-combined competition of World Championships, Germany's Johannes Rydzek had some of the best timing all day, attacking late to drop his lone rival before the finish: Italy's Alessandro Pittin. The U.S. saw top-20 jumps from Billy Demong and Ben Berend, and Taylor Fletcher skied up from 25th to 19th.
The opening race of the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships saw Norway's Petter Northug out lunge Canada's Alex Harvey for victory in the 1.4 k classic sprint in Falun, Sweden. Harvey spent much of the final in last position and skied a tactical race to overcome the strong field.
The buzz is building at the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships with the completion of the first races in Falun. Wednesday saw the individual-start distance qualification races take place with 45 women and 69 men and women skiing 5 kilometers and 10 k, respectively.