Aaron Pike – FasterSkier

(Press Release) Oksana Masters adds another silver, goes six-for-six in individual events at Beijing 2022

FasterSkierMarch 12, 2022

ZHANGJIAKOU, China — Team USA Nordic skier Oksana Masters (Louisville, Kentucky) skied her way into the record books on Saturday at the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Masters won the silver medal in the women’s sitting cross-country middle-distance at the Zhangjiakou Biathlon Center, her sixth medal of Beijing 2022 and 16th overall medal in her Paralympic career, which is the fourth-most Paralympic medals by a U.S. athlete. A star in both the winter and summer Paralympic Games, Masters...

Para Nordic Racing

(Press Release) Super Sprint Day for Team USA as Three More Medals Collected in Beijing

FasterSkierMarch 9, 2022

ZHANGJIAKOU, China — Team USA Para Nordic skiers Oksana Masters (Louisville, Kentucky) and Jake Adicoff (Sun Valley, Idaho), alongside guide Sam Wood (Harpswell, Maine) each won silver medals, and Sydney Peterson (Lake Elmo, Minnesota) took bronze in an exciting, fast-paced day of cross-country sprint racing at the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Through five days of competition, the U.S. Para Nordic team has collected 10 medals in cross-country and biathlon at Beijing 2022, with three more days of racing to go at the...

News Para Nordic Racing

(Press Release) Masters wins fifth gold, Gretsch takes bronze in biathlon sprint to begin 2022 Para Games

FasterSkierMarch 5, 2022

By Stephen Meyers | March 05, 2022, 7:27 a.m. (ET) Oksana Masters (Louisville, Kentucky) won the first gold medal for the U.S. at the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on Saturday in the women’s sitting biathlon sprint while teammate Kendall Gretsch (Downers Grove, Illinois) earned bronze on a cold, breezy day that included racing in the men’s and women’s biathlon sprint in the sitting, standing and vision impaired categories. Masters, a biathlete and cross-country skier, won...

General News Other News Para Nordic Team nominations

(Press Release) FOURTEEN PARA NORDIC ATHLETES NOMINATED TO 2022 PARALYMPIC TEAM

FasterSkierJanuary 31, 2022

By Kristen Gowdy | Jan. 31, 2022, 6:02 p.m. (ET) COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO – Following a stellar world championships performance that saw Team USA earn 13 medals in Para Nordic disciplines, U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing today announced the six women, seven men and one guide who have been nominated to compete at the Paralympic Games Beijing 2022 in March. Veteran athletes will lead the way in Beijing as Team USA looks to build on the 16...

Para Nordic Racing

Americans Bring Home More Medals as Para World Championships Wrap Up in Lillehammer

Rachel PerkinsJanuary 24, 2022

The Para World Championships wrapped up in Lillehammer, Norway on Sunday January 23rd, with a mixed open relay event bringing athletes from across genders and race categories together into one thrilling capstone event. Rewinding to where our previous coverage left off, Saturday’s schedule featured the final individual races of the Championships, a classic spring for standing athletes, and a cross country sprint for sprint skiers. As in able-bodied fields, a sprint involves a qualification round,...

Para Nordic Racing

U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing On a Roll at Para Worlds in Lillehammer

Rachel PerkinsJanuary 21, 2022

It’s late January and we’re deep into the race season. As the Olympics and Paralympics draw nearer, we’ve simultaneously just wrapped up the Tour de Ski, the U.S. Cross Country Championships, and another wave of SuperTour races. Never a dull moment in the racing world, the Para World Championships are currently well underway, running January 13-23rd in Lillehammer, Norway. Normally occurring on odd years, the World Championships were postponed from last February due to the...

Feature Para Nordic Racing

After a Series of World Major Marathons, Aaron Pike Transitions to Winter

Rachel PerkinsNovember 23, 2021

While no one would choose the circumstances, pandemic induced cancellations presented marathoners with a unique calendar of events this fall. All six of the iconic World Marathon Majors — Berlin, London, Chicago, Boston, Tokyo (held virtually, in-person event postponed to 2022), and New York — took place within a span of 42 days. (In a typical season, Tokyo, Boston, and London are run in the spring.) While Shalane Flanagan has been in the limelight for...

General News

U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing Names 2020-21 National and Development Teams (Press Release)

FasterSkierJuly 9, 2020

Press Release COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing today announced the five Para Nordic skiers named to the national team and two skiers named to the development team for the 2020-21 season. All seven athletes represented Team USA at the Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018. “Our program is committed to developing athletes from their first-time experience to the top levels of Nordic skiing and biathlon,” said Eileen Carey, Director of U.S. Paralympics Nordic...

Community Interviews Para Nordic

Wednesday Workout: Structuring Training for Para Athletes Q&A with Martin Benes

Rachel PerkinsNovember 27, 2019

This insight into training para nordic athletes comes from Martin Benes, head coach of U.S. Para Nordic skiing. Benes joined U.S. Para Nordic in August 2018 after spending five years as the nordic ski director and head coach at Sugar Bowl Academy in Norden, CA. Benes responded via. email following a team training camp in Canmore, Alberta. FasterSkier: Before taking this job, did you have any background in or connections to para sports? What have...

News Team nominations

U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing Names 2019-2020 National and Development Teams (Press Release)

FasterSkierJune 18, 2019

Press Release

General News Racing Resources Results

Wednesday Workout: Hitting the Trails with U.S. Para-Nordic and Head Coach Martin Benes

Gabby NaranjaDecember 5, 2018

For this week’s Wednesday Workout, FasterSkier reached out to Martin Benes, the newest addition to the U.S. Para-Nordic coaching staff. Benes joined U.S. Para-Nordic this August, after five years working as the nordic skiing director and head coach at Sugar Bowl Academy in Norden, California. He is still currently living in California. Benes’s primary work is with the Para-Nordic national team: A-team members Oksana Masters, Kendall Gretsch, and Dan Cnossen, as well as B-team member,...

General News Para Nordic Racing

Arendz Gets Gold He Came For; Cnossen and Masters Silver in Last Paralympic Biathlon Race

FasterSkierMarch 16, 2018

2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): 12.5/15 k biathlon races Canada’s Mark Arendz captured his first Paralympic gold, the sixth Paralympic medal of his career and his fourth medal of the PyeongChang Games on Friday in the men’s 15-kilometer individual standing biathlon race — the longest and final biathlon event on the schedule. Meanwhile, Dan Cnossen of the U.S. continued his medal streak with his fifth medal in as many races, taking silver in the...

General News Para Nordic Racing

First Paralympic Golds for Soule and Masters; McKeever Wins Second Straight, 12th Total

FasterSkierMarch 14, 2018

2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): Cross-country sprints Hold onto your hats, this was a major day for both the American and Canadian teams at the 2018 Paralympics. In the cross-country sprints on Wednesday in PyeongChang, Andy Soule and Oksana Masters of the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Program both captured their first-career Paralympic golds in the women’s and men’s sitting events, while Dan Cnossen skied to his fourth medal in as many races with a bronze...

General News Para Nordic Racing

Cnossen Tallies 3rd Medal of PyeongChang Paralympics; Soule and Arendz Take Bronze

FasterSkierMarch 13, 2018

2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): 10/12.5 k biathlon races Amid soft and slow conditions at the Alpensia Biathlon Centre on Tuesday, American Dan Cnossen raced to his third-straight medal in as many races at the 2018 Paralympics, claiming silver in the men’s 12.5-kilometer sitting biathlon race just ahead of his U.S. Paralympics Nordic teammate and fellow military veteran Andy Soule, who earned bronze. Cnossen, a retired Navy SEAL, previously won gold in Sunday’s 15...

Biathlon General News Para Nordic Racing

Gretsch, Cnossen Nab Historic Biathlon Golds at Paralympics

FasterSkierMarch 10, 2018

2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): Biathlon sprints The 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, opened in a big way for the U.S. and Canadian Paralympic nordic and biathlon teams on Saturday, with Kendall Gretsch and Dan Cnossen winning the U.S.A.’s first-ever gold medals in biathlon, and Canada’s Mark Arendz racing to silver for his third Paralympic biathlon medal and Collin Cameron becoming the first Canadian man to medal in a Paralympic sit-ski race. In...

News Para Nordic Team nominations

U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing Names 2017/2018 National Team

FasterSkierJune 1, 2017

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General News Para Nordic Racing

Golden Biathlon Breakthrough for Masters, Second Gold for Arendz and McKeever of 2017 IPC World Champs

Gabby NaranjaFebruary 21, 2017

The 2017 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Nordic Skiing World Championships concluded this past weekend Feb. 18-19 in Finsterau, Germany with a biathlon sprint and a middle-distance cross-country event. Claiming their second gold medals of the week were Oksana Masters, of the U.S., and Canada’s Mark Arendz. Race recap and results below. *** The U.S. Paralympics Nordic Team’s Oksana Masters is plenty used to winning cross-country events. She ended last season undefeated in every cross-country race and...

General News Para Nordic Racing

Another Gold for Masters; Historic Relay Medal for Canada; McKeever Wins 20 k at IPC World Champs

Gabby NaranjaFebruary 17, 2017

After a rest day, Paralympic athletes returned to the nordic venue in Finsterau, Germany, for Days 3, 4, and 5 of the 2017 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Nordic Skiing Championships. Long-distance biathlon races took place Tuesday, cross-country relays on Wednesday and individual cross-country races on Thursday. *** At the finish of Tuesday’s 15-kilometer individual biathlon race, Canada’s Mark Arendz could only think about one thing: his miss. But later, with his Canadian Para-Nordic Skiing press release. “But...

Interviews News Racing

Masters Claims First IPC World Champs Title, Second Time Around for Arendz, Silver for Soule (Updated)

Gabby NaranjaFebruary 14, 2017

The 2017 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Nordic Skiing Championships kicked off Saturday, Feb. 11, in Finsterau, Germany. Day 1 included middle-distance biathlon events for both genders, with Canada’s Mark Arendz earning his second-career IPC World Championships title. On Day 2, both genders competed in a cross-country sprint, where American Oksana Masters raced to her first world title and her U.S. Paralympics Nordic teammate Andy Soule claimed silver. Complete results and race recap below. *** There’s no better way to start...

General Interviews News Para Nordic

Masters Makes It a Triple, Bound for Rio Paralympics in Handcycling

Gabby NaranjaAugust 6, 2016

After competing at the 2012 London Paralympics in rowing and 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympic in skiing, Oksana Masters is tripling up after qualifying for the 2016 Rio Summer Paralympics in handcycling. “It’s going to be a good challenge and I’m really looking forward to being able to represent the U.S. Paralympic team and to be able to represent it in more than one sport," she said.

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