Just over a week ago, five U.S. Ski Team women and one Canadian packed their bags in various parts of the world and set off to meet in Sweden. Usually faced with the task of preparing for months of overseas travel, some might have scratched their heads. What do you bring for just two weeks? Americans Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephen had already been in Europe for nearly a month, first competing in the Blink...
The first North American to arrive in Sweden last week, Canadian Chandra Crawford came two days earlier than everyone else, starting her journey Wednesday in Östersund near the Norwegian border. There, she visited Canadian national-team technician Micke Book and his family, and rollerskied before making her way 460 kilometers north on Friday. Up in Torsby, the home of Sweden’s famous ski tunnel, she worked out alongside U.S. Ski Team members Kikkan Randall, Liz Stephen, Holly Brooks, Jessie Diggins and...
As skiers go, there aren’t many out there more inexhaustibly enthusiastic than Liz Stephen. Her energetic description of the technique changes she’s currerntly working on, for example, could inspire you to momentarily want nothing more than to strap on your rollerskis and hit the pavement. The U.S. Ski Team A-team member certainly has plenty to be happy about: Stephen posted top-20s twice during the regular season, a first for the 25-year-old. As the 28th-ranked female...
In the months following its first camp of the year in Bend, Ore., the U.S. Ski Team (USST) has several new training destinations planned along with its old standbys: the men and women will split up and head to Alaska, Sweden, Austria and Germany over the course of the summer. And for the first time since its first trip to New Zealand 10 years ago, the Snow Farm is completely off the schedule. The women’s...
During Stage 7 of the Tour de Ski in Toblach, Italy, spectators standing at just the right spot on the race course could have witnessed something surprising enough to make them choke on their cappuccinos: two Swedish fans screaming at the top of their lungs for Kikkan Randall, the American cross-country ski racer. The scene made little sense, until one realized that the fans were the parents of Emil Jönsson, the star Swedish sprinter and...
After packing seven women into the top 10 on Saturday, it was undisputed that Norway was the team to beat in Sunday’s 4×5 k women’s relay. And the Norwegians showed no signs up letting up, starting four teams that all contained talented skiers. However, it was obvious that only one was a clear standout – Norway I. Featuring the same quartet — Vibeke Skofterud, Therese Johaug, Kristin Stoermer Steira, and Marit Bjoergen — as they...
man-on-a-mission dethronement of Petter Northug on the Norwegian superstars home turf in Oslo which was unforgettable. Not to be out-done, Charlotte Kalla incredibly dramatic (or heart-breaking if you’re Canadian) fashion. While their sprinters are great, FasterSkier would be remiss if we failed to mention the distance skiing ability the Swedes displayed. Daniel Rickardsson led the men’s squad, finishing third in the World Cup Overall, skyrocketing up from his previous-best of 17th. The late-blooming Rickardsson (he...
At 25 years old, Anna Haag is already a star for Sweden. She followed up her two silvers from Vancouver (in the 15 k pursuit and team sprint) with a strong showing as the second leg for Sweden’s silver medal-winning relay in Oslo. She is currently living and training in Davos, Switzerland, where she and her boyfriend—Swedish sprint standout Emil Jonsson—have an apartment at about 5,000 feet above sea level. She hit the ground running...
They’ve been on four-hour runs through marshes, braved ‘mystery testing’ with the national team, and been featured in a Swedish newspaper. But when asked to describe their favorite aspect of their trip to Sweden, Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephen are in complete agreement: the people. For the two veterans of the US Ski Team, the trip was a unique chance to actually get to know the people they compete against all winter. “When you see...
Marit Bjoergen (NOR) has already achieved her goal of winning an individual gold at the 2011 World Championships. Now the ski world gets to see what a relaxed Bjoergen can do. The winner of five medals, including three golds, at the 2010 Olympics, Bjoergen is the clear favorite in the women’s 15 k pursuit on Saturday, as distance racing gets underway at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway. While rival Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) is the defending World...
Anna Haag and Charlotte Kalla claimed the top two spots for Sweden in the women’s 10km pursuit as the 2011 Tour de Ski continued in Oberstdorf. The pair, with the help of third place finisher, Marthe Kristofferssen (NOR) succeeded in knocking overall Tour leader Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) off the podium for the first time in this multi-stage event. Kowalczyk placed fifth after skiing at, or near the front for most of the race. And the...
Norwegian superstar Marit Bjoergen is sticking to her guns, and will not be racing the 2011 edition of the Tour de Ski. The winner of every single World Cup race this year, Bjoergen announced at the beginning of the season that she would follow the same plan that resulted in five medals at the 2010 Olympics. And that plan means no Tour de Ski. Since coming back from several down years thought to be caused...
Sweden Nations Cup Ranking: 3rd (6793 pts) Men: 3rd (3535 pts) Women: 3rd (3258 pts) 2010/2011 A Team Men Emil Joensson Mats Larsson Robin Bryntesson Jesper Modin Teodor Peterson Daniel Richardsson Anders Soedergren Marcus Hellner Johan Olsson Jens Eriksson Women Lina Andersson Magdalena Pajala Anna Haag Ida Ingemarsdotter Charlotte Kalla Hanna Falk Hanna Brodin Sara Lindborg What You May Have Missed Last Season Hanna Falk coming from absolute obscurity to lead a strong Swedish women’s...
This year’s annual International Ski Federation (FIS) Congress included the selection for the 2015 Nordic World Championships. Held in Turkey, the finalists included Sweden, Finland, Poland and Germany. Sweden was smart. They brought along some of their top athletes to be part of the presentation to bring Worlds to Falun. Nothing like hearing it straight from an athlete’s mouth. It definitely worked, because Sweden beat their key rivals to become the hosts for 2015. Key in that presentation was Olympic...
What? Yeah, that’s right, there are lots of great reasons to be a Nordic skier, but one of them is that there are a whole lot of fit, attractive people wearing spandex. Here is a list of some of the hottest European skiers on the World Cup. We may have forgotten a few so feel free to write them into the comment section and we will add them to the list. We did not want...
The prolonged, brutal physical demands of the team sprint make the event a fickle friend. Just ask Charlotte Kalla and Anna Haag. After blowing the doors off the eight other teams in their semifinal, the Swedish women came into the gold-medal round as an irresistible force. But they ran head on into the immovable object of Claudia Nystad and Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle, a pair of veteran German women without the speed for the first round, but...
Two days after winning the 100th gold medal in Norway’s Winter Olympic history, Marit Bjoergen wasn’t ready to stop. She added to that tally Friday, skiing to an impressive victory in the women’s 15km Pursuit at Whistler Olympic Park. Bjoergen put on a powerful move on the second-to-last climb of the race, leaving her competition in the dust. She was able to celebrate down the finish stretch in front of the cheering crowd while the...