There’s a war going on in Ukraine, and we touch on its impacts on the World Cup. But ski racing is also continuing, so we’re forging on, with respect for and acknowledgment of the tragedy that’s unfolding in Europe. For a few hours at least, on Thursday, the classic Drammen city sprint provided one heck of a distraction, and Devon and Nat are back to break down some performances for the ages by Norway’s Maiken...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. Cross country skiing’s most ancient, classic, weekend of racing in Norway (the Holmenkollen ski festival) began with a sprint through the center of Drammen, about 45-kilometers (30 mi)...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. Racing continued in Lahti, FIN with the men’s 15-kilometer classic individual start. The field was smaller than usual, with just 68 starters contrasting the 104 racers in the 15 k...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. By Rachel Bachman Perkins and Ian Tovell During a brief reprieve from racing, the top tier of international racing made its way from the high desert of Zhangjiakou, China...
During the opening weekend of World Cup racing in Ruka, FIN back in November 2021, Canada’s Antoine (Tony) Cyr popped an 11th place finish in the first distance race – a tough 15-kilometre classic won by Finland’s Iivo Niskanen, now a gold medalist in the event. After the race, Cyr wrote to FasterSkier that the course had suited him with its long uphills and frigiddig conditions; temperatures were near zero degrees Fahrenheit ( -17 C)....
The youngest member on Canada’s Olympic cross-country ski team, Olivier Léveillé, battled to a 29th-place finish at the Beijing Olympics on Friday. The 20-year-old from Sherbrooke, Que. found his groove while steadily working his way around the 15-kilomtetre course to finish in the elite group of 30 with a time of 40:52.0. “It is always hard to ski at altitude, but I felt good today,” said Léveillé. “Sometimes you feel like you are stuck in a gear,...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. On the heels of the women’s opening Olympic race, a colorful lycra field in their Sunday best lined up to race the men’s 30-kilometer skiathlon. While the women raced a...
Olivier Léveillé grinds out 31st-place finish on a monster of a course By Chris Dornan on behalf of Nordiq Canada BEIJING, Chn—A trio of Canadian men officially made their Olympic debut in the men’s 30-kilometre skiathlon race on Sunday at the Zhangjiakou National Cross-Country Skiing Centre near Beijing. The youngest member of the Canadian squad at 20 years of age, Olivier Léveillé (Sherbrooke, Que.), finished just outside the top-30 in the 70-man field, clocking a 31st-place...
Canada was successful in delivering the team to Beijing and getting them on snow in Zhangjiakou. The decision to go above and beyond in isolating athletes before a carefully planned drive to a charter flight worked, although other countries also succeeded with a more laid-back approach. What can fans expect from the Canadian team in Beijing? It all comes down to qualifying and performing. Qualifying Canada had an Olympic quota of four women and three...
The Canadian Prep Camp in Sovereign Lake and SilverStar, BC prior to the 2022 Beijing Olympics sounds like a nordic skier’s heaven. A two-week ski vacation with 100 kilometres of perfectly groomed snow. A private room above a great coffee shop (pain au chocolate!) and next door to some great beer. January weather just below freezing with enough falling snow to make every day a hardwax day. Two weeks of what locals call superhero snow. A...
The Eastern Canada Cup series wrapped up in Mont Sainte Anne (MSA), Québec, with distance racing for over 300 skiers each day. As with Westerns, the second weekend brought results and execution a little higher in the athletes’ focus, but the almost universal use of the words ‘fun’ and ‘excitement’ remain a reflection of a return to racing after a season without. MSA is just outside Québec City and is very accessible for most...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. After a warm and rainy fall, temperatures dropped just in time for the athletes arrival in Lillehammer, Norway this weekend. The original program for Saturday’s competition was a 30...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. By Ryan Sederquist It was another very cold day in Ruka, Finland. Temperatures hovered between -19 and -23.2 degrees Celsius around the course, rising to -18.6C by the start...
CANMORE, Alta.—Eight Canadians are readying themselves to head to Europe in the coming weeks to open the highly-anticipated Olympic and Paralympic season while bringing the maple leaf to the World Cup cross-country skiing start line. Nordiq Canada will send a dynamic group of four women and four men who are determined to climb up the international rankings in the first three weeks of World Cup action before returning to Canada for the holiday break followed...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. It’s the last hurrah, folks. Roughly a year after the COVID-19 virus achieved its global pandemic title, the World Cup finds itself at the end of a season that once...
This World Championship coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. The firepower was evident on the start line. Norway, Russia, France, Italy, and six other teams paired for the team sprint Sunday at the 2021 Oberstdorf, Germany World Championships....
This World Championship coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. With swaths of bare ground peeking through the melting snow, skis rattling through tracks and swooshing across the lanes, and short-sleeved race tops, World Championship racing continued in a...
U23 World’s closed out today in Oberwiesenthal, Germany with the 4 x 5 k mixed relay. Norway, which had struggled in both the junior women’s and junior men’s relay won in 54:40.5 minutes. Russia followed in second (+26.7), and Italy third (+40.2). The U.S. placed fifth (+54.6) of the 15 teams finishing the event. Canada’s foursome of U23 skiers finished in 14th (+4:00.6). Results
U23 Women’s 15 k Mass Start Sweden-Sweden-Sweden: Ebba Andersson, Moa Lundgren, and Emma Ribom went 1-2-3 for the all Sweden podium. If one thing is certain from our race coverage this season, we know Sweden is ready for World Cup podiums now. The U23 sweep in Oberwiesenthal, Germany at these U23 World Championships likely means more to come. Andersson crossed the finish line alone in 35:44.4. Lundgren came across 37.1 seconds back, Ribom 45.2 seconds...