Kikkan Randall proved to the world once again that she can overcome any obstacle to reach the top of a World Cup podium. The first Olympic test event of the weekend took place on Friday at the Laura Cross-Country Stadium outside Sochi, Russia, where Randall bested France’s Aurore Jean and Norway’s Celine Brun-Lie to claim her second individual sprint win and ninth podium of the season.
Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) will need to make room in her trophy case for yet another crystal Tour de Ski pyramid. For the fourth straight time, the Pole won the grueling stage race, besting Norwegians Therese Johaug and Kristin Stoermer Steira.
Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) skied to a 16.5 second win in the classic prologue, winning the fifth stage of the Tour de Ski while increasing her overall lead to more than a minute. Krista Lahteenmaki (FIN) was second and Astrid Jacobsen (NOR) took third.
TOBLACH, Italy – Stage 7 of the Tour de Ski, which took place Thursday, is the event’s crown jewel: a 35-kilometer point-to-point race that sent competitors up an over a mountain pass, with the craggy Dolomites as a stunning backdrop. Or, to be more precise, it sent male competitors up and over a mountain pass, with the craggy Dolomites as a stunning backdrop. The women, meanwhile, skied three laps of a standard five-kilometer course on...
TOBLACH, Italy – With consecutive Tour de Ski stage victories, Marit Bjoergen (NOR) is pounding on Justyna Kowalczyk’s (POL)_door, looking to serve an eviction notice for the top of the Tour podium. Kowalczyk still holds the overall lead in her quest for a third Tour de Ski title, but with a win today in the 3-kilometer classic prologue, Bjoergen not only crept closer, but also showed a form that has been missing since illness took...
OBERSTDORF, Germany – Three wins in three days over a range of distances and in both techniques—exactly what many expected in the Tour de Ski, just not from Justyna Kowalczyk (POL). Norwegian Marit Bjoergen dominated the first World Cup period, winning five of the six races she started, most in dominating fashion. Despite taking a pass on the Tour for two years, Bjoergen entered the 2012 edition as the favorite. Two consecutive overall Tour wins,...
Nobody was surprised to see Marit Bjørgen atop the leaderboard after the second stage of the Ruka Triple in Kuusamo, Finland today. The Norwegian star was the last to start, thanks to her win in the classic sprint yesterday, and had all the information she needed to beat her competitors – not that she needed it. Over just five fast kilometers, Bjørgen racked up a sizeable lead and cruised across the finish. It was a...
where she pulled away from Marit Bjoergen and Justyna Kowalczyk to become World Champion in the 30 k skate. Most importantly, Johaug’s prowess broke up the Bjoergen-Kowalczyk club, and introduced a new power into womens skiing. With Bjoergen knocking the stuffing out of every single woman on the circuit this year, and Johaug stepping up to a new level, the Norwegians have an unbeatable 1-2 punch in women’s skiing. Add in the aging but putting...
Norwegians Petter Northug and Marit Bjoergen have now both sat out a race at World Championships – not Charlotte Kalla though, and the Swedish star has no plans to take a day off. In another day at the office, Kalla teamed with Ida Ingemarsdotter to win the women’s World Championship classic team sprint in Oslo, Norway, skiing away from Finland and Norway in the last lap. The team sprint features pairs of athletes, alternating laps,...
During an amazing run spanning two seasons from 2008 to 2009, Petra Majdic (SLO) won 10 of 16 World Cup sprints, and finished on the podium two additional times. On an Obertsdorf sprint course, where she placed 15th at the 2005 World Championships 6 years ago, Majdic once again showed the form that has made her one of the greatest sprinters in World Cup history, leading the day from wire-to-wire. Majdic started by laying down...
The 2010-2011 Tour de Ski is underway in Oberhof, Germany, and defending champion Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) seems to have picked up right where she left off. Kowalczyk took just 6 minutes and 39 seconds to complete the 2.8 k freestyle prologue, .5 of a second ahead of Charlotte Kalla (SWE), while Astrid Jacobsen (NOR) was third, 4.8 seconds back. As a result of the win, Kowalczyk receives a 15 second time bonus, while Kalla receives...
At the end of World Cup period I, Norway sits on top of the Nation’s Cup standings, and in a shift from the recent past, it is the women leading the way. The 4x5km relay in La Clusaz demonstrated exactly how the Norwegians built their points lead, with four women putting on a virtual clinic on their way to a 56 second victory over Italy. Three of the four Norwegians posted the fasted times on...
With 100 meters to go in Sunday’s skate sprint in Davos, Kikkan Randall flew into the stadium in fourth place. A few strong strides brought her close to even with third, and second place even seemed to be within reach. Enter Justyna Kowalczyk—the wiry Pole with a reputation for provocative statements and questionable tactics. Just as Randall was about slide past, Kowalczyk made an aggressive move to her right, forcing the American to switch lanes...
Astrid Jacobsen (NOR), sprint world champion in 2007 in Sapporo has a difficult period behind her with several injuries in the past couple of years. Now she seems to be on the right track for Oslo 2011. For the 23-year-old Norwegian, the upcoming World Championships in Oslo will be something special as it is her real home championships – she lives in Oslo. On her Road to Oslo 2011, Astrid Jacobsen took some time and...
(translated by Aubrey Smith from langrenn.com: “Alsgaard bedre enn på seks år” 11-1-09 by nrk.no, “Therese utnytter dagene på hjemmebane” 11-1-09 by teamturbo.no, “Jeg er trygg på det jeg har gjort” 11-2-09 by Ivar Haugen. All photos from langrenn.com taken by Ivar Haugen) After a severe bike accident in June that broke bones in both her back and face, Astrid Jacobsen set about on a long road to recovery. She recently returned to training by...