Beijing – 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...

News Para Nordic Racing

(Press Release) Oksana Masters Adds to Medal Collection with Silver in Long-Distance Cross-Country

FasterSkierMarch 6, 2022

U.S. Para Nordic star Oksana Masters (Louisville, Kentucky) won silver in the women’s sitting long-distance cross-country race on Sunday, her second medal of the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. Masters, a cross-country skier and biathlete, also won gold in the women’s sitting biathlon sprint on Saturday and now has 12 career Paralympic medals between the winter and summer Paralympic Games. Sunday’s silver medal comes six months after winning double gold in Para-cycling at the Paralympic Games Tokyo...

Olympics Racing

Germany outsprints Sweden and the ROC for gold and a second team medal; Brennan and Diggins fifth for USA

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 16, 2022

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. The team sprint: two skiers racing three laps each at roughly 1.5-kilometers a piece with a long climb thrown into the middle of the course and temperatures in the single...

Community Feature General News

The Chinese Ski Team’s Path to Beijing (Part 1)

Pasha KahnFebruary 7, 2022

Salmon for Skiing Over the last four years China has undertaken perhaps the grandest experiment in cross country skiing history: can hundreds of athletes cherry picked from other sports and given seemingly unlimited resources be turned into Olympic medalists in nordic events? Chinese athletes have never medaled in any of the nordic disciplines, and their teams head into the Olympics as the darkest of dark horses. Success, in the form of medals, is key to...

Biathlon Olympics Racing US Biathlon

(Press Release) In Race of Her Life, Deedra Irwin Posts Top Finish Ever by an American Biathlete

FasterSkierFebruary 7, 2022

BEIJING, China (Feb. 5, 2022) – Things don’t always go according to plan, but occasionally someone can exceed even her wildest expectations. Such was the case for Deedra Irwin of Pulaski, Wisconsin, who on Monday turned in the best Olympic performance ever by an American biathlete, finishing seventh in the women’s 15-kilometer individual event at the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Centre northwest of Beijing. “I was trying to focus on just working on everything I’ve worked on this week,”...

Community General News Olympics

Two-time Olympian Noah Hoffman advises athletes to remain silent at Beijing Olympics

FasterSkierFebruary 2, 2022

Ski & Snowboard Club Vail alumnus is working for Global Athlete to increase athlete-voice By Ryan Sederquist, Vail Daily News January 28, 2022 Two-time Olympian Noah Hoffman’s life is busier now than it ever was during his 10-year U.S. Nordic ski team career. The soon-to-be Brown graduate — he’ll have an economics degree by May — has thrown himself into athlete activism since his retirement in 2018. Hoffman started in the anti-doping world before becoming...

Community Feature News

Insights From a Pre-Olympic Media Conference with Jessie Diggins

Rachel PerkinsJanuary 28, 2022

As January draws to a close, energy, excitement, and perhaps anxiety surrounding the rapidly approaching 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing is steadily building. In an effort to better manage her time and energy heading into these Games, Jessie Diggins offered a media conference facilitated by U.S. Ski & Snowboard cross country communications manager Tom Horrocks to answer questions about her preparation, outlook, and plans for the remainder of the time before the team heads to...

Community News Olympics Racing Team nominations US Ski Team

(Press Release) U.S. Ski & Snowboard Nominates Cross Country Team Roster For Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022

FasterSkierJanuary 20, 2022

PARK CITY, UTAH (January 20, 2022) — U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced today its nominations for the U.S. Olympic Cross Country Team to represent Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 from February 4-19, 2022. Nominations are to be confirmed by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee when it formally announces the U.S. Olympic Team. Fourteen athletes were nominated to Team USA, including the 2018 Olympic gold medalist and defending World Cup overall and...

Feature General News Olympics Racing

Olympics Preview: What We Know About the Courses and Venue

Gavin KentchJanuary 18, 2022

The season’s biggest races start in less than a month at a venue that is by all accounts well-designed, but also has yet to host an official FIS race. Here’s some of what is currently known about the National Cross-Country Skiing Centre in Zhangjiakou, 100-plus miles northwest of Beijing in the Hebei province of China. The Courses The races will be held at altitude. The stadium is located at an elevation of roughly 1,650 meters...

Nordic Nation Podcasts

Nordic Nation: A 2021/22 Tour de Ski Debrief With Matt Whitcomb

Rachel PerkinsJanuary 6, 2022

In this episode, we have Matt Whitcomb back to debrief the 2021/22 Tour de Ski, including highs and lows, overcoming setbacks, and managing a circulating head cold. We also discuss the cancellation of the upcoming World Cup races in Les Rousses, FRA, covid safety in a critical window before the Olympics, and the racing happening in Soldier Hollow during the 2022 US Cross Country Championships. Thanks for listening.

Community Feature News

Jessie Diggins Looks Back on Period I and Ahead to the TdS and Olympics

Rachel PerkinsDecember 21, 2021

As Period I wanes and the Tour de Ski approaches, curiosity is naturally piqued as to how various athletes are analyzing their first four weekends of World Cup racing. In particular, our focus is drawn to Olympic medal hopefuls, like last year’s World Cup Overall Champion Jessie Diggins. How is she feeling as she heads into the holiday break, with two individual and one team sprint podium already under her belt and another six weeks...

Doping General News Opinion

After Jamaican Doping News, Johaug (and Others) Should Be Mad

Chelsea LittleMay 3, 2017

Plenty of athletes, such as Therese Johaug, have been suspended from sport based on the concept of "strict liability": they are responsible for any prohibited substance which enters their body. The IOC has forgone that principle in dealing with Jamaican sprinters at the 2008 Olympics.

Biathlon General News Olympics Racing World Cup

IOC Membership and Regulations Combined to Reliably Hand Beijing 2022 Games

Chelsea LittleAugust 2, 2015

Just 2 percent of IOC members come from a snow sports background, and one of those two - biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen - skipped the vote for who should host the 2022 Winter Olympics. Between this imbalance and the fact that IOC members are no longer allowed to visit bid cities, the financial might and huge consumer market of China won out over other factors in the decision-making process.

General News Olympics Racing

Beijing Wins Bid for 2022 Winter Olympics

Chelsea LittleJuly 31, 2015

42 votes were needed to win hosting privileges for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Beijing received 44 to win out over Almaty, Kazakhstan, and become the first city to host both summer and winter Olympics.

General News Olympics Racing

Human Rights Watch Urges IOC to Use Its Teeth in 2022 Bid Process

Chelsea LittleJuly 24, 2015

With a week to go until the IOC members vote on whether to award the 2022 Olympic Games to Beijing or Almaty, a leading human rights nonprofit asserts that the IOC has no tools with which to enforce their vague mandate of “human dignity”.

General News Olympics

Six Big Problems with the Beijing 2022 Olympic Bid

Chelsea LittleJune 20, 2015

From no snow to human rights and lack of any meaningful long-term legacy, there are big reasons why the IOC should not choose Beijing to host the 2022 Winter Olympics.

General News Olympics

Inside the Candidate City Presentation Rooms and 2022 Bidding Process in Lausanne (Photo Gallery)

Chelsea LittleJune 10, 2015

After the 2002 Salt Lake City bidding scandal, IOC members are not allowed to visit candidate cities during Olympic bidding. Instead, they have to rely on promotional materials, presentations, an Evaluation Commission report, and bid committee presentation rooms for information. Here's what that looks like.

General News

Olympic Week on FasterSkier: Lausanne Meetings Preview

Chelsea LittleJune 7, 2015

The IOC Executive Board meets in Lausanne this week, and then all IOC members will have the chance to hear from the organizing committees of the Almaty and Beijing bids for the 2022 Winter Games. Members will vote in July. How are the bids shaking out, and what's going on in the Olympic movement? Read on.