We’re off. The 2023-2024 winter kicks off with season opening races across Scandinavia, and the World Cup launches next week. Devon and Nat go old-school, no guests to recap a bevy of interesting results so far. Send us your comments, questions and criticisms: devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com. We’ll be back next week.
The sun had begun to set in Beitostolen, Norway. The day—and the day’s racing—entered its golden hour as Norwegian fans anticipated more success for World Cup Sprint Leader, Paal Golberg (NOR). That all changed in a flash as Golberg—wearing the yellow Leader’s bib—crashed on a curve in the men’s Classic Sprint final. Golberg fumbled in the snow, a stark contrast to the control he has shown through the first few weeks of this year’s World...
Editor’s note: John Wood is a septuagenarian racer who lives in Eagle River, Alaska, outside of Anchorage. Four years ago he wrote a first-person Masters Mind piece for FasterSkier detailing his return from a full knee replacement to winning his age group at the American Birkebeiner classic race 18 months later. This article provides an update on what happened next, including competing at the 2019 Masters World Cup in Beitostølen, Norway, following a second knee...
For Norway, relays are often tallied not by wins, but how many wins have been missed. Back in 2009, Team Norway watched on as Team Sweden took the top spot of the podium for the women’s 4 x 5-kilometer relay event in Beitostølen, Norway. In the nine years after that second place finish in Beitostølen, the Norwegian women’s team has missed winning the World Cup relay–excluding team sprints–only one other time (FIS reports that as...
It snowed continuously throughout today’s 30-kilometer freestyle individual Start in Beitostølen, Norway. There was already a great deal of accumulation on the race course by the time the men started. This made the already challenging distance race even more grueling as the fresh snow created more resistance for skiers. Norway took the top two spots as Sjur Røthe won the with a time of 1:09:53.5. His teammate, Martin Johnsrud Sundby, was close behind in second...
Eirik Brandsdal was a pretty happy guy after beating Petter Northug by six-tenths of a second on Sunday. "I thought, 'Do not look back. Imagine that you have the devil at your heels,' " he recalled.
One of Norway's rapidly rising stars, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, 24, took the time to chat with FasterSkier last weekend after her first FIS race of the season. Here she offers advice for anyone training full time: "You have to go for quality over quantity,” she says. “I used to just want to do more and more and more ... but what you do really matters more."
Sondre Turvoll Fossli, the runner-up of Sunday's 1.5 k classic sprint in Beitostølen, Norway, knew Petter Northug was coming for him sooner or later. Sure enough, Northug on skate skis passed him in the final stretch before the finish for a 0.4-second FIS victory.
Barbro Kvåle, a 22-year-old Norwegian junior world champion in ski orienteering, joined the ranks of Therese Johaug and Marit Bjørgen on Sunday, winning the women’s 1.2-kilometer classic sprint by three-tenths of a second in Beitostølen, Norway.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby apparently doesn't need to be 100 percent on any given day to beat some of his most competitive teammates. The 30-year-old Norwegian national-team member won Saturday's 15 k skate by nearly 17 seconds despite feeling drained after a long Friday.
FasterSkier was on site for the second day of FIS races in Beitostølen, Norway, where Marit Bjørgen had her revenge for what she determined was not-so-hot classic form on Friday. Therese Johaug placed second and Heidi Weng was third for the second day in a row.
When it comes to opening distance races, Therese Johaug is a gamer. On Friday, she won the first 10 k classic of the season for the fourth year in a row and third-straight Beitostølen distance opener -- once again ahead of Norwegian teammate Marit Bjørgen.
Defending overall World Cup champ Martin Johnsrud Sundby took it to his Norwegian teammates on Friday, winning the 15-kilometer classic FIS race in Beitostølen, Norway, by nearly 23 seconds.
The Canadian men's team continued its tear of the IBU Cup circuit, with Brendan Green - in his first season of racing since a debilitating back injury in 2012 which required two surgeries - placing second in the 20 k individual in Beitostolen. Lanny Barnes led the U.S. with an 18th-place finish in the women's race.
The fourth-fastest qualifier, Andy Newell went on to place sixth in the men's 1.4 k skate sprint in Beitostølen, Norway, on Sunday -- not exactly what he was hoping for, but not bad for his first skate sprint since August. Simi Hamilton qualified in 15th and had an unlucky break that put him 27th overall.
The U.S. women closed out their weekend in Beitostølen on top, with Kikkan Randall winning Sunday's 1.2 k skate sprint ahead of two Slovenians and three Norwegians, including Marit Bjørgen. Ida Sargent placed 13th and three other Americans made the top 20.
Liz Stephen tossed out all ideas of pacing and went for it in Saturday's 10 k, capturing sixth in the freestyle FIS race, and Noah Hoffman listened to his "patience" cues to end up seventh in the men's 15 k free in Beitostølen, Norway. Also on the USST, Holly Brooks came closer to the top 10 in 12th.
Placing fifth in her first FIS race of the season, Sadie Bjornsen broke up a Norwegian sweep of the top 10 on Friday in Beitostølen, Norway, along with fellow U.S. Ski Team member Kikkan Randall in 10th. Five other U.S. women finished in the top 30, and Noah Hoffman led the U.S. men in 42nd.
On her 24th birthday, U.S. Ski Team member Sadie Bjornsen shares some little-known facts about her personal life, including what she loves most about being a skier and how Europe turned her into a meat-eater.
Lots of racing this weekend, obviously, but the Muonio results only appeared on the FIS website today, so they’ll wait for later in the week. I was intrigued, though, but Therese Johaug’s strong races in Norway. For many reasons, it will be difficult to accurately parse early season results this year. Many people are focused [...] Related posts: