The world of skiing is changing and Canada is changing with it. This season, Canada has a new head coach and is hitting the Tour de Ski for the first time in four years. New head coach Robin McKeever is bringing nine athletes, five wax techs, an osteopath, a coach, and a wax truck to Val Mustair. This is less bodies than Norway’s wax team, but it is still a big commitment from a country...
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)...
Win now? Win later? Or somewhere in between? A one year plan with a World Champs looming in 2021 or something befitting a six-year plan for capturing hardware at the 2026 Winter Games in Italy? Those are the strategies in play as national teams set budgets, rosters, and priorities. For countries like Norway and Sweden – at least on the Swedish women’s side – win now and later seems to be the constant background noise....
The ski world has been rattled by COVID19 and Canada is no different. One thing hasn’t changed, the new year starts on May 1st and brings changes. Nordiq Canada’s CEO Shane Pearsall resigned effective May 22nd. In the press release below, Nordiq Canada (NC) describes ‘mixed emotions’ about Pearsall’s decision to focus on family time in the pandemic era. Stéphane Barrette, NC’s Directeur du développement des athlètes et entraineurs, will be acting CEO. Barrette’s work...
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbpElh6gxkx/?taken-by=kalla_87 Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla. For the second day in a row, Charlotte Kalla, a name synonymous with the yellow and blue of Sweden, stood atop the podium, placing first in the women’s 10-kilometer classic International Ski Federation (FIS) race on Saturday in Gällivare, Sweden. who was recently handed down a lifetime Olympic ban by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), did not start the race. Russia...
This week’s featured articles are made possible thanks to the generous support of Masters World Cup 2018. The Canadian AQI is based on particulate matter 2.5 microns or smaller, but uses a 1-10+ scale with “1” being low health risk and “+” very high.) Gareth Williams, a member of Canada’s national U25 Team and a native of Kelowna, B.C., wrote in an email that the smoke was a near-constant companion this summer. “Summer has been...
LAHTI, Finland — The breath taken out of a nation. Throughout the lifetime of a sporting fan, high-stakes races or games offer the chance for seared-into-the-neurons moments, things you remember for an eternity with the distinct recollection of where you were and what you were doing when the news came down. But those are exceptionally rare moments. And depending on what side of the equation you’re on, they can be mile high or a mile...
What’s the significance of 0.39 seconds? For most of us, it’s the blink of an eye. For a midpack World Cup racer, it’s the difference between Tour de Ski start rights and staying home over the holidays. Swiss–Canadian skier Heidi Widmer and the meaning of margins.
Canadian World Cup Team member Alex Harvey is no stranger to success. Always lurking near the top end of the World Cup overall, Harvey has his sights set on more World Championships hardware -- specifically a second skiathlon medal -- and the season-culminating Crystal Globe.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby showed he's still got it, winning Saturday's 15 k classic mass start ahead of Norwegian teammate Niklas Dyrhaug and Kazakhstan's Alexey Poltoranin, for nearly a 1 1/2-minute head start in Sunday's final climb. Alex Harvey notched seventh on the day for 12th overall heading into the final stage.
Finn Hågen Krogh knows a lot about ups and downs, and has formed somewhat of a pattern at this year's Tour de Ski. However, the Norwegian had one of his career-best races on Friday, winning the 10 k freestyle by 3.6 seconds ahead of teammate and overall Tour leader Martin Johnsrud Sundby. Noah Hoffman placed 19th to lead the U.S., and Canadian Alex Harvey finished 37th and is now 15th in the Tour.
“The skis felt sticky,” is what Canadian National Team Head Coach Justin Wadsworth said about his team’s thoughts on their shortcomings on Saturday in the World Cup freestyle sprint in Toblach, Italy.
Devon Kershaw is onto something so far this season, and on Saturday, the 32-year-old Canadian World Cup Team member rolled to his best individual result of the season. Teammate Alex Harvey finished 2 seconds behind him in 22nd.
Just days after WADA released a comprehensive report on its findings regarding systematic doping in Russia, FasterSkier sought out the opinions of Marty Hall, a former coach of both the U.S. and Canadian ski teams. As expected, he didn't sugarcoat his reaction.
Why did World Cup veterans Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw sometimes race on what looked like antiquated Fischer skis? The duo talks about the almost-magic qualities of those boards, which belonged to a former team tech, and what life is like without them. “If I see Poltoranin on those skis, that will weird me out big time,” Kershaw says.
In search of better rollerskiing and longer uphills, the Canadian national biathlon team headed to Park City. "It is nice to get out of Canmore once in a while to break up the training routine," said Brendan Green.
What do you get when you bring a couple dozen of Canada's best up-and-coming and veteran skiers together to train? National-team head coach Justin Wadsworth explains, and reflects on how the first-ever Alignment camp went.
After several years on Canada's Senior Development Team, Alysson Marshall, 27, has decided to put down her skis and pursue her next dream: a career in family medicine.
After impressive seasons and groundbreaking results at World Championships from Rosie Brennan and Graeme Killick, the American and Canadian have earned the title of FasterSkier's Breakthrough Skiers of 2015.