A questionable lane change fewer than 100 meters before the finish left jury members to decide whether or not Andy Newell's move in front of Reese Hanneman warranted a penalty in the men's classic sprint final at SuperTour Finals on Sunday -- thus relegating him from first to last. Hanneman ultimately won and Newell was demoted to sixth.
Reese Hanneman came within 0.45 seconds of becoming the third American man to make the World Cup heats this season, and Jessie Diggins was just over a second shy of qualifying in her first race back since getting sick post-Sochi. The two logged top-40 results again on Saturday, along with Ida Sargent, in the World Cup Finals skiathlons.
The age-group winners of the Junior Nationals classic sprints chat on camera about their races and how they topped the competition on Wednesday in Stowe, Vt.
Ida Sargent became the latest US Ski Team member to break through this winter with her first top 10 of the season. All four U.S. women made the heats and finished in the top 25, but most left wanting more.
About halfway through the men's quarterfinal, things were looking pretty good for the Americans. Andy Newell, who qualified in fifth, was up front behind teammate Simi Hamilton in the lead, but a troublesome downhill descent took Newell out of the running. Hamilton fell behind in the slushy conditions and placed fifth in the heat for 23rd overall and Newell ended up 26th.
Cold temperatures couldn't keep the Sovereign Lake NorAm classic sprint from going off on Sunday. Andrea Dupont and Patrick Stewart-Jones overcame windy and cold conditions to take victories in the classic sprints.
With the season winding down, Kikkan Randall produced her best classic result of the year on Wednesday with a fifth-place finish in the Drammen, Norway, city sprints. She led the American women; Sadie Bjornsen also qualified for the heats and finished 30th.
Russia's Nikita Kriukov won a dramatic classic sprint on Thursday to claim the first World Championship title of 2013. Every emotion showed as he and fellow podium-finishers Petter Northug (NOR) and Alex Harvey (CAN) enjoyed their successes.
Marit Bjørgen gave the many Norwegian fans in Italy just what they came to see on the first day of the 2013 Nordic World Ski Championships. In her ninth career victory at the event, she won the classic sprint by over two seconds on an exciting, challenging course. Images from the day...
The classic sprint at the 2013 World Championships was preceded by promise and excitement for the Americans, but when only three out of seven starters advanced to the heats on Thursday and none moved past the quarterfinals the team was left feeling frustrated by slippery skis. Kikkan Randall and Sophie Caldwell each finished fourth in their quarterfinals to place 19th and 20th, respectively, and Andy Newell was 21st after placing fifth in his heat.
Where Sophie Caldwell lacks in international experience she made up for in poise, adaptability and sheer speed on Thursday in the World Championships classic sprint. After “squeaking” into 30th by 0.12 seconds in the qualifier she raced as if she belonged in the heats, placing fourth in the quarters to finish 20th overall.
The Queen is back — as new snow fell in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on Thursday, Norwegian superstar Marit Bjørgen won the classic sprint by over two seconds to claim her ninth career World Championships gold medal. Ida Ingemarsdotter took silver and Maiken Caspersen Falla was third; Justyna Kowalczyk left the venue empty-handed after a disastrous fall in the final.
Kikkan Randall was eighth to pace three American women to the top 30 in classic sprint in Davos, Switzerland, on Saturday. "It’s the kind of day we wanted to have before going to world championships," said USST women's coach Matt Whitcomb.
After a cold-induced delay in competition the Tour de Twin Cities continued on Friday in Minneapolis, Minnesota, with a classic sprint at Wirth Park. In conditions more amenable to racing, Mike Sinnott and Jennie Bender took home the titles in stage three.
Sophie Caldwell and Erik Bjornsen posted personal bests in the classic sprint at U23 World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic. The Americans each made it as far as the semifinals; Caldwell finished ninth and Bjornsen was 10th.
It's been almost a year since Teodor Peterson last stood atop a podium, but on Saturday in Liberec, Czech Republic, he finally had the race he was looking for. He out-lunged Emil Jönsson and Pål Golberg for the classic sprint win; Andy Newell was sixth for his best classic result in three years.
Round by round the senior men displayed both their impressive power and tactics as the nations best battled their way through to the A-Final. Watch how things unfolded.
The most exciting finish of the first day of racing at the 2013 U.S. Nationals was without-a-doubt the Senior Women's A-Final. Check out how the rounds played out for the women.
With many of the top junior women advancing from the qualification into senior women's heats the rest of the juniors battled to be crowned best of the rest. Check out how the A and B Finals played out.
As the shadows grew long and temperatures fell, the junior heats intensified yesterday afternoon. In the men's race it was Sun Valley's Kevin Bolger that gapped the rest of the A-Final to earn top honors. Here is a look at the action in the finals.