He’s been the best overall skier in the world for three separate seasons. He’s won the Tour de Ski, the grueling multi-day event that swings through central Europe each January, on three occasions. He won Switzerland’s first ever Olympic gold in cross-country in the 15 k freestyle in Vancouver, helping to bring an unprecedented amount of attention to the sport in his home country. At the age of 26 Dario Cologna has already amassed numerous...
Cologna won the World Cup overall, but I always feel like he’s sort of in the background compared to other top skiing personalities. Doing well in the World Cup overall rewards not just speed, but showing up at tons of races and skiing fast. For instance, let’s check out his won/loss record versus the next [...] Related posts:
All 2012 FIS World Cup Finals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of Complete Results Matt Voisin contributed reporting.
All 2012 FIS World Cup Finals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of Complete Results Matt Voisin contributed reporting.
All 2012 FIS World Cup Finals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of Complete Results Matt Voisin contributed reporting.
All 2012 FIS World Cup Finals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of
As a classic specialist, Eldar Roenning (NOR) can oftentimes be overlooked when contemplating race favorites. The stocky Norwegian does not race the World Cup regularly, generally only hitting the events that play to his strengths in the traditional style of skiing, but he reached the top of the ski world on Saturday when he took the victory in the famed Holmenkollen 50k, defeating World Cup leader Dario Cologna in a mad sprint to the line....
Like the man himself, Dario Cologna (SUI) wins with a certain quietness—no devastating sprint entering the stadium or on the homestretch, ala Petter Northug (NOR), and definitely no theatrics across the line. Instead Cologna relies on his clearly superior fitness to help wear down the field, pushing the pace at the perfect times, and usually attacking early and convincingly somewhere out on the course. Despite a sluggish start, Cologna executed a strategically fine performance to...
It isn’t all that common, these days, to see Johan Olsson on the World Cup. After a strong start to this season, Olsson took a two-month forced hiatus due to illness. Last year, after the November World Cups he didn’t return to the top level of competition until World Championships in March. In 2010, he skipped the entire month of January to prepare for the Olympics. Injury and illness are sadly par for the course...
After a two month hiatus from World Cup racing, Johan Olsson (SWE) demonstrated a complete return to form, pushing the pace from the get-go in the 30km classic mass start in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, before countering a vicious attack from Dario Cologna (SUI), and riding fast skis to victory. Olsson couldn’t have asked for a better start to the 2012 season. At the opening 15km skate in Sjusjoen, Norway, he skied to a convincing...
During the 2012 Tour de Ski, FasterSkier sat down with the head coach of the Swiss National Team, Guri Hetland. A native Norwegian, Hetland had 45 World Cup starts of her own between 1995 and 2001. She earned four top-10 results, all in sprints, but also scored World Cup points in seven distance races. Hetland was named head coach of the Swiss team in the fall of 2010, and is the only female head coach...
Devon Kershaw had it in his head. He wanted redemption. The Canadian National Team veteran hadn’t been entirely pleased with his season so far despite finishing fourth in the Tour de Ski two weeks ago. After several top 10 performances this season, Kershaw took a big hit on Saturday, finishing 40th in the World Cup classic sprint after his pole shattered in his hand and he struggled to find a replacement. With one chance to leave...
From the qualifier through to the A-final, recently crowned Tour de Ski champion Dario Cologna (SUI) skied a “perfect” sprint day by all accounts in Otepää, Estonia on Saturday. The current overall World Cup points leader made a statement from the word get-go, posting the fastest qualifying time by an unbelievable 4.2 seconds in a 1.4 k classic. He then went on to decisively win his quarter, semi and final heats. Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR)...
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – Tour de Ski winners are all alike; every Tour de Ski loser is a loser in his own way. Petter Northug (NOR), Marcus Hellner (SWE), Devon Kershaw (CAN), Lukas Bauer (CZE)—each had his own problem that torpedoed his hopes for a Tour victory, whether it was bad skis, a broken pole, a weak discipline, or an uncooperative body. Dario Cologna, on the other hand, had nothing go wrong. The Swiss...
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – Eldar Roenning (NOR) spent much of the eighth stage of the Tour de Ski working for Petter Northug (NOR), but as the final kilometer rolled around, he submitted his resignation, packed up his skis and poles, and headed out on his own. Roenning attacked on the final climb of the unforgiving Val di Fiemme 4.5 kilometer loop, opening a 10 meter gap entering the stadium, a lead he never relinquished...
TOBLACH, Italy – The Dolomites were the site of brutal battles between the Austrians and Italians during World War I. Nearly 100 years later, members of European and North American countries once again waged war among these mountains in the depths of winter—this time, in a cross-country ski race. Perhaps appropriately, it was a Swiss athlete who rose above the fray here on Thursday, winning a 32-kilometer freestyle pursuit by skiing his own race and...
TOBLACH, Italy – Were the Russians drinking vodka in their wax cabin after Nikolay Morilov won Stage 6 of the 2012 Tour de Ski on Wednesday? “A little, yes,” said Mikhail Lukertsenko, one of the team’s staff. “It’s a victory.” Morilov, a 25-year-old Olympic medalist, foiled the Tour heavyweights and big names on the homestretch here, using a combination of perfect tactics, timing, and power. Petter Northug (NOR) was second, missing out on the victory...
TOBLACH, Italy – It took 11 races, but Alexander Legkov finally got his first win of the 2012 season in Stage 5 of the Tour de Ski on Tuesday. With the help of a new coach and the right pair of skis, the Russian powered through finicky conditions to edge Eldar Roenning (NOR) and Dario Cologna (SUI) in the 5 k individual-start classic race. Petter Northug (NOR) floundered through the slick, soft conditions in Toblach,...
OBERSTDORF, Germany – Four down, five to go, and an epic battle is developing in the men’s 2012 Tour de Ski. Over the course of the four events thus far, only 1.1 seconds separate Dario Cologna (SUI) form leader Petter Northug (NOR). Northug took his second stage victory of the Tour, but Cologna actually closed the gap due a strong showing in the intermediate sprints in the men’s 20km skiathlon in Oberstdorf, Germany. Despite...
OBERSTDORF, Germany – If anyone was going to embrace Saturday’s downright nasty weather in the third stage of the 2012 Tour de Ski, it was the Russians. The interminable rain and snow here may have gotten to some of their competitors, but it failed to even dampen the energy of Nikita Kriukov, Alexey Petukhov, and Nikolay Morilov, as the Russian trio swept the podium in the classic sprint. “Russian peoples like different weather,” Kriukov told...