This episode was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. We’ll keep it short and sweet: Here’s a recap of the men’s 50 k. It was a fun race to watch and left us with a lot to discuss. We’ll be back after Sunday’s race. Reach us at devon[at]fasterskier.com and nat[at]fasterskier.com. We’re really grateful for all the support during...
This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers who have helped put our Nat Herz on the ground at the Olympics. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. TESERO, ITALY — Sprint races can be dazzling, relay legs can be heroic, but the 50 k, especially classic, is where cross-country skiing gets carved into stone. The 50 k Classic turns strength, technique, and endurance...
This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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. Klaebo wins . . . we saw that coming. Let’s face it: cross-country ski racing can be kinda boring. Races are long (even the short ones), speeds are really not that high,...
This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. Norway’s greatest competitive advantage in cross-country skiing has always been depth. In an Olympic selection season, that depth becomes a headache. When the federation gathered to finalize its 2026 team, the conversation was not about who belonged at the Games — those results and calculus had been logged. It was...
This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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. In its original configuration (and for many seasons that followed), the final stage of the Tour de Ski was a Pursuit race—perhaps the only Pursuit race that actually made sense in the...
This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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. By the time the final seeded skier pushed through the finishing straight in Toblach, the race had already revealed what interval starts always do best: not who looks fastest, but who stays...
On most race weekends, I take my job seriously — up at 3:00 am EST, fresh coffee made, woodstove loaded, notebook out, logged on to coverage early to make sure I don’t have a technical issue. Then once the race starts, I begin looking for subtle, important moments to describe in greater detail in the race report. But there are also weekends, like this past one, when I toss my journalism hat onto the mantle...
This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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. He doesn’t even call himself a skier. After two World Cup podium performances in as many weeks—and a victory in today’s 10 k Freestyle Interval Start—Einar Hedegart (NOR) continues to refer to...
This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and 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 men’s 20-kilometer Skiathlon at Granåsen never felt like an ordinary World Cup. From the moment the athletes stepped into the start pen, there was a tension in the air that didn’t match...
The men’s 4 x 10 k relay itself lacked for drama, but fortunately there’s plenty going on in the Norwegian team for us to talk about. Devon and Nat are back to break down Russia’s convincing win in the relay, the most disappointing silver ever for Norway and a gold-like bronze for France. Send questions and feedback to devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com. We’ll be back Wednesday. Related reading: “Burmania”: Swedish xc skier’s snack-sampling video goes viral in China The...
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. After a thrilling women’s relay event on Saturday, it was the men’s turn to compete, each athlete skiing the laps of 3.3-kilometers for a total of 4 x 10 k....
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. Most-often the champions of the event, the Norwegian men’s program has been waiting for another crack at the 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay on home turf for the last two...
Broadcast Updates: We have a quick update to the information we published last week regarding cross country broadcast schedules from Tom Horrocks, Communications Manager for the Davis U.S. Cross Country Ski Team. After finalizing schedules, NBC will have all World Cup events available for streaming through their PeacockTV platform. As mentioned in the first post, there is also a new streaming platform, Ski and Snowboard Live, which is owned by the production company InFront. This...
In a rare twist of events, the International Ski Federation (FIS) has modified the results of the men’s 50-kilometer mass start classic from the 2021 World Championships. FasterSkier reported on the topsy turvy nature of the final two hundred meters. Here’s what we reported on race day: “Swooping around the left-hander into the straight, it was Bolshunov in the lead and going wide up against the edge of the right-hand V-boards. (Reminiscent of Lahti where Finland’s...
This World Championship coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their 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. It was under overcast skies that the men made their final preparations before the start of Sunday’s mass start 50 k classic, the final event of the 2021 World...
This World Championship coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their 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. After the tropical conditions of the past week, the men were greeted with heavy snowfall for Friday’s championship 4 x 10 k relay competition in Oberstdorf. Temperatures hovered around...
This World Championship coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their 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. With swaths of bare ground peeking through the melting snow, skis rattling through tracks and swooshing across the lanes, and short-sleeved race tops, World Championship racing continued in a...
This is the third part of a three-part series on Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov. You can find part one and part two here. This season, the Alexander Bolshunov vs. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo show has been largely sidelined due to Norway pulling from cross-country World Cups due to the coronavirus. When the Norwegians returned to the World Cup in Lahti, the wait proved a pressure cooker of tension. When Bolshunov fell in the closing stages of...
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their 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 fog seemed to have thickened since the completion of the women’s race earlier in the day, at times obscuring the skiers with only their silhouettes visible. Eleven teams...
Working off the premise that history repeats itself, there were only so many ways this grueling 30 k skiathlon in Lathi, Finland could end. The plot, this weekend, thickened with the return of Norway to the field and all eyes on Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov post-two week break from a historic and runaway win at the Tour de Ski. Would Bolshunov hold the snap and power for 30 k with a horde of Norwegian men hungry...