Emily Nishikawa – FasterSkier.com

News Round Up: Nishikawa and Jacobsen Retire, Sundby off the Norwegian National Team

FasterSkierApril 28, 2020

Although time may have felt like a stand still since mid-March, the news has continued to flow. Emily Nishikawa: Emily Nishikawa stepped away from elite level competition announcing her retirement at 30 years old. Having grown up Whitehorse, Yukon she spent nine years as a member of the Canadian National Team, was a two-time Olympian (2014 and 2018) and six-time national champion. For several years running, Nishikawa was the distance skier to beat in Canada....

News Racing World Cup

Johaug Crushes Stage 6 for Ski Tour Overall Win; Diggins Leads U.S. in Sixth (Updated)

Jason AlbertFebruary 23, 2020

We’ll start with the weather: think all over the place. A moving target for meteorologist with moisture spitting from the skies, and air masses swirling this way and that making the trees sway like a mamba line along the course. A wax tech’s nightmare scenario? Yes. It certainly trended in that direction. By all measures, this was Therese Johaug’s, Norway’s latest version of a cross-country skiing record-breaker, stage and tour. Of six stages total, she...

Racing World Cup

Falla Steps up For the Trondheim Win; Five U.S. Skiers in the Heats

Jason AlbertFebruary 22, 2020

The day began in Trondheim with a centimeter of snow, which then transitioned to big blue skies for the thousands of fans attending the fifth stage of the Ski Tour 2020, a 1.5 k classic sprint. The Norwegians can throw a cross-country race party. The scene, despite the different setting, was reminiscent of the festive cowbell and camp-out sideshow of Holmenkollen’s Frognerseteren. It’s not quite the Yankee stadium of cross-country skiing, but a sign that in...

Racing World Cup

Johaug Takes the Stage 2 Win: Brennan in 10th, Diggins 11th

Jason AlbertFebruary 16, 2020

The early evening show, under the lights of Östersund, Sweden’s ski stadium, Stage 2 of the Ski Tour 2020 – a 10-kilometer classic pursuit – got underway as the plentiful moisture falling from the sky transitioned from steady rain to big snowflakes. This was a 10 k race with three discrete tales. First, the story with the least tension. That would be Norway’s Therese Johuag’s 10 k effort. Which, despite the pursuit format, was a...

Racing World Cup

Johaug Tops an All-Norwegian Podium; Diggins 8th, Brennan 9th

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 15, 2020

Here we go again. A new Scandinavian Ski Tour takes the spot of a World Championship or Olympic Games during this off-cycle year. Six stages working east from Östersund, Sweden to Trondheim, Norway, beginning with today’s 10-kilometer individual start freestyle event. Under clear skies, light fading and shadows lengthening as the sunset looms just a few hours away, the women time trialed through the tall conifers to set the tone of the overall tour standings....

Racing World Cup

Johaug Pounces in Closing K to Win in Falun; Diggins 14th

Jason AlbertFebruary 9, 2020

As always, it was a reset: a new day at the start of a World Cup race. On Sunday, the ribbon of snow in Falun, Sweden offered an opportunity for a sixty-six women field to race head to head in a 10 k mass start freestyle race. With a course that some noted was softened in difficulty by eliminating the infamous Moderbakken climb — which has become a feared incline on the World Cup circuit...

Continental Cup Juniors Racing

MSA Trials Wrap-up: Tactics, Selections, Photos, and Videos

Gerry FursethFebruary 3, 2020

Mont Sainte-Anne brought great ski conditions on a weekend where the best in Canada fought to qualify for four different race trips: U20/U23 World Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany; Falun and the Scando Tour; the sprint tour of Québec and Minnesota; and World Cup finals in Canmore. Combine this with the usual NorAm action and COC leader competition and you have all the ingredients for a great weekend. Over 400 athletes raced in five age groups...

Continental Cup Juniors Racing

MSA Trials Rundown: Classic Interval Starts

Gerry FursethFebruary 1, 2020

Fresh snow greeted day two of the Mont Sainte-Anne Trials for the interval start classic. With athletes battling to qualify for U20/U23 World Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany and three separate World Cup trips (Falun/Scando Tour, Sprint Tour, Canmore), it was never going to be a simple matter of skier against the clock. Racing started with the open men’s 15km on a 5km loop that was shared by all the elite categories. Early on, it looked...

Continental Cup Juniors Racing

MSA Trials Rundown: Qualifying for U23, U20 and More

Gerry FursethJanuary 31, 2020

In Canadian domestic ski racing, it doesn’t get much bigger than this. Mont Sainte-Anne (MSA) is hosting the NorAm weekend that also serves as U23/U20 World Championships qualification and has special significance in selection for World Cup starts. Any skier who hasn’t already qualified for National Team selection for next season start with top 30 results on either the World Cup or U20 World Championships. Most of these paths start at MSA Trials. For U20...

Continental Cup Racing

Canadian Racing Rundown: Westerns, Pragelato, and Lausanne

Gerry FursethJanuary 21, 2020

Canada took a step back from the World Cup circuit this weekend and focussed attention into development series. As the country tries to build momentum in a post Alex Harvey world, the focus has moved away from World Cup podiums and towards a consistent presence in the top 30. The road to the World Cup goes through local and regional races on the way to national/continental races. One of the development challenges in Canada is...

Canadian National Ski Team Continental Cup Racing

Rebuilding Canada: Less Europe, More North America

Gerry FursethDecember 2, 2019

Canada is moving into a new era in skiing. An era with less World Cup podiums and more emphasis on developing future podium athletes. “Train at what you want to be good at. If its climbing, climb. If it is chess, play chess. Ski training has many elements of course, but in the end the best training to race fast is to race.” — Erik Bråten, National Team Head Coach In the near future,...

Racing US Ski Team World Cup

World Cup Preview: North America

Rachel PerkinsNovember 28, 2019

United States Overall in Nations Cup Last Year: 5th Women’s Ranking 2018/2019: 4th Men’s Ranking 2018/2019: 11th Americans to Watch: Seven men and nine women will be lining up in stars and stripes for the World Cup’s opening: Finland’s Ruka Triple. Three race series features a classic sprint followed by a two-day distance pursuit. At the top of the ranks, Jessie Diggins (USST/SMS T2) finished the 2019 season 6th in distance and 7th in sprint....

Canadian National Ski Team General News

Nordiq Canada: Ringing in the Changes

Gerry FursethNovember 5, 2019

When Cross Country Canada announced last March that they would be rebranding as Nordiq Canada, they were emphatic the new name was a symbol of their readiness to make changes. Those changes are starting to happen. One holdover from last season is Erik Bråten, the young Norwegian brought in to shape the development pipeline. After one year on the job, Bråten is still enthusiastic and now the sole head coach. Louis Bouchard has stepped down...

Community

Bridging the Gap: Nordiq Canada’s Female Coach Mentorship Program

Jason AlbertMay 8, 2019

It is no secret that the lineup of coaches, wax techs, and support staff in high level cross country skiing is predominantly male; while the percentage of female coaches and support staff varies by country, it is far from 50-50 across the board. The degree to which nations are addressing this disparity also varies. On March 20th, the Women’s Committee of Nordiq Canada launched its second iteration of the Female Coach Mentorship program, which provides...

Canadian Nationals Racing

Canadian Nationals: Two Day Pursuit and WCF Qualification

Gerry FursethMarch 15, 2019

This article has been updated to correct an interpretation of the selection criteria. Day two of nationals was day two of the pursuit at Nakkertok trails in Gatineau, Québec. The two-day pursuit format (classic interval start on day one, free technique pursuit start day two) was held for the second time at nationals. With both national titles and starts at World Cup Finals in Québec City up for grabs, it was always going to be...

Canadian Nationals Racing

Wednesday Rundown: Canadian Nationals

Gerry FursethMarch 13, 2019

Canadian Ski Championships, better known as ‘nationals’, kicked off today at the Nakkertok trails in Québec with individual start classic racing. 342 men started the 10km and 293 women started the 5km, both using the same 5km loop on an overcast day at -8C. The field is more stacked than usual, with only two athletes (Alex Harvey and Jack Carlyle) in Europe right now. Lenny Valjas (CNST) won the 10km in 25:09.3, 9.9 seconds ahead...

News Racing World Cup

Peerless Johaug Takes 30 k Skate; Diggins in Fourth

Gabby NaranjaMarch 2, 2019

From start to finish on Saturday, Norway’s Therese Johaug commanded the front without missing a beat. By the 5 k mark, the top seven skiers, which included Norwegians Ingvild Flugstad Østberg and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, Austrian Teresa Stadlober, Sweden’s Ebba Andersson and Frida Karlsson and American Jessie Diggins, as well as Johaug, had a close to 30 second gap on the field’s remaining 41 starters. But for anyone familiar with Johaug, it isn’t enough to...

News Racing World Cup

Saturday Race Rundown: Seefeld’s 30 k Freestyle

FasterSkierMarch 2, 2019

FIS Nordic Ski World Championships Seefeld, Austria Women’s 30 k Freestyle Link to the full race report. Saturday closed out the racing for the women with the 30-kilometer freestyle at the 2019 World Championships in Seefeld, Austria. Norway’s Therese Johaug, already the winner of the skiathlon and 10 k classic at these championships, secured her third gold in a time of 1:14:26.2 hours. Her teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg placed second (+36.8). Sweden’s nineteen-year-old Frida Karlsson...

News Racing World Cup

An Iconic Women’s Relay as Sweden Holds off Norway; U.S. in Fifth

Jason AlbertFebruary 28, 2019

The beautiful chess match on snow came down to the wire in Thursday’s 4 x 5-kilometer relay at the Seefeld, Austria World Championships. The chaser was Norway’s Therese Johaug, hustling to close an 18.8-second gap to Sweden’s Stina Nilsson. Known as a sprinter who comes to distance events with aerobic chops, Nilsson, who won bronze in the 2018 Olympic 30 k classic mass start, couldn’t be rattled as Johaug lurked ever closer as the 5...

Thursday Race Rundown from Seefeld: Sweden in a Nail-biter

FasterSkierFebruary 28, 2019

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Seefeld, Austria Women’s 4 x 5 k Relay The race pack held together until the 3.5-kilometer mark of the scramble leg during the women’s World Championship 4 x 5 k relay in Seefeld, Austria. A bit over three seconds separated the top-six teams through the time check. gel voltaren gel By the time the third leg began, Sweden and Norway had surged and defined the race as a two team...

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