finland – FasterSkier

“We Wanted More . . .” Team USA’s Hard Look at a Low Day

FasterSkierNovember 30, 2024

BONUS ARTICLE: This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers. If you would like to see more articles like this one, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. In the early morning hours of any FIS World Cup race day, messages are bouncing back and forth among a team of diligent FasterSkier writers, doing their best to craft illuminating articles on the race coverage flitting across our screens. And on...

Feature News Racing World Cup

Niskanen Secures Victory at Home as Ruka Launches World Cup Season

Kennedy LangeNovember 29, 2024

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. Ruka, Finland is an area known for challenging race courses and rapidly changing conditions. As the women’s field wrapped up the morning race, the men took on the course under snowfall and near-freezing...

Feature News Racing World Cup

World Cup Season Opens in Ruka: Johaug Returns but Karlsson Flies

John TeafordNovember 29, 2024

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. It’s been two full seasons since Therese Johaug last toed a starting line in a FIS World Cup distance event. In that time, the field has been able to convince itself that they...

News Podcasts The Devon Kershaw Show US Ski Team World Cup

The Devon Kershaw Show: Burger King and the Thugometer

Nathaniel HerzNovember 14, 2024

You know you missed us. Devon and Nat return with a soft launch into the 2025 winter season. We cover off-season developments and other hijinks, from the still-missing Russians to Therese Johaug’s return. Read here and here if you want to understand wth the references are in the show title. We’ll be back soon. Hit us up at nat@fasterskier.com and devon@fasterskier.com; we’re psyched to be back.

The Devon Kershaw Show World Cup

The Devon Kershaw Show: Ruka recap and guess whose apology tour

Nathaniel HerzNovember 28, 2022

We’re back, with some incremental improvements to our audio production and full stoke for a new season of the Devon Kershaw Show. On this first episode of the new season, Devon and Nat break down the winter’s opening races in Sweden, Finland and Norway, and prime the pump for the World Cup kickoff in Finland next weekend. As always, email us at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com.

Feature World Cup

Ruka Women’s 10 Kilometer Classic: Sweden Dominates, Brennan Shines

Ken RothNovember 26, 2022

This World Cup 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. Women’s 10K Interval Start: Today began a new chapter in World Cup racing as women and men competed at the same distances on the same course for the first...

Feature News World Cup

Ruka Men’s 10 Kilometer Classic Individual Start: It’s all Team Norway.

Ken RothNovember 26, 2022

This World Cup 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. Ruka Men’s 10K Classic Individual Start Ruka presented less challenging conditions this year compared to last year for the athletes. Temperatures were in the high teens (-8.0 Centigrade) with...

Juniors Racing

American Teams Announced for 2021 World Juniors/U23s in Vuokatti

Gavin KentchJanuary 19, 2021

Last week, U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced team nominations for 2021 FIS Nordic Junior and U23 World Ski Championships, which will be held in Vuokatti, Finland, in early February. The athletes selected were as follows: U23 World Championships Team Women: Hailey Swirbul (APU Nordic Ski Center/El Jebel, Colo.) Sophia Laukli (Middlebury College/Yarmouth, Maine) Alex Lawson (Middlebury College/West Burke, Vt.) Hannah Halvorsen (APU/Anchorage, Alaska) Renae Anderson (Loppet Nordic Racing/Golden Valley, Minn.) Alternate 1: Leah Lange (University...

Multimedia Podcasts The Devon Kershaw Show

The Devon Kershaw Show: The Norway, Sweden, Finland Opt-Out Episode

Devon KershawDecember 9, 2020

Not two weeks ago, despite the pandemic, it appeared the FIS World Cup had dodged the proverbial positive-test bullet. The Ruka, Finland round of the World Cup went down with fantastic racing, and, as far as we know at the time of dropping this episode, no positive Covid-19 cases among the athletes in Ruka. The cracks began to appear shortly after the racing in Finland concluded. Several of Norway’s star skiers independently withdrew from World...

News

From the World Cup Wax Truck – First Weekend in the Books

Chris HeckerDecember 3, 2020

The first weekend is in the books, and we can cross off a top 10, top 5, and technically a top 3 off of the to-do list. Being behind the scenes and waxing in the wax truck is a whole different perspective. It is far more stressful but also incredibly fun. I am mainly a part of the glide team and will help with testing, picking, and applying waxes for any given day. The conditions...

Racing World Cup

Sweden and Finland Follow Norway and Withdraw from December World Cups (Updated)

FasterSkierDecember 2, 2020

Yesterday Norway announced it would cease sending skiers to the World Cups in Davos, Switzerland and Dresden, Germany due to Covid-19 concerns. Rumors swirled that Sweden would make a similar decision. Twenty-four hours later the Swedish Ski Federation announced they too would withdraw from December’s competitions. “We learned some lessons about the implementation of a World Cup competition in Ruka. We have found that it went well. But we may also have been lucky. As it stands,...

News

What A Way To Kick Off The World Cup For Madshus

Inge ScheveDecember 1, 2020

Sturla Holm Lægreid (NOR) crushed his competitors in the IBU biathlon World Cup opener on Saturday and earned his first World Cup victory. On Sunday, turbo junior Helene Fossesholm (NOR) posted the second-fastest time of the day in the 10-kilometer pursuit at the FIS Nordic World Cup opener. “It hasn’t quite sunk in yet. I never imagined I would win,” Lægreid said after his race, which took place in in Kontiolahti (FIN). The 23-year-old dominated the 20-kilometer individual competition,...

Lifestyle

All the Lightness as they Rotate Towards Winter: Chad Salmela and the Family in Finland

Jason AlbertOctober 8, 2020

FOMO: Fear of missing out. FOMO through the lens of envy is probably not the way to thrive. FOMO through the lens of seizing the day, on the other hand, has a lovely ring to it. Chad Salmela: biathlete, skier, running coach, forever linked with “HERE COMES DIGGINS”, husband, and parent. He is also the lone member of his family of four without a Finnish passport, although he has Finnish ancestry. His wife, Mimmu, hails...

Multimedia Podcasts The Devon Kershaw Show

The Devon Kershaw Show – Breaking Down Ruka

Jason AlbertDecember 1, 2019

This is a new project from FasterSkier and the podcast title pretty much says it: Devon Kershaw will be sharing his thoughts and insights of the 2019-2020 World Cup with us. It began this morning, Sunday, December 1, very early for me and not so early for Devon who is based in Lillehammer, Norway. Devon is a former longtime Canadian National Team member, a World Champion, and commentator for Eurosport at last year’s Seefeld, Austria...

Canadian National Ski Team News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

Sunday Rundown: Pärmäkoski Wins At Home in Lahti 10 k; Poltoranin Tops 15 k

FasterSkierMarch 4, 2018

FIS Cross Country World Cup (Lahti, Finland): 10/15 k classic Men’s report Racing at home in Finland, Krista Pärmäkoski picked a good time to collect the second World Cup victory of her career, and again in a 10 k classic. Pärmäkoski’s first win came in the 10 k classic in Planica, Slovenia, earlier this season. In second was Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva, who picked up her first World Cup podium. The current U23 standings leader, Nepryaeva’s time was 20.9...

Biathlon Biathlon Canada Canadian National Ski Team General Lifestyle Olympics Racing Resources US Biathlon US Ski Team

FasterSkier’s Unofficial Guide to 2018 Olympic Cross-Country and Biathlon Suits

Jason AlbertFebruary 16, 2018

FasterSkier would like to thank Fischer Sport USA, Concept2, Olympic cross-country and biathlon cheat sheet, and not long after, we received a comment from a reader asking for a uniform cheat sheet. We, too, found ourselves sometimes befuddled. During Saturday’s skiathlon, this reporter found himself looking for the emblematic stars on the U.S. Ski Team’s new unis. There were stars, think Diggins and Kalla, just no obvious stellar-like branding on the USST suits. So for you and for us,...

General News Olympics Racing World Cup

World Cup Windup: Finland

FasterSkierNovember 15, 2017

Welcome to World Cup Windup, where we check in with the top-10 teams from last year’s FIS Cross Country World Cup tour before the season starts with the Ruka Triple in Kuusamo, Finland, on Nov. 24. FINLAND Overall in Nations Cup Last Year: Third, by just 106 points over Russia Women’s Ranking 2016/2017: Third Men’s Ranking 2016/2017: Fourth Who’s Back: World Cup overall title runner-up Krista Parmakoski, fifth-place Matti Heikkinen, and eighth-place Kerttu Niskanen; Iivo...

Collegiate Interviews Lifestyle News Racing Training

Summer Training… All Over Finland with Krista Niiranen

Chelsea LittleJuly 20, 2017

A World Junior Championships and World U23 Championships skier for Finland who had racked up top-10 finishes in her country’s competitive national-championships field, Krista Niiranen moved to the American Southwest last year. “I had been studying law in the University of Lapland in Finland, but for the last season I transferred to the University of New Mexico and represented the UNM Ski Team,” she explained. Niiranen made a splash on the SuperTour and NCAA circuits,...

Biathlon Biathlon Canada General News Racing US Biathlon

U.S. Historic Second in Kontiolahti Single Mixed Relay, ‘Dream Come True’

Chelsea LittleMarch 12, 2017

The single mixed relay is a relatively new format, and one that is not yet contested at World Championships or the Olympics. And so when a single mixed relay (two athletes) and a ‘normal’ mixed relay (four athletes) are held on the same day, the U.S. Biathlon World Cup team’s policy has always been clear: prioritize the mixed relay, and get the World Champs and Olympic team the most practice possible for their big days....

Biathlon Biathlon Canada Canadian National Ski Team Collegiate Juniors News Racing US Biathlon US Ski Team World Cup

Saturday Rundown: Holmenkollen, Kontiolahti, Jackson, and Lake Placid (Updated x4)

FasterSkierMarch 11, 2017

NCAA Skiing Championships (Jackson, N.H.): 15/20 k freestyle mass starts On the final day of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Skiing Championships in northern New Hampshire, the University of Utah pulled out a 16.5-point victory over the University of Colorado-Boulder (and finished 17.5 points ahead of the University of Denver) in the team standings, and the Petra Hyncicova, achieved their second-straight titles in as many nordic races this week. On a frigid Saturday morning in Jackson,...

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