The U.S. Biathlon Women's A-team has been spending the last two weeks soaking up Finnish life and studying the 2015 IBU World Championships course in Kontiolahti with reigning World Cup champion (and local hero) Kaisa Mäkäräinen.
We haven’t seen the last of Magnar Dalen. After eight years as head coach of the Finnish National Ski Team, Dalen, 50, is moving on to coaching marathon skiers on a private team, he explained in an email.
Finnish skier Tero Similä has tested positive for the blood-doping drug EPO. While the case will likely put Finland back in the spotlight again after the 2001 disqualifications of six top athletes at World Championships for the same offense, Similä wasn't on the national team and one possibility is that he turned to doping to try to make the Olympic team (he did not).
In incredibly gusty conditions, Kaisa Mäkäräinen won the 10 k biathlon pursuit by a minute over Darya Domracheva of Belarus. Susan Dunklee of the U.S. moved from eighth up to seventh despite a whopping seven penalties, thanks in part to the second-fastest ski time of the day - and other racers' struggles on the shooting range.
Last season, Aino-Kaisa Saarinen was down and out. Little by little she has built back her fitness and self-confidence, with a secret ingredient: fun. After winning silver in the Olympic 4 x 5 k relay with her teammates from Finland, Saarinen thanked the U.S. women for inviting her to train with them in 2012 and said she had learned that you can't be so serious all the time.
A rookie and veteran teamed up to claim a gold medal for Finland in the men's Olympic team sprint, after a finish that was marred by a crash in the lead pack.
We've heard about disappointment - but what about amazing, unexpected success? 22-year-old Iivo Niskanen of Finland almost held onto bronze in the Olympic men's 15 k classic. "In my 26-year career in coaching, the best thing is to see a star be born," coach Magnar Dalen told FasterSkier.
After a 14th-place showing at FIS World Championships last year, Finnish biathlete Kaisa Makarainen is contemplating skiing in the Olympics. Her recent race splits suggest she's definitely fast enough. But biathlon remains the priority for the 2011 World Cup Champion, for now: "I hope that Sochi is my highest point," she said.
While the Norwegian women's team seized a predictable victory in the Lillehammer World Cup 4 x 5 k relay on Sunday, Finland and the U.S. duked it out for second, with a late crash taking the Americans out of the running for their best-ever relay result.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby held off Russians Maxim Vylegzhanin and Alexander Legkov in the homestretch to claim victory in the Ruka Triple mini-tour.
Sadie Bjornsen (USA) continued a strong start to the season, placing a career-best 7th in the 5km classic in Finland.
Petter Northug skied his own race and hung on for dear life at the finish to edge a Russian for the first time in this weekend's Ruka Triple and defend his overall title from Kuusamo last year.
Kikkan Randall led a quartet of U.S. women in the top 20 on Saturday, demonstrating that last week's third place in Sweden was no fluke. Randall set a new U.S. mark, becoming the first woman to place second in a World Cup distance race.
Perianne Jones tied her career best of 12th and Dasha Gaiazova placed 14th to give the Canadians something to celebrate on a day that was sub-par for others, including its men.
American Ida Sargent lived up to the hype surrounding her sprinting skills on Friday, placing ninth in the Kuusamo World Cup 1.4 k classic sprint just ahead of teammate Kikkan Randall in 10th. Simi Hamilton and Andy Newell made the rounds and placed 24th and 27th, respectively.
Anyone who’s seen Liz Stephen train knew she was completely capable of doing what she did Sunday in Muonio, Finland. For cripes sakes, she challenged the guys during a US Ski Team interval trail-running session this summer. Earlier at that camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., she Hevoskuuri.fi. “Heikkinen competes to win.” Noah Hoffman led the U.S. men in 13th about 0.47 seconds ahead of teammate Kris Freeman in 14th and about 1:18 behind Heikkinen. After...
Aino-Kaisa Saarinen’s got a lot on her plate. Finland’s celebrated cross-country skier is currently on Eagle Glacier with the North American Women’s Training Alliance, a group of about 20 women from the U.S. and Canadian national teams. A multiple world champion with three Olympic medals, Saarinen, 33, has been in Alaska for more than two weeks, staying with U.S. Ski Team member and World Cup sprint champion Kikkan Randall during the first part of camp...
Earlier this week, OneWay Sport announced that it had signed Finnish skier Sami Jauhojärvi to compete on its brand-new skis for the coming year. OneWay has been around since 2004 when it began making carbon-fiber poles, but only introduced a complete line of cross-country equipment to its product lineup in 2012. As with any sporting goods brand, sponsoring a highly visible athlete is a big step in both establishing the company and integrating a new...
Emil Jönsson needed this. He had been sick for too long, without a top 10 result since December and mostly out of contention for a World Cup podium since the end of last season. Two weekends ago at the freestyle sprint in Szlarska Poreba, Poland, the Swede was 62nd. That was behind him. This was Lahti, Finland, where he won the classic sprint last year. With some of the trickiest descents on the World Cup,...
Norway’s Therese Johaug notched her fourth individual World Cup win of the season on Saturday in Lahti, Finland, skiing to a comfortable 10.8-second win in the 15 k skiathlon. She won a the 10 k pursuit race there last year. Johaug led a top-four Norwegian sweep; Marit Bjørgen led the chase pack to finish second, Heidi Weng notched her first career individual World Cup podium in third and Kristin Stoermer Steira was, once again, fourth. Just...