hailey swirbul – FasterSkier

Matintalo First, Diggins Second: A Classic 20 K Test Before the Olympics

Matthew VoisinJanuary 25, 2026

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence 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 sky above the Goms Nordic Centre on Sunday morning had the washed-out look of winter at altitude — pale and reflective. Snow had fallen overnight —...

Feature World Cup

Ilar Surges, Diggins Rebounds in Oberhof 10 k

John TeafordJanuary 18, 2026

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. When it comes to World Cup cross-country ski racing, season-long progress can be difficult for spectators and commentators to assess. It’s always hard to tell: are skiers getting faster? Are they fading?...

Feature World Cup

Where the Snow Hardens and Decisions Stick

Matthew VoisinJanuary 17, 2026

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 stadium lights fully took over in Oberhof, the snow had begun to change its mind. What started as a pliable winter surface—the kind that both softens and creates...

Feature US Nationals

A Quiet Argument, Made Loud: The Women’s Classic Sprint at U.S. Nationals

Matthew VoisinJanuary 10, 2026

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. On the morning of the women’s classic sprint at the U.S. National Cross-Country Ski Championships, the quiet around Mt. Van Hoevenberg felt deliberate. Not calm — no one was calm by Friday — but restrained. The week had already taken its toll. Distance races had piled fatigue into legs...

Feature US Nationals

Where the Race Breaks Open: Women’s 20 k Freestyle at U.S. Nationals

Matthew VoisinJanuary 9, 2026

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. There is a particular moment in a long mass start when the race quietly declares what it will be. It does not arrive with a surge, a crash, or even a decisive move. It arrives when the pack thins just enough that the edges of the course begin to matter—when...

Feature US Nationals

Where the Margins Speak: U.S. Nationals Opens with Questions, Not Answers

Matthew VoisinJanuary 5, 2026

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. On a January afternoon in Lake Placid, Mt. Van Hoevenberg did what it has always done best: it asked skiers to be honest. The 10-kilometer classic individual start is not a format that rewards theater. It doesn’t care how good you looked in warm-up, how confident you sounded the night...

Feature News

Hailey Swirbul Retires Having Achieved Loftiest Goal: “I Love that I Can Always Nordic Ski”

Ben TheyerlApril 19, 2023

After each of her races on the World Cup this season, Hailey Swirbul would write in her journal. “I tried to answer a couple of questions,” she explained. “What was good today? What was hard? And what do I want to carry forward?” That last question, “What do I want to carry forward?” typically kept an eye on next week’s racing. But after she crossed the final finish line in Lahti, Finland, those questions would...

News US Ski Team World Cup

Olympian Swirbul Announces Retirement from World Cup Cross Country Skiing

FasterSkierMarch 27, 2023

PARK CITY, UT (March 27, 2023) – Hailey Swirbul of the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team is ready to say goodbye to World Cup ski racing. The 2022 Olympian has formally announced her retirement from the World Cup circuit hours after crossing the finish line at the 2022-23 World Cup Finals in Lahti, Finland. 24-year-old Swirbul, an El Jebel, Colorado native, has been on the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team for years, represented her country at two World...

Feature News World Cup

World Champions Dominate Team Sprints as Crystal Globe Race Looms

Ben TheyerlMarch 24, 2023

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. World Cup Finals began under overcast Finnish skies Friday, as the circuit looks to settle the questions of a long season over the next three days. Who was—and who wasn’t—racing in Friday’s...

The Devon Kershaw Show World Cup

The Devon Kershaw Show: Guests galore for a women’s World Champs relay recap

Nathaniel HerzMarch 2, 2023

We’ve got guests. Former FasterSkier Managing Editor Rachel Perkins and U.S. Olympian and World Cup podium finisher Sophie Caldwell join us to recap an epic women’s relay from World Championships in Planica. Nine races down, three to go. You can reach us at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com.

Feature News

Women’s Relay: Norway Takes Gold, USA Fifth

Ken RothMarch 2, 2023

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. With the mounting success of the American women’s cross-country program, the one prize continuing to elude it has been a major championship relay medal. In some ways, it has become an obsession...

Feature US Ski Team World Cup

After Two COVID Winters, an Unusual Sight at World Championships: Parents

Nathaniel HerzFebruary 24, 2023

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. PLANICA, SLOVENIA – A year ago, Canadian cross-country skier Graham Ritchie had reached the pinnacle of his sport: He was competing at the Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. His parents? They...

Nordic Nation Podcasts

Nordic Nation: Prioritizing mental health and rediscovering passion with Hailey Swirbul

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 18, 2023

In this episode, we chat with Hailey Swirbul, who – at just 24 years old – has been competing at the top end of the sport for quite some time. A bronze medal in the 4 x 3.3k relay at the 2017 Junior World Championships in Soldier Hollow put Hailey – and relay teammates Julia Kern, Hannah Halvorsen, and Katherine Ogden – on the map in a big way in US Skiing. Hailey has gone...

Feature News World Cup

Norway Wins, US Women Battle to Podium as Germany Disqualified in Team Relay

Ben TheyerlFebruary 5, 2023

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. As the World Cup entered its third day of racing in Toblach for a 4 x 7.5 km Team Relay, the tone was one of anticipation: what would happen in the race?...

Feature News World Cup

Diggins Takes Third in Toblach Sprints, Klaebo’s Dominance Continues

Ken RothFebruary 3, 2023

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. This weekend, the World Cup travels to Toblach, Italy for three days of racing. First up are the freestyle sprints. This is the last full weekend of racing before the tour...

The Devon Kershaw Show World Cup

The Devon Kershaw Show: Don’t sleep on Les Rousses

Nathaniel HerzJanuary 30, 2023

Holy smokes, that was an epic weekend of racing. Devon and Nat are joined by Tony Cyr, the breakout Canadian star, and a mystery guest drops in later on in the episode. We break down the sprint and two distance races held at the festive French venue in Les Rousses. And we promise, we’ll get you a mailbag episode before World Championships starts in a few weeks. Get at us at devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com.

Feature News World Cup

Diggins Ninth in Les Rousses 20 k Classic, Brennan and Swirbul Top 20

Ken RothJanuary 29, 2023

Today, the women competed in the final day of World Cup racing in Les Rousses, France with the 20 kilometer mass start. The course consisted of six laps on a 3.3-kilometer loop. The course featured an extremely difficult early climb up the side of the venue’s ski jump which Jessie Diggins (USA) had said was about as steep as Alpe di Cermis in the Tour de Ski. The repeated ascents would test skiers’ ability both...

Feature News World Cup

Kern Reaches Finals in Les Roussses Classic Sprint. Diggins Veers off Course.

Ken RothJanuary 28, 2023

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. The women’s classic sprint was contested today in Les Rousses, France. It was an anniversary of sorts as it marked the 100th time a sprint classic race has been held on the...

Feature News Results US Nationals

Swirbul Sweeps Houghton–Karsrud Takes Men’s Sprint

Ken RothJanuary 7, 2023

HOUGHTON, MICHIGAN: Welcome to FasterSkier’s on-location coverage of the United States National Cross-Country Ski Championships from Houghton, Michigan. This week, Houghton hosts the U.S. National Cross-Country Championships on the Michigan Technological University’s trails system. Today’s event was the freestyle sprint. Even though the race was held under the organizing umbrella of the national championships, today’s event was not a national championship race; as it is part of the US. SuperTour. U.S. Ski and Snowboard has...

News US Nationals

Swirbul Three-Peats, Jager Triumphant in U.S. Nationals

Ken RothJanuary 6, 2023

HOUGHTON, MICHIGAN: Welcome to FasterSkier’s on-location coverage of the United States National Cross-Country Ski Championships from Houghton, Michigan. This week, Houghton hosts the U.S. National Cross-Country Championships on the Michigan Technological University’s trails system. Today’s event is the 20-kilometer classic mass start. There were several questions to be answered at the beginning of the day: the women’s side has been dominated by Hailey Swirbul. Swirbul has won the two previous races, the 10-kilometer individual start...

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