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

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...

Two in a row for Swirbul, Karsrud wins for NMU

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 Classic Sprints. Weather again played an outsized role in today’s proceedings as temperatures hovered around freezing all night. The overnight forecast varied from freezing rain, to rain, to rain mixed with snow, to straight snow. During ski...

Swirbul Sizzles, Kirkeng Dominates U.S. National Championships 10 k Individual

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 trail system. The U.S. Nationals mean many things to different competitors. For some, it’s their initiation into the world of high-end competitive ski racing; for others it’s their chance to burnish their credentials; and for still others it’s a combination of competition...

Sundling Dominates Final Sprint; Kern Finishes a Close Fourth

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. We’ve arrived at the final weekend of World Cup racing. After the cancellation of the finals scheduled to take place in Tyumen, Russia and the difficulty of finding a last-minute...

A full-circle moment, Johaug wins the 30 k classic at Holmenkollen, exactly 11 years after her first individual World Championship gold; Brennan leads the US in 7th

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.   Eleven years ago to the day, racing the 30-kilometer mass start skate, a 22-year-old Therese Johaug won her first individual World Championship gold medal in a breakout performance at...

Hailey Swirbul writes “honest” blog post on Olympic experience

Intertwined with historic medal-winning races, tales of adversity overcome, and athletes with whom fans become enamored once every four years, the Olympics also brings about stories of defeat, the complexities of human emotion, and the simple humanity of the athletes competing at the Games, who are often glorified solely on the grounds of their seemingly inhuman capacities and accomplishments. While stars like Simone Biles and Mikaela Shiffrin remind us that extreme pressure to perform does...

Johaug Sneaks Inside Nepryaeva’s Mark for the 10 k Interval Start Classic Win; Brennan Leads U.S in 8th

  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. An iconic venue, Lahti’s ski jumps rise out of the pine forest from atop the rolling hills, tucked between the many lakes of the region in southern Finland. After...

Sundling Leads a Swedish Podium Sweep in Freestyle Sprint, with Diggins in Fourth and Kern Eighth

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. Snapping back after a week away from racing, the World Cup resumed in wintery Lahti, Finland with a 1.6 kilometer freestyle sprint. The American women made their presence immediately known,...

Stepanova Anchors ROC to Gold in the Women’s 4 x 5 k Relay; USA 6th

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.   A relay medal evaded the American women’s 4 x 5-kilometer team for another Olympic quadrennial today, as Hailey Swirbul, Rosie Brennan, Novie McCabe, and Jessie Diggins finished sixth,...

Athletes weigh in on NY Times statement that Diggins looks like a “sprite” relative to her competition 

On February 8th, cross country skiing made the New York Times headlines as Jessie Diggins collected an historic bronze medal in the 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint. No American woman had ever won an individual medal in cross country skiing, and no American cross country skier of either gender had won multiple Olympic medals. Diggins had earned gold in 2018 racing the freestyle team sprint with partner, and current NBC analyst, Kikkan Randall.  Normally, attention given to...

U.S. coaches face “impossibly hard” choices for women’s relay selection

ZHANGJIAKOU, CHINA — American cross-country ski coaches face a high-stakes dilemma over the next 24 hours as they choose which members of their deep, talented women’s team will race Saturday’s four-person relay at the Beijing Olympics. The U.S. women have a fair shot at a medal in the event, in which each woman skis a five-kilometer leg. But don’t envy the American coaches, who are still pondering which of six athletes will fill the last two...

Johaug Wins Second Gold in a Close Race; Diggins Leads Americans in 8th

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. Thursday morning saw the third women’s cross-country race in the Zhangjiakou stadium. On the docket, a 10-kilometer individual start classic with two laps of a challenging 5 k course. After a...

(Results Brief) Johaug Takes Gold By Narrow Margin Ahead of Finns; Diggins 8th, Brennan 13th

Stay tuned for in-depth race coverage, coming soon. The third women’s cross country ski competition of the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympic Games featured a 10-kilometer interval start classic competition.  Starting as the second athlete in the seeded group in bib 36, Therese Johaug (NOR) set a high bar, her tempo quick and her breathing labored as she worked every meter of the course to finish in 28:06.3. The next two seeded bibs, both of Finland,...

Johaug Wins First Individual Olympic Gold; Diggins Leads US in Sixth

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 long hiatus from international racing, the top athletes found themselves on the start line once again, ready to contest the first event of the 2022 Winter Olympics. First up,...

(Press Release) U.S. Ski & Snowboard Nominates Cross Country Team Roster For Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022

PARK CITY, UTAH (January 20, 2022) — U.S. Ski & Snowboard announced today its nominations for the U.S. Olympic Cross Country Team to represent Team USA at the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 from February 4-19, 2022. Nominations are to be confirmed by the United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee when it formally announces the U.S. Olympic Team. Fourteen athletes were nominated to Team USA, including the 2018 Olympic gold medalist and defending World Cup overall and...

Kerttu Niskanen (FIN) Claims 10k Classic Victory in Challenging Conditions

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. Returning to the kick and glide after a long hiatus, the second stage of the 2021/22 Tour de Ski featured a 10 k classic individual start for the women. With...

Dahlqvist and Sundling Cruise to Team Sprint Title; Diggins and Kern in 2nd

  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. By Ryan Sederquist Defending team sprint world champions Maja Dahlqvist and Jonna Sundling continued the Swedish women’s sprint dominance with a polished performance and confident victory Saturday morning...

Dahlqvist Unstoppable in Dresden; Hannah Halvorsen Earns a Career Best 7th, With Diggins 8th

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. For the fourth year in a row, the city of Dresden, Germany was ready to host an exciting city Freestyle sprint on a 1.3-kilometer course.  A race that usually...

The Devon Kershaw Show: The Highs and Lows of a Davos Weekend

Davos brought another entertaining weekend of racing for American ski fans, with Rosie Brennan in the mix in both competitions, a podium from Jessie Diggins, and breakout performances from Hailey Swirbul, Sophia Laukli, and Novie McCabe. Devon Kershaw and FasterSkier’s Nat Herz take us through the results with special guest Eirik Brandsdal, the longtime, now-retired Norwegian World Cup sprint racer. Have questions for Devon or Nat? Send them to devon@fasterskier.com and nat@fasterskier.com to have them answered. We’ll be...

Diggins Back on Podium in 2nd; American Women put 5 in Top 30, and Johaug back on Top in Davos

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.   For American ski fans, the Davos 10km on Sunday was one to be anticipated with a mix of expectation and nostalgia. Last season, in a year when the...