HomeTag

hailey swirbul

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...

Third Straight Sprint Win for Dahlqvist of Sweden; Brennan Finishes 4th

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. Moving south after a couple of cold weekends in the North, the World Cup circuit returned to Davos, Switzerland for this weekend’s events. Under cloudy skies, snowfall, and wind,...

Russia Takes the Women’s Relay in Final Sprint; Americans Rebound to 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. Bring out the high socks and glitter, it’s a relay day on the World Cup. Whereas the early legs of the men’s race skied like an accordion, the first...

Nordic Nation: Challenges of the Pro-Athlete Journey with Hannah Halvorsen, Hailey Swirbul, and Kate Barton

In this episode, we have U.S. Ski Team members Hannah Halvorsen and Hailey Swirbul along with development team coach Kate Barton. The original idea behind the conversation was to discuss a variety of challenges female athletes of all levels experience during their careers based on an infographic posted by the organization Voice in Sport, shown below.  As the conversation evolved, it became clear that this conversation will resonate with athletes of all genders, ages, and...

Karlsson — Not Johaug — Wins the Distance Opener in Ruka; Brennan 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. Aerial views of Ruka, Finland showed a venue coated in thick rime, a visual representation of the temperatures and conditions on the course. At nearly 66 degrees North, Ruka...

Elite Team Preview: APU

Team name and location: Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center (APU, or APUNSC); Anchorage, Alaska Coaches: Erik Flora (head coach/director), Jack Novak (assistant coach) Current roster: Penny Smyth, APUNSC Marketing & Communications, writes: “Women’s Team: Rosie Brennan (USSS A Team), Hailey Swirbul (USSS A Team), Hannah Halvorsen (USSS D Team), Rosie Frankowski (World Cup Alternate), Becca Rorabaugh, Anna Darnell, Annie Gonzales, Marit Flora, Lily Pannkuk, Zoe Noble “Men’s Team: Logan Hanneman (USSS B Team), Scott Patterson (USSS B Team), David Norris...

Schumacher and Brennan Lead the Way in Season-Opening Race to the Outhouse

GOVERNMENT PEAK RECREATION AREA, above Palmer, Alaska — High-end nordic ski racing was last seen in this country in mid-April, when a bevy of national-team members who call Alaska home competed in a pair of FIS races in mid-winter conditions, followed by a more vernal 2,000’ hill climb the following weekend. Less than seven months later, as Alaska kicks off another season of ski racing, little has changed: the country’s deepest domestic fields, single-digit temps,...

Season Preview: 21 Athletes in 22 Words for the 2021/2022 Season

FasterSkier often publishes long profiles of athletes. This is not that article. Instead, please enjoy precisely 22 words about each of the 21 athletes currently on the U.S. Ski Team in this extremely brief, but numerically pleasing, preview of the 2021/2022 season. Athletes are presented alphabetically within each team, with age as of this season’s first World Cup race. All photos are screenshots from the current USST roster site. Any evocation of a certain song by...