HomeTag

Holly Brooks

The Devon Kershaw Show: More Olympic hardware for Diggins and a banner day for the U.S.

What. A. Day. American cross-country skier Jessie Diggins scores another Olympic medal in Beijing, this time a silver, gutting out a strong race even though she was suffering from food poisoning. We break down the full 30 k freestyle race with Therese Johaug’s win and a furious chase for bronze. And we’re thrilled to welcome guest hosts Holly Brooks and Sadie Maubet (Bjornsen), the retired U.S. Olympians who joined us from Alaska. We’ll be back...

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...

Nordic Nation: Moms Matter Now with Holly Brooks and Calisa Kastning

  In this episode, we discuss the topic of maternal mental health with Holly Brooks and Calisa Kastning. On Mother’s Day, the partners announced the launch of their passion project, Moms Matter Now with the aim of supporting and empowering women as they transition into motherhood.  For those unfamiliar with these names, Brooks is a two-time Olympian and U.S. Ski Team alumna who became a licensed professional counselor after retiring from professional skiing in 2016....

Longtime USST Teammates Reunite in Support of UAA Skiing

ANCHORAGE — The U.S. women’s epochal third-place relay finish at the World Cup stop in Gällivare, Sweden, in November 2012 is justly hailed as an inflection point for American skiing: For the first time in American nordic history, this country had four athletes who were all strong enough on the same day to challenge the traditional Scandinavian powers at their own game. The race begins Peggy Shinn’s historical treatment, World Class: The Making of the...

Nordic Nation: Holly Brooks on Mental Health During the Covid-19 Pandemic

We’ve all heard the phrase: “These are unprecedented times.” And it is true. What the world is facing during the Covid-19 pandemic is something that none of us have experienced before. We are all feeling it.  Uncertainty is ubiquitous and caused by a myriad of factors. We may be concerned about the health of ourselves and our families, or about the financial impacts of our country coming to a halt. We might be attempting to...

Nordic Nation: Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S) and the Climate in High Performance Skiing

In this episode, hosted by FasterSkier contributor Rachel Perkins, we dive into the issue of Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (RED-S). This condition was formerly known as the female athlete triad, which was described as inadequate energy intake, the loss of menstruation (amenorrhea), and decreased bone mineral density. The name was changed to include males, who are also affected, and to expand beyond the three symptoms originally included. Though not quite the same, the condition...

First Tracks as a New Parent: Holly Brooks [Part 2]

The “First Tracks” series highlights the pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting experiences of noteworthy athletes in cross-country skiing in various stages of their professional careers. The sharing of these experiences can benefit athletes in any stage of their career, whether they are an elite or recreational skier, by demonstrating that it is very possible to return to skiing, competition, and an active lifestyle with a growing family. The series will include the physical challenges of being...

First Tracks as a New Parent: Holly Brooks [Part 1]

The “First Tracks” series highlights the pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting experiences of noteworthy athletes in cross-country skiing in various stages of their professional careers. The sharing of these experiences can benefit athletes in any stage of their career, whether they are an elite or recreational skier, by demonstrating that it is very possible to return to skiing, competition, and an active lifestyle with a growing family. The series will include the physical challenges of being...

USCSA: The “Hidden Gem” Pathway for Non-NCAA Collegiate Skiers

Last year, 174 athletes in the male and female U18 categories competed at Junior Nationals in Anchorage, AK. This number represents a small fraction of the cross country skiers throughout the country in that age category. As there are only about 30 NCAA programs nationwide that offer Division I or Division II cross country skiing, the opportunity for high-level training and racing narrows significantly after a skier graduates from high school.  However, the door to...

Regional air quality and higher than normal temperatures have been the story during the run-up to the 2019 Mt. Marathon race. According to a NYT’s piece, Anchorage has never recorded an official temperature 90 degrees or above. That may change soon. Today, in Seward, Alaska, home of the Mt. Marathon race, temperatures were in the mid-60s. However, the indices that mattered was the air quality index (AQI). According to an Anchorage Daily News article, the AQI...

With a resume including 2 Olympic gold medals and an incredible 8 World Championship titles, Andrea Henkel Burke is recognized in Germany as one of the greatest biathletes of all time. Now living in Lake Placid, NY with husband Tim Burke, Andrea is using her years of competitive experience to help others achieve their goals through a personal training and consulting business. This week Andy Newell announced Andrea as the newest partner on the growing...

Novak, Rudd Take Tour of Anchorage Wins

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Hannah Rudd had never raced a 50 k before. Jack Novak was doing his second one in as many weekends. They took different paths to get there, but both ended up in the same place on Sunday afternoon: first in the flagship 50-kilometer freestyle race of the Tour of Anchorage. The 30th annual Tour (pearl anniversary!) set off from Service High School, beneath the foothills of the Chugach Mountains at the eastern...

Medal Talk: Olympic Roundtable with Holly Brooks, Pete Vordenberg, Nancy Fiddler, and Chandra Crawford

After the posted separately. Roundtable Q & A Q: Where and with whom did you watch today’s race? Chandra Crawford: In my living room at 3 am with my husband Jared. 1.5 year old Kyla was crying a bit upstairs but she had to wait for the race to finish to be over-enthusiastically consoled. She was probably wondering what her mom was so excited about. Nancy Fiddler: Today is my birthday, and I got up to...

‘Why Not Go Again?’ Patterson Makes Mt. Marathon His Own One Year Later

As with other epic modern-day adventure race series, the fabled origin of Seward, Alaska’s annual Mount Marathon — held every July 4 — began with beer and a bet: who among us can run from the streets of downtown to the top of the 3,022-foot mountain crowding Seward’s skyline, then back to the bottom the fastest? What about within the hour? While the footrace race has evolved massively since the port town’s pioneer miners took...

(letter of support, addressed to the University of Alaska President Jim Johnsen, and granted permission to post.)  *** Dear President Johnsen, My name is Holly Brooks and I am one of Alaska’s Olympic Cross Country skiers. I am writing this on behalf of several of our local Olympians, who have agreed to sign their names below, and encourage you to take the time to read this letter and gain an understanding of how much we...