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Ida Sargent

Poltoranin, Kowalczyk Win in Muonio; Newell, Sargent Take U.S. to Finals

It may have been a relatively relaxed tune-up race, but there was no lack of depth in the field that showed up for the FIS classic sprints in Muonio, Finland, on Friday. Kazakhstan produced an impressive sweep of the podium; Alexey Poltoranin, a traditionally strong sprinter, led the charge while compatriots Nikolay Chebotko and Denis Volotka (KAZ) followed close behind. American Andy Newell, who led much of the final heat, finished fourth after a slight...

Welcome to the latest installment of FasterSkier’s season previews! Here we break down what to expect from the US Ski Team’s cross-country athletes on the international stage in 2012-2013. With the pre-World Cup races in Muonio, Finland, just around the corner, now is a good time to take stock of what happened last season. When it was time to write this preview a year ago, the Americans were coming off of a very different winter....

The Kikkan Effect

  It is saying nothing new to point out that Kikkan Randall becoming the World Cup Sprint Champion last season was a breakthrough for U.S. skiing. The enormity of the moment in March when an American woman was handed the crystal globe has been well documented since the conclusion of the 2012 season. Each photo that has surfaced online this summer of Randall, her trophy and a new group of wide-eyed fans is a reminder...

Frozen Thunder Sprint Showdown: Notes and Quotes

While it was great to hear from several top skiers on the Canadian and U.S. nordic ski teams on Friday, we weren’t able to fit everything into the recaps of the men’s and women’s time trials. Here are some extras and outtakes from the WinSport Frozen Thunder Classic, an unofficial sprint showdown between North American teams in Canmore, Alberta. (Original race stories with link to results: women) On pre-race problems: I was PO’ed because I...

Crawford Catches Jones, Lunges for Frozen Thunder Sprint Title

There’s only so much warming up one can do on a 1.8-kilometer course with more than 70 other people using it. That’s why Chandra Crawford spent part of her 45-minute prep before the WinSport Frozen Thunder Classic at the Canmore Nordic Centre dancing with Jessie Diggins. While the first unofficial race of the season and certainly the largest sprint in North America so far tested both Canadian and U.S. national team skiers, it also brought...

Caldwell, Newell Stay Ahead in USST Camp Rollerski Sprints (Updated)

LAKE PLACID, N.Y. – Flinging around a sharp corner about a ski length behind one another, Sophie Caldwell (Stratton Mountain School T2 Team), Ida Sargent (Craftsbury Green Racing Project), Caitlin Patterson (CGRP) and Jessie Diggins (SMS) each lowered into a tuck and prepared for a long, steep descent. Diggins called out to the others just ahead of her in the classic rollerski sprint at Lake Placid’s Olympic Jumping Complex. “That’s it,” the U.S. Ski Team...

Notes and Quotes: Climb to the Castle Edition

WILMINGTON, New York — Ahh, September in the Adirondacks. Even when it rains, nothing quite beats a camp featuring long runs in the High Peaks, cliff jumping at the Flume and, most importantly, a five-mile suffer-fest up Whiteface Mountain. In case you somehow missed what happened in the Climb to the Castle, Liz Stephen (U.S. Ski Team) demolished the women’s field by over five minutes on the five-mile climb, setting a significant personal record for...

Liz Stephen destroyed the women’s field this weekend in the annual Climb to the Castle rollerski race. The margin, just over 5 minutes in a race that took the leaders between 40-45 minutes is certainly impressive. But I think that margin doesn’t provide much useful information. Time trials that are most useful as gauges of [...] Related posts:

  1. Beitostølen FIS Race Recap: Women
  2. Climb To The Castle – Men
  3. Climb To The Castle – Women

Bounding Up Whiteface: Video from USST Elite Camp (Updated with Quotes)

WILMINGTON, N.Y. — The view from partially up Whiteface Mountain on Wednesday morning was about as picturesque as they get. From the trail, one could see that the leaves had started to turn shades of red and yellow — just in time for the U.S. Ski Team’s fall training camp in Lake Placid, N.Y. Way down below, a few small dots proceeded up the dirt access road: first to warm up, then to get after...

Kris Freeman and Kikkan Randall have been basically the top US skiers for quite some time now. (I’m sort of brushing Andrew Newell under the rug here, mostly just due to time contraints. I’ll do a follow up on him next week.) Freeman has been more or less unquestionably the best US male distance skier [...] Related posts:Victims & Nemeses: Kris Freeman Is Qualifying In The Top Ten A Good Sign For Kikkan? Top 10 Qualification vs. Making The Final

What’s in a Recovery Day? USST Members Weigh In

It’s almost September, and let’s be honest, you’re in great shape. Or you’re almost there. Just a little longer distances, some slightly harder efforts and bam! You suddenly feel a tickle in your throat. Your head’s pounding, your legs are shot and your heart races when you start working out. You’re having trouble sleeping and this head cold is something you hadn’t bargained for. What gives? Probably overtraining. “Pish-posh,” you think. “I’m not an elite...

Elite Team Preview: Craftsbury Green Racing Project

Note: This is the fifth preview in a quick-and-dirty series on U.S. elite teams. We asked coaches to send their 2012/2013 rosters and tell us what’s new for the coming season. We will be publishing additional reports over the next few weeks. Teams are presented in no particular order. Team: Craftsbury Green Racing Project (GRP) Coaches: Pepa Miloucheva (head coach, 15th season), Jeremy Nellis (junior coach) Senior roster: Ida Sargent (U.S. Ski Team), Susan Dunklee...

U.S., Canadian National Teams Mix It Up with Club Skiers in Relays (Photo Gallery)

BEND, Ore. – It may have been spring at Mount Bachelor this weekend, but by the time Wednesday rolled around, it was more like winter. Snow had fallen overnight and stuck to the mountain’s flanks, and flurries continued to drift from the sky as the U.S. and Canadian national ski teams competed in relay races with several club teams. Canadian Olympian and current Alberta World Cup Academy coach George Grey skied the course before the...

Crawford Soaks Up Atmosphere at Canadian Nationals, Wins Sprint

MONT SAINTE-ANNE, Québec — Whipping along the first of two downhills on a chemically enhanced sprint course at Canadian Ski Nationals on Thursday, Chandra Crawford could feel the vibrations in the stadium. Everyone there could. A helicopter soared directly ahead, swaying above one end of the 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint loop to the other for an unrivaled viewpoint of the nation’s cross-country skiing finale. Spectators buzzed that the mayor of Québec was inside. In fact, it...

Sargent, Jones Claim 5 k Titles at Canadian Nationals

MONT SAINTE-ANNE, Québec – After a whirlwind tour of Europe, in which Ida Sargent of the U.S. Ski Team/Craftsbury Green Racing Project came home just once for U.S. Nationals in January, the 24-year-old took on relatively simple task in Canada on Monday. She needed to pass one person and push hard in a 5-kilometer classic individual start. With soft conditions and temperatures upwards of 7 degrees Celsius (45 degrees Fahrenheit) at Canadian Ski Nationals, that...

Randall and Stephen Lead U.S. at Holmenkollen With Top-30 Finishes

With enthusiastic cheers of “USA all the way!” to push them onward, the American women battled through an energetic 30 k classic at the famous Holmenkollen venue in Oslo, Norway on Sunday. The throngs of happy fans stood in contrast to what the athletes experienced out on the course — the combination of a sprint-like early pace and slow snow later on made for a challenging 90-plus minutes of racing. The U.S. women were the...

Despite Fatigue, Randall and Hamilton Post Top Finishes in Lahti Sprints

The Lahti Corner — the notoriously sketchy 180-degree downhill hairpin that stumps many experienced World Cup skiers every season — lived up to its reputation on Sunday in the third-to-last sprint of the year. If it wasn’t taking out several athletes at once, it was otherwise dictating tactics and forcing skiers into awkward snowplows around its icy arc. For Kikkan Randall, who led the Americans in fifth, the corner’s penchant for carnage necessitated extra attention...

After mounting an improbable comeback to finish third in Saturday’s sprint final in Szklarska Poreba, Poland, Kikkan Randall turned in another strong showing on Sunday, placing eighth in the 10 k classic race. It was her eighth distance top-ten of the season, counting tour stages, and one of the best classic results of her career. Teammate Ida Sargent also had a personal best, scoring World Cup distance points for the first time after placing 26th....

Norwegians Run Away with Relay; U.S. Pulls Off Fifth

As the sunlight sliced through rows of majestic trees in Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic, Sunday around noon, a few of the Norwegians could have afforded to soak up the scenery in the women’s 4×5 k relay. They probably didn’t, though. Marit Bjørgen finally lifted her head to look around as she entered the stadium to seal the Norwegian win. With a nearly 40 second lead, Bjørgen as the Norway I anchor threw up...