Three North Americans -- a 21-year-old Canadian, a 25-year-old former rower and a 35-year-old Army veteran -- topped the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Overall World Cup podiums for 2014/2015, ending their seasons on Sunday at IPC World Cup Finals in Surnadal, Norway.
With five medals already in his possession before the last day of IPC World Championships in Cable, Wis., American Andy Soule didn't have to ski the standing, skate course in the mixed relay -- but he wanted to. Not only did it show him what he was capable of, but it allowed "a lot of people to see exactly what is possible for a sit skier, too,” Soule, IPC Athlete of the Month, said last week.
Catch up on what you may have missed this weekend, as nordic competitions across the globe are begging to heat up. Here, we recap everything from biathlon in Austria to the cross country World Cup in Switzerland and everything in between.
Twenty-two years ago, Colette Bourgonje was a grade-school teacher with a ticket to the Albertville Paralympics. But the school wasn’t about to let her take off for her first Paralympics. She went anyway and began an unprecedented streak of competing at seven Winter Paralympics -- 10 Paralympics in all.
CXC press release) The famed Canmore Nordic Center, the venue of the 1988 Olympic Winter Games Nordic events, and home to countless World Cups recently played host to yet another blockbuster event, when they welcomed the world for an IPC cross-country and biathlon World Cup. The setting is breathtaking, the competition even more so. Augusto “Goose” Perez spoke for everyone noting just how inspiring it was to compete and the fabled venue of Canmore, saying..”Canmore...
Extraordinary performances are becoming ordinary for the North American contingent this year as new stars emerge, historic results accumulate, and expectations continue to grow. FasterSkier was on site in Davos, Switzerland, where five USST members raced to the top 30 in Saturday's distance races and six made the heats in Sunday's sprints.
One of the most successful men on the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Team last season, Lt. Dan Cnossen cut right to the chase when asked about his training this summer and fall. “We’re going to find out real quick when I go up against the Russians,” Cnossen says. So far, he's placed ninth and 11th at the IPC World Cup in Canmore.
With less than a year of nordic experience, Tatyana McFadden -- a three-time Summer Paralympian with 10 Paralympic medals and a marathon Grand Slam to her name -- has her heart set on Sochi. "I have to just be relaxed and go with the transitions," she says. "When it comes time for me to put my skis on the snow, I have to remember everything I've learned ... and ski as fast as I can and hopefully make people proud.”
www.albertaworldcup.com. *** Watch and share this great video produced by Glen Crawford at Glen Crawford Production Services, Canmore Alberta.
Brian McKeever continued to impress this season, and Colette Bourgonje and Mark Arendz further showed the strength of Canada's Para-Nordic squad. New to skiing, Tatyana McFadden stood out as the top American female.
Entering his third straight season with the Canadian Para-Nordic World Cup Team, Erik Carleton has already made some big decisions this year. Among them, he had to choose whether to race the Alberta Cross Country World Cup in Canmore or go for gold at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cup opener in Vuokatti, Finland. It must be tough to be Carleton, a competitive-nordic racer who doubles as a Para-Nordic guide for Brian McKeever, arguably the...
Like most athletic children of a certain era in Putney, Vt., Alicia Dana grew up cross-country skiing. She learned the ropes from the legendary John Caldwell, a Putney School coach who went on to lead the U.S. Ski Team, and took up racing at an early age. It wasn’t long until Dana, formerly Brelsford, developed an affinity for other sports as well. By the time she was 16, she had competed at two cycling nationals...
A day after flying into Finland, Brian McKeever and Erik Carleton of Canada nabbed gold in the first race of the IPC World Cup finals in Vuokatti on Thursday, the 1.2 k visually impaired sprint. On Tuesday, McKeever and Carleton drove straight to the airport after competing in the 15 k freestyle event at the Canadian Ski Championships. Carleton placed second on Monday in the 10 k classic and eighth on Tuesday. McKeever was 15th...
From January 29 to February 3, cross-country skiers and biathletes on the U.S. Paralympic Team will have the opportunity to compete in a World Cup on home turf. The U.S. Olympic Committee announced earlier in October that Telemark Resort in Cable, Wisconsin is set to host the biggest international nordic event the U.S. has seen since 2005, when the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Biathlon and Cross-Country World Championships were held in Fort Kent, ME. Central...