All 2012 FIS World Cup Finals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of Results Matthew Voisin contributed reporting.
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Jessie Diggins
All 2012 FIS World Cup Finals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of
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...
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...
Whatever condition they were in a week ago, most of the members of the U.S. Ski Team would rather forget it. The ride to Davos, Switzerland, had been rough enough with Kikkan Randall and Andy Newell suffering the worst of a stomach bug that affected the team for most of February. Newell wrote in a Feb. 23 blog post that he and Randall vomited right before leaving Poland for a nine-hour road trip. With two...
Hagen Claims Norway’s First Gold with Skiathlon Victory; Diggins Starts Fast But Fades
Audrey ManganFebruary 25, 2012
ERZURUM, Turkey — Before Saturday’s 15 k skiathlon began, gold had eluded Norway at the Junior/U23 World Championships. The team repeatedly stressed that the week that the learning experience was more valuable than the hardware, but athletes and team staff alike nonetheless seemed hungry for the wins they are used to. Martine Ek Hagen (NOR) finally delivered in the skiathlon, skiing a strong skate leg in the second half to win by 13.9 seconds over...
Kolb Triumphant in U23 Sprint; Bjornsen Leads North American Women in Fourteenth
Audrey ManganFebruary 21, 2012
ERZURUM, Turkey — After scoring points on the World Cup, a victory at U23 World Championships is still a big deal. Just ask Hanna Kolb (GER)—despite having placed 17th this weekend in Szklarska Poreba, Poland sprint, she still thought of her inaugural U23 title as an significant accomplishment. “It is one of the greatest achievements for me,” she said to FIS marketing coordinator Michal Lamplot. “Even though I have won already some World Cup points…this...
Andy Newell led the US men’s team in 22nd after a crashing Swiss skier ended any hope of advancing out of the quarterfinals. Newell stayed on his feet with impressive acrobatics as Eligius Tombonino came sliding in on a tough left hand corner in Szklarska Poreba, Poland. Newell qualified in an uncharacteristic 26th, just making it through to the heats despite almost catching Emil Joensson (SWE), one of the world’s best sprinters. “I felt good...
Norwegians Run Away with Relay; U.S. Pulls Off Fifth
Alex KochonFebruary 12, 2012
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...
Americans Place Outside the Points, Regroup for Relays
Alex KochonFebruary 11, 2012
As the saying goes, you can’t win them all and some races downright hurt. Maybe that’s not the adage, but it’s the truth. Several Americans felt an unfamiliar burn associated with disappointment on Saturday after finishing outside the top 30 in their respective World Cup mass starts in Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic. U.S. Ski Team rookie Jessie Diggins led the women’s squad, placing 33rd in the 15 k classic race. Kris Freeman was also...
When observing results like Jessie Diggins (CXC/USST)
Moscow Sprints Recap
JoranFebruary 6, 2012
What a weekend for North America! It has to be said, so I”ll get it out of the way right at the top: the turn the World Cup takes through Russia is generally not fully attended and this year was the same, although perhaps not as dramatically as before. But there were plenty of notable [...] Related posts:
Diggins Overcomes Early Crash; U.S. Puts Three in Points
Topher SabotFebruary 5, 2012
Jessie Diggins bounced back from a crash at the start of the 15km skiathlon in Rybinsk, Russia, continuing to roll on her first World Cup trip, placing 12th at the head of a strong chase group. Her US Ski Team (USST) teammates Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephen, both on the rebound from illness, placed 25th and 26th respectively. Holly Brooks continued her comeback from a broken wrist, placing 35th, while Ida Sargent was just behind...
Less than a month into her first World Cup season, the Jessie Diggins story-line has become old news. With a World Cup podium (in the Team Sprint) on her first weekend, and points in four of her first five individual races, Diggins has surpassed all reasonable expectations. And now after following up a finals appearance in the Moscow city sprint (a race in which she qualified first) with a stunning fifth place finish in the...
The reigning queen of Polish skiing is officially back on top of the world. After a slow start to her 2011-2012 campaign, Justyna Kowalczyk owned the Tour de Ski in January, then followed up that performance with her victory on Thursday in the Moscow city sprint. In doing so, she took over the yellow bib that represents the top level of World Cup success. In front of a home crowd, Russian teammates Natalia Korosteleva and...
Just when it didn’t seem possible for Jessie Diggins (USA) to perform any better than she already has on the World Cup this winter, she went ahead and set another career best in Moscow. After qualifying first in the prelims 2.47 seconds ahead of the rest of the field, the U.S. Ski Team (USST) rookie ended up sixth on Thursday in the freestyle sprint at Russia’s Luzhniki Olympic Stadium, leading the U.S. women to three...
It was one heck of a weekend on the World Cup in Otepää, Estonia. Dario Cologna (SUI) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) each swept both the sprint and distance classic races. Devon Kershaw (CAN) came back from an unlucky equipment malfunction in the sprint to a gutsy third-place effort in the 15 k the next day. With the conclusion of Period 2 on the World Cup, Kikkan Randall (USA) still holds onto the sprint leader bib. The...
Much has been said about the string of breakthrough performances by the U.S. women on the World Cup this season, but on Sunday, the entire team deserved the credit for putting together an historic day for the U.S. Led by Kikkan Randall in 15th, the U.S. placed a total of five athletes in the points in the 10 and 15 k classic races in Otepää, Estonia. Jessie Diggins, in her first distance race on the...
On Sunday, January 15th, Kikkand Randall and Jessie Diggins placed second in the World Cup team sprint, part of a weekend of racing in downtown Milan, Italy. This was the second silver medal World Cup performance of the year for the American women in the team sprint—Randall and Sadie Bjornsen paired up in Dusseldorf, Germany to finish second as well back in November. While Randall has continued her remarkable season, and top results have become...