In Drammen, Norway, on Wednesday Justyna Kowalczyk continued the momentum from her distance win in Lahti and charged to victory again, this time in a 1.3 k city sprint. Save for a challenge from Heidi Weng (NOR) in the final round, the Polish star blew the competition away all day, and in the process secured the overall World Cup crystal globe for the 2012-2013 season and for the fourth time in her career.
Just when people were starting to doubt Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk, the 30-year-old put down a pace no one could keep up with – not even four-time 2013 World Champion Marit Bjørgen – on Sunday in Lahti, Finland.
There are few ways to make a gold medal taste sweeter than it does on its own, but Marit Bjørgen and teammates Therese Johaug, Heidi Weng and Kristin Stoermer Steira somehow accomplished it for Norway in the women’s 15 k skiathlon on Saturday at the 2013 Nordic World Ski Championships. With Bjørgen leading the way, the women swept the top four spots in the finish for one of the most dominant performances ever seen from one country.
Though Marit Bjørgen made the last-second decision to skip Sunday's race, the Norwegian women were just fine in her absence. Therese Johaug claimed her first individual-start win in the 10 k in Davos, Switzerland, for a confidence-boosting tune-up before World Championships. She bested Justyna Kowalczyk and teammate Kristin Størmer Steira on the challenging course.
Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) skied away to victory, dominating each of her heats and displaying top form with World Championships just around the corner. Marit Bjørgen (NOR) was second and Anne Kylloenen (FIN) took third.
Marit Bjørgen rose above an irregular heartbeat and a month out of World Cup racing to top Norwegian teammate Therese Johaug and Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk in the 10 k classic mass start Saturday in La Clusaz, France.
After taking a break from racing since experiencing an irregular heartbeat in December, Norway's Marit Bjørgen is set to return to the World Cup this weekend in La Clusaz, France, for the 10 k classic and 4 x 5 k relay.
It took Finland’s Mona-Liisa Malvalehto 67 World Cup starts to achieve her first podium, but she did it in winning fashion Saturday in the classic sprint, ahead of Justyna Kowalczyk, Maiken Caspersen Falla and Dasha Gaiazova. A mother with a musical background and reality show title, Malvalehto won the first of two sprints in Liberec, Czech Republic.
Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) will need to make room in her trophy case for yet another crystal Tour de Ski pyramid. For the fourth straight time, the Pole won the grueling stage race, besting Norwegians Therese Johaug and Kristin Stoermer Steira.
With four women starting in the top top ten spots in the 10 k classic mass start, Norway seemed to have an opportunity - albeit a slim one - to steal at least some bonus seconds from Justyna Kowalczyk. But it was to no avail as the Polish star cruised to another victory and more or less sealed her Tour title. Kikkan Randall, meanwhile, is in seventh and hoping for a better climb than she's had before.
Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) skied to a 16.5 second win in the classic prologue, winning the fifth stage of the Tour de Ski while increasing her overall lead to more than a minute. Krista Lahteenmaki (FIN) was second and Astrid Jacobsen (NOR) took third.
Three stages remain in the 2013 Tour de Ski, including the grueling Final Climb up Alpe Cermis, but three-time defending champion Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) overcame what may have been her biggest challenge of the seven race event. She held off an impressive Charlotte Kalla (SWE) to keep the top position with just three races remaining.
Want to win a race at World Championships or the Olympics? Then you might want to stay away from the top step of the Tour de Ski podium.
It didn't take long for the three-time defending Tour de Ski champion to remind everyone how dominant she can be. Starting from the third position, nearly 15 seconds down to prologue winner Kikkan Randall, Justyna Kowalczyk swallowed that deficit by the third kilometer of the 9 k classic pursuit and went on to win by over 40 seconds.
Just when you thought you couldn’t go another day without races to follow and results to check, the Tour de Ski is here to deliver a concentrated dose of cross country drama. The seventh edition of the event begins on Saturday with a freestyle prologue in Oberhof, Germany. Here's a taste of what to expect.
Performances from the final World Cups of 2012 provided plenty of fodder for speculation over the holiday break. With a lot going on this weekend, here's our recap of racing from around the world.
Justyna Kowalczyk knows a thing or two about racing in Canmore, and she used her calm approach to win Sunday's 15 k skiathlon, her second title at the Alberta World Cup, by nearly 35 seconds.
Justyna Kowalczyk is back on top of the World Cup podium, skiing away from the field to win the women's 10k classic mass start in Canmore, Alberta. Anne Kylloenen earned her first World Cup podium, while Maiken Caspersen Falla, took third for her first distance top-3.
It didn’t look like Marit Bjørgen ever looked back Sunday in Kuusamo, Finland. It would’ve been pointless to do so; she was always more than a minute ahead, and the white-out conditions made the visibility near zero. Bjørgen won by more than a minute and 20 seconds, ahead of Justyna Kowalczyk, Heidi Weng and Therese Johaug.
After months of training and anticipation, the nordic sports opened their seasons around the world this weekend with races around the world. Established veterans had several dominating performances, but there were new faces on the podiums as well, signaling that when World Cup racing starts next weekend, things could be pretty interesting. In Bruksvallarna, Sweden, the Swedish, Canadian, and Slovenian national teams butted heads in a three-day race series. One of the biggest surprises was...