Doogiski over at NordicXplained has a good post up regarding the rivalry (such as it is) between Marit Bjørgen and Justyna Kowlaczyk. The issue between the fans of these two great skiers is the question of which one is better. Shocker, I know. Doogiski gives a good rundown of some of the limitations of comparing [...] Related posts:
Marit Bjoergen (NOR) capped a stellar 2011 World Cup campaign, extending her lead on Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) for a clear victory in the World Cup Final mini-tour. Kowalczyk held her second position, as did Therese Johaug in third – though of the trio, she had to work the hardest. Bjoergen entered the 10km handicap start event with a 1:14 lead over Kowalczyk, making the outcome a foregone conclusion. Bjoergen’s worst result of the season in...
Marit Bjoergen’s slump is over. Starting with her silver medal in the World Championship 30k, Bjoergen went a whole two distance races without a victory, proving that she is in fact mortal. She was back on top today however, dominating the 10km pursuit at the World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden. Bjoergen skied away from Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) for a clear victory, opening an insurmountable gap in the overall. Therese Johaug (NOR) battled back from...
Rail hard tracks, crisp air, and extra blue – none were in evidence as the World Cup Finals continued with a 2.5-kilometer classic prologue in Falun, Sweden. It may not have been pretty, but it was a ski race. With 10-15 centimeters of snow falling into the morning, and temperatures just below freezing, it is perhaps an understatement to term the conditions a sloppy mess. Marit Bjoergen (NOR) served notice that she would not be...
Less than a week following the conclusion of the 2011 World Championships,in Oslo, the World Cup picks back up in Lahti, Finland. This is the last event prior to the World Cup Final, where only the top-50 ranked skiers and continental cup series leaders may enter. There are a number of interesting story lines as the season winds down, mainly revolving around standings. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) has locked up the women’s overall World Cup but...
Carrying the hopes of a nation on your shoulders is hard enough. But when your shoulders are as small as Therese Johaug’s, it’s a feat nothing short of monumental. In the penultimate race of the 2011 World Ski Championships, the 5’2” Johaug did something that so many larger women had tried and failed to do all season: she beat her teammate Marit Bjoergen. Buoyed by the cheers of an estimated 100,000 spectators packed dozens deep...
Early on in Monday’s 10 k classic individual start race, it looked like Marit Bjoergen was on track to lose her first gold medal of the 2011 World Championships. On the first steep hill of the tough course in Oslo, the Norwegian was slipping – and not long after, she began to get splits telling her that Justyna Kowalcyk of Poland, who had started one spot behind her, was catching up. “Today was a very...
The fog in Oslo was so thick that the fans at Holmenkollen could barely see any of the women’s 15 k pursuit. The video board across from the stands was completely obscured, and even when athletes skied through the stadium, the only forms that could be made out were outlines—the spindly one of Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), say, or the stocky one of Finland’s Aino-Kaisa Saarinen. But with the homestretch lying directly alongside the bleachers, the...
Marit Bjoergen (NOR) has already achieved her goal of winning an individual gold at the 2011 World Championships. Now the ski world gets to see what a relaxed Bjoergen can do. The winner of five medals, including three golds, at the 2010 Olympics, Bjoergen is the clear favorite in the women’s 15 k pursuit on Saturday, as distance racing gets underway at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway. While rival Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) is the defending World...
The fans came out in force, with flags, lawn chairs, and beer. And they wouldn’t have settled for anything less than a win. Norway’s Marit Bjoergen gave them what they came for, skiing to yet another victory in Saturday’s 10 k classic in Drammen—her ninth in 12 World Cup races this season—in front of a home crowd estimated at 15,000. With five days to go before her first race at the 2011 World Championships in...
It took four tries, but Russian sprint specialist Alexei Petukhov finally got a World Cup victory on home soil, breaking away from the pack to win the men’s freestyle sprint in Rybinsk, Russia. In the women’s event, a Petra Majdic-less Slovenia claimed the top two spots with Vesna Fabjan and Katja Visnar beating out Justyna Kowalczyk (POL). As in Friday’s pursuit, many of the top skiers were missing – including the entire Swedish team and...
When Justyna Kowalczyk stood at the head of the chevron before the 10 k pursuit Friday morning in Rybinsk, Russia, she must have felt a little bit lonely. That’s because no less than 20 of the top 30 women in the current overall World Cup rankings were missing. Kowalczyk’s biggest rival, Marit Bjoergen (NOR) opted to take the weekend off, as did fourth ranked Petra Majdic (SLO), and 6th through 9th, Therese Johaug (NOR), Charlotte...
If any of the women on the World Cup circuit are still holding out hope that they can beat Marit Bjoergen, they’re running out of time to figure how to do it. With a 33-second victory in Saturday’s 10 k classic in Otepaa, Estonia, Bjoergen remained unbeaten in every individual-start distance race she’s entered this season. The start of the 2011 World Ski Championships in Oslo is nearing, and some are speculating that Bjoergen could...
On Saturday morning, I will be just one of the nearly 15,000 people expected to fill the stadium and line the trails for this weekend’s World Cup races in the ski-crazed nation of Estonia. The country of 1.3 million—the same population as the state of Maine—has produced six Olympic medals in cross-country skiing over the last decade, courtesy of three legends: Kristina Smigun-Vaehi, Jaak Mae, and Andrus Veerpalu. Just how serious about cross-country skiing is...
Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) became the first skier, male or female, to win back-to-back Tour de Ski titles when she staggered across the finish line at the top of the Alpe Cermis on Sunday morning. Starting with a lead of 2:08 over Marianna Longa (ITA), Kowalczyk was in no danger of being caught, but the big cushion did not make her complacent, especially with World Cup points and prize money available for the “Woman of the...
It’s all over but the climbing. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), despite being pressed by Therese Johaug (NOR), all but ended the 2011 Tour de Ski, skiing to victory in the women’s 10km mass start classic, and winning every intermediate bonus sprint. Kowalczyk and Johaug shattered the field less than two kilometers in, opening a margin that would reach nearly a full minute by the end. The Pole should have no trouble defending her Tour title, now...
Of the three Tour de Ski stages remaining this morning, it had to be the 16km freestyle that frightened leader Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) the most. A stronger classic skier, and a ferocious climber, Kowalczyk should be confident with the last two stages – a 10km classic mass start, and the famous final climb. But the handicap start event in Toblach was an excellent opportunity for her competiton to make up ground. And they did just...
With her second sprint victory of the Tour, Petra Majdic (SLO) has again established herself as one of the top sprinters in the world. While it has taken some time for the tall Slovenian to round into top form, she is now clearly firing on all cylinders. In the 1.3km freestyle sprint in Toblach, Italy, Majdic won the qualification round, and led each of her heats from start to finish – the same strategy she...
The 2011 Tour de Ski is half way complete, and with the first rest day just about over, it is a good time to check in. Women On the women’s side, favorite Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) has not disappointed. She won the first two evens before finishing seconds to Petra Majdic (SLO) in the classic sprint, and fifth in the 10km pursuit. Despite being unable to break the field as she has often done in the...
Anna Haag and Charlotte Kalla claimed the top two spots for Sweden in the women’s 10km pursuit as the 2011 Tour de Ski continued in Oberstdorf. The pair, with the help of third place finisher, Marthe Kristofferssen (NOR) succeeded in knocking overall Tour leader Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) off the podium for the first time in this multi-stage event. Kowalczyk placed fifth after skiing at, or near the front for most of the race. And the...