Kikkan Randall (USA) continued a consistent run through her first Tour de Ski, placing 17th in the classic sprint in Oberstdorf. In three Tour races, Randall has now placed 16th, 22nd, and 17th with her best event – the skate sprint – yet to come. Randall qualified in 18th today, 7.29 seconds behind leader Petra Majdic (SLO), and drew a tough assignment in the quarterfinals, matching up with Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) and Charlotte Kalla (SWE),...
During an amazing run spanning two seasons from 2008 to 2009, Petra Majdic (SLO) won 10 of 16 World Cup sprints, and finished on the podium two additional times. On an Obertsdorf sprint course, where she placed 15th at the 2005 World Championships 6 years ago, Majdic once again showed the form that has made her one of the greatest sprinters in World Cup history, leading the day from wire-to-wire. Majdic started by laying down...
As most expected, Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) took her six second lead in the 10km classic, and ran it with, dropping the hammer from the get go, and leaving the competition to fight for second. The handicap start event (as FIS) likes to call it, is actually a true pursuit, with skiers starting based on the results from the previous day. With her victory in the Tour de Ski prologue, and the accompanying 15 bonus seconds,...
The 2010-2011 Tour de Ski is underway in Oberhof, Germany, and defending champion Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) seems to have picked up right where she left off. Kowalczyk took just 6 minutes and 39 seconds to complete the 2.8 k freestyle prologue, .5 of a second ahead of Charlotte Kalla (SWE), while Astrid Jacobsen (NOR) was third, 4.8 seconds back. As a result of the win, Kowalczyk receives a 15 second time bonus, while Kalla receives...
Norwegian superstar Marit Bjoergen is sticking to her guns, and will not be racing the 2011 edition of the Tour de Ski. The winner of every single World Cup race this year, Bjoergen announced at the beginning of the season that she would follow the same plan that resulted in five medals at the 2010 Olympics. And that plan means no Tour de Ski. Since coming back from several down years thought to be caused...
As the World Cup circuit heads towards its Christmas break, Marit Bjoergen is still in a class by herself. After breaking away from the pack less than five kilometers into the La Clusaz 15 k freestyle on Saturday, along with her teammate Kristin Stoermer Steira and Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk, Bjoergen easily matched challenges by her opponents on the last of six laps, then turned on the jets on the homestretch to pull away for the...
Kikkan Randall is in for a long week. With the news that the Polish Ski Association (PSA) plans to appeal Justyna Kowalczyk’s relegation in the Sunday’s women’s sprint final in Davos—which elevated Randall to third place—the Alaskan could be waiting until late this coming week to find out whether she gets to keep her podium finish, and the $5,000 that goes with it. According to International Ski Federation (FIS) rules, the PSA can take up...
Rocket boosters? Tiny electric motors? Cutting the course? The World Cup women’s field is going to have to come up with something, because it’s pretty clear that plain old training and technique isn’t going to be enough to beat Norway’s Marit Bjoergen any time soon. In Saturday’s 10 k classic in Davos, Switzerland, Bjoergen won for her fourth time in five races this year, skiing to a 30-second victory over her Polish rival Justyna Kowalczyk....
Since 2002, the city sprint in Dusseldorf, Germany, has become a fixture on the International Ski Federation’s (FIS’s) World Cup calendar. One of three regular city sprints on the circuit, Dusseldorf features a flat, extremely fast, and almost dangerously narrow and twisty sprint course. Over the last eight seasons, the German city has become renown for carnage and upsets, almost as much as for cross-country skiing in a unique location and with a great crowd...
After failing to win the Overall World Cup title last season, Norway’s Marit Bjoergen continues to make a statement on the World Cup in this season. On a cold Sunday with little glide and many tactics, Bjoergen picked up yet another win, crossing the line first in the 10 k skate pursuit in the ‘Ruka Triple’ in Kuusamo, Finland. While many other skiers moved up and down the rankings Sunday, Bjoergen was consistent, leading wire...
While skiers at the first SuperTour event in West Yellowstone, Montana, were feeling the effects of cold weather this weekend, their fellow skiers on the World Cup in Kuusamo, Finland, faced similar temperatures. The official FIS press release listed the temperature in the northern Finnish town as a balmy -17 degrees Celsius, just under the legal racing limit. Despite struggling during Friday’s classic sprint, finishing 42nd and failing to qualify, on Saturday Randall bounced back,...
If there were any doubts left after last year, they’re gone now: Marit Bjoergen has it figured out. Bjoergen, who won five medals at the Vancouver Olympics, annihilated the women’s field in the 10 k freestyle in Gallivare, Sweden on Saturday morning, winning by more than 40 seconds over Charlotte Kalla (SWE) and Italy’s Arianna Follis. “She’s the queen right now,” said Kikkan Randall, who was the top American finisher in 19th. Kalla, the winner...
The race season started off last weekend in Muonio, Finland, but that was just a preview. This weekend, the Olos resort will be hosting three more races, with a start list including over 600 skiers from twenty-two different countries. In addition, the Americans have arrived in full force: the Craftsbury Green Racing Project has been joined by the U.S. Ski Team (USST), and the Maine Winter Sports Center’s (MWSC’s) collection of athletes from around the...
Poland Nations Cup Ranking: 8th (2264 pts) Men: 17th (109 pts) Women: 6th (2155 pts) 2010/2011 World Cup Team Men Maciej Kreczmer Mariusz Michałek Krzysztof Stec Maciej Staręga Sebastian Gazurek Women Sylwia Jaśkowiec Paulina Maciuszek Martyna Galewicz Ewelina Marcisz Agnieszka Szymańczak Justyna Kowalczyk What you may have missed last season: Well, if you tuned into elite-level cross-country skiing at just about any point last year, one thing you did not miss was Justyna Kowalczyk steamrolling...
Bulgaria Preview Nations Cup Ranking: 23rd (10 pts) Men: 21st (10 pt) Women: N/A 2010/2011 World Cup Team Men Ivan Burgov Stanimir Belomajev Veselin Tzinzov Women Antonia Grigorova-Burgova Teodora Maltcheva What you may have missed last season: Veselin Tzinzov was the only Bulgarian to score points, and his 10 came from one stop. Not to take anything away from his achievement (the majority of the FasterSkier staff admit that they would struggle to score points...
If Vegard Ulvang gets run out of Europe, it appears that he still could safely make his home in North America. Ulvang is the chair of the International Ski Federation’s cross-country committee, which is considering the introduction of a new race format that includes five kilometers of climbing followed by five kilometers of technical downhill. Scandinavians have reacted to the idea with derision: Norwegian Eldar Roenning told the newspaper Nettavisen that the idea was “the...
So much for Justyna Kowalczyk’s home-field advantage. For the first time in her career, the International Ski Federation (FIS) has scheduled World Cup races in Kowalczyk’s native Poland, in February of 2012. But if officials at FIS have their way, Kowalczyk, a notoriously poor descender, will have to successfully navigate five kilometers of technical downhill before she can step onto the podium there. According to FIS Cross-Country Race Director Jürg Capol, a federation committee discussed...
50 days before the World Cup opener, Polish skier Justyna Kowalczyk is completing a monster training camp in Belarus: Three workouts per day for the girl who logs the most hours of any female skiers in the world.
