Katja Visnar – FasterSkier

Euphoric Victory for Sweden’s Nilsson and Dahlqvist in Classic Team Sprint; Diggins, Bjornsen 5th

Rachel PerkinsFebruary 24, 2019

Icy tracks and a relatively flat course made for a tight race in Seefeld, Austria for the women’s 6 x 1.2-kilometer classic team sprint. Even in the final meters as the women charged up the last climb and double poled to the finish, the winner was not clear. In fact, the three fastest teams were within one second of one another. The resulting time difference between first and fifth place was less than the difference...

News Racing World Cup

Sunday Rundown from Seefeld World Champs (Updated)

FasterSkierFebruary 24, 2019

FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Seefeld, Austria Women’s/Men’s Classic Team Sprint The furious pace of the World Championship racing schedule continued on Sunday in Seefeld, Austria with the women’s and men’s classic team sprint. Sweden’s Stina Nilsson and Maja Dahlqvist won the women’s 6 x 1.2-kilometer classic team sprint final in 15:14.93 minutes. Katja Visnar and Anamarija Lampic of Slovenia placed second (+0.37), with Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg and Maiken Caspersen Falla taking the final...

Health Lifestyle Resources Training

First Tracks as a New Parent: Kikkan Randall [Part 2]

Rachel PerkinsJanuary 28, 2019

The “First Tracks” series highlights the pregnancy, postpartum, and parenting experiences of noteworthy athletes in cross-country skiing in various stages of their professional careers. The sharing of these experiences can benefit athletes in any stage of their career, whether they are an elite or recreational skier, by demonstrating that it is very possible to return to skiing, competition, and an active lifestyle with a growing family. The series will include the physical challenges of...

General News Racing World Cup

Norway’s Falla Leaves No Doubt with Otepää Win; Diggins in 12th

Jason AlbertJanuary 19, 2019

Some proverbs hang in there. From situation to situation they simply capture, in the moment, how best to move forward. “Patience is a virtue,” has an etymology going way back. Yet the timeworn saying and it’s wait-wait-wait underpinnings helped dictate the outcome of Saturday’s World Cup 1.3-kilometer classic sprint in Otepää, Estonia. That is until Maiken Caspersen Falla broke up the final. But we’ll get to that in a moment. It was the modern course...

General News Racing World Cup

Saturday Race Rundown: Otepää Classic Sprints and Beyond (Updated 2x)

FasterSkierJanuary 19, 2019

FIS World Cup Otepää, Estonia 1.3 k / 1.6 Classic Sprint Starting the day’s performance benchmarks off was Stina Nilsson of Sweden with the fastest qualifier in the women’s 1.3-kilometer classic sprint in Otepää on Saturday. She stopped the clock in 3:07.62 minutes. The U.S. Ski Team’s (USST) Jessie Diggins was the top-qualifying North American in 18th (+5.37). Sadie Bjornsen (USST) qualified 20th (+5.71), and Ida Sargent 27th (+8.38). On a course rewarding patience and...

News Racing Results World Cup

Caldwell Claims Second to Nilsson in Davos Freestyle Sprint

Gabby NaranjaDecember 15, 2018

DNS. It’s a rare acronym to crop up in the results portion of Sophie Caldwell’s FIS database. But after battling a cold for the first few weeks of the 2018/2019 season, Caldwell did not start (DNS) the Lillehammer freestyle sprint and also chose to sit out the women’s relay last weekend. By this Saturday in Davos, Switzerland, the 28 year old’s decision to rest and not race seemed to have paid off. She sprinted to...

Dryland News Nordic Combined Racing

Big Results for Geraghty-Moats, Harvey at Summer GP, Toppidrettsveka

FasterSkierAugust 20, 2018

Two North Americans posted impressive results at nordic events in Germany and Norway over the last week, with Vermont native Tara Geraghty-Moats racing to first overall in the first-ever Women’s Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix and Quebec’s Alex Harvey placing second, fifth and 10th in three races at the Toppidrettsveka rollerski series. Geraghty-Moats 1st and 2nd at Inaugural Women’s NoCo Grand Prix Brand new to nordic combined as well as the jump hill in Oberwiesenthal, Germany, Geraghty-Moats...

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

Wednesday Rundown: Falla & Klæbo Take Drammen Sprints, Diggins Third

FasterSkierMarch 7, 2018

FIS Cross Country World Cup (Drammen, Norway): Classic sprints Men’s report The cross-country World Cup hit the city on Wednesday, with classic sprints contested in the Oslo suburb of Drammen on snow which had been trucked onto the streets. And the crowd was rewarded with wins by two Norwegian favorites: Maiken Caspersen Falla in the women’s sprint and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in the men’s race. In the women’s final, Falla and Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia battled at the lead for...

General News Olympics Racing Results

Norwegian Women Back on Top with First Olympic Relay Gold Since 2010

Gabby NaranjaFebruary 17, 2018

FasterSkier would like to thank Fischer Sport USA, Concept2, Salt Lake in 2002 to Germany) or not on the podium at all. In Olympic gold medal in Thursday’s 10 k freestyle, and on Saturday she appeared to be searching to add one more. Within the first 2.5 k, Haga reeled Roponen in and left her in the dust as she headed out for her second lap. She continued to push the pace and by the...

Canadian National Ski Team General News Olympics Racing US Ski Team

Tuesday Olympic Rundown: Nilsson & Klæbo Win Sprint Gold; Diggins 6th, Valjas 7th, Caldwell 8th

Chelsea LittleFebruary 13, 2018

FasterSkier would like to thank Fischer Sport USA, Concept2, Women’s international report | Men’s international report | Post-qualifier notes & quotes After winning the sprint qualifier by 0.39 seconds over defending gold medalist Maiken Caspersen Falla and then besting the Norwegian by 0.03 seconds in her semifinal, Sweden’s Stina Nilsson captured Olympic gold in a dominating performance in the classic sprint final, ultimately besting Falla by 3.03 seconds. Falla had to fight to even keep silver, as Olympic Athlete of Russia Yulia Belorukova pushed the pace...

General News Other Racing

Klæbo, Falla Defend Beito Sprint Titles; Newell 16th, Hart 31st for U.S.

Aleks TangenNovember 18, 2017

BEITOSTØLEN, Norway — A year ago, 20-year-old Johannes Høsflot Klæbo leapt onto the scene with a Friday’s 15 k classic, 18 seconds behind reigning Overall World Cup champion Martin Johnsrud Sundby. On Saturday, Klæbo won the 1.5 k classic sprint in Beitostølen without so much as a blemish, winning the qualifier to start the day then topping each of his heats en route to the final. Up against five other Norwegians in the final, Klæbo...

General Multimedia News Racing US Ski Team Video World Cup

After The Medals: Team-Sprint Bronze Medalist Sadie Bjornsen

Gabby NaranjaFebruary 27, 2017

LAHTI, Finland — While Monday marked a rest day for skiers competing in the 2017 Nordic World Championships, FasterSkier took the opportunity to sit down and chat with Sadie Bjornsen of the U.S. Ski Team, one day after she earned bronze with teammate Jessie Diggins in the women’s 1.3-kilometer classic team sprint. Not only was it Bjornsen’s first-career World Championships medal, it was the first for the U.S. women’s program in a World Championships classic race....

Biathlon Juniors News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

Thursday Rundown: Silver and Bronze for Diggins, Randall at Lahti World Champs; Bankes Golden at IBU Junior Champs

FasterSkierFebruary 23, 2017

FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): Freestyle sprints Men’s report [UPDATED] Two medals for the U.S. on Day 1. That’s exactly what happened Thursday in the first medals race of 2017 Nordic World Championships in Lahti, Finland, where American Jessie Diggins raced to second and her U.S. teammate Kikkan Randall third in the women’s 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint final, right behind Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla, who took gold. While Falla crossed the finish line first in...

General News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

Sargent Edges Stephen for 3rd; Sweden Tops PyeongChang Team Sprint

Gabby NaranjaFebruary 5, 2017

It was a sprint course that catered to climbers. For those tuning into the televised event, it might have even been mistaken as a final-stage climb, with two back-to-back, 20-meter-long uphills taking most of the competition screen time. Maybe that’s why during all three of her legs in Sunday’s 6 x 1.4-kilometer freestyle team sprint, American distance specialist Liz Stephen stole the front-runner spotlight. Even with the shallower World Cup field competing in PyeongChang, South...

Juniors News Racing World Cup

Sunday Rundown: PyeongChang, Soldier Hollow & Eastern Canadian Champs (Updated x3)

FasterSkierFebruary 5, 2017

FIS Nordic Junior World Championships (Midway, Utah): Junior relays Hailey Swirbul, Julia Kern, Hannah Halvorsen, and Katharine Ogden on the podium. That’s right. Two days after Ogden became the first American to earn an individual medal at Junior World Championships, those four U.S. junior women listed above did the same, placing third in the 4 x 3.3-kilometer relay on the last day of 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. The team...

News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

Sargent Seizes Opportunity, First Career Podium in PyeongChang Sprint

Harald ZimmerFebruary 3, 2017

(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Liz Guiney, Caitlin Patterson and Jessica Yeaton.) Sometimes just being there is half the battle, as the saying goes. No Maiken Caspersen Falla. No Stina Nilsson. On Friday at the site of next year’s Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, three athletes who had never made it to a World Cup podium before prevailed in the women’s 1.4-kilometer classic sprint. And right there was...

Canadian National Ski Team News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

Friday Rundown: PyeongChang, Soldier Hollow & Eastern Canadian Champs (Updated x3)

FasterSkierFebruary 3, 2017

FIS Nordic Junior World Championships (Midway, Utah): 10/20 k skiathlon A Junior World Championships medal has been on Katharine Ogden’s mind for some time — two years, to be exact. “Every day in training, it’s kind of something that I think about. It’s the little thing that helps me push myself,” Ogden, a 19-year-old member of the Stratton Mountain School and U.S. Ski Team D-team, said in a post-race interview with the U.S. Ski Team on Friday....

General Interviews Lifestyle US Ski Team

Randall to Resume Training, Cautious but Excited: ‘I Feel Refreshed’

Alex KochonMay 31, 2016

On Wednesday, June 1, U.S. Ski Team veteran Kikkan Randall plans to resume training, six weeks after giving birth to her first child. While she's admittedly antsy, she also knows it's wise to ease back into things with a goal of peaking for 2017 World Championships. “I’m really curious to see how it feels,” she said of racing. “My body is refreshed from a little break, my mind is refreshed and that could open totally new doors.”

General News Racing

No Bjørgen? No Problem as Norway’s Østberg, Falla Take World Champs Team Sprint Title

Alex KochonFebruary 22, 2015

Longtime friends and teammates Ingvild Flugstad Østberg and Maiken Caspersen Falla, of Norway, were out for some redemption after their fourth-place finish in the 2013 World Championships team sprint, and they got it with a sizeable win over Sweden's Ida Ingemarsdotter and Stina Nilsson, while Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk and Sylwia Jaśkowiec were thrilled with bronze.

General News Racing World Cup

Bjørgen, the ‘Machine,’ Opens Lillehammer Mini Tour with Sprint Win; Norway Sweeps Top 4

Vince RosettaDecember 5, 20144

Marit Bjørgen's gotten used to winning opening mini tours in Kuusamo, and she seems to have no problem getting off to a strong start in the first of three races in Lillehammer, either. "It is always fun to win," she told NRK after her second-straight World Cup sprint win in Friday's 1.3 k freestyle sprint.

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