In the middle of the day under the lights in Finland, Marit Bjørgen opened the season with a result that likely only surprised herself. "I am grateful to win today,” she said. "It’s still a sprint." Two other Norwegians joined her in the final, as did Slovenia's Katja Visnar, American Ida Sargent, and Russia's Natalia Matveeva -- but not Justyna Kowalczyk.
Barbro Kvåle, a 22-year-old Norwegian junior world champion in ski orienteering, joined the ranks of Therese Johaug and Marit Bjørgen on Sunday, winning the women’s 1.2-kilometer classic sprint by three-tenths of a second in Beitostølen, Norway.
In the final two days of the 2014 Blink Festival Americans Lowell Bailey and Tim Burke jumped onto the podium in the biathlon mass start and sprint races.
The Weekend Roundup is back! Just because the Olympics are over doesn't mean the season is finished. Catch up with the renewed World Cup action in Lahti, Finland, the IBU Youth World Championships, and the Vasaloppet.
The first thing U.S. women's coach Matt Whitcomb tweeted after Saturday's freestyle sprint, the first World Cup since the Olympics: "We are back!" Randall had won another skate sprint to rise to the top of the World Cup sprint standings, and Sophie Caldwell joined her on the podium -- the first time two U.S. women have shared an individual World Cup podium.
If anyone was going to deny Kikkan Randall of her third-straight skate sprint win, a feat that hasn’t been achieved on the World Cup since Marit Bjørgen's similar winning streak in 2006, it was most likely going to be Bjørgen. The 33-year-old Norwegian stayed calm and collected to do so, leading three Norwegians in the top four as Randall finished fifth in Sunday's Toblach sprint.
The U.S. women closed out their weekend in Beitostølen on top, with Kikkan Randall winning Sunday's 1.2 k skate sprint ahead of two Slovenians and three Norwegians, including Marit Bjørgen. Ida Sargent placed 13th and three other Americans made the top 20.
No snow-speed records were broken at the sixth edition of Bysprinten, but the annual two-day ski festival on the streets of Mosjøen, Norway provided plenty of excitement for the 3,000 spectators who came out to see their favorite national team members ski as fast as possible. On Saturday, Eirik Brandsdal (NOR) prevailed in the men’s final sprint, and Laurien Van der Graaf (SUI) topped the women’s field. “I am very fond of Bysprinten. I often do...
she proclaimed that she returned with her eye on the Crystal Globe, Majdic was a tad disappointing during distance racing in her final year, picking up a single medal, a bronze in the 5 k classic during the Kuusamo mini-tour. We know, it’s crazy that someone who won the Sprint Cup, finished 13th in the distance rankings, and sixth in the overall could be called ‘disappointing’, but that’s the standard her rabid fans, and she...
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...
Slovenia Nations Cup Ranking: 10th (1890 pts) Men: N/A Women: 7th (1890 pts) 2010/2011 A Team Men N/A Women Petra Majdic Vesna Fabjan Katja Visnar What you may have missed last season: The Slovenians managed to ski their way into the top 10 on the Nations Cup with only three skiers – all female – contributing to their points total. Embarrassing for other countries? Slightly, but when the three athletes you’re facing are Petra Majdic,...