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Kevin Bolger

Just Getting Started, Klæbo Wins TdS Opening Sprint in Toblach; Bolger 21st (Updated)

*Note: This article has been updated to include comments from U.S. Ski Team B-Tean member, Kevin Bolger Without the visual of the grey and white U23 marker next to his name on an FIS results sheet, it’s easy to forget Norwegian Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is still under 23 years of age. As the Tour de Ski (TdS) celebrates its 13th edition this year, the twenty-two-year-old Klæbo (he celebrated his 22nd birthday this October) is only...

Saturday Race Rundown from Toblach, Italy (TdS Stage 1)

FIS World Cup Tour de Ski Stage 1 1.6 k Freestyle Sprint Women’s Report | Men’s Report Seventy-five skiers began the 2018/2019 women’s Tour de Ski in Tobalch, Italy with a 1.3-kilometer freestyle sprint. The U.S. Ski Team’s (USST) Sadie Bjornsen was the fastest qualifier finishing in 2:35.95 minutes. Sweden’s Linn Soemskar was second (+0.14), and Stina Nilsson third (+0.40). Jessie Diggins (USST) qualified in 6th (+1.38), and Sophie Caldwell 9th (+1.60). The final was...

2018/2019 Tour de Ski Preview (Updated)

Beginning this Saturday in Toblach, Italy with a freestyle sprint is the 13th edition of the Tour de Ski (TdS). According to the International Ski Federation (FIS), over the course of seven stages the men will race 80.918 kilometers, the women 60.67 k.  The TdS has become both a staple and a spectacle of the annual World Cup calendar. With a jam-packed series of races primacy is placed on both the ability to recover well...

Sunday Rundown: Davos, Canmore, Hochfilzen (Updated 2x)

FIS World Cup Davos, Switzerland  10k/15k Freestyle Individual Start Women’s Report | Men’s Report On Sunday, the final day of racing on the World Cup before a two-week break prior to the start of the Tour de Ski, the early season trend for women’s distance skiing continues. Norway’s Therese Johaug won the 10-kilometer freestyle individual start in Davos in a time of 26:06.9 minutes. She led the race at every intermediate time checkpoint. The only...

Klæbo Takes Davos Sprint for First Win of the Season; Simi Hamilton in 12th

As seems fitting for all things Davos, Switzerland: the racers enjoyed a bluebird day for the 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint on Saturday. And just when we thought Johannes Høsflot Klæbo of Norway might be too spent from a year of media coverage and big-effort racing, he scored his first win of the season in gorgeous Davos. He began the day at full-throttle in the men’s qualifier, placing first with a time of 2:22.39 minutes. Lucas Chanavat...

Norway Holds Off Russia for Another Relay Win; Americans in 12th

As Emil Iversen took command of the field from the gun during the men’s relay in Beitostølen, Norway, striding smoothly up the first climb in the lead, the question quickly became, can anyone take down Norway? The team of Iversen, Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Sjur Røthe, and Finn Hågen Krogh must have liked their odds. Norway has claimed eight of the last nine men’s relay victories on the World Cup, falling only to Russia in Lillehammer’s...

FIS World Cup Beitostølen, Norway 4 x 5 k / 4 x 7.5 k Relay Sunday in Beitostølen, Norway the women raced a 4 x 5-kilometer relay on firm tracks and under partly cloudy skies — Saturday’s races featured fresh snowfall. Norway I took the win in a total time of 57:23.6 minutes. In order of relay legs, Heidi Weng, Therese Johaug, Ragnhild Haga, and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg comprised the team that raced at the...

Sunday Rundown: From Lillehammer to West Yellowstone to Pokljuka (Updated 2x)

FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Lillehammer Norway: 10 k/ 15 k Classic Pursuit On Sunday, the third and final day of racing in Lillehammer, Norway concluded with a 10-kilometer classic pursuit for the women. A win is a win, and Norway’s Therese Johaug, took the day and her second victory in as many days when she crossed the line first in 29:35.5 minutes. Sweden’s  Ebba Andersson finished second (+16.8), Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg third (+17.9)....

Norway’s Røthe and Tønseth Gap the Field; Difficult Day for North Americans

Norway shined on their home course in Lillehammer, Norway with Sjur Røthe posting the fastest time of 36:3.0 minutes in the 15-kilometer individual start freestyle, followed closely by teammate Didrik Tønseth (+6.0). The Norwegians claimed six of the top-ten spots. Russia’s Denis Spitsov took the third podium position, finishing 28.6 seconds back. In his first distance World Cup race of the season, Switzerland’s Dario Cologna placed fourth (+38.3). “It feels amazing,” Røthe told the International Ski Federation (FIS) about...

Saturday Rundown: From Lillehammer to West Yellowstone (Updated)

FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Lillehammer Norway: 10 k/ 15 k Freestyle Individual Start Women’s Report | Men’s Report On Saturday, the second day of World Cup cross-country racing ensued in Lillehammer, Norway with a 10-kilometer freestyle individual start race for the women. On a track of snow surrounded by green fir trees and a soggy landscape, the women skied two laps of 5 k course. Norway’s Therese Johaug was the fastest skier at every...

Pellegrino Skates Away with Lillehammer Sprint Win; Canada’s Harvey in Third

At two minutes into the men’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint in Lillehammer, Norway on Friday, the six skiers in the final were strung in line — each milking a draft into the banked left turn before the final climb. Norway’s Emil Iversen was in the lead — the workhorse pushing the pace for much of the race. Behind him were Italy’s Federico Pellegrino and Canada’s Alex Harvey zooming around the corner and stepping into the climb....

Friday Rundown: World Cup Cross-Country Sprint in Lillehammer, Norway

FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Lillehammer Norway: Freestyle Sprint Women’s Report | Men’s Report In Friday’s women’s 1.3-kilometer freestyle sprint in Lillehammer, Norway, the first day of three successive days of World Cup racing, the women’s sprint final was stacked with Swedes, with four of six athletes sporting the yellow, blue, and white. In the final, Jonna Sundling of Sweden passed teammate Stina Nilsson meters before the finish line to take the win in 2:52.74 minutes....

Bolshunov atop the Podium Again in Ruka; North Americans Feel Encouraged About the Season Ahead

“I have no secrets,” Alexander Bolshunov told FIS in regard to his back-to-back wins in Kuusamo, Finland. On Saturday, the Russian had won a drag race with Norway’s superstar Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo during Saturday’s classic sprint.  Bolshunov had a commanding victory in Sunday’s 15-kilometer classic race. He stopped the clock with a winning time of 36:17.8 minutes. Early in the race, Bolshunov’s splits mirrored those of Norway’s Emil Iversen during which the two skiers’ times never deviated...

Sunday Rundown: Johaug and Bolshunov win in Kuusamo

FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Kuusamo, Finland: 10 k/ 15 k Classic Sunday in Kuusamo brought closure to the World Cup’s opening weekend. The women contested a 10-kilometer interval start classic race. In her first World Cup race after serving a suspension for testing positive for a banned substance, Norway’s Therese Johaug won in a time of 28:02.5 minutes. By the time check at 3.3 k, Johaug had begun to control the pace and the...

Bolshunov Bests Klæbo in Ruka Classic Sprint Opener; Harvey 8th

From an outsider’s perspective, it seemed Johannes Høsflot Klæbo of Norway would open his World Cup 2018/2019 season with the familiarity of a win. The first FIS cross-country race of the year, a 1.4-kilometer classic sprint in Kuusamo, Finland, saw the 22-year-old round the course’s final turn in first, holding off his closest competitor, Alexander Bolshunov of Russia, by close to two meters. Approaching the finishing stretch, Norway’s cross-country sprint king was still dictating the...

Saturday Rundown: World Cup Ruka Classic Sprint

FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Kussamo, Finland: Classic sprint Men’s Report | Women’s Report On Saturday in Kussamo, Finland the 2018/2019 World Cup season began with a 1.4-kilometer classic sprint. Twenty-three-year-old Yulia Belorukova from Russia won the final in 2:52.62 minutes. It was Belorukova’s first World Cup win. Second place went to Sweden’s twenty-four-year-old Maja Dahlqvist who crossed the line 1.12 seconds back. Also from Sweden, Ida Ingemarsdotter was third (+1.51), Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla...

World Cup Preview: #5 U.S.A.

Welcome to FasterSkier’s World Cup Preview, where we check in with the top-10 teams from last year’s FIS Cross Country World Cup tour before the season starts. The World Cup begins with a classic sprint in Ruka, Finland on Nov. 24th. *** United States Overall in Nations Cup Last Year: 5th Women’s Ranking 2017/2018: 3rd Men’s Ranking 2017/2018: 11th U.S. Skiers to Watch: The high note last season was the gold medal team sprint performance...

Lights, Camera, Action: U.S. Ski Team Stars in Latest Warren Miller Film

Big and bold. Published on the latest press release from Warren Miller Entertainment are the rarefied featured athletes in the season’s cinematic siren call that winter is imminent: The Warren Miller ski film Face of Winter. Of course, there’s the icon of the Iron Cross, Jonny Moseley. Listed along with the gravity side of skiing royalty are U.S. Cross Country Ski Team (USST) members Kevin Bolger, Paddy Caldwell, Sophie Caldwell, Jessie Diggins, Simi Hamilton, and...

Americans Dominate the Field, Podiums at Winter Games NZ (Updated)

Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Simi Hamilton of the U.S. Ski Team (USST) and Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team, and Kevin Bolger of the USST and Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation. *** It’s that time of year again where several members of the U.S. Ski Team, along with top-level skiers from the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) and Stratton Mountain School (SMS) T2 Team are training at the Snow...

Bolger Spends His Summers Training with Big Guns in Norway

There’s a reason Kevin Bolger has spent his last four summers in Trondheim, Norway, rent free. You could say it started in 2014, when his older brother, Conor, began his Ph.D. work at the Centre for Elite Sports Research in Trondheim. As a doctoral candidate in the center’s neuroscience department, Conor’s work involved lab time. Specifically, lactate and VO2 max testing on Norwegian cross-country and nordic-combined national team members. Conor soon established a relationship with a number...