Andy Newell was sixth in Liberec, Czech Republic, on Saturday for his third appearance in a sprint final this season. He was the only American to advance past the qualifier, but as this is the first World Cup since before the Tour for many, his teammates look forward to moving up from here on out.
It's been almost a year since Teodor Peterson last stood atop a podium, but on Saturday in Liberec, Czech Republic, he finally had the race he was looking for. He out-lunged Emil Jönsson and Pål Golberg for the classic sprint win; Andy Newell was sixth for his best classic result in three years.
It took Finland’s Mona-Liisa Malvalehto 67 World Cup starts to achieve her first podium, but she did it in winning fashion Saturday in the classic sprint, ahead of Justyna Kowalczyk, Maiken Caspersen Falla and Dasha Gaiazova. A mother with a musical background and reality show title, Malvalehto won the first of two sprints in Liberec, Czech Republic.
Norwegian XC skier Kristin Störmer Steira has suffered more than her share of injuries this season, which forced her to sit out the European track and field championships, where she had hoped to compete in the 5,000 meter event.
The penultimate day of the ski championships in Liberec, Czech Republic was one of ebullient hope for the future of American skiing with the races and results from the young women’s performances in the 30 kilometer mass start skate. This day also demonstrated the heights nordic sports the U.S. is reaching with Billy Demong’s win in big hill, single jump 10 kilometer (a.k.a. the Gundersen HS134/10.0), capping off three individual nordic combined gold medals in...
Boulder Nordic Sports Nathan Schultz was in Liberec waxing with the US Ski Team. He posted several reports, including the following on yesterday’s final event. Nathan provides an excellent behind-the-scenes look at ski preparation, and the races in general. Early reports from Nathan can be found here: World Championships Report Days 1 & 2 Northug Takes Another Gold in Fast Finish by Nathan Schultz Petter Northug won a tough 50km freestyle today in Liberec, completing...
Liberec, Czech Republic – Petter Northug (NOR) won the men’s 50km freestyle mass start, the final event of the 2009 World Championships. Northug moved his way up thorugh the pasck over the last 10 kilometers, positioning himself for the final sprint. He crossed the line .7 seconds ahead of Russian Maxim Vylegezhanin. Tobias Angerer (GER) took the bronze, two seconds behind Northug. The victory earned Northug his third gold of the Championships. He also won...
Liberec, Cazech Republic. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) won her second gold of the 2009 World Championships, skiing to victory in the woen’s 30km freestyle mass start. Liz Stephen led the US in 17th. Kowalczyk made a move with under a kilometer to go, opening a gap she was able to hold to the finish. Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS) was second, +8.8. The battle for silver was extremely tight. Medvedeva outsprinted bronze medalist Valentina Schevchenko (UKR) and 4th...
Liberec, Czech Republic – Petter Northug is on his way to cementing his position as one of the all time great Norwegian relay anchors, once again overcoming a deficit before powering it on in the finish to claim the men’s 4x10km relay gold over Germany. Northug, at 23, already has anchored a number of impressive relay victories, and now has a World Champinship gold in the event. This was Norway’s fifth consecutive World Championship relay...
If you haven’t checked in with TeamToday recently, it is worth a look. Photos from the the women’s sprint medal ceremony. Read more and view the photos
Liberec, Czech Republic – The Finnish team defended their World Championship title in the women’s 4×5 kilometer relay this morning, behind a strong anchor leg from Aino-Kaisa Saarinen. Germany took the silver in a sprint finish with Sweden. The favored Finns appeared to be on pace for an easy victory, on par with the Team Sprint yesterday. Pirjo Muranen, the bronze medalist in the individual sprint, skied the first leg. She tagged off in second,...
Liberec, Czech Republic – Aino-Kaisa Saarinen and Virpi Kuitunen skied away from the competition to bring home the gold for Finland in the women’s classic Team Sprint competition. The pair posted a 20 second victory over Silver medalists Sweden. Italy was another 3.8 seconds back to take the bronze. Saarinen and Kuitunen set a fast pace early, stringing out the pack on the first lap. Their lead was 3.5 seconds after one lap, and a...
Debbie Randall, Kikkan's mother, was up at 3am watching the live timing updates on the FIS web site. "It's excruciating, it's awful! I get twice as nervous as she does."
Liberec, Czech Republic – The Norweigan duo of Ola Vigen Hattestad and Johan Kjoelstad took the gold in the men’s Team Sprint competition this morning, a day after finishing first and second in the individual sprint. Tobias Angerer and Axel Teichmann claimed silver for German in a photo finish with the Finnish team of Ville Nousiainen and Sami Jauhojaervi. As is often the case in team sprint events, the lead pack remained tightly grouped throughout...
by Peter Graves Peter Graves, a former U.S. Ski Team coach, is a noted nordic television commentator for Universal Sports, columnist for Ski Racing Magazine and a longtime follower of the nordic scene, having announced at the first FIS Cross Country World Cup in Telemark, WI, in 1978. You can watch highlights of the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships on UniversalSports.com presented by High Sierra. Graves reflects on an historic day for U.S. nordic skiers,...
Liberec, Czech Republic – Arianna Follis (ITA) won the women’s 1.3km freestyle sprint at the World Championships. American Kikkan Randall finished second, just ahead of Pirjo Muranen (FIN). Follis, who posted the second fastest qualifying time behind Russian Natalia Matveeva, claimed her firs World Championship Gold Medal. She also won a bronze in 2005 in Sapporo. “It is an incredible day. I have a gold medal and I am the World Champion! I used the...
Liberec, Czech Republic – Petter Northug (NOR) won the men’s 30km World Championship Pursuit, skiing to a 3.1 second win over Anders Soedergren (SWE). Northug captured his first individual World Championship medal with a strong attack on the last climb. The mass start pursuit can often end in a mass sprint to the line, consisting of 20+ athletes. But today was different. The main pack stayed together through the entire 15km classic portion of the...
Liberec, Czech Republic – Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) won the women’s 15km pursuit at the Nordic World Championships in Liberec. American Liz Stephen finished 15th. Kowalczyk claimed her second medal in two races at the Championships. She won the bronze in Thursday’s 10km classic. Kowalczyk edged out Norweigan Kristin Stoermer Steira by 1.7 seconds. Aino Kaisa Saarinen (FIN), the gold medalist in the 10k took the bronze, +8.0. A lead group, consisting of the top three...
Liberec, Czech Republic – Kris Freeman skied his best race in 6 years, finishing 4th in the World Championship 15km individual start, just 1.4 seconds out of the bronze medal. Freeman had a very similar result in 2003 in Val di Fiemme, Italy, also finishing 4th, 2.1 seconds out of third. “Fourth place is just not the place you want to be at World Championships. This has happened to me twice now. I don’t know...
Liberec, Czech Republic – Kris Freeman (USA), battling compartment syndrome, turned in his best result in six years, finishing 4th in the men’s 15km classic in Liberec. Veteran Andrus Veerpalu (EST) edged hometown favorite Lukas Bauer (CZE) for the gold. The 38-year old Veerpalu, skiing in his eighth World Championships, trailed Bauer for much of the race, taking over the lead after the 12 kilometer mark and skiing to a 6.3 second victory. Veerpalu won...