American Sadie Bjornsen is done with this year's Tour de Ski ranked in seventh position after earning an eighth-place finish in the 5 k interval start in Toblach, Italy, on Wednesday. Jessie Diggins took 19th, and will finish the final three stages of the Tour.
After leading a chase group in fourth place for the first portion of the race, Sadie Bjornsen finished 14th in today's World Cup 10 k pursuit - closely followed by American teammate Liz Stephen. The U.S. faced some disappointments, with Jessie Diggins dropping 40+ places, but saw one athlete, Ida Sargent, climb through the ranks.
By attacking Oberstdorf's long, hard climb on the second lap, Sadie Bjornsen, Liz Stephen, and Jessie Diggins chalked up their best results of the season: seventh, eighth, and fourteenth in the 3.3 k Tour de Ski prologue. Kikkan Randall joined them in the points and the U.S. women's team is confident.
With their eyes on the prize of a holiday break (for biathletes and non-Tour de Ski participants, two weekends off of the World Cup), a number of North American skiers notched competitive results, and for some -- even career bests -- in the last week.
Catch up on what you may have missed this weekend, as nordic competitions across the globe are begging to heat up. Here, we recap everything from biathlon in Austria to the cross country World Cup in Switzerland and everything in between.
Liz Stephen wants to ski like skiing really matters: "I was focused on that aggression, and wanting to win more than I’ve ever wanted to win." That took her to 20th place in the 10 k classic, leading teammates Jessie Diggins and Sadie Bjornsen who all finished within a few seconds. Erik Bjornsen led the U.S. men in 48th place in the 15 k classic.
A tough mini-tour in Lillehammer came to a close today with siblings Erik and Sadie Bjornsen leading the U.S. Ski Team.
Jessie Diggins demonstrated that the US Ski Team still has what it takes to post a top result Saturday as she skied to 15th place in the World Cup 5 k freestyle interval start in Lillehammer, Norway. Along with Sadie Bjornsen and Liz Stephen, Diggins broke into the top-30 to set up the women's team for strong results in Sunday's classic pursuit.
The USST came up short in Friday's freestyle sprint in the first stage of the Lillehammer World Cup mini tour, with only one skier qualifying for the heats. Despite lack of results from the team as a whole, Sadie Bjornsen demonstrated that her training is paying off after placing 16th in qualification and 21st overall.
Sadie Bjornsen was, in a way, trying to avoid the kind of seventh-place showing she broke out with last year in Kuusamo, Finland. Instead, she placed 17th on Sunday for a result she was pleased with, especially considering how much it hurt. Jessie Diggins was 39th and four more Americans were in the top 60.
While two Americans won Friday's Frozen Thunder sprints, Canada had its revenge on Monday, taking four of six podium spots. In the men's 10.8 k skate race, Devon Kershaw bested Kris Freeman by five seconds to take the win. In the Women's 7.2 k race, biathlete Rosanna Crawford edged Liz Stephen for the win.
“If you are always getting what you set out to achieve it’s way too easy. [Last season] has motivated me and the team is definitely motivated to go out and kick some butt,” Liz Stephen told FasterSkier. After her team failed to realize its Olympic-year goals, Stephen says that she's ready to reach for the next level, and it certainly looks like she's headed in that direction.
Fall is just beginning which means leaf-peeping, cider donuts, and pumpkin spice lattes are likely on your radar. However, once you get your head out of the changing leaves it may be time to focus on some new training goals as winter approaches.
Liz Stephen is a force to reckon with - even when she’s off her game. Both she and Tim Burke repeated their 2013 performances in windy conditions at NYSEF's 2014 Climb to the Castle.
Liz Stephen already has the reputation as one of the best hill climbers in the world. The trend continued in Thursday's Blink Festival opener, where Stephen outpaced the rest of the field by 27 seconds.
USSA has announced its nominations to the 2014/2015 U.S. Ski Team, with A-team returners Kikkan Randall, Jessie Diggins, Andy Newell, and Liz Stephen, plus the additions of Sadie Bjornsen, Sophie Caldwell, and Simi Hamilton to the A-team.
Scenes from the front of the pack during the women's three-lap, 30-kilometer classic mass start at U.S. Distance Nationals last Friday at Hillside trails.
Sadie Bjornsen rose to the occasion for the final race of the season on Friday, going hard even when she had hoped she wouldn't have to, working with Liz Stephen to drop the pack, then attacking to leave Stephen behind in the final kilometers of the 30 k classic at U.S. Distance Nationals.
It's sure to be an exciting day at Kincaid Park on Tuesday for the first team event at U.S. nationals in at least a decade, and unlike most relays, this one's coed. Stay tuned for a showdown between APU, Stratton, Craftsbury, Sun Valley and several college teams.
Kikkan Randall was the woman to beat on Saturday, and she lived up to the billing by winning the 10 k freestyle individual start -- the first race of SuperTour Finals -- by 2.2 seconds over Liz Stephen. An early leader, Caitlin Gregg notched third, 20.9 seconds back.