2018 is sooner than you think. The World Cup makes its pre-Olympic presence in PyeongChang, South Korea this week and the U.S. and Canadian teams are there.
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Liz Stephen
*Note: this article has been updated to include comments from U.S. women’s head coach Matt Whitcomb as of Monday, Jan. 30. After sealing her 105th individual World Cup victory on Sunday, and her yesterday’s sprint winner — and Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski. Also within firing range was American Jessie Diggins, skiing in seventh, along with Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen and Maiken Caspersen Falla, and Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla. However, within another four kilometers, the Norwegians had broken away, a close...
FIS Cross-Country World Cup (Falun, Sweden): 15 / 30 k classic mass start Men’s report In the women’s 15-kilometer classic mass start on Sunday, Norway swept the podium with Marit Bjørgen taking the win in a time of 41:28.8 in Falun, Sweden. Crossing just half a second behind her was her teammate, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg in second place. Rounding out the podium was Heidi Weng in third (+8.1). American Jessie Diggins was the first to cross the line...
Most of the time, the FIS Cross-Country World Cup visits towns and ski trails the racers already know well. Some venues, like Norway’s Holmenkollen and Switzerland’s Davos, are visited every year. Others, like France’s La Clusaz, are on the schedule every few years but are still always popular. “I’ve been on the World Cup for ten or eleven years, and we go to the same venues all the time,” the U.S. Ski Team’s Liz Stephen said....
Last weekend’s first-ever World Cup in Ulricehamn, Sweden, was one Canada will remember for a long time, after Alex Harvey won Saturday’s 15-kilometer freestyle individual start for his second-straight World Cup victory (after Men’s report | Men’s report |
Norway Women Win Again, But It’s Closest Relay in Two Years; U.S. Fourth in Nailbiter (Updated)
Chelsea LittleJanuary 22, 2017
Another women’s 4 x 5 k World Cup relay, another Norwegian win. Yawn? Not so fast. While the team of Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, Heidi Weng, Astrid Jacobsen, and Marit Bjørgen may have picked up the victory, the women’s race in Ulricehamn, Sweden, was anything but dull. For one thing, it was the closest race in 23 months, going all the way back to the 2014 Olympics where Sweden took gold. The top four teams all...
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Sunday Rundown: Ulricehamn, Antholz, Chaux-Neuve, Whistler, & Truckee (Updated x3)
FasterSkierJanuary 22, 2017
FIS Cross-Country World Cup (Ulricehamn, Sweden): 4 x 5 k and 4 x 7.5 k Relays Women’s report Norway notched back-to-back team victories in the women’s and men’s relays on Sunday at the World Cup in Ulricehamn, Sweden, with Finn Hågen Krogh securing a win in the men’s 4 x 7.5 k relay by 0.5 seconds over Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson and Canada’s Lenny Valjas. With two kilometers remaining, nine teams were within 3.8 seconds of first. Krogh...
After Five Weeks Away, Bjørgen Back on Top in Ulricehamn; Four Americans in Top 25
Gabby NaranjaJanuary 22, 2017
There are a lot of things Marit Bjørgen is not. She is not the only woman on Norway’s national team who knows how to win. She is not in the early stages of her cross-country career — her first World Cup debut came in December 1999. In comparison to many of her Norwegian teammates, she is not young. The average age of Norway’s women competing in Saturday’s 10-kilometer freestyle individual start in Ulricehamn, Sweden, (Bjørgen not included)...
Saturday Rundown: Ulricehamn, Antholz, Chaux-Neuve, Zuoz, Whistler, & Truckee (Updated x6)
FasterSkierJanuary 21, 2017
U.S. SuperTour (Truckee, Calif.): Classic sprints [UPDATED] Less than a week after being men’s 30 k classic mass start champion at this year’s U.S. nationals — won Saturday’s SuperTour classic sprint as well. Lustgarten, of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, raced to a 1.58-second victory in the men’s A-final at the Auburn Ski Club in Soda Springs, Calif., finishing in 3:03.4. Ben Saxton, of the Stratton Mountain School (SMS) Elite Team, placed second, and Reese...
Inside the Lahti World Champs Roster with Chris Grover
Gavin KentchJanuary 19, 2017
You already learned who's going to Lahti next month. FasterSkier talks with USST head coach Chris Grover about the reasoning behind who was and was not selected for next month's world championships team.
TDS Stages 5, 6, 7: Toblach/Val di Fiemme Quotes
FasterSkierJanuary 8, 2017
That’s a wrap, folks! With the 11th Tour de Ski coming to an end on Sunday with the infamous Alpe Cermis final climb in Val di Fiemme, we wanted to share some of the athlete and coach comments that didn’t make it into the race reports. Below are quotes from the last three stages of the Tour, all in Italy. *** Stage 5 (Toblach, Italy): 5/10 k freestyle Men’s report On pre-race feelings: “I think nerves were...
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Sunday Rundown: Alpe Cermis, Oberhof, Lahti, Soldier Hollow (Updated x5)
FasterSkierJanuary 8, 2017
U.S. Cross Country Championships (Soldier Hollow): Classic sprints Jennie Bender of Bridger Ski Foundation and Kevin Bolger of the University of Utah won national titles in the classic sprints at 2017 U.S. Cross Country Championships at Soldier Hollow earlier Sunday afternoon. They each took narrow – but, for sprinting, relatively uncontested – victories, as each was in the lead coming into the stadium and led through the final 180-degree turn into the finishing straight. In the women’s race, Bender took the...
Weng Finally Claims Tour Title; Diggins 5th, and Stephen 2nd-Fastest Climber
Chelsea LittleJanuary 8, 2017
Sweden’s Stina Nilsson didn’t fancy herself a favorite for this year’s Tour de Ski title, despite having won four stages and wearing the leader’s bib to start out today’s final race. And after about six kilometers of the 9-kilometer climb up the Alpe Cermis, everyone knew why. Heidi Weng, a Norwegian who had started 19.2 seconds behind Nilsson, had slowly gained ground on the Swede in the flat sections leading up to the climb itself....
Nilsson Wins, Regains Tour Lead in Fiemme, All Eyes on Alpe Cermis; Diggins 8th
Chelsea LittleJanuary 7, 2017
As the Tour de Ski drags on, the World Cup field is tiring. Nobody – atrial fibrillation in the Ruka, Finland, 10 k. “It is great to be on the podium again, especially after I crashed today,” she told FIS. “I had to fight my way back in the race but in the end I felt very strong.” While Kylloenen had praised her skis, one team wasn’t doing so. The Norwegians failed to reach the...
One Year Later, Diggins Repeats Toblach 5 k Win; Sadie Bjornsen Notches First Podium
Alex KochonJanuary 6, 2017
Lining up at the start of the women’s 5-kilometer freestyle individual start on Friday, it was a different Jessie Diggins than a year ago. Here the American was, again in Toblach, Italy, again in the third-to-last stage of the Tour de Ski, again about to race another one of those rare formats on the World Cup circuit: the 5 k individual. But this time last year, she had never won a World Cup, let alone...
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Friday Rundown: Diggins 1st, Bjornsen 3rd in TDS Stage 5; Crawford Gets Season Best in Oberhof
FasterSkierJanuary 6, 2017
FIS Cross-Country Tour de Ski Stage 5 (Toblach): 5/10 k freestyle Men’s report Two U.S. women on the podium. Remember when that happened with Kikkan Randall and Sophie Caldwell back in 2015 World Championships, with Jessie Diggins and Caitlin Gregg in the 10 k freestyle? Well, it just happened again, this time with Diggins placing first and Sadie Bjornsen third in the women’s 5-kilometer freestyle individual start on Friday at Stage 5 of the Tour de Ski...
U.S. Nationals Open This Weekend at SoHo; World Champs Starts on the Line
Gavin KentchJanuary 5, 2017
Who’s racing what when U.S. Nationals begin at SoHo on Saturday morning? And what are they racing for (besides bragging rights)? FasterSkier explains why, when it comes to domestic racers hoping to make it to World Champs in Lahti, second place this month is worth more than first place last month.
TDS Stages 3 & 4: Oberstdorf Bonus Quotes and Photos
FasterSkierJanuary 5, 2017
Canada’s Alex Harvey is still on the podium. Then there’s the U.S. women’s team, with athletes in fifth, 10th and 12th in the Tour de Ski standings after big-time performances in Oberstdorf, Germany. Harvey kept himself in third overall and ahead of Switzerland’s Dario Cologna with a strong pursuit finish on Wednesday, and Jessie Diggins led her U.S. teammates on consecutive days, notching second on Tuesday for a career-best skiathlon result and holding onto fifth...
Nilsson Beats Norwegians Again in Oberstdorf Pursuit; Diggins 5th, Randall 10th
Chelsea LittleJanuary 4, 2017
The immovable object that is the Norwegian women’s ski team may finally have met an unstoppable force: 23-year-old Swede Stina Nilsson. Norway’s stars Heidi Weng and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg skied with Nilsson for most of Wednesday’s 10 kilometer freestyle pursuit, the fourth stage of this year’s Tour de Ski. But in the end Nilsson came flying off the final downhill in Oberstdorf, Germany, in exactly the same position she had the previous day: first place....
Wednesday Rundown: Harvey Hangs Onto 3rd; 3 U.S. Women in Top 12 in Oberstdorf Pursuit
FasterSkierJanuary 4, 2017
FIS Cross-Country Tour de Ski Stage 4 (Oberstdorf): 10/15 k freestyle pursuits [UPDATED] Another win for Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov (that’s four in four stage races at the 2016/2017 Tour de Ski), another second place for Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby, and another third place for Canada’s Alex Harvey. That was how the podium shook out on Wednesday in the Stage 4 men’s 15-kilometer freestyle pursuit, with Ustiugov winning by 37.2 seconds after starting 4 seconds back and...