Wrapping up their Australian camp, three Sun Valley skiers reached the podium at the 42 k Kangaroo Hoppet, part of the Worldloppet marathon series. Deedra Irwin edged teammate Mary Rose, and Matt Gelso won the men's race ahead of Australian national-team skiers. One weekend later, the U.S. Ski Team swept first and second New Zealand's Merino Muster.
Everything's better with a group -- at least in terms of threshold interval workouts. In this "Throwback Workout" from three years ago, U.S. women's coach Matt Whitcomb explains why this was one of the best workouts he had seen back then. “It doesn’t need to be incredibly hard — today was roughly threshold and above during bursts of speed — but it was about the terrain that helped push the pace for us,” he said.
Athletes at all levels of the competition spectrum constantly seek the missing piece of their performance puzzle. For many years now, sport psychology has played an increasing role in solving that puzzle. From the World Cup to the junior ranks, FasterSkier explores how some skiers and coaches make use of sport psychology.
"What role did you mom play in your development as a skier?" was the single question we raised to North American cross-country, biathlon and nordic combined national-team members. Many of them had a hard time holding back in their responses.
The U.S. Cross Country Ski Team has announced its nominations for the 2016-17 season, and the list includes eight A-team members, three B-teamers, and five development-team skiers, including newbies Ian Torchia and Hannah Halvorsen.
It was a good year for North American skiers on the World Cup. Boiling down the choices for best North American cross-country performance of 2016 was no easy task. That's our disclaimer; now the drum roll ... our top awards go to Jessie Diggins and Sophie Caldwell (a tie for the women) and Alex Harvey.
Jessie Diggins maintained her streak through the final race of the season, winning the women's 30 k classic mass start -- what used to be her weakest race format -- on Saturday at U.S. Distance Nationals. She broke away on the first of nine laps, making it a race for second among Ida Sargent, Caitlin Patterson and Liz Stephen.
Nine days after placing fifth in the Ski Tour Canada, the finale of the World Cup season, Jessie Diggins kept her foot on the gas and tallied a win in the women's 10 k freestyle at SuperTour Finals.
After Heidi Weng nabbed the Ski Tour Canada leader's bib from her Norwegian teammate Therese Johaug, Weng intended to keep it after the women's 10 k pursuit on Saturday. “[Therese] is very strong in the distance and she has won so many times now, so it was very good to take her,” Weng said.
Notes, quotes, photos and even a video of several of the North Americans you've been waiting to hear from at the Ski Tour Canada.
Therese Johaug overcame an unusual starting position in the fourth row to win the women's 10.5 k classic mass start by a minute over her Norwegian teammate Heidi Weng. With the win, Johaug claimed the Ski Tour Canada lead, while American Jessie Diggins raced to eighth to put herself in fifth overall.
On Sunday, the U.S. Ski Team released its 24-athlete roster for the upcoming Ski Tour Canada, with eight stages in 12 days starting Tuesday. (Note: this article has been updated as Caitlin Patterson will not be starting due to illness.)
With fewer than two weeks remaining until the Ski Tour Canada visits Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec City, and Canmore from March 1-12, we spent some time breaking down the provisional North American picks and estimated costs for Canadian nation's group skiers at the season-ending World Cups.
Three American women cracked the top 25 in Sunday's 30 k classic at the world-famous Holmenkollen, finishing within 1.6 seconds of one another. Sadie Bjornsen led them in 22nd, closely followed by Liz Stephen in 23rd and Jessie Diggins in 25th. Rosie Brennan and Caitlin Patterson raced to 33rd and 36th, respectively, and Canada's Emily Nishikawa was 39th.
At Sunday's Holmenkollen 30 k classic mass start, Norway's Therese Johaug dominated. She won by a margin of 3:46.5 over teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg. FIS reports Johaug's margin of victory was the largest ever for a women's cross-country World Cup.
It's been a steady climb of success for the U.S. women's cross-country team. On Sunday in Nove Mesto, they took a collective step higher in the 4 x 5 k relay, placing second to a hard-charging Norway, while besting Finland by nearly 14 seconds.
In just over two weeks time since she won her first individual World Cup, American Jessie Diggins proves she deserves a place on the podium once again, racing to a third place finish overall in the women's 10 k freestyle individual start race on Saturday in Nove Mesto. “It’s been so fun to have all that hard work and all the hours of training pay off in such a big way,” Diggins said.
The women’s overall podium at the 2016 Tour de Ski on Sunday was all red. Norway swept the top three, with Therese Johaug taking the overall title from Ingvild Flustad Østberg on the final climb, and Heidi Weng retained third. For the U.S., Jessie Diggins locked up 10th, Sadie Bjornsen was 14th and Liz Stephen posted the third-fastest time of day.
Always the bridesmaid no more; Heidi Weng ended a streak of 37 World Cup podiums without a win on Saturday at Stage 7 of the Tour de Ski, beating out her teammates Ingvild Flugstad Østberg and Therese Johaug in the 10 k classic mass start. American Sadie Bjornsen placed ninth and Jessie Diggins 17th to head into the final stage in 12th and 10th, respectively.
Jessie Diggins fended off all challengers for her first individual World Cup victory -- that's right -- another one for the U.S. in the last three stages of the Tour de Ski. Diggins did so in the 5 k freestyle in Toblach, Italy, besting four Norwegians in the top five.