ERZURUM, Turkey — As was to be expected given their performances the rest of this week, Russia was in control of the 4 x 5 k relay at World Juniors on Sunday from start to finish. Anchor leg Sergey Ustiugov secured his sweep of all four available gold medals when he crossed the line an untouchable 44.8 seconds ahead of Kazakhstan’s Roman Ragozin. Norway, anchored by Sindre Bjoernestad Skar, took home bronze. “The relay is...
ERZURUM, Turkey — With his third gold medal of the week in Friday’s 20 k skiathlon, Sergey Ustiugov (RUS) has taken on the aura of a new Russian ski star being born. A Norwegian duo took the early lead and briefly appeared to finally have the energy to disrupt Russia’s dominance of this week, but Ustiugov soon took over and, together with compatriot Artem Maltsev (RUS), Russia once again took the top two spots on...
ERZURUM, Turkey — For elite skiers under the age of 20, the FIS Junior World Championships are a focal point of the previous year’s training. No matter the national team, an athlete’s success at World Juniors causes elated finish-line celebrations, as it confirms he can ski as fast, or perhaps faster, than he ever thought possible. The freestyle sprint, the opening events of the 2012 championships at Kindalli Nordic Ski Center, was no exception....
Going into the third day of Junior Olympic competition, Friday’s skate individual start, four athletes had a chance to sweep all individual events: Hamish McEwen (Cambridge Sports Union) in J2 boys, Marion Woods (Alaska Winter Stars) in J2 girls, Logan Hanneman (FAST) in J1 boys, and Jessie Diggins (CXC) in OJ girls. When the day was finished, only McEwen was knocked off the top step of the podium. (He was still second!) Woods, Hanneman, and...
The first day of the Nordic Junior Competition in Örnsköldsvik (SWE) featured classic sprints for both men and women, and Logan Hanneman (FAST) was third in the B-final. The Americans qualified three women and three men for the heats.