HomeTag

Marcus Hellner

Sunday Rundown: Alpe Cermis, Oberhof, Lahti, Soldier Hollow (Updated x5)

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...

Sundby Breaks the Streak for 1st Stage Win in Val di Fiemme; Harvey 19th in Mass Start

Six laps. Three climbs per lap. Fifteen-kilometer classic mass start. If you’re in it to win it, where do you make your move? That was the kind of calculating Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby was doing throughout Saturday’s Stage 6 mass start, the second-to-last stage of the 2017 Tour de Ski, in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Every time he rounded the 2.5 k loop, the man he needed to beat — Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov — was...

Saturday Rundown: Val di Fiemme, Oberhof, Soldier Hollow, Planica (Updated x3)

U.S. Cross Country Championships (Soldier Hollow): 10 k skate [UPDATED] Don’t bet against Caitlin Gregg (Team Gregg) in a distance skate event. The 36-year-old took another national title in the 10-kilometer freestyle individual start at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, earlier today in the first event of the 2017 U.S. Cross Country Championships. Gregg’s winning time was 27:00.6 on a cold, slow-snow morning at SoHo. Chelsea Holmes (Alaska Pacific University) was second, 2.2 seconds back,...

Friday Rundown: Diggins 1st, Bjornsen 3rd in TDS Stage 5; Crawford Gets Season Best in Oberhof

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...

Wednesday Rundown: Harvey Hangs Onto 3rd; 3 U.S. Women in Top 12 in Oberstdorf Pursuit

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...

Ustiugov Wins Third-Straight Stage; Harvey 4th, Kershaw 10th in Skiathlon

Ustiugov, Ustiugov, Ustiugov...the Russian skier has made it there wins in a row to open the Tour de Ski. Despite a wrong turn, Norway's Sundby placed second and sits second overall. Canada's Harvey has skied consistently -- a fourth today -- and is seeking an overall podium in the Tour. He's third overall after three stages.

Tuesday Rundown: Diggins 2nd, Harvey 4th, Bjornsen 5th in Oberstdorf Skiathlons

FIS Cross-Country Tour de Ski Stage 3 (Oberstdorf): 10/20 k skiathlons Positioned in third heading into the third stage of the Tour de Ski on Tuesday, the women’s 10-kilometer skiathlon, Sweden’s Stina Nilsson made the case that she’s more of an all-around threat than some might anticipate. She contended with early leaders like Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg and Finland’s Krista Parmakoski throughout the 5 k classic leg, entering the ski exchange in eighth and 2.5 seconds...

Ustiugov Unbeatable So Far in TDS; Harvey Moves Into Third After Stage 2

Alex Harvey wasn’t feeling 100 percent on Sunday, but he didn’t need to be. Within three seconds of the leaders and eighth place at the finish of the men’s 10-kilometer classic mass start was essentially what he needed to secure one of the most coveted positions on the Tour de Ski right now: third place. Ahead of him, Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov and Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby have built a nearly one-minute and 40-second lead on third place,...

Sunday Rundown: Harvey Up to 3rd, Diggins Holds Onto 6th Overall in TDS

FIS Cross-Country Tour de Ski Stage 2 (Val Müstair): 5/10 k classic mass starts Women’s report There was a lot of jostling between Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov and Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby, with the latter leading early and the Russian not letting him get too complacent up front, but ultimately, Ustiugov was the first across the line in the men’s 10-kilometer classic mass start, the second stage of the Tour de Ski in Val Müstair, Switzerland. Ustiugov...

Sundby Returns as Distance King in Davos; Harvey 12th, Killick 21st for Canada

DAVOS, Switzerland — Martin Johnsrud Sundby might not have had the fastest World Cup opener (by his standards), but two weeks later it’s clear who is king of the distance field: the same Norwegian who won the World Cup distance globe two of the last three years. “I did not feel my best the last weekend, but I was able to catch the tour victory after all,” Sundby said of won this race in 2013,...

Saturday Rundown: Lillehammer, Östersund & West Yellowstone (Updated x 4)

Welcome to The Rundown, your quick primer of need-to-know information about the day’s racing. We’ll be updating this digest as the day goes on with additional results, photos and quotes. The Rundown is NOT a race report; stay tuned for complete race reports later today with interviews from the day’s top racers. *** U.S. SuperTour opener in West Yellowstone: Freestyle sprints [UPDATE] The U.S. domestic season opened in West Yellowstone, Mont., with 1.3-kilometer freestyles on...

Heikkinen Hauls in First Win in Five Years; Harvey ‘Amazed by the Day’ in 4th

After placing third in Wednesday's skiathlon, Finland's Matti Heikkinen claimed his first victory since 2011 on Friday in the men's 15 k skate. Canada once again had four in the top 30, with Alex Harvey leading the team in fourth. “I think it’s one of the best races of my life here," Harvey said of Canmore. Noah Hoffman led the U.S. in 23rd.

Another Russian Sandwich: Canada’s Harvey 2nd Between Ustiugov and Belov; Kershaw 4th

Two Canadians landed in the top four in Sunday's 15 k freestyle FIS race in Gällivare, Sweden, with Alex Harvey reaching the podium in second and Devon Kershaw missing it by 23 seconds in fourth. Noah Hoffman finished sixth for the U.S., Canada's Ivan Babikov was eighth, and Erik Bjornsen (USA) notched his second-straight top 10.

Russians Go 1-2 in 15 k Classic; Canadians All Land in Top 8 in Gällivare Distance Race

Sunday was for the distance racers in Gällivare, Sweden, with five Canadians -- four men and one woman -- getting a chance to test their form in the 10/15 k classic races. Alex Harvey notched his second-podium performance in third, Emily Nishikawa was fourth, Devon Kershaw fifth, Ivan Babikov sixth, and Graeme Killick eighth.