Anyone who’s seen Liz Stephen train knew she was completely capable of doing what she did Sunday in Muonio, Finland. For cripes sakes, she challenged the guys during a US Ski Team interval trail-running session this summer. Earlier at that camp in Lake Placid, N.Y., she Hevoskuuri.fi. “Heikkinen competes to win.” Noah Hoffman led the U.S. men in 13th about 0.47 seconds ahead of teammate Kris Freeman in 14th and about 1:18 behind Heikkinen. After...
Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Eldar Roenning, the first two skiers for Norway’s 4x10km relay team sat in the Photo Press Center, eyes glued to one of the many television screens, watching the race unfold. The tension was high – no laughing or joking, not even a smile. Tord Asle Gjerdalen was on track for Norway, and he, along with Sweden’s Anders Soedergren, had just been reeled in by the chase pack. The race was now...
At the 2009 World Championships in the Czech Republic, Finland’s Matti Heikkinen combined a well-timed peak with a great pair of skis to take bronze in the 15 k classic, on a challenging wax day. That medal was Heikkinen’s first time on the podium in an international race. Since then, he’d finished in the top three a few times more—twice on the World Cup, and also in a couple of stages of the Tour de...
In Monday’s 20 k pursuit, in Oberhof, Germany, instead of Petter Northug (NOR) turing heads with an impressive sprint finish, it was Finland’s Matti Heikkinen who displayed remarkable finishing speed to secure victory in the fifth stage of the 2011 Tour de Ski. The Finn, who has had difficulty on the World Cup so far this season, put on a massive attack on the final steep uphill, surprising the field. Heikkinen had been very quiet...
The 2010/2011 Veissmann Tour de Ski is nothing if not draining. Consisting of eight events in ten days in two countries, the fifth edition begins December 31st and runs until January 9th. The Tour begins with a freestyle prologue in Oberhof, Germany, on December 31st, followed by a classic pursuit start on January 1st. The Tour then moves to Oberstorf, Germany, for a sprint on January 2nd, and a pursuit on the 3rd. After a...
Finland Nations Cup Ranking: 5th (4758 pts) Men: 8th (1543 pts) Women: 4th (3215 pts) 2010/2011 A Team Men Matti Heikkinen Sami Jauhojaervi Ville Nousiainen Lasse Paakkonen Matias Strandvall Women Aino-Kaisa Saarinen Riitta-Liisa Roponen Riikka Sarasoja Kerttu Niskanen Krista Lahteenmaki Pirjo Muranen What you may have missed last season: It’s not often a country finishes fifth on the Nations Cup list and can call their season ‘sub-par,’ however Finland managed to pull it off. The...
Before this winter, very few ski fans would have recognized the name Ronny Andre Hafsaas. The 24-year-old Norwegian had competed in just a single cross country World Cup in Switzerland, finishing in 36th place. But for the past two years, Hafsaas has been quietly collecting top-tens on the international biathlon circuit, and today, he stamped his authority on the first race of the World Cup season in Beitostolen. Hafsaas beat all of the favorites in the...