(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Liz Guiney, Caitlin Patterson and Jessica Yeaton.) Sometimes just being there is half the battle, as the saying goes. No Maiken Caspersen Falla. No Stina Nilsson. On Friday at the site of next year’s Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, three athletes who had never made it to a World Cup podium before prevailed in the women’s 1.4-kilometer classic sprint. And right there was...
Alexei Poltoranin bested the Finns (among others) in Friday's classic sprint in Muonio, but otherwise the home country claimed all the wins: Mona-Liisa Nousiainen in the classic sprint, Sami Jauhojärvi in the 15 k classic, and Kerttu Niskanen in the 8.2 k classic.
The Finnish national team were among the nearly 200 racers kicking off the 2015-2016 season in Vuokatti, Finland, on Saturday. Matthias Strandvall crossed the line first in the men's sprint final, but was relegated for causing Ville Nousiainen to crash; Nousiainen's wife Mona-Liisa (formerly Malvalehto) won the women's race.