Fresh snow couldn't keep the US women's relay from matching their best ever 4.5 Classic/Free Relay time. Randall, Bjornsen Stephen and Diggins claimed a bronze medal despite near disaster and broken ski pole. A second US women's relay team clinched 12th to close the second weekend of World Cup racing
While the Norwegian women's team seized a predictable victory in the Lillehammer World Cup 4 x 5 k relay on Sunday, Finland and the U.S. duked it out for second, with a late crash taking the Americans out of the running for their best-ever relay result.
The Canadian men showed signs of recovery and an upswing in their second weekend of racing, with Alex Harvey leading the team in 16th in Saturday's 15 k classic individual start at the World Cup in Lillehammer, Norway.
The latest research used Norwegian and French World Cup skiers to look at how VO2Max and heart rate variability fluctuate over the course of one or several seasons. Plus, a new kind of "neurodoping" is now possible, using electrical currents or magnetic fields to make your brain better at everything.
After starting off last season with a bang — a win in West Yellowstone and a trip to the Canadian World Cups — Ryan Scott finished his 2012-2013 campaign feeling unsatisfied. To reinvigorate his training before the Olympic year, he's taking a trip to Norway this June to train with friends and compete in a few races.
The classic races of World Championships took place in Val di Fiemme: interval start, relay, marathon. Biathletes competed in Oslo, Americans held their own in Slavic Cup action, and Swedes (and everyone else) gave it their all in the Vasaloppet. Summaries of the action, along with links to reporting and results.
Like he always seems to do at big events, Petter Northug, Jr., made sure the men's relay came down to a final sprint on Friday at World Championships so he could win the drag race, pull a finish-line smirk out of his repertoire, and leave Sweden wanting revenge for the umpteenth time. Our photos from the day.
The Queen is back — as new snow fell in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on Thursday, Norwegian superstar Marit Bjørgen won the classic sprint by over two seconds to claim her ninth career World Championships gold medal. Ida Ingemarsdotter took silver and Maiken Caspersen Falla was third; Justyna Kowalczyk left the venue empty-handed after a disastrous fall in the final.
While Norway had seldom a worry en route to another mixed relay title, France and the Czech Republic capitalized on a late-stage meltdown by Russia's Dmitry Malyshko to earn their spots on the podium. The Czech medal was especially exciting to the home crowd, and the racers struggled to express how special the moment was.
You might think that Norway's 54k Birkebeiner, one of the most famous and tradition-laden marathons in the world, has always been popular. But despite being situated in a ski-crazy country, the 17,000-entrant cap was only reached in the last decade, and demand is growing more every year. Here's how the race got so popular, and how it's continuing to grow as an event despite the cap.
Norway's relay anchor Petter Northug didn't have to use his signature finishing sprint to embarrass the Swedes on their home soil. With the extra time he had on Marcus Hellner near the finish, Northug picked up a Swedish flag and skied across the line.
Since the interviews on the FIS websites is one of my main sources of post topics during the off season, we’ll continue in that vein with one from a while back with Øystein Pettersen. In it, he talks about how his focus this season is (unsurprisingly) the classic sprint at World Championships. Pettersen has been [...] Related posts:
Still feeling a bit like fish out of water on faster-than-normal rollerskis, U.S. Ski Team members Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephen jumped in anyway Friday, the second day of the Blink Festival in Sandnes, Norway. After both cautiously approached the start of yesterday’s 7.5 k climb, where men /
Two weeks ago, Kris Freeman and Noah Hoffman weren’t exactly sure what they were in for before flying to Norway, but they were excited. The two had been invited to a Norwegian national team training camp, and without much else besides their bare necessities, they headed to the snowfields of Sognefjell. On June 3, the two U.S. Ski Team (USST) members jumped into action with the Norwegian men’s squad, kicking things off Sunday afternoon with...
This article is a paid advertisement by http://www.caldwellsport.com/
In some very sad news, we learned recently that Inge Braten passed away rather suddenly. It is difficult (and probably slightly foolish) to try to quantify a coach’s impact on skiing results, so let’s consider this post a rememberance, rather than an analysis. Perhaps most famously, Braten coached the Norwegian men during their “Golden Era”: (My [...] Related posts:
In late March, Norwegian biathlon ace Emil Hegle Svendsen complained to broadcaster NRK that the national team coaches were not spending enough time with the athletes, and that he hoped to see some changes. He was speaking out of frustration: after the World Cup title had seemingly been within his reach – indeed he wore the yellow bib several times – Svendsen ended up second to Martin Fourcade of France in the rankings. Despite winning...
MONT SAINTE-ANNE, Québec — It all started with a little buzz about Québec hosting a World Cup. After the province’s native Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw struck gold in the team sprint at the 2011 World Championships in Olso, Norway, Cross Country Canada and the International Ski Federation got to talking. The World Cup should feature a few races in Canada, and why not consider bringing it to the eastern part of the country? Once...
With enthusiastic cheers of “USA all the way!” to push them onward, the American women battled through an energetic 30 k classic at the famous Holmenkollen venue in Oslo, Norway on Sunday. The throngs of happy fans stood in contrast to what the athletes experienced out on the course — the combination of a sprint-like early pace and slow snow later on made for a challenging 90-plus minutes of racing. The U.S. women were the...
RUHPOLDING, Germany – Right from the start of the 4 x 6 k relay here at World Championships, the German women made it clear that they were going to give their fans a show – and, most likely, the gold medal that they so vocally craved. Tina Bachmann, a lithe, six-foot-tall 25-year-old, put the field on notice when she turned in the fastest first-leg time, making up for the single spare round she used to...