After finishes of 11th and 12th at last year's World Junior Championships, nordic combined athlete Jasper Good is focusing on the jumps while he transitions to more senior competition categories. And - "I started taking classes at the University of Utah, got to start sometime!"
On the final days of the FIS Nordic Combined Summer Grand Prix, Taylor Fletcher raced to 15th overall for the U.S. while teammates Ben Berend and Ben Loomis proved they can fly. "Throughout the two-week Grand Prix Tour I had some of the furthest jumps on the hill," Berend told FS. “By the time we got to Oberstdorf my confidence was through the roof."
It was a good year for North American skiers on the World Cup. Boiling down the choices for best North American cross-country performance of 2016 was no easy task. That's our disclaimer; now the drum roll ... our top awards go to Jessie Diggins and Sophie Caldwell (a tie for the women) and Alex Harvey.
Photos from Wednesday's 10/15 k classic mass starts at Stage 5 of the Tour de Ski, including those who landed on the podium and several American and Canadians in action. Courtesy of Marcel Hilger.
Therese Johaug's 9.9-second win over Norwegian teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg on Wednesday at Stage 5 of the Tour de Ski wasn't enough to take the overall Tour leader's bib from Østberg. Meanwhile, Heidi Weng stuck in third overall, and the U.S. women, led by Diggins and Bjornsen, continue to have two in the overall top 15 after both placed in the top 30 on Wednesday.
Sophie Caldwell mainly had one tactic on Tuesday, and it put her in prime position for the best race of her career: “Push it over the tops, stick on Ingvild on the ups, and have a strong finish," she explained. The American ended up beating Ingvild Flugstad Østberg and another Norwegian, Heidi Weng, to achieve her first World Cup victory.
Emil Iversen lived up to his breakfast-table proclamation on Tuesday and won his first World Cup race, ahead of Russia's Sergey Ustiugov and Kazakhstan's Alexey Poltoranin in the men's classic sprint, Stage 4 of the Tour de Ski.
Len Valjas double poled past Italian sprint star Federico Pellegrino at the end of the first men’s classic sprint quarterfinal to earn a spot in the semifinals and ultimately lead the North American men in 10th in the fourth stage of the Tour de Ski in Oberstdorf, Germany.
Sophie Caldwell beat two Norwegians en route to her first career World Cup victory on Tuesday -- winning the women's classic sprint at the Tour de Ski Stage 4 and becoming the only other U.S. woman besides Kikkan Randall to win a World Cup race.
With the longest races of the Tour de Ski out of the way, sprinters Andy Newell, Simi Hamilton, Sophie Caldwell, and Ida Sargent are looking forward to the classic sprint on Tuesday. They may continue the Tour a stage or two, seeking to score World Cup points in a distance event.
Now in second after the first two stages of the seven-stage Tour de Ski, Alex Harvey spoke with FasterSkier after an easy training day in Switzerland before the first-and-only, full-on sprint of the 2015 Tour.
With the pace slowed after 2.5 k, the 15 k classic pursuit in Oberstdorf, Germany, looked more like a mass start. From the huge pack of skiers, Petter Northug threaded his way to a sprint finish win, with Alex Harvey of Canada out-double-poling Sweden's Calle Halfvarsson for second.
After leading a chase group in fourth place for the first portion of the race, Sadie Bjornsen finished 14th in today's World Cup 10 k pursuit - closely followed by American teammate Liz Stephen. The U.S. faced some disappointments, with Jessie Diggins dropping 40+ places, but saw one athlete, Ida Sargent, climb through the ranks.
If you thought this was the year that Marit Bjørgen was beatable, think again. After being bested by Therese Johaug in every 10 k classic so far this year (at least in split time, in the case of the Lillehammer pursuit she won), the Norwegian star turned it around and dominated the Tour de Ski pursuit in Oberstdorf. Also inside: Ingvild Flugstad Østberg throws some shade on Kowalczyk about that snowplow.
Last year, Canada's Alex Harvey won the Tour de Ski prologue. That wasn't going to happen today: "I haven’t quite found my groove in skating this year," he said, but he's still in a great position for tomorrow's 15 k pursuit. Meanwhile, Simi Hamilton of the U.S. Ski Team scored his first World Cup distance points in 26th.
Dario Cologna may have won two Olympic gold medals in Sochi, but it's been a heck of a long time since he won an actual World Cup. By besting the field in Saturday's 4.4 k prologue by 5 seconds, he did just that. Calle Halfvarsson of Sweden bested Norway's Petter Northug for second place.
Unsure of whether she can win the Tour, Marit Bjørgen nonetheless set an impressive pace: she won the first race of the seven-race series by ten seconds, despite it being only 3.3 kilometers long. Norway swept the podium again in a World Cup season that's turning out to be all red.
None of the venues slated to host stages of the Tour de Ski seem ready, given the warm temperatures and lack of snow in central Europe. FIS is reportedly in emergency meetings today to develop a backup plan for the event.
Bryan Fletcher earned his first national title Oct. 12 at the U.S. Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined National Championships in Lake Placid. Now Fletcher and the rest of the U.S. Nordic Combined team will head to Switzerland for a European training block before the World Cup begins Nov. 29.