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Olympic Cross Country Skiing

Taiwan’s Olympic Closing Ceremony Flag Bearer, Sophia Tsu Velicer, Soaks Up the World Cup Finale in Lake Placid

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. Taiwanese-American skier Sophia Tsu Velicer on racing in the U.S., representing Taiwan, and her mission to open doors for the next generation. LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — Sophia Tsu Velicer didn’t mince words...

Glitter, Knitting, and a Phone Call from Bill Koch: The U.S. Ski Team Is Ready for Lake Placid

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. Lake Placid, N.Y. — The eve of the World Cup finals at Mount Van Hoevenberg brought press conferences, sound checks that went sideways, and three American skiers who couldn’t stop making each...

Colin Rodgers and the Culture of SMS T2

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. The first time I saw Colin Rodgers, he was climbing onto a podium in the basement of a hotel in Biwabik, Minnesota. I honestly can’t remember the name of the hotel, but I can remember the rooms, the enormous lobby complete with an indoor minigolf course, and the basement...

Ben Ogden’s Olympic Silver, 50 Years After Bill Koch — A Trailside Reflection

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. This essay by Jim Galanes was written on the evening of the Olympic Men’s Classic Sprint in Val di Fiemme, when Ben Ogden won silver to become the first American man in 50 years to medal in an Olympic cross-country skiing event. It was drafted from the race course...

Klaebo Edges Closer to a Season for the Ages in Falun

This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com. Six days after the Olympic flame dimmed in Italy, the World Cup caravan reassembled in Falun, Sweden, at the Lugnet cross-country ski center. The Mördarbacken — the...

Chris Hecker and the Moment the Sun Came Out

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers.  If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. If you are a parent or coach and have been responsible for waxing skis for an important race — a state championship, a Junior National Qualifier — you know how stressful that can be. Now imagine it’s the morning of the Team Sprint at the Olympics, and you are...

The Devon Kershaw Show: A Tesero team sprint slugfest

This episode was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers.  If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription.   The highs were high and the lows were low in the Olympic team sprint in Italy, with the Ogden-Schumacher men’s team claiming silver and the Diggins-Kern women’s pair finishing out of the medals. Devon and Nat break the whole thing down. We’ll be back after Saturday’s men’s 50 k....

Sweden Wins Gold, America Shows Heart in Exciting Women’s Team Sprint

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers who have helped us put our Nat Herz on the ground reporting at the Olympics. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. PREDAZZO, ITALY — Eight years ago, on a different continent, the words “Here Comes Diggins!” by Chad Salmela vaulted American cross-country skiing into a new era. On Wednesday in Val di Fiemme, the event...

Full Bellies for Fast Skiers: Inside Megan Chacosky’s Olympic Kitchen

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers who have helped us put our Nat Herz on the ground at the Olympics. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. Megan Chacosky had just finished cleaning up from dinner when she hopped on the Zoom from the US Olympic Cross-Country Ski Team’s pre-Olympic training camp in Livigno, Italy. “Yeah, that’s okay,” she said. “I appreciate...

The Devon Kershaw Show: Mayhem in Tesero in the women’s relay

This episode was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers.  If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription.     That was a banger. We’re deep into the Olympics now, and Devon and Nat return for the third straight night to recap the women’s relay. One more race — the Norwegian men versus the world — and then everyone gets two days off. Reach us at devon[at]fasterskier.com and...

The Devon Kershaw Show: Diggins vs. the Scandinavians in the Olympic 10 k

This episode was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers.  If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription.   The one Jessie Diggins was waiting for: Nat and Devon were both on hand for the Olympic 10-kilometer freestyle and have this recap. It gets pretty heated! But in a good way. We’ll be back tomorrow after the showdown between Johannes Klaebo and Einar Hedegart in the men’s race....

Tim Baucom and the Art of Making Hand-Structured Skis

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers who have helped put our Nat Herz on the ground at the Olympics. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. Tim Baucom mountain biking with his parents on the Bangtail Divide Trail in Bozeman, Montana. (Photo: Courtesy Photo) After a historic day like yesterday, there are so many possible stories, some big, some smaller, but all...

A 50-Year Wait Ends: Ben Ogden Takes Olympic Silver for U.S. Men

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers who have helped put our Nat Herz on the ground at the Olympics. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. PREDAZZO, ITALY — Ben Ogden finished his semifinal standing upright, his skis still on, lungs burning in the familiar way that meant the work had been done, but the verdict was not. He crossed the line...

Hailey Swirbul and the Experiment of Returning

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers who have helped put our Nat Herz on the ground at the Olympics. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. When Hailey Swirbul logged onto a Zoom call from Italy last Monday, she was already living inside uncertainty. “I’m in Livigno right now,” she said. “Yeah — the higher one.” The U.S. team held two pre-Olympic altitude...

A Familiar King: Klaebo Opens Milano Cortina with Skiathlon Gold

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers who have helped put our Nat Herz on the ground at the Olympics. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. PREDAZZO, ITALY — The snow in Val di Fiemme had finally settled. After a colder night and a full day’s distance from the most recent snowfall, the surface beneath the men’s skis on Sunday morning felt...

Fast Tracks: IOC – Olympic Women’s Skiathlon – Podium Press Conference

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers who have helped put our Nat Herz on the ground at the Olympics. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. At the Olympic Women’s Skiathlon podium press conference in Val di Fiemme, the three medalists provided insight into their performances, discussing equipment choices, team dynamics, and the mental preparation that shaped one of the Games’ defining...

Karlsson Wins Gold as Diggins’ Freestyle Signals What’s Still Possible

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers who have helped put our Nat Herz on the ground at the Olympics. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. PREDAZZO, ITALY — The snow in the Tesero Cross-Country Ski Stadium sat in that uneasy middle ground—soft, glazed, and ready to decide races in small, brutal ways. It sat like the snow of March more than...

The Devon Kershaw Show: A Swedish rivalry and Olympic preview with Expressen

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers.  If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription.     The bad news? Devon is indisposed and isn’t here for the Olympic preview podcast. As a consolation: We have a great guest in Philip Gadd, a sports reporter with the Swedish tabloid Expressen. Philip takes us through his new podcast about Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson’s rivalry, the...

US Head Coach, Matt Whitcomb—Excited, Centered, Prepared

This reporting costs money. Please support this coverage with a voluntary subscription (below) so FasterSkier can provide this level of access to the sport we all love year-round. On the eve of the opening event of the Olympic cross-country program, U.S. head coach Matt Whitcomb sounded equal parts energized and grounded. Speaking with FasterSkier’s Nat Herz in the mixed zone, Whitcomb touched on everything from ski exchanges and early-Games logistics to the long arc of...

The Long Way In: Zak Ketterson and the Patience It Took to Reach the Olympics

This article was made possible through the generous support of our voluntary subscribers. If you value coverage like this, please support FasterSkier with a voluntary subscription. On Monday, a clear winter morning in northern Italy, Zak Ketterson skied intervals while his teammates enjoyed a point-to-point on an idyllic pre-Olympic winter day. The sun was out. The snow was good. He was working. “I did some hard intervals,” he said later. “So it was still nice...