In just over two weeks time since she won her first individual World Cup, American Jessie Diggins proves she deserves a place on the podium once again, racing to a third place finish overall in the women's 10 k freestyle individual start race on Saturday in Nove Mesto. “It’s been so fun to have all that hard work and all the hours of training pay off in such a big way,” Diggins said.
The women’s overall podium at the 2016 Tour de Ski on Sunday was all red. Norway swept the top three, with Therese Johaug taking the overall title from Ingvild Flustad Østberg on the final climb, and Heidi Weng retained third. For the U.S., Jessie Diggins locked up 10th, Sadie Bjornsen was 14th and Liz Stephen posted the third-fastest time of day.
Jessie Diggins fended off all challengers for her first individual World Cup victory -- that's right -- another one for the U.S. in the last three stages of the Tour de Ski. Diggins did so in the 5 k freestyle in Toblach, Italy, besting four Norwegians in the top five.
A collection of photos highlighting the North Americans in Tuesday's classic sprint at the fourth stage of the Tour de Ski. Sophie Caldwell made history as the third U.S. woman to win a World Cup race. Photos by Marcel Hilger.
Americans Jessie Diggins and Sadie Bjornsen skied another pair of consistent races, keeping themselves in the top 10 overall in the Tour de Ski. Liz Stephen moved up to 22nd place, while Sophie Caldwell called her effort "maybe my best-ever distance race" in 27th.
If there's one word that sums up the recent performances of several members of the U.S. women's team, it's consistency. In Stage 2 of the Tour de Ski, the women’s 15 k classic mass start, Jessie Diggins and Sadie Bjornsen proved particularly consistent in their pacing, consistent in their technique, and consistent in their results.
In a World Cup sprint, 31st has a little extra bite. Ask Len Valjas. He’s been in that position twice in the last three freestyle sprints. On Friday, the Canadian World Cup Team sprinter finished one-hundredth of a second behind 30th, which would have qualified him for the heats in the 1.5-kilometer skate sprint, the first stage of the Tour de Ski in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Just over two weeks ago at another Swiss race site...
Therese Johaug once again dusted the women's field, this time in the 10 k classic individual start at the World Cup in Toblach, Italy. There, two U.S. women finished in the top 20, about two minutes behind her.
Norway's sprint regulars, Maiken Caspersen Falla and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg took the top two spots on the skate-sprint podium at the Toblach World Cup, while two U.S. women landed in the top 10 and four of five made the heats.
Simi Hamilton, 28, notched the second World Cup podium of his career on Saturday, finishing second to Italy's Federico Pellegrino by less than half a second in the freestyle sprint in Toblach, Italy. Two U.S. women finished in the top 10, with Sophie Caldwell in seventh and Sadie Bjornsen in ninth.
(Press Release) Sun Valley SuperTour Field Reports – What the teams used in their own words: Classic Sprint Super Tour December 5, 2015. Conditions: Hard track with cold temperatures in the early morning ~7 degrees Fahrenheit warming to mid 20s during the middle of the day. Mid- low humidity and tracks set very nicely despite the warm temps the proceeding days before. Waxes Used: HF Black paraffin base. Toko HF Red. Topcoat: Toko Red 2.0...
The 16th starter, Jessie Diggins landed in the leader's chair for a few minutes before Germany's Nicole Fessel and Norway's Therese Johaug finished on Saturday in the 15 k freestyle at the Davos World Cup. Diggins ended up 11th and the U.S. had two in the top 20 with Caitlin Gregg in 20th.
The Norwegians may have won the race, but the Americans stole the show in the women's 4 x 5 k relay on Sunday in Lillehammer, Norway. For the U.S. women, placing third marked their first time back on the World Cup relay podium since December 2013. (Updated)
Of the five U.S. women that started Saturday's skiathlon, four of them finished in the top 30 and one was just outside in 37th. "It’s nice that everyone is starting to feel like themselves," said Sadie Bjornsen, who led the team in 20th after skiing in the top 20 throughout the race.
Whatever Sadie Bjornsen was doing the first lap of Sunday's 10 k classic pursuit wasn't working for her, so she revamped and tackled the final three laps with a whole new attitude. "I gave myself a little smacking and realized I had to make my opportunity today," she said after placing 14th in the Ruka Triple for her best overall finish in Kuusamo, Finland.
It was a fight for every second in the women’s 5-kilometer freestyle on Saturday. Sadie Bjornsen led the U.S. women in 14th and teammate Jessie Diggins was less than two seconds back in 16th. “The difference between a good race and your best race ever here can be ten seconds,” U.S. coach Matt Whitcomb explained.
Jessie Diggins did it again, winning her second-straight race in Gällivare, Sweden, on Sunday by 10 seconds over Czech skier Petra Novakova. Caitlin Gregg also reached the podium -- in day reminiscent of the 2015 World Championships 10 k -- and Liz Stephen and Rosie Brennan placed fourth and fifth.
Caitlin Gregg, Rosie Brennan, Katharine Ogden, and Julia Kern discuss their USST nominations.
Rosie Brennan racked up six victories in eight races in the U.S. before finishing her season in Europe, and Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess also won both national sprints and subsequently qualified for World Championships, making them our Continental Skiers of the Year.