On a bright, hot Saturday, Simi Hamilton (SMS T2/USST) and Katharine Ogden (Dartmouth/SMS T2) won the NENSA App Gap Challenge in Fayston, VT. Hamilton finished the race in 26:10 minutes, 26 seconds shy of Kyle Bratrud’s record-setting win last year. Ben Lustgarten of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) raced to second, 12 seconds back at 26:22. CGRP teammate Adam Martin followed in third place at 26:37. Ogden won in 32:15, with Sophie Caldwell (SMS...
Fostering cultural change within complex organizations is painstaking. U.S. Ski & Snowboard is no different. Most often the most effective type of change comes less from edict and more from many a collection of stakeholder’s voice For the past decade, the U.S. cross-country team has had unparalleled success. Whether the metric is developing athletes to winning medals, most observers see a winning culture. That has not kept the minds at U.S. Ski & Snowboard from...
Junior Skier of the Year With the 2018/2019 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is running a series of articles highlighting some of the players and performances from the season. This year, the junior skier of the year is Gus Schumacher. Perhaps it is a testament to the steady growth of U.S. developmental programming or perhaps it is a trickle down effect as Americans see more success on the World Cup level; one thing...
Super Tour Finals continued in the north woods of Presque Isle, ME with the first of the men’s and women’s distance events. Icy conditions caused a delay in racing and left fast classic tracks at the Nordic Heritage Center. The races can be streamed live or replayed on the U.S. Ski Team Facebook page. Men’s 15-kilometer Mass Start Classic In the men’s 15-kilometer race, a pack of six men led by Simi Hamilton (USST/SMS T2)...
Alex Harvey finished his career racing for Canada with a bang today in Québec City, Canada. Harvey placed second to Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in today’s 15-kilometer freestyle pursuit. It was Harvey’s second podium in as many races as he can now claim a perfect ending to his career. Another solid ending went to Klæbo, who with his win today earned the overall World Cup title. Although the point differential lent an air of intrigue to the...
How to play the Johannes Høsflot Klæbo sprint game? It has got to go through every sprinter’s mind. As the day’s fastest qualifier, Klæbo set the tone in 3:07.61. Prior to Friday’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint in Québec, the young Norwegian had started nine World Cup sprints this season. He had won seven of them and placed second in another. And he had already locked up another sprint cup crystal globe becoming the first to win the...
The World Cup made its final European stop in Falun, Sweden before the field heads across the pond to Quebec City for the final series. For the men, the weekend opened with a 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint, a last test before the freestyle sprint in Canada. Heading into the weekend, Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo sat comfortably in the lead for the overall sprint standings with string of six back-to-back wins, not including a win at the...
FIS World Cup Falun, Sweden 1.4 k Freestyle Sprint On a day when sugary snow course picked off skiers trying to advance during Falun, Sweden’s 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint, Stina Nilsson, yes of Sweden, took the win. She won the final in 3:07.72 over Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla in second (+0.67). The day’s top qualifier, Maja Dahlqvist, placed third (+2.14). The Americans entered in the race were some of the key players who tumbled on course. Jessie...
For the rare athlete the field of play is truly a stage. A place to perform in the moment and seemingly acknowledge the moment as it happens. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo appears to have many of these days. And as he crossed the line in today’s 1.2-kilometer classic sprint in Drammen, Norway, Klæbo may as well have taken a bow. It was again a virtuoso sprint performance. In 2:37.90 minutes, Klæbo earned another win in Drammen...
The 2019 Seefeld World Championships event came to a close on Sunday, the 11 days of competition capping off with a men’s 50-kilometer freestyle mass start. Unlike two years ago at the Lahti World Champs, whenResults -David Brown and Jason Albert contributed Double click on the photos below to enlarge.
FIS Nordic Ski World Championships Men’s 50 K Freestyle Mass Start It has come to a close. The 2019 Nordic Ski World Championships ended today with the men’s 50-kilometer freestyle mass start. Hans Christer Holund of Norway began to make his mark on the race shortly after 20 k with a solo attack. In his bold ski-alone effort, Holund was able to fend off any chasers and win in 1:49:59.3 hours. Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov timed...
Redemption. As the old saying goes, it is sweet, particularly in sport, even if the occasion only arises every two or four years. Or perhaps the wait makes it savory. Two winters ago, Norwegian Team Sprint finalists Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Emil Iversen had been on their way to a potential gold or silver World Championships medal in Lahti, Finland when Iversen crashed taking out Finland’s Iivo Niskanen and putting Norway out of medal contention. ...
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships Seefeld, Austria Women’s/Men’s Classic Team Sprint The furious pace of the World Championship racing schedule continued on Sunday in Seefeld, Austria with the women’s and men’s classic team sprint. Sweden’s Stina Nilsson and Maja Dahlqvist won the women’s 6 x 1.2-kilometer classic team sprint final in 15:14.93 minutes. Katja Visnar and Anamarija Lampic of Slovenia placed second (+0.37), with Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg and Maiken Caspersen Falla taking the final...
It was a dramatic day at World Championships in Seefeld, Austria on Thursday. Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo can now call himself a World Champion after a tactical and hard-fought victory in the 2019 World Championship 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint. Federico Pellegrino of Italy won silver finishing 0.23 seconds behind Klæbo. Russian skier Gleb Retivykh placed third, 1.37 seconds back. Klæbo qualified fifth, then proceeded to win his quarterfinal and advance to the finals after placing second...
2019 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Seefeld, Austria 1.2 k/ 1.6 k freestyle sprint Welcome to The Rundown, your quick primer of need-to-know information about the day’s racing. We’ll be updating this digest as the day goes on with additional results, photos and quotes. The Rundown is NOT a race report; stay tuned for complete race reports later today with interviews from the day’s top racers. The women’s 1.2-kilometer freestyle sprint at the 2019...
The sun illuminated the alps in Cogne, Italy, the final World Cup stop before the FIS World Championships in Seefeld, Austria. Nestled in the mountains, the Aosta Valley is home to both Federico Pellegrino and Francesco De Fabiani, who seized the opportunity to delight the home crowd. The 1.6-kilometer freestyle race was also a chance for Pellegrino to earn his 12th individual freestyle sprint victory, tying for the second-most overall for any World Cup athlete...
FIS Cross Country World Cup 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint Cogne, Italy Amidst sunshine and sporting rolled up sleeves on Saturday in Cogne Italy, American Jessie Diggins took the women’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint win in nail-biter fashion. After making it into the semifinals and the final as one of the day’s lucky losers, Diggins outlunged Germany’s Sandra Ringwald by 0.11 seconds, claiming the victory in a time of 3:32.73. The 27 year old Afton, Minnesota native now has...
Norway placed first and second in today’s World Cup 6 x 1.6-kilometer classic team sprint in Lahti, Finland. Skiing for Norway I were overall winners Emil Iversen and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. They won the ten team final in a time of 18:57.19 minutes. In a photo finish for second place, Sindre Bjørnestad Skar and Eirik Brandsdal of Norway II finished 0.65 seconds back to take the second podium step. Iivo Niskanen and Ristomatti Hakola of...
FIS World Cup Lahti, Finland 1.4 k/ 1.6 k Freestyle Sprint In the women’s skate sprint qualifier in Lahti, Finland Slovenia’s Eva Urevc laid down the fastest time in 2:40.67 minutes. Swiss skier Nadine Faehndrich was the second fastest qualifier, 4.21 seconds back, with the U.S. Ski Team’s (USST) Sophie Caldwell third (+4.36). Canada’s Dahria Beatty qualified 25th (+10.21). Also making the heats for the U.S. were Ida Sargent (USST) in 26th (+10.36), and Kelsey Phinney...
If Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo felt any nostalgia stepping out onto the men’s 1.6-kilometer classic sprint course in Otepää, Estonia–it is where he earned his first World Cup sprint victory back in 2017–it by no means slowed the 22 year old down. After winning Saturday’s qualifier in a time of 3:21.99, Klæbo went on to win both his quarter and semi. He eventually crossed the final first in a time of 3:20.05 to complete his...