Simi Hamilton made it to the semifinals in Saturday's World Cup classic sprint in Östersund, Sweden, to end up 11th overall, and Andy Newell took 12th for his best result of the season. Sadie Bjornsen and Sophie Caldwell made it to the quarterfinals as well and ended up 22nd and 20th overall, respectively.
This Monday the USST announced 16 cross country athletes will represent the U.S. at the 2015 FIS Nordic World Championships in Falun, Sweden. Headlined by defending World Champions Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins, a mix of veterans and newcomers will take on the world's best.
USST athlete Jessie Diggins earned her second fifth-place of the weekend in the 7.5 k + 7.5 k skiathlon in Rybinsk, Russia. Diggins led the USST women to place four skiers in the top-20 with Liz Stephen in seventh, Sadie Bjornsen in 13th, and Rosie Brennan in 20th.
Russian Yulia Tchekaleva won the women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon Sunday by 15.6 seconds, earning her first-ever World Cup victory and delivering her best result of the season on home turf in Rybinsk, Russia.
It was a day of firsts for Jennie Öberg of Sweden who had her first World Cup sprint final, podium, and win in Rybinsk, Russia. Jessie Diggins skied to her best result of the season, taking fifth. The USST women placed and addition three skiers in the top 13.
In her second-ever team sprint (and first one since 2009), Rosie Brennan teamed up with Ida Sargent to advance to the final, where they placed sixth of 10 teams. The U.S. women's first team, Sadie Bjornsen and Sophie Caldwell placed 11th, as did the U.S. men's second team (Erik Bjornsen/Matt Gelso), and Andy Newell and Simi Hamilton ended up 19th after a late semifinal crash.
Sweden's Stina Nilsson surged past Norway's Ingvild Flugstad Østberg to win the World Cup women's 6 x 1.2 k freestyle team sprint in Otepää with the same crew that won the Olympic bronze medal at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
Three Americans made the quarterfinals on Saturday in the second World Cup classic sprint of the season: Sadie Bjornsen, Simi Hamilton and Andy Newell. None of them advanced to the semifinals, and while it wasn't a bad day, most were left wanting more.
American Sadie Bjornsen is done with this year's Tour de Ski ranked in seventh position after earning an eighth-place finish in the 5 k interval start in Toblach, Italy, on Wednesday. Jessie Diggins took 19th, and will finish the final three stages of the Tour.
Sophie Caldwell won a photo finish in her quarterfinal heat on the way to seventh place in Tuesday's Tour de Ski 1.4 k freestyle sprint in Val Müstair, Switzerland. Meanwhile, Kikkan Randall continues to improve on the Tour stage after taking tenth overall.
With their eyes on the prize of a holiday break (for biathletes and non-Tour de Ski participants, two weekends off of the World Cup), a number of North American skiers notched competitive results, and for some -- even career bests -- in the last week.
The second weekend of racing in Davos, Switzerland, wrapped up the first period of the World Cup, and there's still a lot left to be said. Check out our Notes and Quotes to see what didn't make it into our race reports this weekend.
The USST was ready to make some big moves Sunday when five of its athletes had strong qualification in the 1.4 k freestyle sprint in Davos, Switzerland. However, with four of five athletes crashing, the American squad was left wanting more. Kikkan Randall led the day in 9th, making her first semifinal appearance of the year. “It was a weird start to the season so I'm glad to be feeling like I am coming back,” she said of the day.
Check out the quotes that didn't make it into our race reports this weekend, from FasterSkier's on-site coverage from the Davos World Cup 1.3 k sprint.
Three women in the quarterfinals and one just barely outside? U.S. Ski Team coach Matt Whitcomb was thrilled with Ida Sargent's and Sophie Caldwell's quarterfinal appearances and pleased to see Kikkan Randall a bit more like herself, he also stayed realistic: "I wouldn’t use any other word that celebrates it more than [good]."
A tough mini-tour in Lillehammer came to a close today with siblings Erik and Sadie Bjornsen leading the U.S. Ski Team.
The USST came up short in Friday's freestyle sprint in the first stage of the Lillehammer World Cup mini tour, with only one skier qualifying for the heats. Despite lack of results from the team as a whole, Sadie Bjornsen demonstrated that her training is paying off after placing 16th in qualification and 21st overall.
As excitement grows for the first World Cup races in Kuusamo, Finland, the U.S. Ski Team stands as one of the most talented and experienced teams America has ever fielded. While only time will tell if the team can live up to their own high expectations, our World Cup preview aims to give you an update and some insight into this U.S. team.
USSA CEO Tiger Shaw admits he blew a chance to connect with the nordic community when he unintentionally failed to mention cross country in his Fall Quarterly Update. He regrets it - but having already befriended the national team, he wants to reach out to the rest of the nordic world too.
read his blog here. Join the Drive for 25 here. *** Spread the Word!!! Facebook Twitter NNF Website