where she pulled away from Marit Bjoergen and Justyna Kowalczyk to become World Champion in the 30 k skate. Most importantly, Johaug’s prowess broke up the Bjoergen-Kowalczyk club, and introduced a new power into womens skiing. With Bjoergen knocking the stuffing out of every single woman on the circuit this year, and Johaug stepping up to a new level, the Norwegians have an unbeatable 1-2 punch in women’s skiing. Add in the aging but putting...
A commenter noted that it was interesting that Petra Majdic showed up as being “statistically significantly” better at longer distance races (as opposed to sprint races), although just barely. It turns out this is a good example of the statistical concept of leverage. Check out the following graph that compares skiers at each end of [...] Related posts:
I received an email recently asking about field strength for the men’s and women’s WC fields, particularly as it applies to mass start races. Lately we’ve seen the men’s field engage in a fair bit of pack skiing, whereas the women’s field strings out more quickly. First, I want to dispatch with a common bit [...] Related posts:
Jean Marc Gaillard (FRA) won the 38-kilometer Skarverennet from Finse to Ustaoset in Norway after a fierce sprint to the finish Saturday.
Fredrik Mandt immediately regretted having promised to eat his ski boots if Therese Johaug (NOR) would beat him in the hill climb on Saturday. Now he regrets it even more.
For Therese Johaug (NOR) the season is far from over, and this weekend she’ll be competing for a grand prize, in an uphill alpine hill race.
Skarverennet in Norway, the unofficial international season finale, draws deep and competitive field of racers from both the biathlon and cross-country World Cup circuit. This year, it’s a pursuit: the men will chase the women for the overall title.
Petter Northug Jr. won the 50K skate mass start at the Norwegian National Championships in Tromsø Saturday, despite having to make a pit stop in the woods.
Marit Bjoergen (NOR) capped a stellar 2011 World Cup campaign, extending her lead on Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) for a clear victory in the World Cup Final mini-tour. Kowalczyk held her second position, as did Therese Johaug in third – though of the trio, she had to work the hardest. Bjoergen entered the 10km handicap start event with a 1:14 lead over Kowalczyk, making the outcome a foregone conclusion. Bjoergen’s worst result of the season in...
In the space of one minute at the World Cup Finals, Kikkan Randall (USA) went from contender to collateral damage. Randall had had a great start to Saturday’s 10 k pursuit in Falun, Sweden—the third event of the four-stage mini-tour that ends the cross-country World Cup season—and she was among the leaders, looking for another personal distance best after her 11th-place in Finland last weekend. Enter Therese Johaug. “She decided she wanted to be right...
Marit Bjoergen’s slump is over. Starting with her silver medal in the World Championship 30k, Bjoergen went a whole two distance races without a victory, proving that she is in fact mortal. She was back on top today however, dominating the 10km pursuit at the World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden. Bjoergen skied away from Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) for a clear victory, opening an insurmountable gap in the overall. Therese Johaug (NOR) battled back from...
When Therese Johaug crossed the finish line as a World Champion in the 30K skate, Mom and Dad were among the first ones there to greet her in the paddock.
Carrying the hopes of a nation on your shoulders is hard enough. But when your shoulders are as small as Therese Johaug’s, it’s a feat nothing short of monumental. In the penultimate race of the 2011 World Ski Championships, the 5’2” Johaug did something that so many larger women had tried and failed to do all season: she beat her teammate Marit Bjoergen. Buoyed by the cheers of an estimated 100,000 spectators packed dozens deep...
The fog in Oslo was so thick that the fans at Holmenkollen could barely see any of the women’s 15 k pursuit. The video board across from the stands was completely obscured, and even when athletes skied through the stadium, the only forms that could be made out were outlines—the spindly one of Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), say, or the stocky one of Finland’s Aino-Kaisa Saarinen. But with the homestretch lying directly alongside the bleachers, the...
Marit Bjoergen (NOR) has already achieved her goal of winning an individual gold at the 2011 World Championships. Now the ski world gets to see what a relaxed Bjoergen can do. The winner of five medals, including three golds, at the 2010 Olympics, Bjoergen is the clear favorite in the women’s 15 k pursuit on Saturday, as distance racing gets underway at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway. While rival Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) is the defending World...
If any of the women on the World Cup circuit are still holding out hope that they can beat Marit Bjoergen, they’re running out of time to figure how to do it. With a 33-second victory in Saturday’s 10 k classic in Otepaa, Estonia, Bjoergen remained unbeaten in every individual-start distance race she’s entered this season. The start of the 2011 World Ski Championships in Oslo is nearing, and some are speculating that Bjoergen could...
On Saturday morning, I will be just one of the nearly 15,000 people expected to fill the stadium and line the trails for this weekend’s World Cup races in the ski-crazed nation of Estonia. The country of 1.3 million—the same population as the state of Maine—has produced six Olympic medals in cross-country skiing over the last decade, courtesy of three legends: Kristina Smigun-Vaehi, Jaak Mae, and Andrus Veerpalu. Just how serious about cross-country skiing is...
It’s all over but the climbing. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), despite being pressed by Therese Johaug (NOR), all but ended the 2011 Tour de Ski, skiing to victory in the women’s 10km mass start classic, and winning every intermediate bonus sprint. Kowalczyk and Johaug shattered the field less than two kilometers in, opening a margin that would reach nearly a full minute by the end. The Pole should have no trouble defending her Tour title, now...
At the end of World Cup period I, Norway sits on top of the Nation’s Cup standings, and in a shift from the recent past, it is the women leading the way. The 4x5km relay in La Clusaz demonstrated exactly how the Norwegians built their points lead, with four women putting on a virtual clinic on their way to a 56 second victory over Italy. Three of the four Norwegians posted the fasted times on...
Rocket boosters? Tiny electric motors? Cutting the course? The World Cup women’s field is going to have to come up with something, because it’s pretty clear that plain old training and technique isn’t going to be enough to beat Norway’s Marit Bjoergen any time soon. In Saturday’s 10 k classic in Davos, Switzerland, Bjoergen won for her fourth time in five races this year, skiing to a 30-second victory over her Polish rival Justyna Kowalczyk....