Chew on this for a minute: who stands as the greatest male U.S. distance skier in the “modern” era (defined by post-Bill Koch) of World Cup skiing? Most likely at the top of that list would be 37-year-old Kris Freeman. The New Hampshire native and longtime Granite State resident retired as a professional cross-country skier after this year’s U.S. Distance Nationals 50-kilometer classic race in late March in Craftsbury, Vermont. Freeman finished seventh in that...
After delving into the computation-and-analysis side of sports, Brayton Osgood is back and looking forward to his new position as head coach of the Dartmouth men's nordic ski team. "The opportunity to coach at Dartmouth is a fantastic one and I’m eager to lead the next generation of Dartmouth cross-country skiers," the 2003 Dartmouth grad said.
A mix of impressive strength, clever tactics and luck took a Canadian man all the way to the finals of Saturday’s U-23 World Championships classic sprint. It just wasn’t the one everyone expected. Instead of the lanky 6’6” frame of Len Valjas gunning for a medal in Otepaa, Estonia, it was the perfectly average one of Jesse Cockney, who showed in a strong outing that what he lacks in height, he makes up with ski...
One year ago, it was an American, Simi Hamilton, who topped the men’s skate sprint prelim at the U-23 World Championships in Germany. In this season’s edition, Canada’s Len Valjas couldn’t quite match that feat, but he came darn close. In Saturday’s classic sprint qualifier in Estonia, he was second, within a half-second of Olympic silver medalist Alexander Panzhinskiy of Russia, the winner. The finish sets up Valjas well for a run at a medal...
A familiar and dominating form will miss this year’s U-23 World Championships. According to the website Sports.ru, 20-year-old Russian phenom does not include Sedov, and according to the report in Sports.ru, he will “most likely” miss the remainder of the season. The piece does not cite a source for its information, but nonetheless, the news spread quickly in the European ski media on Monday morning. Russian Eurosport commentator Andrey Kondrashov told FasterSkier in an e-mail...
The U.S. Ski Team is offering four coaching positions for the 2011 World Junior and U23 World Championships. All four positions are fully funded by NCCSEF. Coaches looking to apply for these positions should have experience working with athletes aged 16-22, a strong background in waxing and testing skis, and be willing to work hard for two weeks and seven races. That said, we are looking to develop coaches and welcome all applications from coaches wishing to gain...
Halfway through the 15k women’s pursuit at the U-23 World Championships, the Russians appeared to have everything under control. Skiing three abreast on their second of four trips up the big climb here, there didn’t seem to be a way for anyone to get around their sea of blue suits. But when they switched to skate skis, the Russians’ grip on the race disappeared as quickly they had taken it, snatched by a pair of...
With some big climbs and minimal recovery, the 3.75k course in Hinterzarten demands some restraint and smart pacing. That’s no accident, according to Karl-Heinz Lickert, the FIS official who laid out the loop that was used in the U-23 men’s 15k. “We don’t want athletes who are only physically strong,” he said. The winner here, Vladislav Skobelev (RUS), clearly had both the brawn and brains Lickert was looking for—though he also wasn’t hurt by the...