Who’s racing what when U.S. Nationals begin at SoHo on Saturday morning? And what are they racing for (besides bragging rights)? FasterSkier explains why, when it comes to domestic racers hoping to make it to World Champs in Lahti, second place this month is worth more than first place last month.
A closer look at the U.S. Ski Team's new selection criteria for 2017 World Championships, designed to reward the top performers in a given season and discourage points chasing. “Athletes who skied fast in the spring of the previous season no longer have a potential advantage over those athletes skiing fast in the current season," U.S. Ski Team Head Coach Chris Grover wrote. "...The athlete that is winning races is most likely going to make the Team.”
Two years ago, the U.S. nordic combined community suffered a moment of letdown as its major source of funding, USSA, changed course with regard to its sport. Now, the newly formed USA Nordic Sport is spearheading efforts to rejuvenate interest in jumping and nordic combined. Its leader is Olympic gold medalist and former team veteran Billy Demong.
United States Ski Association (USSA) Chief Executive Officer Bill Marolt took a five percent cut in base compensation and benefits in the 2010 fiscal year, according to federal tax forms recently released by the Internal Revenue Service. In both 2010 and 2009, Marolt received a $250,000 bonus from USSA and its affiliate organizations. In the last fiscal year, however–which ended April 30, 2010–his base pay decreased from $309,947 to $269,258, while his benefits and nontaxable...
With the Sochi Winter Olympics more than three years off, the city still maintains an aura of mystery to most Americans. Not for Luke Bodensteiner, the vice president for athletics at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA), who has already visited the 2014 venues twice. Bodensteiner’s first trip to Sochi was with the International Ski Federation (FIS) two years ago, when he helped with a training seminar for some of the initial Olympic volunteers....
What do a GPS, a retired airline pilot, and a Norwegian guru named Hermod Bjorkestol have in common? All are key components of a plan to bring many of the U.S.’s biggest venues in line with International Ski Federation (FIS) standards. At its annual meetings in Turkey in early June, FIS made it clear to American officials that a longstanding exception would be revoked: starting in the winter of 2011-2012, all races held in the...
With no World Championships or Olympics scheduled for the winter of 2011-2012, some ski fans may be planning on going into hibernation for the year. But they better not buy their sleeping pills just yet. During its meetings in Turkey last week, the International Ski Federation (FIS) approved a proposal for a new kind of World Championships: one modeled on the Tour de Ski—the bicycle-style stage race that has taken hold and garnered big TV...