LAHTI, Finland — Electric. With every jumbotron shot of Finland’s Krista Parmakoski or a glimpse of her powerful compact-frame as she lapped through the stadium, the hometown Finns were electric. White and blue flags waved. Like anywhere in the world when a brilliant athletic performance unfolds in the home country, the roars for Parmakoski were deafening. From the start, she emitted a big dose of hope for fans in Lahti during Saturday’s 15-kilometer skiathlon at the...
On an unsettled night for weather where it snowed off and on during the freestyle sprint heats in Lahti, two things were settled: The U.S. Ski Team hauled in two pieces of hardware, Jessie Diggins scored silver, Kikkan Randall took bronze.
LAHTI, Finland — Yesterday’s lick of blue sky winter sun was fleeting, as Lahti woke to overcast skies and buzz that new snow was imminent. Race time temps hovered around 24 degrees Fahrenheit, but with 78-percent humidity and a brisk wind — some would say ripping — blowing out of the west, it felt wind-brief cold. Wednesday’s kickoff events were an opportunity for volunteers, camera crews and even hundreds of local Finnish school children who...
For fans of North American skiing, some of the last races of U23 and Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, proved beyond captivating, surpassing most expectations and previous results. But for the U.S. junior women’s relay, a group of four that had set a goal two years ago at a U.S. development training camp, the podium was exactly where they had envisioned themselves. Relay bronze Hailey Swirbul, Julia Kern, Hannah Halvorsen, and...
FIS Nordic Combined Junior World Championships (Park City and Midway, Utah): Normal hill/5 k [UPDATED] In the individual normal hill/5-kilometer Gundersen on Saturday, the last nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic Junior World Championships, American Ben Loomis captured his first top 10 in his third Junior Worlds in ninth place. Eighteen-year-old Loomis jumped to 10th then picked off one place in the 5 k to finish ninth, 1:22.3 minutes behind the winner, Germany’s Vinzenz Geiger. Geiger...
Almost exactly two years. That’s how long 19-year-old Katharine Ogden recalled her longing for a medal at Junior World Championships, but she can trace her inspiration back to much earlier as a kid growing up in southern Vermont. Her father, a ski coach, third in the World Cup classic sprint in PyeongChang, South Korea. That got Ogden excited for the day, and she went on to navigate her usual pre-race nerves, which were somewhat amplified...
(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Paddy Caldwell.) Three years ago, American Patrick “Paddy” Caldwell made his debut at Junior World Championships, racing to classic sprint. Then, on Thursday in the men’s 15 k freestyle, he cracked the top 10 for the first time in his U23/Junior Worlds career. “I was really excited going into today’s race,” Caldwell wrote in an email on Friday morning. “15km FS is one of my...
*Note: this article has been updated to include comments from U.S. women’s head coach Matt Whitcomb as of Monday, Jan. 30. After sealing her 105th individual World Cup victory on Sunday, and her yesterday’s sprint winner — and Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski. Also within firing range was American Jessie Diggins, skiing in seventh, along with Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen and Maiken Caspersen Falla, and Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla. However, within another four kilometers, the Norwegians had broken away, a close...
There are a lot of things Marit Bjørgen is not. She is not the only woman on Norway’s national team who knows how to win. She is not in the early stages of her cross-country career — her first World Cup debut came in December 1999. In comparison to many of her Norwegian teammates, she is not young. The average age of Norway’s women competing in Saturday’s 10-kilometer freestyle individual start in Ulricehamn, Sweden, (Bjørgen not included)...
You already learned who's going to Lahti next month. FasterSkier talks with USST head coach Chris Grover about the reasoning behind who was and was not selected for next month's world championships team.
The feeling was beyond déjà vu. Simi Hamilton remembered the exact moment so clearly: almost exactly Tour de Ski’s first stage in Val Müstair, Switzerland. After leaving the Tour after Stage 2, Hamilton competed in two OPA Cup races last weekend in Planica, Slovenia. There, he won the skate sprint and finished fifth in the 10 k skate. “That definitely increased my confidence and I felt much better about where I was fitness-wise and speed-wise...
FIS Cross-Country World Cup (Toblach, Italy): Freestyle sprints Men | Race report Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen posts a 22-second win for her first victory of the season and first time shooting without a miss in an individual race since the Ruhpolding sprint almost exactly a year ago. Dunklee leads North Americans in 33rd and qualifies for the pursuit, along with Canada’s Rosanna Crawford (55th), Megan Tandy (56th) and Julia Ransom (60th). Ski Classics press release. “It...
MIDWAY, Utah. — As she headed up Soldier Hollow’s infamous Hermod’s Hill for her fifth and final time, there wasn’t another skier in sight. At least none of the ones she started with. Chelsea Holmes, of Alaska Pacific University (APU), was fine with that. She never liked sprints to the finish, and on Tuesday, Holmes would have it her way. Of course, there was still the possibility that she would slip and skid to a...
MIDWAY, Utah — There was a dampness in the room, and an odor that clung to the walls like plastic. Yet athletes continued to enter, with one after another pulling open the doors to the Soldier Hollow venue (SoHo) volunteer building. Once inside, many made a beeline for the race committee’s makeshift front desk. Race bibs and start lists, however, were not what they sought. Close to an hour had passed since the final female...
That’s a wrap, folks! With the 11th Tour de Ski coming to an end on Sunday with the infamous Alpe Cermis final climb in Val di Fiemme, we wanted to share some of the athlete and coach comments that didn’t make it into the race reports. Below are quotes from the last three stages of the Tour, all in Italy. *** Stage 5 (Toblach, Italy): 5/10 k freestyle Men’s report On pre-race feelings: “I think nerves were...
MIDWAY, Utah — With four grueling uphills per lap, the new U.S. Cross Country Championships women’s 10-kilometer nine years. Maybe flats are easier to find on Gregg’s Twin City turf than the hills that abound in SoHo. But the 36 year old still considers herself a climber. Gregg proved a point after she won by 2.2 seconds in the women’s 10 k freestyle on Saturday, the first day of nationals: put a hill, any hill, in front of her and...
FIS Cross-Country Tour de Ski Stage 5 (Toblach): 5/10 k freestyle Men’s report Two U.S. women on the podium. Remember when that happened with Kikkan Randall and Sophie Caldwell back in 2015 World Championships, with Jessie Diggins and Caitlin Gregg in the 10 k freestyle? Well, it just happened again, this time with Diggins placing first and Sadie Bjornsen third in the women’s 5-kilometer freestyle individual start on Friday at Stage 5 of the Tour de Ski...
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.
Diggins placed fourth in that race. The FIS Competition Analysis is a tool coaches and skiers can use to see exactly where they skied effectively, and where they may have lost time. In Davos, pretty much Diggins skied fast. FIS Competition Analysis from the Tour de Ski’s stage 4 women’s 10 k freestyle pursuit in Oberstdorf, Germany; Diggins placed fifth and her U.S. teammates had an impressive day as well. Other references:
