US Para-Nordic – FasterSkier

(Press Release) Oksana Masters and Kendall Gretsch Go 1-2 in Women’s Individual Sitting Biathlon

FasterSkierMarch 11, 2022

By Stuart Lieberman | TeamUSA.org ZHANGJIAKOU, China — Considering that March is Women’s History Month, U.S. Paralympic Nordic skiers Oksana Masters and Kendall Gretsch are certainly making their fair share of contributions to the history books. Masters and Gretsch picked up gold and silver medals, respectively, on Friday at the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022, with Masters winning the women’s individual sitting biathlon in 42:17.9 and Gretsch finishing second in 42:23.7. It was the third time...

Para Nordic Racing

(Press Release) Team USA Goes 1-2 in Middle-Distance Biathlon as Gretsch Wins Gold and Masters Earns Silver

FasterSkierMarch 8, 2022

By Stephen Meyers ZHANGJIAKOU, China — Team USA’s dynamic duo of Kendall Gretsch (Downers Grove, Ill.) and Oksana Masters (Louisville, Kentucky) won gold and silver in the women’s sitting biathlon middle-distance on the fourth day of competition at the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022. The U.S. Para Nordic team has now collected seven medals across biathlon and cross-country skiing at Beijing 2022, with four more days of racing to go at the Zhangjiakou Biathlon Center. For Gretsch,...

News Para Nordic Racing

(Press Release) Masters wins fifth gold, Gretsch takes bronze in biathlon sprint to begin 2022 Para Games

FasterSkierMarch 5, 2022

By Stephen Meyers | March 05, 2022, 7:27 a.m. (ET) Oksana Masters (Louisville, Kentucky) won the first gold medal for the U.S. at the Paralympic Winter Games Beijing 2022 on Saturday in the women’s sitting biathlon sprint while teammate Kendall Gretsch (Downers Grove, Illinois) earned bronze on a cold, breezy day that included racing in the men’s and women’s biathlon sprint in the sitting, standing and vision impaired categories. Masters, a biathlete and cross-country skier, won...

Feature Para Nordic Racing

Finding Assurance with Michael Stone

Jason AlbertJuly 15, 2021

We often hear of the pipeline in Olympic sport. The path to the highest level of elite competition. The pipeline is not consistent in diameter: Wide-mouthed at its start, tapered to needle-wide at its terminus. There are many ways to identify talent within a pipeline. In the cross-country ski world, there are incremental benchmarks to progress to the next tier. Within U.S. Ski & Snowboard, for example, skiers in the pipeline begin in the club...

Biathlon Community Interviews Para Nordic

Rising Together: The Crosscut Elite Team Fosters the Success of US Para Nordic

Rachel PerkinsJune 2, 2020

On April 9th, the Crosscut Mountain Sports Center in Bozeman, MT released information and qualification criteria for their newly founded elite team. As you skim what it takes to earn a spot at each tier of the program, it may catch your attention that the cross country, biathlon, and para nordic are housed within the same program. This single team approach reflects the growth and development at Crosscut in connection with its partnership with the...

Interviews Para Nordic

Masters and Gretsch Prepare for Two Paralympic Cycles After Postponement of Tokyo Games

Rachel PerkinsMay 5, 2020

Of the members of the U.S. Para Nordic team, more than half compete at the highest level in both summer and winter sports. Instead of quadrennial, their training is designed for biennial Paralympic cycles, oscillating between sports each year with an overall focus shift toward whichever Games is approaching fastest. And the goal is not simply to compete in both rounds of the Games, it is to bring home medals. Illinois based Oksana Masters is...

General Interviews Multimedia Nordic Nation Para Nordic Podcasts

Nordic Nation: The Dan Cnossen Interview

Jason AlbertSeptember 7, 2018

Canadian National Ski Team General Interviews News Olympics Para Nordic Racing US Ski Team World Cup

FasterSkier’s Coach of the Year: Eileen Carey; Runners-Up: Matt Whitcomb and Robin McKeever

FasterSkierApril 15, 2018

With the 2017/2018 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review. This set of honors goes to coaches of North American teams in any nordic discipline, at any level – although in an Olympic and...