Demonstrating once again the power of a goal and unwavering belief in it, Stephen achieved exactly what she set out to do on Tuesday in the World Championships 10 k individual freestyle by finishing fifth, a career-best. "I'm pretty ecstatic," Stephen said. "I'm so lucky to be part of something so big right now."
In a video interview on Sunday night, newly-crowned World Champions Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins talk more about their race, how they stayed calm through a missing pole and what their gold medals mean for cross-country skiing in the U.S.
The U.S. Nordic Combined team of Taylor Fletcher, Bryan Fletcher, Todd Lodwick and Billy Demong rose to bronze on Sunday for a historic World Championships medal in a team event. Relieved and excited, they also had a lot of fun.
In the mix for most of Sunday's freestyle team sprint at World Championships, Canada's Perianne Jones and Dasha Gaiazova couldn't stick close enough to the leaders and missed advancing to the finals by two places to end up 13th overall.
A few hours before their teammates made history in the women’s race, Americans Andy Newell and Erik Bjornsen got unlucky in the team sprint semifinals at World Championships. Bjornsen fell in a tangle with France and Finland on his third leg the U.S. lost contact with the leaders as they began to take off at the front. They wound up finishing seventh overall in the heat, 26.97 seconds behind the leaders, and failed to advance to the final.
With a performance that the American ski community will talk about for a long time to come, Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins became World Champions on Sunday in Val di Fiemme, Italy, with a 7.8-second win in the team sprint over Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla and Ida Ingemarsdotter. This is the first World Championship gold for the United States in cross-country skiing.
They say a picture is worth a thousand words — we took almost a thousand pictures of the women's team sprint on Sunday at the 2013 Nordic World Ski Championships. Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall made history for the United States in winning the country's first-ever world championships gold medal.
Nikita Kriukov did it again at World Championships, winning gold for Russia, this time in the 6 x 1.5 k freestyle team sprint with Alexey Petukhov on Sunday. Sweden took second and Kazakhstan was third, edging Canada's defending champs by 0.03 seconds for bronze.
Aiming for another podium, Canada's Alex Harvey stayed in the mix for most of Saturday's 30 k skiathlon before getting caught behind too many men on the last lap and climbing several places to 13th. Ivan Babikov finished 31st after a strong classic leg, Graham Nishikawa was 51st and Brittany Webster placed 57th for Canada.
For the second day of the 2013 Nordic Ski World Championships, the 15 and 30 k skiathlons were not what the Americans were hoping for on Saturday. But through less than optimal outcome the team’s collective outlook was on the upswing after racing concluded. Liz Stephen posted the only top-20 for the team, and she and several Americans found reasons to be positive about certain bright spots they think bode well for upcoming distance events in Val di Fiemme.
World Champion at long last, Dario Cologna (SUI) played the waiting game on Saturday in the 30 k skiathlon at the 2013 Nordic World Ski Championships while others attempted futile breakaways. It paid off in the end; he won the race by almost two seconds over Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR). Our photos from the race...
It was a sea of red on Saturday at the front of the women's 15 k skiathlon at World Championships. Marit Bjørgen took home her second gold medal of the week with an impressive show of strength on the final climb that left the field in her dust.
There are few ways to make a gold medal taste sweeter than it does on its own, but Marit Bjørgen and teammates Therese Johaug, Heidi Weng and Kristin Stoermer Steira somehow accomplished it for Norway in the women’s 15 k skiathlon on Saturday at the 2013 Nordic World Ski Championships. With Bjørgen leading the way, the women swept the top four spots in the finish for one of the most dominant performances ever seen from one country.
Dario Cologna remained cool and collected throughout Saturday's eight-lap 30 k skiathlon in Val di FIemme, letting others charge when they wanted to and putting his head down when it counted for his first World Championships gold.
After a not-so-hot day on the normal hill in Predazzo, the U.S. Nordic Combined Team relied on Bryan Fletcher to capture a top 15, which he did in 14th, while Demong settled for 23rd, Taylor Fletcher was 25th and Todd Lodwick placed 35th.
Russia's Nikita Kriukov won a dramatic classic sprint on Thursday to claim the first World Championship title of 2013. Every emotion showed as he and fellow podium-finishers Petter Northug (NOR) and Alex Harvey (CAN) enjoyed their successes.
Marit Bjørgen gave the many Norwegian fans in Italy just what they came to see on the first day of the 2013 Nordic World Ski Championships. In her ninth career victory at the event, she won the classic sprint by over two seconds on an exciting, challenging course. Images from the day...
With at least six World Championships under their belts, the U.S. Nordic Combined veterans know what to expect in Val di Fiemme, and jumping coach Chris GIlbertson said it's going to take big performances to reach three medals in four events.
After narrowly qualifying in 26th, Alex Harvey went on to have the race of his life in Thursday's World Championships classic sprint, placing third to make history for Canada, which he hopes will lift the rest of the team after sub-par finishes.
The classic sprint at the 2013 World Championships was preceded by promise and excitement for the Americans, but when only three out of seven starters advanced to the heats on Thursday and none moved past the quarterfinals the team was left feeling frustrated by slippery skis. Kikkan Randall and Sophie Caldwell each finished fourth in their quarterfinals to place 19th and 20th, respectively, and Andy Newell was 21st after placing fifth in his heat.