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World Cup Finals

Royal Palace Sprint Kicks off World Cup Finals

All 2012 FIS World Cup Finals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of reportedly withdrawing due to a continuing stomach ailment, there may not be much of a fight. Harvey is aiming to hold in the top-6 and is facing stiff competition from Russian Maxim Vylegzhanin. Both Newell and Randall are looking forward to a festive day. “It’s always a great atmosphere being so close to the downtown of a major city, especially...

Stockholm Chief of Competition Aiming for “Best in the World” Event

All 2012 FIS World Cup Finals coverage is brought to you through the generous support of Riddarfjärden bay, dropping down nearly to the water’s edge before climbing back up the finish. Royal guards continue their stoic watch, and boats navigate the icy waters as the top sprinters in the world do battle on 5,000 cubic meters of snow trucked five kilometers from a nearby alpine area. According to the Chief of Race Göran Nilsson, not just...

The tour format adopted over the past few years by the International Ski Federation (FIS) has been credited with injecting some excitement and suspense into cross-country skiing—the idea being that lumping different lengths and styles of races into one big event can lead to prolonged, back-and-forth battles and compelling storylines. But this season’s World Cup Final, a four-day mini-tour in Sweden? A total snoozefest. In the last stage, a handicap start that sent skiers out...

In the space of one minute at the World Cup Finals, Kikkan Randall (USA) went from contender to collateral damage. Randall had had a great start to Saturday’s 10 k pursuit in Falun, Sweden—the third event of the four-stage mini-tour that ends the cross-country World Cup season—and she was among the leaders, looking for another personal distance best after her 11th-place in Finland last weekend. Enter Therese Johaug. “She decided she wanted to be right...

The distance of the first race of the World Cup finals may have been unfamiliar, but the pair of names atop the results sheet on Friday were anything but. Though rarely raced on the World Cup, the 3.3/2.5k prologue was just right for Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk and Switzerland’s Dario Cologna, as each skied to a convincing victory in the first of three races held in Falun, Sweden. Men Cologna finished five seconds ahead of Mats...