January 23, 2015 (Rybinsk,Russia) – The USA’s Liz Stephen skied into the record books with a historic second-place finish on Friday in the women’s 10km FR race in Rybinsk, Russia – her first full World Cup podium and the best-ever distance result by an American woman.

“It feels amazing. It has been such a special day here, surrounded by my team. It’s been a long journey, with ups and downs, as any athlete in any career has,” Stephen told Trax. “But what has made me stick with it and want to come back year after year is all of the people who make up this team and the greater team.

Final podium (l-r) Stephen 2nd, Jacobsen 1st, Boehler 3rd © Nordic Focus

“I didn’t realize right away but this is not only my first World Cup podium but also the best ever distance result for a US female. I really can’t believe it. It’s great to be here. I like racing in Rybinsk. It is a hard course with long climbs, which suits me very well,” she added. The previous best American result was Kikkan Randall’s 3rd in Gallivare in 2012.

Stephen took advantage of perfect conditions for her light frame, colder temperatures and newly fallen snow, to ski to an emotional first World Cup podium finish and a landmark result for the U.S. She shared the podium with Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen who recorded her first victory of the season with Germany’s Steffi Boehler in third at 36.4 behind.

Fellow American Jessie Diggins had a strong day finishing 12th while Rosie Brennan had a breakthrough result as well in 13th scoring her first World Cup points. Her effort marks the fifth U.S. woman to score World Cup points and moves the U.S. women’s distance quota up to five spots.

The breakthrough nearly didn’t happen for Stephen, who considered retiring last year following the Olympics in Sochi, but was brought back into the year by a wildly supportive team and the possibility of better results.

Liz Stephen © Nancie Battaglia

“I’m incredibly grateful for my team,” an emotional Stephen commented. “I told the team that after the Olympics last year, I took a long hard look at (continuing in) skiing and decided that the team was too special to leave. There was still more here for me that I wanted to be a part of. I’m so grateful to them.”

With perennial winners Therese Johaug and Marit Bjoergen, both of Norway, away for the Scandinavian championships, the top steps of the podium were more widely contested than typical.

“You take Marit and Therese off and I can see myself on that top step of the podium. I think that the changes I’ve made this year are largely due to sports psychology,” said Stephen. “I’ve taken that practice much more serious and there was an area that I hadn’t really explored. Before you can actually stand on the podium, you have to believe that you can be there. And that’s been something that I struggled through until today.”

“I am still rocking some high energy and great vibes trying to settle down now for the night, and got a chance to talk to a lot of the people who matter most in my life and who helped me get here.

“From my parents who instilled a love of the outdoors and encouraged me to pursue what I loved, to my coach, Matt, who taught me how to ski 14 years ago, to the school (Burke Mountain Academy) who instilled a deep passion for life and sport as a combined thing.  And finally, to my team now, who has become more my family than just my teammates, and who have taught me how to truly and deeply believe in myself.  Without all of these people, and many more, all of these steps along the way, this would have never happened.  So thank you to all who believed and who continue to show me and encourage me to chase my dreams.

Team USA (l-r) Randall, Sargent, Diggins, Caldwell, Stephen, Bjornsen © NordicFocus

“It was wonderful to see Rosie and Jessie have such good races, and especially Rosie, as she has had such a good winter in the states, and it is a hard to make this jump to Europe and she has made it look easy!

“The course and conditions were great, skis ran well and I was focused on skiing each part of the course the very best I could.  I focused on technique cues, and how to work each corner, top of the hill, down the hill, along the flats, and kept the here and now goals in mind, with the standing on top of the podium goal popping it’s head out every so often and it made for a deep level of focus out there.  I skied the best I could today, on this day, with this body and I am really happy with the effort I was able to put forth today.

“For young skiers, oh man, love the moments, take them in, smile on the start line, and believe it is possible.  Whether you know what you want right now or not, know that when you come up with your goals, they are possible to be met.  It will be a fight, but it’s one you can win.

“Thank you to the excellent staff we have and my team.  There is no better group of people I could possibly want to stand on this podium with,” she concluded.

Jessica Diggins (USA) © Nordic Focus

Jessie Diggins USA

“Wow, I am so SO proud and happy and excited for Liz! I mean, it wasn’t a surprise because I knew this was coming for a while, but it’s just so amazing and fun to see her up there on that podium. Liz is such an amazing teammate, team leader and friend and works incredibly hard, so it’s very rewarding to see it come together for such a wonderful person!

Liz has actually been encouraging and inspiring me to work harder with Sports Psychology and start believing harder that I have what it takes. This season has been tough on my self confidence so far as I haven’t had a race where I’ve had really good feelings in my body yet, and I’ve been working on having more confidence when I step onto the snow. Especially after getting quite sick and having to drop out of the Tour de Ski, there were a lot of thoughts running through my mind  – wondering if I would be in good enough shape to race after being sick and not being able to train as planned, etc. But I was able to put those thoughts away and race with focus and the right drive today, which is a huge step in the right direction!

I thought my skis were good and I was able to execute my game plan which was to just go from the gun and try and hold the pace while recovering on the downhills. I definitely am not in my greatest race shape right now as I think everything came together quite smoothly in this race and my results weren’t close to what they were a few years ago on this course. But I need to be patient as I come out of being sick and let these three races this weekend help me get back in my best race shape!

Rosie Brennan (USA) © Nordic Focus

Rosie Brennan USA

Are you feeling more confident following your Team Sprint result ?
I think that helped a little, but I did have some nerves as this was an individual start distance race, making it much different than last weekend.

Talk about your race today… the course and conditions etc.
It was quite cold with some wind and falling snow so it seemed key to keep pushing and keep some rhythm going. I went out pretty hard, maybe a little too hard, but I believe it is important to put yourself out there to see what is possible. I think I held myself together just enough to pull out a solid result. The course goes up and down the same hill about 4 times, making it very consistently up and down. I liked the grade and length of the climbs, but it did seem that the fatigue sneaked up a bit with every climb being very similar.

What’s the biggest challenge skiing at the World Cup level vs at home ?
There are a lot of challenges, everything is different here. I struggle the most having to join a new team, not having my all of my teammates and coach around. I think the biggest challenge most face is not having result-oriented goals and taking everyday as a learning experience. It has taken me a long time to learn how to do that.

Do you have a pre-race routine ?
I don’t do anything peculiar. I like to eat three hours before and be sure to get at least an hour warm up in with some hard skiing.

Is this your first time in Russia ?
Yes, this is my first time in Russia!

What’s your favourite Russian food…?
The pancakes…

Liz Stephen (USA) © Peter Graves

Matt Whitcomb – US Women’s Coach
“Today is a huge day for Liz and the team. On a team as closely knit as ours, everyone feels a small piece of each success, so we’re starting this weekend on a strong note. Watching Liz test skis and warm up for today’s race, it was evident that she was ready to contend for the win.

We decided to have Liz come to Rybinsk with exactly this result in mind.  This weekend was to be an opportunity for her first podium, and a way of squaring up to World Championships to make a hard charge at it. The confidence generated from today’s race will be drawn upon in Falun next month.

An athlete’s first podium is a once in a lifetime experience, and it’s easy for us all to be happy for Liz – an athlete that pours her success right back into the team.

Today’s podium must not shadow a breakthrough result for Rosie Brennan. This was her first trip into the points, and she did it commandingly. While watching Rosie push through this demanding course, it was clear she was having an amazing day. People back home that just competed against Rosie in Houghton can make a connection. This is doable.

Special thanks to our ski technicians today. We had very fast boards.

Five athletes – Simi [Hamilton], Andy [Newell], Sadie [Bjornsen], Sophie [Caldwell] and Ida [Sargent] – sat out of today’s race to prepare for tomorrow’s freestyle sprint.”

Full results here.