April 22, 2016 (Anchorage, AK) – Cross-country skiers are not used to seeing Sports Illustrated provide coverage of their sport, but American xc ski star, Kikkan Randall, is in the current issue in the mag’s “They Said It” section, following the birth to a baby boy, Breck Stuart Randall Ellis, on April 14.

Kikkan Randall ©

“It’s kind of like training with a weight vest on,” Randall is quoted as saying about maintaining her intensive workout routine while pregnant. Randall did however take a break from competition during the 2015-2016 ski season.

Randall, 33, is an Olympic skier who was the first American woman to medal in cross-country skiing at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships when she won silver in the individual sprint in 2009 in Liberec. in 2013 she teamed up with Jessica Diggins to win the first ever American FIS Nordic World Ski Championships gold in the team sprint. She’s also the first American woman to win a World Cup overall title in 2012 (here) marking the first overall title for the USA in 30 years – since the legendary Bill Koch won the men’s overall in 1982. She successfully defended the title in 2013 and 2014.

SkiTrax believes that Randall has made Sports Illustrated about seven times since 2010. The magazine has a circulation of 3 million.

Birth announcement in SkiTrax here.

Kikkan Randall ©