July 08, 2013 (Halmstad, Sweden) – Charlotte Kalla (SWE) was superior in yesterday’s roller skiing nationals in Halmstad. Kalla dominated the women’s 16km Mass Start race in the time of 31:51.1. Silver medalist and runner-up Terese Anderson (SWE) lost +55.1 sec on the top Swedish skier. Elin Mohlin (SWE) fought hard with Andersson, but was edged out to third place, +56.0 sec behind the winner.

The men’s 21km Mass Start competition was tight until the end. Six skiers finished within two seconds as Marcus Johansson (SWE) was the quickest on the home stretch and stopped the clock in 35:29.7. Joakim Engström (SWE) took silver only +0.1 sec behind and Anton Lindblad (SWE) finished in third, +0.3 sec back.

Results

Women
1. Charlotte Kalla (SWE) 31:51.1
2. Terese Anderson (SWE) +55.1
3. Elin Mohlin (SWE) +56.0

Women’s 16km Mass Start HERE.

Men
1. Marcus Johansson (SWE) 35:29.7
2. Joakim Engström (SWE) +0.1
3. Anton Lindblad (SWE) +0.3

Men’s 21km Mass Start HERE.

March 22, 2013 (Falun, Sweden) – USA’s Kikkan Randall is storming strong, even as the end of the World Cup season quickly approaches. Only days ago, she successfully defended her World Cup Sprint crystal globe, but the Alaskan star is not resting on her laurels.

Today in the 2.5km free technique event, Randall snapped up a bronze medal only 6.6s behind Norwegian powerhouse Marit Bjoergen and 2.2s behind second place, Charlotte Kalla (SWE).

“The times were really tight out there and I’m happy to be on the podium. I think we had great skis today and I’m really psyched for our performance as a team. Two more races to go now, hope we can keep this momentum rolling! The course was short but challenging. The downhill turn that everyone was concerned about was definitely a little wild but safe enough,” said Randall in a team release.

“It’s been an interesting last 24 hours here in Falun, but with a seemingly happy ending. Yesterday after previewing the course there were concerns from several athletes that the new technical downhill section was going to be unsafe. We called an athletes meeting and went back and forth with the jury to try and find a compromise on a safer course. For me, as the athlete rep, it was a lot of running around yesterday. But in the end I’m glad we found a good solution and everyone agreed to start today.”

USA’s Holly Brooks had a great race, finishing seventh, while teammate Jessie Diggins also made the top-10 with a strong eighth-place finish. Other North American results include Liz Stephen (USA) in 20th, Ida Sargent (USA) in 38th, Emily Nishikawa (CAN) in 41st, Rosie Brennan (USA) in 46th, and Dasha Gaiazova (CAN) in 47th.

“It felt good to race a skate prologue – I really like this distance. It was also nice to get a good race feeling back! I had been feeling really tired and pretty done after World Champs, but today my body was ready for one last race series as we finish World Cup Finals,” commented Diggins. “The coaches did a fantastic job on the skis and it’s really exciting to have three girls in the top eight! It really boosts confidence and it’s always nice to end the season on a high note.”

After significant athlete protests, the infamous Mördarbacken (Murder Hill) hill was cut from this weekend’s race courses. Read more about it in our coverage here.

Women’s 2.5km Free results HERE.

January 03, 2013 (Toblach/Cortina, Italy) – The women attacked the 15k freestyle pursuit, stage 4 of the 2012/13 FIS Tour de Ski, after a well-deserved rest day. Ideal conditions met the skiers as three-time TdS champion Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) aimed to defend her lead and her closest chasers fought to gain back precious time.

Kowalczyk started 50.3s ahead of Therese Johaug (NOR), but the top Norwegian in the competition was unable to maintain her position as she was caught by 2008 TdS winner Charlotte Kalla (SWE) and Johaug’s teammate Kristin Stoermer Stiera.

The USA’s Kikkan Randall who started fifth couldn’t keep pace and fell back to finish eighth on the day, also causing her to slide from fifth to eighth in the overall standings. Her teammate Liz Stephen was a strong 19th while Jessie Diggins was also in the points placing 27th with Holly Brooks just behind in 34th.

The big move today came from Sweden’s Kalla who claimed second at 18.3s behind Kowalczyk who held onto her lead while Johaug took the third spot at 18.7s. Kalla now sits second overall behind Kowalczyk who is winding up to claim her 4th Tour title… but it’s not over yet.

Results HERE.
Overall standings after Stage 4 HERE.

April 16, 2012 (Røldal, Norway) – Kristin Stoermer Steira and Chris Andre Jespersen were the quickest in Saturday’s Haukelirennet over the 32km freestyle race. Steira won the competition in 1:21.05 and edged out the big Crystal Globe winner Marit Bjoergen and Therese Johaug.

On the men’s sides Chris Andre Jespersen was superior over Sjur Røthe and Martin Johansson.

On Sunday, April 15, an unconventional competition took place in Røldal, Norway. More than 3,000 fans turned out in the mountain resort of Røldal to see an event that combined giant slalom and then 4km free uphill climb.

Some of World’s best cross-country skiers showed up at the start, including Charlotte Kalla, Johaug, Bjoergen, Anders Gloeersen, Oeystein Pettersen, Jean-Marc Gaillard, and Petter Northug Jr.

Organizers reckoned with the advantage cross-country specialists might get, therefore 1-second behind in the giant slalom meant 20 seconds back in the cross-country skiing portion.

Former top alpine skiers Andrinne Flemmen and Lasse Arnesen won the first part of the competition. Right after the alpine leg it was time to change the skiing equipment and climb 4km up with a vertical gain of 240m.

Andrinne Flemmen kept the lead after the alpine section and came in first at the finish. Norwegian youngster Tuva Toftdal came second at 16 seconds back. As expected, Johaug was the fastest climber with 15:39.6.

On the men’s side, Nordic skiing specialists prevailed over alpine skiers as Gloeersen led the way with a 33-sec margin over Nordic Combined athlete, Mikko Kokslien. Chris Andre Jespersen had the fastest climb time of 13:54.8.

Results

Haukelirennet – 32 km free, 14. April 2012

Women
1. Kristin Størmer Steira, IL Forsøk 1:21:05
2. Marit Bjørgen, Rognes IL 1:21:19
3. Therese Johaug, Nansen IL 1:22:48
4. Martine Ek Hagen, BUL IL 1:23:00
5. Charlotte Kalla, IFK Tärendö 1:25:47
6. Pia Sofie Måbø, Stathelle og Omegn IL 1:35:39

Men
1. Chris Jespersen, Byåsen IL 1:17:19
2. Sjur Røthe, Voss IL 1:17:20
3. Martin Johanson, IFKMora ski 1:18:33
4. Vebjørn Turtveit, Voss IL 1:20:16
5. Gaute Kvåle, Røldal IL 1:20:21
6. Magnus Krog, Høydalsmo 1:22:03

More information HERE.

DH Slalom / XC Free Climb – 15. April 2012

Women
1. Andrine Flemmen
2. Tuva Toftdal Staver, +16
3. Kristin Helland Hansen, + 1.09
4. Charlotte Kalla, + 2.09
5. Karina Birkelund, + 2.54
6. Mari Eide, +3.03
7. Marit Bjørgen
8. Ingvild Skare Thygesen
9. Therese Johaug
10. Martine Ek Hagen

Top 3 fastest times
1. Therese Johaug 15:39.6
2. Charlotte Kalla 16:15.4
3. Martine Ek Hagen 16:30.8

4. Marit Bjørgen 16:42.5

Men
1. Anders ,
2. Mikko Kokslien, +33
3. Harald Astrup Arnesen, + 55
4. Vebjørn Turtveit, + 1.08
5. Stian Sverdrup Lilleeng, + 1.22
6. Jørgen Graabak, + 1.37
7. Bård Thuren Høgheim,
8. Jean-Marc Gaillard
9. Gudmund Storlien
10. Øystein Pølsa Pettersen

Other skiers
12. Sjur Røthe
14. Petter Northug jr.
15. Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset
18. Eirik Brandsdal

Top 3 fastest times

1. Chris Andre Jespersen, 13.54.8
2. Anders Gløersen, 14.33.1
3. Sjur Røthe, 14.38.7

11. Petter Northug jr. 15.45.0

January 05, 2012 (Oberhof, Germany) – Holly Brooks, who racing at her first Tour de Ski, injured her wrist while on a run just before the Tour started. She’s been hanging in and doing exceptionally well considering her injury and posted this blog after Day 1 [which we missed] that provides some insight into how she prepared for the biggest event on the ski calendar this season.

I figure that a short post is better than none at all…. so here it is: The Tour de Ski started today. While I had a poor result – by far, my worst “distance race” since being in Europe, I have to be happy in that I felt as if I could ski.

Yesterday, in the training day, my wrist was incredibly painful and I have to admit; I was worried to say the least. Today I had a top-notch tape job done by Steph, our massage therapist and a double dose of pain meds. The duo seemed to do the trick!

Conditions today were icy, squirrely and fast – not my favorite. But, it’s snowing outside right now which makes me happy. Klister covered conditions are some of my favorite and I have an awesome pair of skis if the waxing goes that way. I’ll have plenty of girls to chase tomorrow in the pursuit start so it should be fun to “hunt some down” and try and improve my overall placing, not to mention, aim for a solid “day of” result.

Other than that, one of the big themes of the Tour is RECOVERY. With nine races in eleven days, proactive recovery becomes imperative.

Here is the plan: after the race, reach for my Boost – yep, the “old folks drink.” I may be the only person on the US team that likes the stuff. Me and maybe my grandma 🙂 Change clothes afterwards… get a good, short cool down, ice my hand, change into dry clothes, hustle back to the hotel for a shower, put my feet up. I’m sure we’ll start using the mobile ice bath as fatigue builds up. Also, Kikkan and Bird did a bit of personal fundraiser to bring Steph Caverhill, a massage therapist over for the team.

Most teams travel with a massage therapist everywhere. While we normally do not have one, we’re excited to have Steph here to help us out over the next week and a half. As I said above, she did an awesome job of taping my hand.

It’s cool to have a female on staff…. I can tell with the little things like the fact that she used pre-rap on my tape job so I don’t have to pull off half of my arm hair when de-taping. Thanks for that Steph!

Thanks for everyone’s encouragement! Go team USA!

November 21, 2011 (Sjusjoen, Norway) – Without a doubt, one of the most stressful weekends for a cross-country ski racer is the first meaningful race weekend of the year. All of the skiers have trained for six or more months and it is not until you race these first races that you know even a little bit about where you stand in relation to your competitors.

This is the nature of cross-country ski racing. There are no personal best times or world record times in this sport. You can do all the testing you want, and compete in roller ski racers or early season time trials, but the only way that you can really measure yourself is racing against your peers.

This is true at every level right up to the World Cup and if you read the quotes from the skiers from Saturday (link to this article) you will see that a common theme is that they didn’t know how they would do before the start and that made them nervous.

Here are some of my thoughts after the first weekend in Sjusjoen, Norway:

– I think that the Norwegian women are going to dominate all year long. They had seven of the top nine on Saturday and their relay teams finished 1st and 2nd in the relay on Sunday. Only Charlotte Kalla of Sweden and Kikkan Randall of the US were able to break into the top 9 – it looked like a Norwegian championship race.

– Marit Bjoergen has lost nothing since last year. She won by almost 30 seconds in a 24-minute race. If they had been racing a track and field event she would have almost lapped the whole field. Last year Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) won the overall World Cup because Bjoergen was concentrating on winning at the World Championships in Oslo. This year is going to be different.

– it’s clear that the USA’s Kikkan Randall is better than last year – 8th in a distance race is a fantastic result. Watch out!

– I also think that the US women’s team is really improving. With Liz Stephen placing 18th on Saturday and then having a decent relay on Sunday – and Randall’s and Brooks’ strong legs – the team is now showing just how much they have improved.

– Johan Olsson is one of the best technical skaters in the world and when he’s healthy he’s certainly one of the best. He had a tough year last year after two bronze medals in Vancouver but it looks like he is back now.

– I think that NO ONE – and I mean no one seems to be able to beat Petter Northug (NOR) in a sprint. It was sad watching the last leg of the relay on Sunday. None of the lead skiers was willing to put it on the line and go for the win except for another Norwegian Sjur Roethe. The lead group was going SO slow that he was able to come from 45 seconds back to pass all of them and take the lead in only 5km. It looked like Northug was just playing with those guys. He has an almost unbeatable formula now for distance races. All he has to do is hang around the leaders, never leading and then in the last km he moves to the front and wins the sprint.

– but Northug IS beatable in the individual start races, despite the fact that he’s getting better in these events as well. He was second on Saturday and is having a much better start to his season than last year when he over-trained and did not have any good results until after Xmas at the Tour de Ski. I also think that he is pretty well a lock to win the World Cup this year unless someone can figure out how to beat him in a sprint.

– that being said Canada’s Alex Harvey may be the one to beat Northug. His 5th place showed that he is in great shape and his sprint win in Oslo over Ole Vigen Hattestad to win the Team Sprint gold at the Nordic Worlds have shown that he has the fitness and the sprint speed to win. He has beaten Northug in a sprint in the past and even Petter has acknowledged that Harvey can beat him. I think that if Canada wants to do anything in relays they have to have Alex on the team as the anchor skier. This is the second relay in a row including the relay in Olso that Harvey did not race.

Next weekend the World Cup moves to Kuusamo, Finland for a three day mini-tour de ski. The skiers will likely have to race on icy, man-made snow again, but it will be colder and darker and the hills will be bigger and steeper. It will be the first chance for the sprinters to come out and play as well as the classic skiers. Should be a lot of fun to watch.

May 14, 2011 – Vacation is over for the Swedish Cross-Country squad. The team travelled to Spain to gather at the first joint training camp in the off-season. However, Charlotte Kalla, Marcus Hellner and Co. are not enjoying spring on the south coast of Spain. Monte Gordo is indeed a tourist paradise, but the place is also ideal training base for skiers during the summer months.

Sweden’s Cross-Country team plans to kick off work to get back into an appropriate pace after a month when most of the athletes took a vacation. “We have here nice and hilly roads suitable for roller skiing and biking and the countryside offers us great trails for running. Our sprint team was here last fall and was very pleased,” commented Swedish head coach Joakim Abrahamsson.

Between training sessions, the head coach is working on putting together all the pieces of the Cross-Country team to gain success both in short and long term. “We have no World Championships next winter and Tour de Ski is going to be our biggest goal. The following years will be filled with hard battles at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, in 2014 at the Olympics in Sochi, and finally in 2015 at the home World Championships in Falun. It is important that we prepare goof strategy how we should develop both as individuals and as groups,” explained Abrahamsson and Rikard Grip.

Both Swedish coaches are convinced that the training camp in Monte Gordo will do the team good. “It’s something new and we believe it will inspire the team and rejuvenate the skiers with new energy,” the coaches said.

Cross-Country team at Monte Gordo, Portugal 12-18/5

Men
– Anders Södergren, Östersunds SK
– Johan Olsson, Åsarna IK
– Jens Eriksson, Dala Floda IF
– Emil Jönsson, Årsunda IF
– Teodor Peterson, Åsarna IK
– Robin Bryntesson, Sollefteå SK
– Marcus Hellner, Gellivare Skidallians
– Daniel Richardsson, Hudiksvalls IF

Women
– Ida Ingemarsdotter, Åsarna IK
– Maria Rydqvist, Östersunds SK
– Hanna Falk, Ulricehamns IF
– Hanna Brodin, Åsarna IK
– Sara Lindborg, Östersunds SK
– Magdalena Pajala, Piteå Elit
– Charlotte Kalla, IFK Tärendö
– Anna Haag, IFK Mora SK

March 13, 2011 (Lahti, Finland) – Norway’s Marit Bjoergen was back on form on Sunday looking unbeatable again as she took the women’s 1.4km Classic sprint victory at the FIS World Cup in Lahti on Sunday.

On the flip side World Cup Sprint leader, American Kikkan Randall, had to deal with a topsy-turvey day as she qualified strong in 5th just behind Bjoergen only to meet disaster in her quarter final finishing 5th and was out early in the match.

It was a lucky loser day in the final as top qualifier, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen (NOR), and Petra Majdic (SLO) both landed on the podium after advancing to the final as lucky losers. Jacobsen and Majdic were 3rd and 4th in the semi won by Bjoergen in a photo-finish over Follis. In final they both advanced one spot as Jacobsen claimed the silver and Majdic the bronze.

Majdic out-skied Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) for the final podium spot as Charlotte Kalla (SWE) ended up fifth and Arianna Follis (Italy) 6th. With her 60-point podium score the Slovenian star wrestled the Sprint leader’s jersey from Randall now third overall behind Follis in second.

The final series outcome will be decided on a shorter classic sprint in Stockholm, Sweden on Mar. 16.

The Lahti sprint course is one of the toughest on the circuit starting with a grueling uphill climb followed by a bit of downhill relief leading to a second smaller climb and then a fast dowhill with a challenging final right hand turn dropping skiers into the chute into the stadium to the finish. It was on this corner that the course delivered an unusual number of crashes throughout the day – moreso in the men’s race.

Randall, who began slipping after a strong start in the quarterfinal, could not keep pace and fell back to finish fifth. She wasn’t the only one who had difficulties with the tough snow conditions and demanding course as others like Bjoergen and Kowalczyk both experienced some slippage.

“It was a real bummer after a strong qualification,” said Randall in a phone interview with SkiTrax. “My skis were fine thru the qualification and start of the quarter final and I was in contention but soon after they slicked up – I was slipping with less glide than the others as well and lost ground. We think that perhaps my skis picked up some ice along the way that slowed them down.”

Randall concurred that the Lahti course is long and tough. “It’s precarious in some parts and perhaps has the most sustained sprint climb I’ve experienced. The qualification times were over 3:30 that tells you something.”

Four other North Americans did not qualify including Holly Brooks (USA) in 34th, Daria Gaiazova (CAN) in 48th, Chandra Crawford (CAN) in 55th and Perianne Jones (CAN) in 56th.

“Tough day today,” said Canadian Head Coach Justin Wadsworth in a brief email to SkiTrax. “Chandra and Dasha will head back to Canmore for XC Ski Nationals.”

dDespite the lackluster results for North America the day had some positives.

“Holly Brooks almost qualified for the rounds and Kikkan blazed her qualifier as if classic sprinting had been her strongest event. And perhaps it will be,” US Coach Matt Whitcomb told SkiTrax post-race.

“Kikkan struggled in her quarterfinal, finishing 5th. While her skis were great in the qualifier, they were not as competitive in the heats. The wax was the same as we used for Andy [Newell] who had great skis – both athlete and tech liked them in testing, but they didn’t roll as well as expected when the gun went off.

“It is classical racing in variable conditions. We own the choices we made and were confident in them, and own that it didn’t go as planned. When you miss by a little on the World Cup, you’re missing by a little against the best teams in the world.”

With only 29 points separating Randall from the Sprint jersey she’s keen to get another crack at it in Stockholm. “It felt good wearing it today and I’m looking forward to having the chance to take it back,” added Randall, who sits 10th in the overall WCup standings.

The US team heads to Stockholm on Monday and begins their final preparation for the remaining four WCup events in the series.

Qualifications HERE.
Final Results HERE.

Overall Sprint Standings HERE.
Overall WCup Standings HERE.

February 26, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – The Marit Bjoergen magic worked again in the women’s 15km Pursuit (7.5km CL + 7.5km FR) even on slow, new warm snow, along with yesterday’s fog, as all of Norway showed up to watch the Queen of Holmenkollen triumph once more.

In total she blazed the course in 38:08 and is the nemesis of Polish star, Justyna Kowalczyk, who was 3.5 seconds back at the ski transition, and 7.5 seconds back by the finish for the silver. Bjoergen commented that she could see from the first skate downhill that she had faster skis than her Polish shadow. Thus made this part of her tactic in the second half, initiating her attack with just under one kilometre to go on the climb before entering the stadium. Her teammate Therese Johaug had a stellar race taking the bronze at 8.8 seconds behind.

These three leaders broke away during one of Bjoergen’s attacks on the climb during the skate leg. Sweden’s top distance skier, Charlotte Kalla, chased but could not connect and finished on her own in 4th 53:9 seconds back. Italian Marianna Longa and Sweden’s Maria Rydqvist had a photo finish for 5th at 1:08:8 seconds behind the winner.

US skiers were the first North Americans with Elizabeth Stephen in at 2:54.9 minutes back for a solid 24th overall – her strong fast time in the skate of 18:23.2 put her 18th in that leg. Holly Brooks was next in 25th at 3:21.9 behind, while junior Jessie Diggins put in another a strong performance at her first major international event placing 28th at 3:25.2 back, followed by Morgan Arritola in 43rd at 5:00:9 behind.

The lone Canadian skier, Brooke Gosling was 51st and seven minutes behind. It was Brooks, Diggins and Gosling’s first World Championships – quite the baptism considering the competition at the front of the pack.

American xc head coach Chris Gover was more than pleased as the team coped with unexpected deep snow, and promising results for the future. “Conditions were different than anything we’d seen so far and from what was predicted but the wax team adjusted quickly and we had a great skis. Different teams found different kick wax solutions,” Grover told SkiTrax. “I was proud of the effort of our young skiers. A great race for Liz. Holly’s first Euro WC points. A second day in the top-30 result for Jessie.”

Veteran Stephen agreed. “It was a great day for our team for the most part, with Holly, Jessie and I all in the top 30. That’s real progress for us as a country. The race was really fun and the tracks were super fast – I had awesome skis today, both for the classic leg and the skate.

“My race had some really good parts to it, including the classic leg, which may well have been my best classic race all year. I was able to ski hard, but relaxed and hang on to the pack enough so I could be in the mix with the skate race and go out feeling strong with a goal to catch as many people as possible. I skied a pretty strong skate leg, and feel like today was a really good tune up for the rest of the week.”

Diggins continued to perform after being called up from the junior ranks following her seventh place result in the 5km skate at the Junior Worlds with as fast or faster times than many seniors. Not only was this her first senior worlds, but it was her first pursuit ever and she couldn’t overstate her enthusiasm for the race and the entire experience.

“Today was a really interesting day with all the fog…it was crazy racing because going down the hills you couldn’t see the corners until you came right up to them! But the fans were great and all the cheering really helped,” said Diggins in a post-race email to SkiTrax. “I had a great start, but did a poor job keeping hydrated and hit the wall pretty hard around 6km, and felt pretty sloppy in the skate portion of the race.

“I also tried to get a feed…twice…and every coach in the world now knows that I had the worst feed in the world! I dropped the bottle the first time around and gave myself a Gatorade face-wash the second. How embarrassing! But I’m super proud of the US girls and the coaches gave us super fast skis. It was a good day!”

For the USA’s Brooks it was a day for the record books. “Yes it was a great day for the US – three women in the top 28 – and my first WC points in Europe. The past weekend at the WCup in Drammen I had a rough start in my weakest disciplines after not having raced in over a month.

“We had great skis – thanks to our techs and my coach, Erik Flora. The first time up the big sprint hill before entering the stadium I looked up and saw bib 6 – Italy’s Arianna Follis was in front of me. That was extra motivation to ski fast!  It was super fun to be skiing with the skier who took the silver medal only two days before in the sprint and I hope our momentum carries through to the guys on Sunday! Despite the fog, the crowd was fantastic.”

Arritola felt the stress of competition. “I had a rough day in the pursuit but I’m happy for my teammates who skied well. I just have to figure some things out and get ready for the 30km.”

Team leader Kikkan Randall was impressed with the US women in the 15km pursuit emailing SkiTrax her observations, “I’m super psyched and impressed to see three of our women in the top 30 today. It looked like a tough race and it’s great to see the shift in performance on our team.  We used to dream of one result in the top 30 and now we got three in. I know Morgan didn’t have her best day so she could have possibly been in there too. Jessie skied an impressive race, not afraid to go up and ski with some fast girls. I am really excited for the future of this group.

“I think my fall in the sprint the other day, while it was definitely disheartening, has made us all appreciate the hard work we’ve done together as a team to prepare for these championships and we know that the most important thing is to put ourselves out there and go for it.  The door has been opened on what is possible and we want more of it!”

We caught up Canadian Head Coach Justin Wadsworth for his take on the pursuit. “For sure it was a tough one out there for Brooke with the new (hard) courses here at Holmenkollen, and the huge crowds. This is a tough place to cut your teeth for your first high level racing in Europe. Brooke showed some guts out there on the skating leg today, so I look for better things to come from her as the championships continue.”

But not everyone was happy about that situation. Kowalczyk noted that on four different occasions Johaug blocked her from chasing Bjoergen. When asked whether she thought it was fair play, Kowalczyk replied, “It’s cross-country skiing.”

Johaug denied trying to block Kowalczyk and Bjoergen said she had no knowledge of it – as all had taken place behind her, but she was sure Johaug would not do that.

Instead, she said, her tactic to “…not do too much work in the classic part, but I was first in. Then I knew I had very good skis [in the skate leg] and Therese was in front; I wanted to be behind, because I knew I had better skis than Kowalczyk. I attacked and got a gap, and I knew I could go. I wanted Kowalczyk in front but Kowalczyk wanted Therese in front.”

Kowalczyk had little to say. It is difficult to ski against strong teams like the Norwegians, Swedes, Germans, Italians and Finns when the other members of the Polish team while good, were not there to work for her.

Bjoergen admitted Johaug played a part in her victory. “A big thank you to Therese who wore out Kowalczyk.”

Johaug, meanwhile, said the biggest “thank you” went to the “boys in the cabin” meaning the wax crew who waxed skis to perfection. “My goal was to reach an individual medal at these Games,” she said, “and now I have reached my goal. It was a big thing for me. The people in the track were great. At the last world championships I was 6th, so it is my best place at the world championships and the Olympics.

“I knew they [Bjoergen and Kowalczyk] would be strong in the end. I would fight to the last lap – all the way. When I was skating, I thought I could go hard all the time – I thought there was a chance. I did the best I could and it was a bronze today.”

Meanwhile, the Prime Minister of Norway commented, in a slight nudge to the competition and the rivalry between Norway and Sweden, “It is very typical Norwegian to perform as well as Marit Bjoergen did today.”

Full results HERE.

February 23, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – The excitement is expected to build to a crescendo this evening, not far from the Royal Palace in downtown Oslo, as the 2011 FIS World Nordic Championships are set to kick off. Members of the Canadian and U.S. Cross -Country ski team made their final preparations on Tuesday on the perfect ski tracks at Oslo’s famed Holmenkollen venue.

With the trees laden with snow and with light snow falling, it made for the ideal scene set for these much anticipated championships to begin.

Kikkan Randall took her final tune up on the tracks and said she was ready. “I feel great and very energized following the Drammen races and I am set to go. The sprint course is really one I like very much, it has all the right elements,” said Randall who goes into the FIS Championships poised and confident following her second World Cup win this season in Drammen.

U.S. Head Coach Chris Grover also said his charges are ready, “We are all healthy and everyone is happy and ready”.

While we tested announcing systems today for the qualifying events, the top ten of each race of men and women will be able to ski in these championships. Among them was Dartmouth’s former star, Ben Koons, who is skiing for New Zealand here, along with brother Nils. Well-known Kenyan skier Philip Boit also took part, who is now coached by the legendary Norwegian champion Bjorn Daehlie, who came our booth today for a chat. There were big crowds on hand for these races today, as there was no charge to attend.

At mid-day SkiTrax attended a Fischer Press Event and the room was full of among the best-known Fischer athletes in the sport also among the favorites here in Oslo – here are some notes from the press Conference…

Petra Majdic started things off on a lighthearted note with a line about her fall at Whistler. “The organizers have told me all the “holes” on the course are all protected. In some ways it is still in my mind. But I am very happy with my win in Oberstdorf with my first victory. I am happy to be here in Oslo, I will do my best.”

She made her final preparations in Doblach for three weeks at high-altitude it was a little risky. “I was not fresh in Drammen, but I feel better now here. I like the tracks in Oslo because they are not the easiest and will give everyone a very fair fight. Some of the girls are more aggressive than I am; the three uphills aren’t too steep (on the sprint course). So the course should be good for me.”

Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla coming off a second place last weekend in the sprints told members of the press today, “I will start in every race except the team sprint, and my favourite race will be the last one… the 30km in skating.

“I also look forward to the relay. The World Championships are something I have looked forward to for a long time. Our team has had a great summer and fall, and there’s a lot of strong young girls coming up and this helps me to improve as well.”

Yet, current world cup points leader Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk will also figure in the mix, as will Arianna Follis of Italy. The Norwegians have a strong women’s squad and relative newcomer Maiken Caspersen Falla is primed and ready for action.

Among the women’s elite count Norway’s ski queen Marit Bjorgen as a huge favourite and likely to take several medals at these events.

And it goes without saying that Norway’s Petter Northug will be strong in all events, as will Swiss skier Dario Cologna along with Swedes Marcus Hellner and Emil Joensson. The Russians looked good today in practice as well.

Then it was time for Hellner. “We have the same great spirit like the women’s team in Sweden. I will compete Wednesday – I have been waiting for this championships to start and I am like a child before Christmas,” he said.

Lucas Bauer (CZE) said he was happy to be in Oslo adding, “it is much more easy for me to compete here than under the eye of the press. I like tough tracks, so it should be good for me here.” Bauer is a powerful, tough skier who seems to be always near the top for the Czech Republic.

Nordic Combined athlete Felix Gottwald of Austria spoke of the new hills in Oslo. “I didn’t jump so well today in training and that’s okay – but I do want to jump well on Saturday. ”

For the record, several USST combiners had a fine day of jump training with Todd Lodwick having one of the longest jumps of the day with a ride at 105.0 meters. Bill Demong and Bryan Fletcher all jumped beyond 100 meters in training as well.

Other combined picks must go to the highly regarded French skier, Jason Lamy Chappuis, born in Montana. Also watch for the pair of Norwegians Mikko Kokslien and Magnus Moan.

In ski jumping both Simon Amman of Switzerland and Andreas Kofler of Austria took part in the press function and appeared up beat and ready. They will face the likes of Tom Hilde of Norway and other top Austrians.

Team USA appears strong with a big women’s team here led by the current world champion Lindsey Van from Park City. But the local crowds will be behind another great skiing pioneer, Anette Sagen, who took the bronze medal at the last championships in Liberec.

It looks to many that both the US and Canadian squads are heading into Oslo with strong skiers, and we expect to see some improved performances over the Liberec Worlds.

Record crowds are expected to attend these championships, while many rabid fans have already been camping out in the nearby forests near the racing trails to cheering for their favourites.

Yes, it’s all good – xc skiing here is so much more than a sport, but truly “a way of life”.

January 06, 2011 (Cortina, Italy) – She may have had difficulties in yesterday’s sprint, but Poland’s Justyna Koxalczyk quickly sealed that chink in her armor by winning today’s 15km freestyle handicap start in Cortina, Italy, at stage 6 of the Tour de Ski

Kowalczyk took a page from the men’s race earlier in the day where winner Dario Cologna (SUI) got out of gate hard and never let up, staying out front from start to finish. Italy’s Arianna Follis and Marianna Longa claimed 2nd and 3rd at just over 22 seconds behind while Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla claimed 4th ahead of Petra Majdic (SLO) in 5th.

The USA’s Kikkan Randall also had a good day, moving up from 17th to 15th overall, a very solid result for the American sprinter.

“It was a really hard race and I am satisfied,” said Kowalczyk in a FIS XC post-race interview. “I hope the next race in Val di Fiemme will be OK as well, and then there is only Alpe Cermis left. Last year’s race in Val di Fiemme was not good for me, I hope this year will be better. Kalla, Follis, Longa, Majdic and Lahteenmaki are all contenders that can win the Tour de Ski, but I hope I can beat them.”

From the gun, it was clear this would be a race to catch Kowalczyk and it would not an easy task. Majdic also started hard, trailing Kowalczyk by only 39 seconds and ahead of Kalla who was 1:08 down.

By 5km Kowalczyk was still powering ahead while behind a small chase pack of four skiers had formed including Kalla, Majdic, Longa and Follis. About a minute behind them were two more chasers with Anna Haag (SWE) and the young Finn Krista Lahteenmaki hoping to bridge to the quartet.

The four chasers worked well together at first and were slowly chipping away at Kowalczyk’s lead until about 7.5km, when they started to lose ground.

By 10km Majdic couldn’t hold on, and was dropped as Kalla pushed hard at the front, trying to close the 51.8-second margin to Kowalczyk. Behind Haag shook off Lahteenmaki but the Finnish skier regained her composure and latched on to the Swede again soon after.

Kalla’s efforts paid off, as she, Follis and Longa cut Kowalczyk’s lead down to 25 seconds, leaving Majdic scrambling to recover with only 2.5km left to go.

Ultimately Kowalczyk proved too strong, and preserved her lead to take the win. On the finishing straight teammates Follis and Longa overtook Kalla, who had done most of the work, putting the Italians 2-3 behind the Kowalczyk. With that effort, Follis now moves into 2nd, at 27 seconds down on the leader. Longa holds onto third, 33 seconds down with Kalla and Majdic rounding out the top 5.

“It was a fun race today,” said Randall now in 15th overall. “I ended up in a big pack of 10 or so, so I tucked in with them for most of the race. In the last few kms I put on a few surges, which strung things out a bit.”

Over the last part of the race Randall found herself skiing close to Sweden’s Britta Johansson Norgren who just barely nipped her at the line. Ironically it was Johansson Norgren who crashed in yesterday’s skate sprint women’s final and took down Randall as well.

The women’s races have been relatively short and incredibly high-paced, making for some grueling racing. That’s something that Randall said didn’t change despite today’s longer course. “The way the course skied with the climbs there were lots of surges followed by little recoveries, so it was still tough,” she continued in a phone interview with SkiTrax.

With a rest day tomorrow, the athletes will be preparing for Saturday’s classic race and Sunday’s final hill climb up Alpe Cermis.

“We’re planning on previewing the courses tomorrow,” said Randall. “We’ll check out the final climb by skiing it downhill and sort of see what’s in store for us.”

“We are very excited with Kikkan’s race,” said US coach Chris Grover in an email to SkiTrax. “She looked great. Fighting hard with lots of energy for so late in the Tour.”

January 05, 2011 Toblach, Italy – The women’s 1.3km freestyle sprint in Toblach, Italy this morning was shaping up to be a showdown between the Tour de Ski’s biggest names but after the first round of quarter final heats two of those names were out. Tour leader Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland and Charlotte Kalla of Sweden were eliminated quickly leaving the door open for classic sprint winner Petra Majdic (SLO) and US skate specialist Kikkan Randall among others vying for the podium.

As well as Kowalczyk and Kalla there were some other surprises. Sweden’s other speed queen, Anna Haag, who was part of the heat that pushed Kowalczyk out of the quarters, was herself eliminated in the semis by the French youngster Laure Barthelemy.

Majdic wasted no time in demonstrating her intentions charging to the front and dominating every heat she raced all day. Randall, who was looking for another podium, had also been strong all day as well, winning her quarterfinal heat handily, and skiing very well in the semifinals, placing second in a photo-finish with Italy’s Arianna Follis.

In the final Majdic took the pole position again early as the partisan crowd cheered on the two Italians, Follis and Magda Genuin, who had made cut as one of the lucky losers, but neither was a match for the neon yellow Slovenian.

Behind Randall was keeping pace and setting up to advance but her luck went south when she got tangled with Sweden’s Britta Johansson Norgen, the second lucky loser, who crashed when another skier stepped on her pole.

At the front it was Majdic’s day again as the two Italians put up strong fight in the final meters but the Slovenian star took her second sprint win and was jubilant once again at the finish as Follis took 2nd ahead of Genuin while Barthelemy was 4th, Randall was 5th and Johansson Norgren finished 6th.

“I figured out how the race would go in the quarter final, and realized I can win although I was in the front all the time,” Majdic said in a FIS XC interview after her race. “I was scared for a moment though, because I heard the speaker said Arianna was attacking. When we went body to body, I knew that I was in front as I was prepared to put my foot on the finish line.”

For Randall there was no chance to recover and get back in the mix with such a fast pace. “It was going so well, I was feeling like I had a shot at the podium,” she said in a phone interview. “I’m really kicking myself.  Coming out of the draft and into the climb I tried to go right, but someone stepped on Norgren’s pole and we got really tangled.”

Randall has now moved up to 17th overall.

“Kikkan was disappointed because she was felt like she was feeling pretty good and had great skis,” said UST coach Chris Grover. “She’s had three podiums in a row in skate sprint on the World Cup and this was the first time she’s been off the podium in a little bit. She knows she can reach it [the podium] most days if things are going OK”

Tomorrow’s TdS race is a 15km freestyle handicapped start for the women, followed on Saturday by a 10km classic race and the final 9km hill climb on Sunday.

Sprint Results HERE.
Women’s Overall HERE.