March 07, 2017 (Lahti, Finland) – At the FIS World Cup Finals in Lahti on March 5, Russian Sergei Ustiugov finished a strong second behind Canadian Alex Harvey in the men’s 50K Freestyle final event of the Nordic World Championships. However, during the press conference following the podium ceremonies, Ustiugov refused to wear his medal, his fifth medal at the Worlds reports Sweden’s Expressen.

Ustiugov explained that he was protesting against the suspension of his national team colleagues Alexander Legkov, Alexei Petukhov, Maxim Vylegzhanin and Eveniy Belov who were not able to take part in the World Cup Finals. The four were suspended following the release of the McLaren report for alleged doping infractions during the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

Ustiugov, who expressed his strong opposition to the suspensions, stated that his medals were not for him, but for his suspended teammates. Speaking with the help of an English interpreter, he addressed the general media after which he calmly refused to leave the conference podium until he spoke with Russian journalists.

“Half the world is against us,” Ustiugov told journalists.

He shared that the medal was in his backpack, and that he was very proud of it, but would not be wearing it at that time. This the latest in the developing saga of the doping dilemma surrounding the Russian cross-country team.

Read the original article from the Expressen here.

December 20, 2014 (Davos, Switzerland) – Norway showed its teeth again with a surprise win by Anders Gloeersen who earned his first distance victory as he led a podium sweep in the men’s 15km FR. Petter Northug settled for second at 4.8s behind and Chris Andre Jespersen skied for the bronze at 10.4. Gloeersen, known for his sprinting prowess, was not slated to race but when others were sick he was called up to race for the mighty Norge red machine.

Canada’s Ivan Babikov led the North American contingent in 34th at 1:18.4 behind as Alex Harvey skied to 38th, Devon Kershaw finished 52nd, Graeme Killick climbed to 20th spot before dropping back in the pack to 54th, Erik Bjornsen, the lone men’s starter for the U.S., finished 56th, and Kevin Sandau rounded out the Canadian results in 70th.

World Cup leader Martin Johnsrud Sundby (NOR) ended up 6th behind Calle Halfvarsson (SWE) in 4th and Jean Marc Gaillard (FRA) in 5th.

“It was not the best race today. Ivan was returning from Canada and maybe not 100 per cent,” said Tor Arne Hetland, Canadian World Cup coach. “The team was not very happy with their performance. It is not good enough, but we have a new race tomorrow.”

Full results here.

January 11, 2014 (Canmore, Alta.) – Two of Canada’s most promising athletes in the sport of cross-country skiing, Heidi Widmer and Jesse Cockney, displayed the work they have put in over the last year by winning the Buff Sprints on Saturday, and are now ready for an opportunity to hit the start line at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games.

Serving as the selection races to determine the final four spots on Canada’s 2014 Olympic squad, the two young Canucks cranked up the heat on a dark, snowy and windy day blasting through the world-renowned Canmore Nordic Centre.

The 22-year-old Widmer, of Banff, Alta., completed an emotional day by handily winning the women’s sprint race, and has all but officially booked a ticket to her first ever Olympic Games.

“I have raced these trails and trained on them so many times, but this just feels so surreal,” said Widmer, while breaking into tears at the finish line. “I was on a mission for this. I didn’t want to be one of those Olympiczillas getting caught up in it all. There are so many ups and downs. I just wanted to stay focused on the process and not look back or ahead of myself. This is a dream come true, but I have only completed part one. Now the real journey and work begins.”

Three-time Olympic biathlete, Zina Kocher of Red Deer, Alta., made a charge to get her name in the mix to also compete on the Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team at the Games. Kocher finished second. Andrea Dupont, of Timmins, Ont., placed third.

While being interviewed in the finish corral, Heidi Widmer broke into tears when her older brother Phil walked past to hit the start line to secure an Olympic spot of his own.

“My inspiration is right there,” said Heidi Widmer. “I just wish I can channel some of this energy his way. He has been there for me the whole way.”

The 30-year-old Widmer, who was fighting for a return trip to the Games, was in a cage match with 24-year-old Jesse Cockney, who was looking for his first trip to the Olympics.

Lined shoulder-to-shoulder on the start line, the veteran Widmer, of Banff, Alta., took to the lead at the sound of the gun and held it around the hilly 1.7-kilometre track, which simulates the challenge athletes will face at the Nordic venue in Sochi. Cockney, of Canmore, Alta., tucked in behind Widmer until the final 100 metres where we put on a World Cup worthy sprinting display, hammering his way to the top of the pack to win the final sprint race of the trials.

“I just kept telling myself to get to the line,” said an emotional Cockney. “Phil has been so strong, and I took that outside lane for the finish. I didn’t know what else to do, but I just wanted to get to the line. It has been years of hard work. I don’t know if it is official. I did all that I can do and I just want to enjoy this moment.”

Widmer sprinted to the silver, while Patrick Stewart-Jones, of Chelsea, Que., was third.

“It was strong racing today, and it looks like we are going to have two athletes with promising futures and great personalities join our team,” said Justin Wadsworth, head coach, Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team. “Heidi really demonstrated that she clearly deserves to be selected. Jesse and Phil have put a lot of work to be ready for this, and fought it out to the finish. It was an impressive finish.”

Full results with brackets here.

Results (brief)

Women
1. Heidi Widmer, Banff, Alta.
2. Zina Kocher, Red Deer, Alta.
3. Andrea Dupont, Timmins, Ont.
4. Alysson Marshall, Salmon Arm, B.C.
5. Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt, Quebec.

Men
1.  Jesse Cockney, Canmore, Alta.
2. Phil Widmer, Banff, Alta.
3. Patrick Stewart-Jones, Chelsea, Que.
4. Russell Kennedy, Canmore, Alta.
5. Ezekiel Williams, Cantley, Que.

March 17, 2013 (Oslo, Norway) – The USA’s Liz Stephen dug deep for a spectacular day in the famed Holmenkollen placing 9th in women’s 30km FR for her first top-10 result at this distance. Therese Johaug was on fire again giving local fans a memorable day with a superb performance to claim gold with a 46.6-second margin over Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) in second with Russia’s Yulia Tchekaleva in third.

The race started under overcast skies and a temperature of 2 degrees C with Johaug leading at the front and Kowalczyk close behind. Stephen quickly manoeuvred herself to the front as well. At around 8km Johaug decided to stretch her legs and broke the race wide open quickly distancing herself from Kowalczyk with a 15-second margin that became 27s by the 10km mark.

Behind Kowalczyk was on her own realizing she didn’t have the fight in her and at the 11.8km mark she was 48s down and soon to be caught by Charlotte Kalle (SWE) along with Stephen and four others as a 6-strong chase group formed behind Johaug.

At 13.3km Johaug changed skis but Stephen, Kristen Stormer Steira (NOR), Nicole Fessel (GER) and France’s Anouk Picon kept going and closed the gap to 24s, whereas Kowalczyk, Kalla and the others all changed skis. But Johaug was in charge and continued to expand her lead over Stephen’s group as Kowalczyk and Japan’s Masako Ishida along with Heidi Weng (NOR) lead the charge back.

At 16.3km the gap to Steira at the front of the chase pack was up to 54s as fans screamed wildly for Johaug while Kowalczyk’s group of five skiers were now only 16s back from the lead chase group. Around the 18.3km mark the four lead chasers were caught and now nine skiers advanced on Johaug who showed no signs of tiring.

Meanwhile top Swede Kalla was struggling and dropped back to lead a second chase group another 20s back. Then Fessel ran into trouble as she had to change skis at 21.6km while Johaug and the others pressed on.

Behind the USA’s Jessie Diggins and Holly Brooks kept fighting in the 30s as Canada’s Perianne Jones was having a rough day and joined some of the skiers who abandoned.

As Johaug kept the pressure on the chase group was whittled down to six with Stephen taking her turn at the front as Kowalczyk planned her attack just before the final Helmenbakken climb. At the 26.6km mark she moved to the front and was gone with a 10-second gap leaving the remaining group to fight for third.

Rising to the occasion was Tchekaleva as Weng tried to contain her while Stephen was nearly spent with Ishida and Steira also struggling. At less than 1km to go the Russian was looking strong for third.

As the finish approached Johaug grabbed a Norwegian flag, albeit what seemed a bit too early with 500m to go, as she crossed the final roller bridge into a sea of screaming fans for another huge win and an audience with the King, while Kowalczyk took the silver and Tchekaleva held on for the bronze.

Stephen gave up a bit of ground near the end to finish a stellar 9th for a remarkable day and a personal best result while Diggins also earned her best 30km result landing in the points to finish 30th. Holly Brooks sailed in soon after in 35th as the American camp was once again proud of their skiers in one of the sport’s most renowned settings.

“Yep, this is a PB for world cup 30kms (it’s also only my second one, so that makes a personal best a little easier to get!),” commented Diggins post-race. “My goals were to have fun and stay relaxed – in the spring world Cups the field is SO tough and the pace is hard from the get-go, I wanted to not worry about the field stringing out and not bury myself in the first lap. But I also wanted to enjoy the Holmenkollen experience, because it’s really one of a kind. There’s thousands of fans camped out along the course, all cheering and screaming. It’s so awesome!

“I lost the most time between 5km and 15km, but in that stretch I switched to a faster pair of skis, got with a group of two other skiers, and we worked together the rest of the race. It was super cool – we traded pulls and stayed at a really good pace.
I was psyched to get a point in a 30km race – I’m happy with the result and mostly psyched that I was able to have fun out there and truly enjoy the experience.”

While happy overall Coach Matt Whitcomb conceded that the decision to not to change skis at 13.3km came back to haunt Stephen near the end and  may have even have cost her podium. “It was a great day for Liz in many ways. She’s in top form and skiing well…but in other ways it was a bit disappointing as her body was capable of a podium but near the end her skis weren’t.

“In hindsight she’d like to have made a ski change at 13km but she took a chance and thought she could do it on one pair of boards today… overall we’re happy with 9th. Her confidence has taken a step forward and she’s made a nice jump this year. Diggins also had a good day… she’s been a little tired with distance racing and today was intended to enjoy herself at the special Holmenkollen venue. She worked hard to finish in the points and I’m proud of her performance today.”

Full results HERE.

December 29, 2012 – There was nothing found to be wrong with Marit Bjørgen (NOR) after her arrhythmia last weekend. The Nordic star is scheduled to be back in competition in mid-January as confirmed by the Norwegian team doctor Dag Lunder to NTB this morning reports Langrenn.

“All samples are normal. We have not found anything wrong. It is planned that she will compete again in mid-January,” said Lunder. Bjoergen will then be back in action at the World Cups in Liberec, Czech for the classic sprint on Saturday, Jan. 12.

It was on Christmas eve during her second workout that the 32-year-old had a higher than normal heart rate. It was this cardiac rhythm disturbance that has caused her to not participate in the Tour de Ski, which starts tomorrow. “Should she get new shocks she now knows how she should deal with it,” according to Lunder said.

Original article can be found here