January 26, 2017 (Salt Lake City, Utah) – Family and fans around the world will be able to watch the USANA FIS Nordic Junior and U23 World Ski Championships live from Utah’s 2002 Olympic venues January 30-February 5.

January 25, 2017 – Six Russian Cross Country athletes Alexander Legkov, Evgeniy Belov, Julia Ivanova, Evgenia Shapovalova, Alexey Petukhov and Maxim Vylegzhanin were provisionally suspended on 22nd December after the findings in the McLaren Report outlined alleged anti-doping rules violations in connection with the Olympic Winter Games 2014 in Sochi (RUS).

The athletes and the Russian National and Cross-Country Ski Associations were duly notified of the disciplinary proceedings and further investigations by the IOC, and the implementation of provisional suspensions by FIS. Following this notification, the athletes appealed the provisional suspension.

The FIS Doping Panel, after having heard Evgeniy Belov and Alexander Legkov, and the FIS, has decided today, 25th January 2017 by majority not to reverse its initial decision, but to uphold the provisional suspensions of Evgeniy Belov and Alexander Legkov until further notice. As a result of the decisions, the above-mentioned athletes may not take part in any competitions or national team activities.

The decisions of the FIS Doping Panel may be appealed exclusively to the Court of Arbitration for Sports in Lausanne (CAS) in accordance with the applicable provisions of CAS. The time to file an appeal to CAS is 21 days.

The other four provisionally suspended athletes Julia Ivanova, Evgenia Shapovalova, Alexey Petukhov and Maxim Vylegzhanin have also filed appeals, which are currently in progress. The decisions will come at a later date.

January 25, 2017 (Ulricehamn, Sweden) – The US Ski Team recently posted selection criteria and quotas for the upcoming World Cup Finals in Quebec City, March 17-19, relocated from Russia due to the doping scandals in that country. With a North American venue now in the mix, both Canada and the USA have the opportunity to channel more skiers to start lines via respective Nation’s Group quotas – Canada has 10 women and 8 men, while the US has five of each. This is great news for each country’s development programs but adds challenges to both organizations to quickly devise selection criteria and other logistics not planned for. We caught up with Chris Grover, US XC Head Coach, in Sweden during the recent World Cup there to chat about the fabulous racing there on the weekend and to find out more about the “behind-the-scenes” scrambling to create “multiple pathways” as he describes it, for skiers to earn a berth to Quebec City. With the 2017 Junior/U23 Worlds also taking place in Utah very soon there’s lots of excitement along with challenges as well. Grover estimates 20-30 US athletes are vying for their 10 Nations spots for QCity – read more about the US selection criteria and quotas here.

January 22, 2017 (Ulricehamn, Sweden) – Canada’s fab-four including Devon Kershaw, Alex Harvey, Knute Johnsgaard and Len Valjas delivered historic bronze reaching the podium the first time in the men’s 4×7.5km World Cup relay in Sweden on Sunday.

Norway I’s Finn Haagen Krogh took the win over Sweden I’s Calle Halfvarsson in the finishing straight in a very close battle as Canadian anchor Valjas closed on Halfvarsson for a photo finish that went to the Swede as the partisan crowd roared watching the thrilling finish. Only 0.5s separated the top three teams on the final podium.

“The team relay and the 50 kilometre are the biggest races in our sport by far so this means the world to us,” said the 34-year-old Kershaw, who skied onto the podium for the first time in three years. “We have talked about this medal a lot when I first came onto the World Cup. It is something we have always wanted, and weren’t able to get it done in previous generations – even back to the Pierre Harvey days. Even when Lenny, Alex and I were all winning multiple medals individually a few years ago we weren’t able to get it done so it shows how hard it is.”

Harvey agreed and was over the moon with the team’s effort. “It is incredible. We’ve been chasing this feeling since I’ve been on the team and for some reason we just could never get all four us on the same day,” said Harvey, who also skied classic. “Winning individual medals you enjoy it but you can’t share that enjoy as much with your teammates. When you do this together it is so emotional.”

“I’m speechless. It is pretty amazing and one of the best days of my life. Everything just came together,” said Johnsgaard. “This is all so new to me. It was only my second relay ever so to see Len come into podium position was an unreal feeling.”

Valjas played his hand smartly on the final leg to land on the podium. “I was just fighting so hard with my head down. I fought right to the end and when I looked up I saw the three guys running at me. I put out my arms and grabbed them all like a big fish net. They were my brakes and it was the best feeling I have ever felt in cross-country skiing to have them in my arms,” commented Valjas.

Team USA, consisting of Andy Newell, Erik Bjornsen, Noah Hoffman and Simi Hamilton raced to a respectable 10th place finish battling back from 13th at one point.

“Conditions were great despite the warm temperatures and the fans were out in force even with a thick fog so it was a fun race,” said their lead off skier. “Leading off in the scramble leg we knew that the big climb on course would be a deciding factor. First lap we were all jostling for position going up the big hill and the hammer really dropped on the second lap. It was and interesting race and really tough to pass with only two tracks and lots of V boarded sections that you couldn’t cross. As a team we know we can do more and are capable of a much better finish so we are looking forward to the next one.”

Hamilton their anchor was pleased with the team’s effort on the day, and for Canada as well. “It was a solid day for sure. I felt good during my leg, especially since I’ve been dealing with a little achilles tendonitis for the last week or so. It was fast snow and a good course for me,” commented US anchor Hamilton. “My skis were great and it was for sure one of the more fun distance relays I’ve had the chance to race. All and all, it was a really fun day, especially since there were close to 40,000 fans lining the course and our great friends from the north skied on to the podium.”

The men’s relay came down to nine teams fighting out. Russia-1 and France lost contact near the end but caught back on with just 2 kilometers remaining and at the finish all nine were separated by just 3.8 seconds. As the finish line approached Norway, Sweden and Canada emerged as the top three teams ready to battle for the medals.

Sweden’s Halfvarsson led into the finishing straight as the crowd roared but Krogh overtook him as Valjas came up on the outside and almost pipped him at the line in a photo finish for the final podium spot.

“Winning individual races is awesome, but to stand on the podium with four guys from your country is the greatest feeling in the world. The relay is the only way to show the depth of program. Our team is on a shoe- string budget right now – especially compared to the rest of the world. We have been given every opportunity to fail and we are still doing this. It is a testament to the hard work of our entire staff and team so I am doubly proud of that,” added Kershaw.

“Seeing Yves Bilodeau, (lead wax technician) who has been at this sport for more than 30 years in the finish with Babs (Ivan Babikov) crying was amazing. Both of them weren’t able to win this as athletes and we are so happy they are now a part of this. You need the whole team including the support staff clicking to make this happen. They are the ones making sure we are ready. It is just so special for all of us,” shared Harvey.

“I wanted to experience this feeling of being the last one to cross the finish line. It was amazing. We have wanted this for so long. Dancing to the music just cranked in the wax room is something I’ll never forget. We were the happiest team out there for sure,” said a smiling Valjas.

The only other time a Canadian cross-country ski team won a World Cup relay medal came 30 years ago when a women’s foursome of Angela Schmidt-Foster, Carol Gibson, Jena McAllister, and Marie-Andree Masson won the bronze in Canmore, Alta.

“It was really inspired by our fifth-place finish in Nove Mesto last year,” said Tom Holland High Performance Director at Cross Country Canada. “The key was to have complete buy-in from everyone on the men’s team to focus on this team goal recognizing if all the parts came together – we had a podium chance. After sitting down with the team, we got that buy in and today shows what can happen. This is a big day – a huge day for our program.”

Results here.

January 21, 2017 (Ulricehamn, Sweden) – Canadian Alex Harvey, 26, put the hammer down for his second consecutive World Cup victory winning the men’s 15km FR individual start at the new venue in Ulricehamn, Sweden on Saturday. Last weekend he and Lenny Valjas won Team Sprint gold in Toblach, Italy.

“It does feel great to win again today,” said Harvey, who won his first individual race since the World Cup Finals in 2014. “Everything was clicking today. This is a new place for us, but the course was really good and suited my abilities. I was in it from the beginning and felt good the whole way today.”

The win was historic as he became the first Canadian cross-country skier to claim back-to-back gold medals in consecutive weekends on the World Cup. Legendary Beckie Scott also won in back-to-back races during her memorable 2005-06 run, but not on consecutive weekends according to Cross Country Canada.

“We’ve had a lot great champions in Canada. It is nice to be able to own a statistic like that, but I do it for the result and to be the best I can be each race,” said Harvey. “If that means that I win back-to-back then that is a bonus.”

Harvey was joined on the podium by Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby, who finished six seconds back while Sweden’s Marcus Hellner won a tight race for the bronze.

“The plan was to start fast and be in the hunt. Sometimes when I start fast I can’t handle the pace, but I was in the top-five for the first three kilometres. When I got the splits that I was leading midway, I knew I could push to the end,” said Harvey. “There was one really long steep hill which is not my normally my strength, but the rest of the course was a lot of fun. You had to be proactive and always working and pushing the entire way.”

The USA’s Erik Bjornsen had a good day finishing 28th while Canada’s Valjas was 35th with teammate Devon Kershaw in 38th. American Noah Hoffman was 41st, Simi Hamilton was 53rd and Matt Gelso was 68th.

It was the 20th World Cup medal, and sixth victory for Harvey to go along with his four World Championship podiums. Saturday’s win marked the first time he has ever won a 15-kilometre skate-ski race in his nine-year career.

“Individual starts have been harder for me in the past. It gives me a lot of satisfaction and confidence to know that I can be in the hunt in all race disciplines,” said Harvey, who edged closer to third, but remains in fourth place in the overall World Cup standings “I really believe I can be on the podium every time I race and that’s important. When you don’t throw all your eggs in one basket in one discipline like a sprint race, it takes the pressure away of having to perform on one single day. I’m fortunate to have been born with that ability to race in sprints or distances and in classic and skate-skiing, but I’m also working really hard for it as well, and that feels great to see it pay off.”

The World Cup continues on Sunday in Sweden with the relay events.

Results here.

January 21, 2017 (Antholz, ITA) – Team USA claimed its best relay performance of the season finishing 6th in the men’s 4×7.5km event at Antholz as Germany’s Simon Schempp pipped Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen at the line for the victory. Russia was third while Team Canada finished 16th.

The foursome of Lowell Bailey, Leif Nordgren, Tim Burke and Sean Doherty was in the mix for a podium spot for the majority of the race using 10 spares. Canada’s Christian and Scott Gow, Macx Davies and Brendan Green suffered two penalties while using  11 spares.

“Today we showed that we are competitive with the best in the world,” said Bailey needed just one spare in both prone and standing on the opening leg as he made the first exchange with Nordgren in sixth place. “With 10 extra rounds, this is far from our best, but it is a big step in the right direction and exactly where we want to be heading into world champs.”

Nordgren moved the team into third with two spares in prone and one in standing. He left the range just 11.9 seconds behind the leader after standing, but fell back to ninth by the time he made the second exchange with Burke, now 27.6 seconds back.

“Happy with the effort today,” said Nordgren. “It was nice to ski with the lead group on the first loop. I had a bit of a gap after the tag from Lowell, but it was no problem to reel them in eventually. In the last loop I was holding on for dear life.

After three extra shots in prone, Burke settled down to clean standing from the clip as he tagged Doherty in sixth. “This was a great race for the team to have going into world championships,” said Burke, echoing the sentiments of the entire squad. “The team has struggled this year with injury and illness, so it was important for us to show that we are still among the best in the world.”

“Today’s sixth place was a very strong effort for the team,” added Doherty. “I am very happy to be skiing up in the mix and looking at the podium. There is still room to improve for world championships but it seems we are headed in the right direction.”

Results here.

January 20, 2017 – We have just posted an amended selection criteria for World Cup which provides for the selection of a USA 1⁄2 Nation’s Group to the World Cup Finals in Quebec City, CAN March 17,18, 19.  Because these races were originally scheduled to be in Russia, we did not have a selection criteria for a Nation’s Group in place.  Because we have USA athletes currently racing all over the planet, and participating in various race series, this criteria is intended to provide multiple paths to qualifying for Quebec City, including World Cup, the Lahti World Champs, the SuperTour, and the WJC/U23 World Championships.

The races in Quebec City will be a 3-day mini-tour, and the exact formats will most likely be decided tomorrow evening here in Ulricehamn.

The total quotas for USA will be:

Women:
6 National Quota USA
1 COC Overall Leader
5 Nation’s Group
12 Women Total

Men:
5 National Quota USA
1 COC Overall Leader
5 Nation’s Group
11 Men Total

Link to World Cup 2016-17 Criteria here.
Main USSA Criteria page here.

January 19, 2017 (Antholz-Anterselva, Italy) – Canada’s Emma Lunder, 25, delivered a career-best 21st in her first-ever 15km IBU World Cup individual competition, missing just one shot in four rounds of shooting despite gusty winds, as round six of the series got underway in Antholz-Anterselva, Italy.

“To finish just out of the top-20 today feels amazing and I am so happy to add this to my resume,” beamed Lunder who began the season on the IBU Cup development circuit. “This was a definite boost of much-needed confidence going into the rest of the season.”

Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier recorded two penalties to win with a time of 44:48.7. France’s Anais Chevalier challenged Dahlmeier with only one missed target but finished second at 3.8 seconds back. Local Italian favorite Alexia Runggaldier placed third with one penalty at 46 seconds behind, for her first career podium.

It was also a solid outing for Canadian Megan Tandy as the two-time Olympian finished in 33rd with four penalties while teammate Julia Ransom placed 55th also with four missed targets. Clare Egan led Team USA in 59th with six penalties and was followed by teammate Joanne Reid in 60th with six penalties as well. Susan Dunklee with eight penalties, and Maddie Phaneuf with seven penalties, finished 71st and 81st, respectively.

“I had the fastest skis I’ve ever had in my life today, and three out of four good shooting stages,” said Egan. “Unfortunately, a stupid mistake in the first standing stage foiled any chance I had at a good result. I tried to shoot through gusting wind instead of waiting until I could take a good shot. I made a strong comeback from that point on, but 59th place is hardly what I was hoping for.”

The only other time Lunder finished in the points on the World Cup came in her first ever start on the elite circuit in 2014 when she was 30th in a sprint race in Pokljuka, Slovenia. Lunder first made headlines in the international biathlon circles when she broke through with a silver medal in the sprint event when the IBU Cup circuit made its way to her hometown in 2015.

“I was extremely happy to hit 19/20 on a tough day,” said Lunder. “I was really focused on executing some new shooting cues that I’ve been working on the last few days, and I’m happy with how they worked. I had fairly consistent wind for both prone and standing, and was happy not to have any big gusts blowing around me.”

“The course was in perfect condition, and our team had really competitive skis thanks to our hardworking wax team. Today was a huge day for me on the range. There’s still work to be done on the skiing side of things, but I know I’m headed in the right direction,” she added.

The victory gave Dahlmeier an 11-point lead in the World Cup standings over Gabriela Koukalova of the Czech Republic who finished 24th on the day suffering six penalties.

Results here.

January 18, 2017 (Park City, Utah) – The U.S. Ski and Snowboard Association has named 17 athletes to the cross country team that will compete in the International Ski Federation’s 2017 Nordic World Ski Championships next month in Lahti, Finland. The biennial World Championships brings together the best athletes in the sport for the Feb. 22-March 5 event which will be live streamed in its entirely on NBCsports.com.

“This is undoubtedly the strongest team that the USA has ever fielded at a major championships,” said Head Coach Chris Grover. “We have many veterans with World Cup podium experience in this group – athletes that are at the heights of their careers and their racing abilities. We have an experienced staff that knows how to manage the challenges of the major events and a world-class service team that has been making great skis all season long.  Lahti will be the perfect setting for the USA to showcase our newfound strength in cross country ski racing.”

The team includes three medalists from past championships including Jessie Diggins (Afton, MN), Caitlin Gregg (Minneapolis) and Kikkan Randall (Anchorage). Diggins and Randall teamed up to win gold in the 2013 World Championships team sprint in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Diggins and Gregg went silver-bronze two years ago in the 10 km individual freestyle event in Falun, Sweden. Randall also won silver in the freestyle sprint at Liberec, Czech Republic in 2009. Only four Americans have won a cross country medal at World Championships.

They will be joined by Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, WA), making her fourth team appearance, coming on heels of her first World Cup podium during the Tour de Ski. It will be the fifth worlds for Liz Stephen (E. Montpelier, VT), who was second fastest in the Tour de Ski hill climb. Other World Championships veterans will include Sophie Caldwell (Peru, VT), Ida Sargent (Orleans, VT) and Rosie Brennan (Park City, UT). New to the team this year is Chelsea Holmes (Girdwood, AK) who was on the podium at the recent L.L.Bean U.S. Championships at the Soldier Hollow Nordic Center in Utah.

Leading the men will be Simi Hamilton (Aspen, CO), who was on the podium in a freestyle sprint in January, along with veterans Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT), Noah Hoffman (Aspen, CO) and Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, WA). Among a host of first time team members are Kyle Bratrud (Eden Prairie, MN) and Ben Lustgarten (Burlington, VT), who each won gold at the recent L.L.Bean U.S. Championships at Soldier Hollow. They will be joined by Tad Elliott (Durango, CO), on his third worlds team, and Cole Morgan (Bozeman, MT), making his first appearance.

It will mark the ninth appearance on a World Championships team for Randall and eighth for Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT).

Lahti is a regular stop on the World Cup tour and will be holding the Championships for a record seventh time, with the first dating back to 1926 (1926, 1938, 1958, 1978, 1989, 2001, 2017). Over 700 athletes from more than 60 nations will take part in cross country, nordic combined and ski jumping. A quarter-million spectators are expected over the 12 days of the Championships.

“Lahti is an iconic cross country venue with a proud tradition of ski racing and a massive fanbase,” added Grover. “The trails have been redesigned to provide more technical and aerobic challenges for the athletes and more opportunities to place the racers in front of the fans.  The atmosphere will be loud and electric.”

Competition opens on Thursday, February 23 with the freestyle sprint – the strongest event of the Championships for the USA. Randall, Diggins, Caldwell, Newell and Hamilton have all been on the podium in World Cup sprints in the past. Action continues Saturday, February 25 with the multi-technique skiathlon. Diggins was second in the Tour de Ski skiathlon.

The mid-distance events this year are classic, with 10 km for women and 15 km for men. The women will be eyeing a medal in the 4×5 km relay event on Thursday, March 2, with the men running the following day in a 4×10 km relay. The Championships conclude March 4-5 with a 30 km women’s and 50 km men’s freestyle mass start.

2017 USA NORDIC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS CROSS COUNTRY TEAM
(Name, hometown, USSA club, birthdate, age at start of championships)

Men
Kyle Bratrud, Eden Prairie, MN (Central Cross Country) 2/9/1993 (23)
Erik Bjornsen, Winthrop, WA (Alaska Pacific University) 7/15/1991 (25) * **
Tad Elliott, Durango, CO (Ski and Snowboard Club Vail) 7/2/1988 (28) *
Simi Hamilton, Aspen, CO (Stratton T2) 5/14/1987 (29) * **
Noah Hoffman, Aspen, CO (Ski and Snowboard Club Vail) 8/1/89 (27) * **
Ben Lustgarten, Burlington, VT (Craftsbury Green) 4/17/1992 (24)
Cole Morgan, Bozeman, MT (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation) 3/10/1994 (22)
Andy Newell, Shaftsbury, VT (Stratton T2) 11/30/1983 (33) * **

Women
Sadie Bjornsen, Winthrop, WA (Alaska Pacific University) 11/21/1989 (27) * **
Rosie Brennan, Park City, UT (Alaska Pacific University) 12/2/1988 (28) * **
Sophie Caldwell, Peru, VT (Stratton T2) 3/22/1990 (26) * **
Jessie Diggins, Afton, MN (Stratton T2) 8/26/1991 (25) * **
Caitlin Gregg, Minneapolis (Loppet Nordic Racing) 11/7/1980 (36) * **
Chelsea Holmes, Girdwood, AK (Alaska Pacific University) 1/20/1987 (30)
Kikkan Randall, Anchorage (Alaska Pacific University) 12/31/1982 (34) * **
Ida Sargent, Orleans, VT (Craftsbury Nordic) 1/25/1988 (29) * **
Liz Stephen, E. Montpelier, VT (Burke Mountain Academy) 1/12/1987 (30) * **

* Past World Championship team member
** Olympian

MOST WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS TEAMS (3 or more teams)
Kikkan Randall – 9 (2001, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)
Andy Newell – 8 (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)
Liz Stephen – 5 (2009, 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)
Sadie Bjornsen – 4 (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)
Jessie Diggins – 4 (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)
Simi Hamilton – 4 (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)
Noah Hoffman – 4 (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)
Ida Sargent – 4 (2011, 2013, 2015, 2017)
Sophie Caldwell – 3 (2013, 2015, 2017)
Erik Bjornsen – 3 (2013, 2015, 2017)

2017 FIS NORDIC WORLD SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
Lahti, Finland
Cross Country Schedule (Finnish times; seven hours ahead of EST)

Wednesday, Feb. 22
7:00 p.m. Opening Ceremony

Thursday, Feb. 23
3:00 p.m. Freestyle sprint qualifications
5:30 p.m Freestyle sprint heats

Saturday, Feb. 25
12:00 p.m. – Women’s 7.5k CL/7.5k FS Skiathlon
2:30 p.m. – Men’s 15k CL/15k FS Skiathlon

Sunday, Feb. 26
11:30 a.m. – Classic team sprint semi finals and finals

Tuesday, Feb. 28
1:45 p.m. – Women’s 10k classic

Wednesday, Mar. 1
1:45 p.m. – Men’s 15k classic

Thursday, Mar. 2
3:00 p.m. – Women’s 4x5k relay

Friday, Mar. 3
1:30 p.m. – Men’s 4x10k relay

Saturday, Mar. 4
2:30 p.m. – Women’s 30k freestyle mass start

Sunday, Mar. 5
2:30 p.m. – Men’s 50k freestyle mass start
5:35 p.m. – Closing Ceremony

PAST USA WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS MEDALISTS
1 – Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall, freestyle team sprint – 2013, Val di Fiemme
2 – Jessie Diggins, 10 km freestyle – 2015, Falun
2 – Kikkan Randall, freestyle sprint – 2009, Liberec
2 – Bill Koch, 15k – 1976, Seefeld (Olympics doubling as World Championships)
3 – Caitlin Gregg, 10 km freestyle – 2015, Falun
3 – Bill Koch, 30k – 1982, Oslo

January 15, 2017  (Ruhpolding , Germany) – The USA’s Tim Burke finished 24th in tough snowy conditions with three missed targets in the men’s 12.5k pursuit that kicked off the final day of competitions in Ruhpolding as the BMW IBU World Cup 5 wrapped up on Sunday.

France’s Martin Fourcade battled through the heavy snow with three penalties to claim his 10th win of the season. Norway’s Emil Hegle Svendsen shot clean but finished second at 22.5 seconds back while Michal Krcmar of Czech Republic, also shot clean to take the last podium spot, for his first career podium at 19.5 seconds behind Fourcade.

Burke’s teammate, Lowell Bailey, was just behind him in 26th with two penalties while the lone Canadian on the start line, Scott Gow, finished in 41st with three misses at 3:09 behind. Amerian Sean Doherty finished 43rd at 3:22 back with four penalties.

“Today was another solid race for me,” said Burke. “I felt solid on the course but have not quite found my timing on the shooting range. I feel like things are headed in the right direction for me and I am looking forward to competing in Antholz next week, which has always been one of my favorite courses.”

Burke got off to a great start by cleaning both prone stages to move up to 11th out on the course. However, two misses in the first standing stage knocked him back to 28th and, despite another miss in the final standing stage, he rallied back to place 24th, 1:31.6 back of the winning time.

“I struggled a bit on the skis today,” Bailey said. “No explanation, but I’m still happy with a solid top-30 going into Antholz. It was difficult conditions with falling snow, so I was satisfied with the shooting. Of course, I wish I could have those two misses back, but I’ll have to wait until Antholz.”

Results here.

January 14, 2017 (Quebec City, QC) – It’s now official – the FIS Cross-Country World Cup Final will be back in Quebec City on the Plains of Abraham – see release below.

While not officially announced the FIS Cross-Country World Cup finals are coming to Quebec March 16-19. SkiTrax has learned from reliable sources that the teams have been notified and plans are underway. Not all details are in place but the wheels are turning and more details will be revealed by the middle of this coming week.

The success of Ski Tour Canada 2016 and race organizer GESTEV’s previous Sprint World Cup (2012) in the legendary city, have been key factors in ensuring things can fall into place for the upcoming finals. This is likely a big relief to FIS which was under pressure to find a replacement venue for Tuymen, Russia and given that Pierre Mignerey, FIS Cross-Country Race Director, recently reaffirmed to SkiTrax that,”…Quebec City is our first choice and the leading candidate to host the finals.”

With the 2017 FIS Nordic Junior & U23 World Ski Championships taking place in Utah at Soldier Hollow, January 30th-February 5th, this year is shaping up to be another blockbuster season for North American skiers and fans. We’ll have more news as it breaks.

FIS Cross-Country World Cup Final in Quebec City

It is now official, the FIS Cross-Country World Cup Final will be back in Quebec City on the Plains of Abraham ! The Quebec Winter Events Corporation, Cross-Country Canada and Gestev are proud to confirm the return of the cross-country skiing elite to Quebec City from March 17 to 19, 2017.
 
 “We’re excited to announce this great news for Canadian athletes and the people of Quebec City, and it’s all taking place thanks to teamwork and dialogue between numerous stakeholders,” said Patrice Drouin, President of Gestev. “An event like this reiterates our support for cross-country skiing and these remarkable athletes as well as strengthening existing ties between the FIS, the City of Quebec, the National Battlefields Commission and many more public and private event partners.”
 
Recall that when the Russian city of Tyumen pulled out of hosting the event, the International Ski Federation (FIS) approached Quebec City to take over the event as a matter of priority.

Read our previous coverage here.

January 14, 2017 (Toblach, Italy) – The USA’s Simi Hamilton was a mere boot tip away from victory as he delivered a superb sprint performance to claim second in the men’s 1.3km freestyle Sprint at Toblach, Italy, battling to a photo-finish with Norway’s Sindre Bjoernestad Skar who claimed his first World Cup win.

Hamilton, who won his first stage World Cup in 2014 in Lenzerheide, SUI, at the Tour de Ski, was just three hundredths of a second away from victory. In third place was Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, earning his third podium of the season.

“I’m psyched with the day for sure, though I sure wish I could have moved up one step on the podium from last year. I felt great going into my quarter final. I knew that my body was in good form and my skis were smoking fast after my qualification, so I wanted to ski my quarter smart and in control,” commented Hamilton.

“Our heat was pretty scrappy the entire race, but I made a good move going in to the corner before the final climb. Getting into a good position before the final long downhill into the turn before the finish stretch is really key on this course, so feeling good and being aggressive on that final climb was probably my best asset I had going for me all day today.

“Our semi was also very tight, and I knew it had been a pretty fast pace from the start, so even though I couldn’t get through much traffic in the final 500 meters, I focused on crossing the line in the best position I possibly could hoping that my third place time would be good enough for a lucky loser spot. Fortunately, it was,” he explained.

Fellow American, Andy Newell, who qualified in sixth one spot behind Hamilton, was fourth in his opening heat. He held onto a lucky loser spot for a while but was ultimately bumped and finished 13th.

Canada’s Alex Harvey was 17th and Len Valjas was 20th. The result bumped Harvey one spot up the overall World Cup standings into fourth.

“It was pretty good today. I think that was my best qualifier in two years so I was a bit surprised,” said Harvey, who was only going to start the team sprint on Sunday with Valjas. “It was such an easy trip to come down to Toblach. I just felt if I’m doing race prep I might as well put a bib on and see what happens. I felt a lot of speed today and was quite happy.”

The men’s final was hotly contested, with Hamilton hanging behind the leaders until late in the race when he made a strategic move to take the lead. He set the pace into the finish, but wasn’t in a good stride position at the line as Skar just barely edged him out for the win.

“In the final, I basically tried to ski as efficiently as I could for the first 2/3 of the race. On this course the key is skiing the last climb really well, and all day I was making a good, decisive move right before that to move from the back of the pack to the front. So I wanted to use the same tactics that had worked for me all day,” said Hamilton.

“I felt really good coming off the top of that hill, especially knowing that I was probably going to get a good sling shot off of Pellegrino on the long turn before the finish stretch (which was exactly what he did to me last year). That worked really well, and I had the best position possible going into the finish lanes, but I stumbled a tiny bit at the start of the very soft finish stretch, and it took me a second to regain my composure.

“I knew Sindre was coming in hot on my left as we neared the finish, and I just focused on going through the motions and setting myself up for a good lunge. It came down to the wire and he had just a little bit of a better lunge than I did to nip me by a couple centimeters at the line, but I’m still really psyched with how the day played out.

“Our techs did an outstanding job with giving us amazing boards all day, and it was definitely a team effort. It’s pretty unbelievable to see 5 of us in the top-13…

“I think that is historical and it’s a testament to the momentum that this collective team has right now. I’m psyched for tomorrow, but also for another skate sprint coming up in Falun, Sweden in two weeks and I’m really looking forward to a great training period before World Champs,” he concluded.

Sunday will showcase a team sprint and Hamilton will team up with Newell, while Harvey and Valjas will take on the world for Canada.

Results here.

January 14, 2017 (Toblach, ITA) – A fateful crash took out Kikkan Randall and Sophie Caldwell as they collided in the same semi final heat in the women’s 1.3km Sprint in Toblach, Italy, as the FIS World Cup schedule resumed following the Tour de Ski.

Natalia Matveeva (RUS) earned her second career individual sprint victory as she pipped overall sprint leader Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway at the line in thrilling finish. In third place was Sweden’s Hanna Falk for her third podium of the season.

Caldwell advanced to the semis finishing second in her heat while Randall advanced as a Lucky Loser. The duo drew the same heat which saw Randall was running directly behind Caldwell tucking a downhill into a left turn when Caldwell was pinched into the corner, spun around and Randall collided with her.

“Our skis were incredibly fast today and that was actually a little bit of the problem,” said Randall. “When our pack came down the hill that first time in the semi, everyone came together into the corner. The other girls went right so I could really only take the inside. I came up on Sophie faster than expected and tried to sneak by on the inside. But there wasn’t much space and I think I may have knocked her boot with my ski.”

“It was for sure a bummer of a way to end the day, but that is part of our sport,” said Caldwell, who had been down with a stomach ailment earlier in the week after winning a key Europa Cup sprint last weekend in Slovenia. “I felt like I skied the quarterfinal tactically well and had set myself up in a good position in that first half of the semi before falling.”

“I feel really bad because I think I caused the crash. It was a real bummer because both of us were feeling good and ready to mix it up. But luckily we are both okay and there was no broken bodies or equipment,” Randall added.

The World Cup sprint standings top 3 is shared by today’s top 3 ladies but with Falla with a big lead followed by Falk and Matveeva who are separated by just 2 points.

Results here.

January 14, 2017 (Ruhpolding, GER) – The USA’s Susan Dunklee placed 33rd with two missed targets in the women’s 7.5km sprint on Saturday in Ruhpolding at BMW IBU World Cup 5 at 2:13.5 behind Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen who shot clean for her first victory of the season.

Gabriela Koukalova of Czech Republic also shot clean for second at 22 seconds back, while Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier matched the top two on the range but finished third, 30.1 seconds behind Makarainen.

Rosanna Crawford was the top Canuck in 55th followed by Megan Tandy in 56th with Julia Ransom 60th. American Joanne Reid was 71st and her teammate Clare Egan finished 77th. Canada’s Lunder placed 89th and Maddie Phaneuf was 94th.

“I put myself in the race right from the start, taking advantage of a great ride behind Gabi for a loop,” said Dunklee. “Unfortunately, my pace fell off in the loops after that and my range performance was mediocre. I will have a great pack of athletes within two seconds ahead of me to chase tomorrow.”

After an overnight snowfall, more light snow accompanied by light winds began falling just before the start of the women’s sprint.

January 12, 2017 (Ruhpolding, Germany) – Canada battled to 10th in the women’s 4x6km relay in Ruhpolding (GER) on Thursday as Germany came from behind for the win at home with France claiming second over Norway at the line in a thrilling race. Team USA’s debut squad finished 17th.

The Canadian team of Megan Tandy, Rosanna Crawford, Emma Lunder and Julia Ransom shot well using only three spares and was as high as 8th courtesy of Crawford who started the second leg in 15th from Tandy.

“We had a great shooting day today, and some really fast skis,” said Crawford. “I think with just three spares for the whole team, our expectations should be quite a bit higher, but this year the ski speed seems to be below where we usually are.”

“Ruhpolding has one of the easier ranges on the World Cup circuit with little to no wind,” Crawford added. “It was raining for most of the morning and through the first two legs, but the track was still quite fast and held up nicely.”

Dunklee fired up to second place on the first leg but three extra shots in her first standing bumped her to 12th place. She tagged Phaneuf,  the youngest member of the team, in 11th. Phaneuf shot well using two spares but dropped to 16th as Egan took over. Both she and Reid used three spares for 17th overall.

“I enjoy the extra challenge of starting at the back of a mass start,” said Dunklee. “I’m good at weaving through crowds and it’s incredibly satisfying to pass lots of people. It was wonderful to finally put together a full women’s team and we look forward to improving upon today’s performance in the coming weeks.”

Norway took an early lead but a collision with Germany put them behind as the Germans took over with Italy, Ukraine and France chasing. Norway battled back and Marte Olsbu left the final standing range out front but Laura Dahlmeier chased her down for the win.

France’s Celia Aymonier battled from fourth to overtake the Ukraine and Norway for second with the Norwegians settling for 3rd.

Full results here.

Full results here.

January 10, 2017 (Heber City, Utah) – Ben Lustgarten, competing in his first year with the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, raced to his first national title in the men’s 30km CL mass start competition despite more challenging and sloppy conditions at the 2017 L.L.Bean US Cross Country Nationals in Soldier Hollow, Utah.

David Norris, of APU Nordic Ski center, finished second for the silver at 20 seconds behind, while multi-decorated veteran, Kris Freeman (Ski Club Vail), grabbed the final podium spot in third, another 45 seconds back.

Leading the Canadian charge was Whitehorse skier, Knute Johnsgaard, of the Alberta World Cup Academy, who finished 6th. Renowned para-Nordic skier Brian McKeever (Canadian Para Nordic Team) placed 12th leading a small group of fellow Canucks including Patrick Stewart-Jones (AWCA), Bob Thompson (NTDC Thunder Bay) and Erik Carleton (Canadian Para Nordic Team).

Lustgarten’s stellar performance adds another strong bid for selection to the World Championships, as the 24-year-old Middlebury College graduate also had a second-place finish at the West Yellowstone Supertour in December.

Full results here.

January 10, 2017 (Heber City, Utah) – Julia Kern from Stratton Mountain School topped the Junior Women’s field for the title in their 7.5km CL mass start race on Tuesday at the 2017 L.L.Bean US Cross Country Championships at Soldier Hollow. Hailey Swirbul (University of Alaska Anchorage) claimed the silver at 34.7 seconds behind, while Canada’s Annika Richardson (NTDC Thunder Bay) landed third on the podium at 1:12 behind the winner.

Full results here.

January 09, 2017 (Heber City, Utah) – Kevin Bolger of University of Utah and Jennie Bender of BSF claimed the 1.5km Classic Sprint senior titles at Soldier Hollow on Sunday, day two of the 2017 L.L.Bean US Cross Country Nationals. While Bender has won at numerous championships it was NCAA athlete, Bolger’s first national title as he took advantage of changing conditions that saw many race favorites eliminated in the qualification round.

Moritz Madlener of the University of Denver, another NCAA athlete, finished second in the men’s race as Jesse Cockney of the Canadian NST landed third on the podium, the top male Canuck of the day.

Following Bender, a pre-race favourite, was a late-charging Becca Rorabaugh of APU Nordic Ski Center. Women’s qualification winner, Kaitlynn Miller of Craftsbury Green Racing Project, took home third. Dahria Beatty of Alberta World Cup Academy was the top Canadian female in 4th.

A steady cold rain became a major factor for both the men and women. “Each time [between heats] we stripped down to spandex, we would get soaked from the snow/rain,” women’s winner Bender told SkiTrax, “After each finish we only had 20 minutes or so until the next heat. It was definitely a “focus only on what you can control” kind of day.”

Snow was falling steadily before and during the men’s qualifier, making for slow conditions and tricky kick wax decisions. As the first starters finished, the snow switched to rain, glazing the course and speeding it up drastically. While usually the first starters are the highest seeded according to FIS rankings, only seven of the top 30 starters advanced to the quarter finals.

Among the victims were pre-race favorite Reese Hanneman of APU Nordic Ski Center, who won the most recent North American Sprint at the NorAm/Supertour in Silverstar in December. He called the race “a nightmare,” after finishing in 57th. His teammate Tyler Kornfield, also a former National Champion in the distance, who finished 34th explained that the wax techs were not to blame. “The skis were good, if the whole field had skied in the same conditions,” he commented post race.

Despite his apparently difficult start position in 10th, Ben Saxton (Stratton) managed to take a decisive qualification win by 1.27 seconds, attributing the success to fantastic skis by his techs. In 2nd place was the 139th starter, Ettiene Hebert of Montereski and the 142nd starter Reed Godfrey.

In the final, Bolger, a relative unknown 23-year-old originally from Wisconsin, said he had a rollercoaster day dealing with good and bad results. “After qualifying 7th I had high spirits and I knew that I was in for all long day but I wasn’t sure how long. I knew I had chance to make the A final absolutely; but winning it really wasn’t on my mind,” he confided.

“During my semi-final I was in second and in my head I told myself that I was going to win today, until I crossed the finish line in 4th, I thought my day was over until I snuck in as a Lucky Loser. After that the top of the podium was all I wanted and I wouldn’t settle for anything less. Going into the last hill I went all in and committed to my attack and it paid off,” commented the winner.

Bolger’s previous best finish at a Nationals race was 23rd in 2014 in a 15km race at Soldier Hollow. “Honestly I feel like I have a lot more in me so I am excited to see where this season will go,” he added.

Both Bolger and second-place finisher Madlener are NCAA athletes who attributed both their coaching support and team with their success. “I think my success the last two days is really the accumulation of hard and smart work throughout the year,” wrote Madlener, who finished a surprise third place in Saturday’s 15km skate as well, “As student-athletes, we don’t always have that much time, so it is very important to be focused during every session and think through everything we do,” he explained.

The women’s race was slightly more predictable but no less exciting, as Becca Rorabough blasted from 6th to 2nd on the final downhill and challenged Bender for the win. Rorabaugh said that she was used to the sloppy conditions, “I thought the conditions were very much like Eagle Glacier to tell the truth. The rain during the heats never solidified enough to really slow things down,” she said. “I was pretty comfortable with the weather and my skis were good so it worked out.”

Rorabaugh, a traditionally fast sprinter and high-speed racer, said she used her strengths to her advantage. “I came from behind because it was my best card to play, given the terrain,” she added.

For Bender, meanwhile, the victory was a statement of a comeback after some rough years. “Critics have judged me harshly over the past five years: ‘she can’t ski distance’, ‘she only does well in heats,’ etc.,” she told Trax by email. “I’ve changed both of those this year, and maybe I’ve said too much already, but when I hear this nay-saying, I’m tempted to answer back, ‘Well why don’t you get Mono, Lyme disease, and herniate a disc in your back all in less than a year and a half, and let me know how you come back from that!’”

Bender, a definite contender for a World Championships berth said that she hoped her case was made. “If I was a coach truly looking at me as an athlete, I hope I’d see the drive, tenacity, experience, and growth potential, [in me] that comes from someone who has fought for every inch of her career,” she shared.

Bolger, meanwhile, was definitely not a contender until today. “I’m not sure what this means [in terms of qualification for Worlds]. For now all I can do is keep racing and hope everything will take care of itself. I’m feeling fit, and strong I can only hope for the best,” he told SkiTrax.

Canadian Ryan Jackson (Team Hardwood) topped the Junior Men’s field with Lance McKenney (Mountain Endurance) in second followed by another Canuck, Nicolas Beaulieu (Orford) in third. Northern Michigan’s Nicole Schneider won the Junior Women’s CL Sprint race with Taeler McCrerey (University of Denver) in second and Hailey Swirbul (University of Alaska) in 3rd.

Commenting on the unique conditions, US Ski Team Head Coach Chris Grover told Trax that the selection process would still be fair. “As you know, changing weather is a part of outdoor sport and something that happens frequently,” he said, “We have built the selection criteria for the Lahti World Championships to accommodate the potential for a tough waxing day.”

With only a skate sprint qualifier left to compete in, and with double points offered for US Nationals podiums in the  selection criteria, many of the strongest contenders lost a serious chance at gathering points in their best two out of four performances per discipline.

Junior Women’s Brackets here.
Junior Men’s Brackets here.

Senior Women’s Brackets here.
Senior Men’s Brackets here.

January 08, 2017 (Val di Fiemme) – Canada’s Alex Harvey raced to a career-best 7th overall with Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov crowned the king of cross-country skiing on Sunday as the Tour de Ski wrapped up on legendary Alpe Cermis, the grueling final 9km FR Stage 7 Pursuit climb.

Defending champ, Martin Johnsrud Sundby (Norway), finished second while Switzerland’s Dario Cologna held all all challengers to land third on the final podium at 45 seconds behind the winner. Ustiugov impressively won 5 of 7 stages – a record for the Tour celebrating its 11th edition this year.

“It was quite good today. That was the best position ever for me up the climb, and I had the 14th best time on the day,” said Harvey, who also skied faster than the overall leader Sergey Ustiugov on the day. “I was skiing with Manificat and Heikkinen who had the top-two times on the day. I was with them for a bit, but it was just a bit to fast for me. They crushed everyone on the hill.”

The real battle of the day was for third as Harvey, Maurice Manificat (Fra) and Finland’s Matti Heikkinen worked together to reel in Cologna. Manificat was on a mission to become the first Frenchman to podium at the Tour and was on Cologna’s heels at one point but the Swiss star closed the door and Manificat settled for fourth.

Harvey’s teammate Devon Kershaw, one of only three athletes in the world to have started all 11 Tours, finished 25th overall while the lone American man, Noah Hoffman, crossed the final finish line to claim 26th overall. Only 40 of the 85 athletes who started, successfully finished this year’s Tour.

“This gives me a lot of confidence for next year to know that if I’m in the top-three I am fast enough to keep it together on the last day and get on the overall podium,” said Harvey, 28.

“The first part is not so bad, but when you hit that first pitch your legs feel like concrete and then you have to tough it out for the last 15 minutes. Normally you have a downhill, and flats, to recover, but here you don’t flush any lactate. You just keep going and it is a battle against yourself. With six races before this one, it’s an absolute relief when you get to the top,” he added.

Harvey also finished 3rd behind Ustiugov and Sundby in the Tour’s Sprint Standings which are based on the first sprint race and bonus seconds accumulated during the seven stages.

“Toblach was the stage I was fearing the most. It is a bit of a dark hole for me, but I had my best result (11th) ever there. Yesterday was just a bit of a mix of fatigue and we overdid it a bit with grip on the skis. I felt quite good today and I think this was a step in the right direction towards World Championships,” Harvey concluded.

Results here.
Overall here.

January 08, 2017 (Val di Fiemme) – The USA’s Jessie Diggins captured a career-best 5th overall to match the best American result as the Tour de Ski wrapped up on Sunday with 9km FR Pursuit final Stage 7 won by Norway’s Heidi Weng for the overall title.

Finland’s Krista Parmakoski claimed second with Stina Nilsson of Sweden in third as Diggins’ teammate Liz Stephen took home the second fastest time of the day moving up from 19th to finish 14th overall. Only Weng skied faster up the renowned Alpe Cermis climb. Fellow American Rosie Brennan was 28th for her best Tour finish.

“I was really proud of the team – athletes, staff, volunteers and coaches for straining together day after grueling day and coming out strong in the tour! It was hard, but so worth it! Today I was really happy with my pacing – I tried to catch Ingvild and didn’t quite get there but to have my best TDS finish ever made it a great feeling at the top of the mountain,” said Diggins.

In an aggressive climb up Alpe Cermis, Diggins was within about eight seconds of Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg of Norway in fourth. But Oestberg sensed the danger and bolted away trying to reel in Nilsson, but the Swede was not easy prey either and did the same when the Norwegian got too close.

“Today I was really happy with my pacing,” said Diggins. “I tried to catch Ingvild and didn’t quite get there but to have my best Tour de Ski finish ever made it a great feeling at the top of the mountain.”

For Stephen it was the third time in her career she’s been second fastest on the legendary climb. “Cermis doesn’t get any easier, but I look forward to the challenge all year,” shared Stephen.

So what’s her strategy? “Just keep pushing, just look down and don’t think about how far away the finish is or how much pain you have left to endure. Just think about the moment you are in,” commented Stephen.

“Jessie matched her top-5 finish at Ski Tour Canada too. She’s a force to be reckoned with and it’s really cool to see her mature and grow into the strong athlete I knew she could be. Plus our staff is the best staff an athlete could hope for. They work so hard and always have a smile on their faces. It’s truly amazing,” she added.

Brennan showed her experience and talent in rebounding to claim a top-30 result. “This was only my second time up Alp Cermis, but it was definitely easier knowing what to expect. I struggled on the flat section, but was able to find a solid groove on the climb and pick people off one by one. I am very happy with my climbing.

“This was definitely not the Tour I had hoped for, but I am really happy that I was able to turn things around in the last few stages. I am always inspired by my teammates. It was especially nice to see Sadie get her first podium. It gives me confidence to see them succeed because I know it is possible for me too,” commented Brennan.

Following a few days to recover the US team will gather for a training camp in nearby Seiser Alm. “I love that place and I fully intend to go sledding every day,” quipped Diggins.

The World Cup returns next weekend with a freestyle sprint and distance race in the Tour town of Toblach, Italy.

Results here.
Overall here.

January 08, 2017 (Oberhof, Germany) – The USA’s Susan Dunklee raced to a 9-place finish in the women’s 12.5km mass start on the final day of the BMW IBU World Cup 4 in Oberhof. The American found herself in a 3-woman lead pack halfway through the race but three misses in standing took her out of contention as Gabriela Koukalova (Cze) shot clean for the victory.

Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier finished second with one penalty while Koukalová’s teammate Eva Puskarcikova also shot clean for third at 45.4 seconds back for her second podium this season. Canada’s Rosanna Crawford placed 25th with two missed targets.

“Earlier this week, things weren’t clicking on the shooting range,” said Dunklee. “I’m trying out a very specific shooting plan this year, with a different type of focus each week. This week I learned a lot about what doesn’t work. Today I modified my focus slightly to go back to a faster style of shooting like I had before Christmas.”

Despite a miss in the first standing stage, Dunklee only dropped down one place to fourth and was still in contention for the podium. However, two more misses in the final standing stage pushed her further back in the field.

“My standing shots all felt good except for my very last shot,” she commented. “I couldn’t get the barrel to stay on the target. Rather than taking an extra breath to reset, I over held it. That is my only regret of the day.”

“I am very grateful for our excellent wax technicians who put together incredible skis,” Dunklee added. “I was able to slingshot around other athletes on some key downhills sections.”

Earlier in the day, Germany’s Simon Schempp battled with France’s Martin Fourcade to win the men’s 15k mass start at the line. in 38:09.9. Schempp suffered one penalty while Fourcade had two. Schempp’s teammate, Erik Lesser, with one penalty as well, was able to lunge past Fourcade in the final sprint to claim second at 0.4 seconds behind the winner. No North Americans competed.

Women’s results here.
Men’s results here.

With files from US Biathlon

January 07, 2017 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – The USA’s Jessie Diggins battled to 8th for a strong finish at the penultimate women’s 10km classic mass start on Stage 6 in Val di Fiemme won by Stina Nilsson as the Swede regained the Tour de Ski lead. Diggins, in fifth, is poised to post her best Tour result.

Finland’s Anne Kylloenen followed Nilsson in second place at 3.0 seconds back for her first podium of the season. In third was Charlotte Kalla (SWE) who recovered from an early fall and finished at 3.7 seconds behind her teammate.

“I had good skis and one of my better 10k classics today,” Diggins said. “It was really fun to to so close to the leaders for almost the entire race, and a great confidence booster in my classic skiing. All those drills and technique work in the summer are starting to pay off. We’re all pumped to kick off one last hard race and finish strong in the Tour.”

Her teammate Liz Stephen moved up to make the top 20 finishing 19th and is ready for a strong finish on Alpe Cermis where she has finished second in the past – but she’s aiming for the top spot.

“The race today was fun and went pretty well for me. I love the courses in Val di Fiemme and I am really excited for tomorrow. I look forward to this race all year and so bring it on. My goal is to go out and catch as many people as I can, but also have the winning time of day split. It’s been my goal since the first year I watched the Tour, so I’m hoping to be able to put together a really strong race tomorrow,” said Stephen.

It was a bittersweet day for the USA with Sadie Bjornsen waking up sick and having to withdraw from the Tour. It came just a day after a brilliant career-first individual podium alongside race winner Diggins in the Toblach 5k freestyle.

Diggins maintained contact within the lead group the entire race protecting her fifth place overall. Finland’s Krista Parmakoski, in fourth, made a big move up to third while Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Westberg fell back into fourth only 23 seconds ahead of  Diggins, who has more than a minute over sixth place. With Nilsson’s victory she now has a 19.2-second lead over Heidi Weng.

As planned prior to the start, Kikkan Randall departed from the Tour after Friday’s 5km race to rest in preparation for the upcoming weekend’s freestyle Sprint in Toblach, Italy.

Results here.
Overall here.

January 07, 2017 (Oberhof, Germany) – Canada’s Rosanna Crawford battled tough conditions to finish 22nd in the women’s 10km Pursuit with four missed targets as France’s Marie Dorin Habert took home the victory with two penalties and a time of 34:33.3.

Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalova finished second, with three penalties at 38.8 seconds back, while Finland’s Kaisa Makarainen was third with four penalties at 1:19.1 behind Dorin Habert.

American Susan Dunklee struggled with the conditions on the shooting range suffering nine penalties to place 44th while Clare Egan had seven missed targets en route to 49th.

“Today was back to a bit more like Oberhof, but it was really cold so lots of cold feet and hands out there,” said Crawford. “The wind for my prone was pretty consistent and the miss was me. I just wasn’t quite focused enough and that was the same for my first standing.

“My last standing was a different story. The wind was really inconsistent and cold fingers made it hard to hit the targets. The potential was there for a really great race even with four misses, but my ski speed has been holding me back,” she added.

Dunklee will be the lone U.S. competitor in the women’s mass start on Sunday. “We had cold temperatures amplified by a brisk wind,” said Dunklee of the conditions. “I tried to draft someone on every loop entering the stadium because of the strong headwind. I am capable of shooting a lot better than I have these past couple days and now I am focusing on putting together a strong performance for tomorrow.”

Full results here.

January 07, 2017 (Oberhof, GER) – The USA’s Tim Burke was the top North American in 26th with four penalties as strong winds and cool temperatures presented challenging conditions for the men’s IBU World Cup 12.5km Pursuit in Oberhof, Germany.

No athlete shot clean as World Cup points leader Martin Fourcade of France claimed his eighth win of the season with one penalty. Germany’s Arnd Peiffer finished a distant second at 1:09.9 back with three penalties while Italy’s Dominik Windisch suffered five penalties to claim third at 1:32.4 behind Fourcade.

The USA’s Russell Currier climbed 12 places to finish 34th with five missed targets. Calgary’s Scott Gow was the lone Canadian starting in 43rd place as he dropped two spots to 45th with seven penalties.

“Today was another challenging race with extremely windy and cold conditions,” said Burke. “Considering the conditions, I am happy with my performance today. It’s always good to move up in the pursuit and I feel like my ski shape is getting better with each race. Hopefully I can continue this trend next week in Ruhpolding.”

“It’s been four years since I last finished in the points,” Currier pointed out. “It was frustrating knowing I could do it, but never being able to execute on the few chances there were. Today was the sign of progress I’ve been training for all year.”

Results here.

January 06, 2017 (Toblach, ITA) – Team USA celebrated a historic double podium with Jessie Diggins of Minnesota taking another victory in the women’s 5km individual skate while Sadie Bjornsen from Alaska earned her first individual World Cup podium taking a third-place finish on Stage 5 of the Tour de Ski in Toblach, Italy.

“We are dreamers, but we are also believers,” said Bjornsen in an email after the race, “It’s crazy how much confidence you can get from a teammates success if you allow yourself to stand beside them.”

Diggins’ time of 12:45 was 30 seconds faster than her win at the same event and venue last year, which was her first individual World Cup victory. “This was such a great day for our team! To stand on the podium with a great friend and teammate is so much more exciting,” she said via email, “I was just thrilled for Sadie today and with my own race, I went into the day feeling ready and believing in myself…ready to make it happen again!” Her time was nearly fifteen seconds ahead of second place finisher Krista Parmakoski of Finland.

For Bjornsen, who has shown promise for years but has narrowly missed podium finishes, the result was a dream come true. “Today was just amazing,” she commented, “I purposely asked for no splits today, because I wanted to go out there today and see how strong I could be inside my head. I love this course, but pacing is important, and I wanted to do my own thing. When I crossed the line, I had no idea where I had finished, so it was a fun surprise… like Christmas.”

Earlier this year, Bjornsen won a World Cup sprint qualifier but failed to make it through the semifinals. She said consistent skiing was the key to today’s success. “I had two things in mind today, ‘stay strong Sadie’ and “what would Jessie Diggins do?’” she said, “There is so much work on the second half of the race, and Jessie is just amazing at being strong on that section… so I was imagining her the whole second half in front of me, and it seemed to have worked. Big thanks for amazing skis, and amazing cheers from all over the world! I think today opened a new door for me, I can’t wait.”

Kikkan Randall, former World Cup overall Sprint winner was especially excited for the performance of her APU Nordic Ski Center teammate. “We’ve known Jessie would be strong in this race but I’m especially psyched for Sadie,” she said, “All fall she was battling problems with her heels but she stayed focused, didn’t get deterred and now she’s flying! I vividly remember the joy and excitement of getting those first podiums and it makes me so happy to see the girls get to experience that for themselves. I’m glad I have played a part in helping them succeed and it’s such satisfying vindication for our whole program and everyone that helps contribute to USA’s success!”

Bjornsen has been dealing with injuries off and on for over the past ten years. This season, she struggled with bone spurs on her heels that prevented her from running and wearing normal ski boots during fall training.

Results here.
Overall here.

January 06, 2017 (Toblach, ITA) – Canada’s Alex Harvey finished 11th in the men’s 10km FR individual start on Stage 5 at the Tour de Ski and slipped to 4th overall as Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov racked up an unprecedented fifth straight stage win.

Maurice Manificat, of France, was second at 21:48.3, while Norway’s Simen Hegstad Krueger locked up the final spot on the podium with a time of 22:04.5.

The USA’s Noah Hoffman had a solid day finishing in the points in 25th with Erik Bjornsen just outside the top thirty in 31st. Canada’s Devon Kershaw was just behind in 32nd followed by Graeme Killick in 35th.

It was 28-year-old Harvey’s best result on the unique Toblach course. “We shouldn’t be greedy. He is consistently right there every day, and this 10-kilometre race was very quick with the podium under 21 minutes. Alex missed a little speed today, but the skis were good and he is still feeling good,” said Canadian coach Babikov.

“Alex just keeps delivering and it is really impressive to watch,” added Babikov. “This was his toughest day on the Tour, yet it was his best ever skate result here in Toblach. Of course we are hungry for more, and tomorrow is going to be a really good race.”

Ustiugov appears to be skiing away with the title. No male athlete had won more than four stages in the previous 10 editions of the Tour de Ski and today’s win in the 10km free technique was also his first ever win in an individual start competition on World Cup.

Simen Hegstad Krueger of Norway recorded his first ever World Cup podium with a third place finish +16.6 seconds behind Ustiugov. Krueger took third place away from Finland’s Matti Heikkinen but just 0.7 seconds.

Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby struggled on today’s stage and finished 14th place losing valuable time to Ustiugov in the overall standings. He remains in second place but is now 1:34 back while Switzerland’s Dario Cologna moved up to third overall bumping Harvey to 4th.

Results here.
Overall here.

January 06, 2017 (Planica, Slovenia) – The USA’s Simi Hamilton and Sophie Caldwell each took hard fought freestyle Sprint wins Friday in Planica, Slovenia against a strong field that included a host of World Cup sprinters no longer in the Tour de Ski. The FIS World Cup returns to freestyle sprint racing next weekend in Toblach, Italy.

W Qualifications here.
M Qualifications here.

W Finals here.
M Finals here.

January 06, 2017 (Oberhof, GER) – Canada’s Rosanna Crawford, 26, shot clean to earn her best result of the season, finishing 21st in the BMW IBU World Cup 7.5km women’s sprint race in Oberhof, Germany on Friday.

The Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalova also shot clean for her second straight victory. Kaisa Makarainen of Finland was second with two penalties at 21 seconds back while France’s Marie Dorin Habert grabbed the last spot on the podium at 23.7 seconds behind Koukalova, with one penalty.

Susan Dunklee was the top American in 50th with four penalties at 2:36.3 behind followed by Clare Egan in 52nd with two missed targets.

Crawford took advantage of little wind to shoot clean for the first time in more than two years at 1:32.3 behind Koukalova. “It was a dream day out there with conditions more like Canmore than Oberhof,” said Crawford, who lives just west of Calgary. “There was little to no wind in the range and the tracks held up nicely. It was great to have a good shooting day, but the ski speed is still way off.”

“Oberhof was the most beautiful I have ever seen it with great snow, almost no wind and plenty of sunshine,” commented Dunklee. “I felt a little rusty after the break, particularly on the shooting range. I don’t think the jet lag helped matters either. Missing two in prone is already more mistakes than I want in a race, but that just make it more important to ski hard and come into the range fully focused for standing.”

While happy with her shooting Crawford is looking for more speed on her skis.  “The coaches and myself are still scratching our heads as to where the ski speed is,” she added. “Hopefully things will turn around in time for World Championships. I am happy that my results are getting better, but when you analyze the ski speed it is similar to what it was in December. I had good skis today though and the techs did another great job.”

January 05, 2017 (Oberhof, GER) – The International Ski Federation (FIS) has re-confirmed that Quebec City is the leading candidate to host the FIS Cross-Country World Cup finals from March 16-19, following the Dec. 23 announcement that Russia has declined to host the finals in Tuymen in light of WADA’s McLaren reports on systematic, state-sponsored doping in the country.

Some Scandinavian sites are also contenders but all of this means that the FIS is scrambling to find a replacement for Russia. Important factors, most notably financing, are part of the equation in the search for a new venue in light of the sudden change.

SkiTrax caught up with FIS Cross-Country Race Director, Pierre Mignerey, who is currently in Oberstdorf, GER, at the Tour de Ski, to find out more about the situation.

“Yes that’s correct,” Mignerey told SkiTrax. “We are in close contact with Cross Country Canada (CCC) and Québec (GESTEV). Québec City continues to be our first choice at the moment. Sweden, Finland and Norway are also interested but our focus is on Québec for many reasons.

“The success of Ski Tour Canada is one of them, but not the only one. World Cup races in Québec City have always been great events, with a lot of spectators, a great atmosphere and a professional organization,” Mignerey continued.

FIS has been eager to develop the sport outside of Europe which led to Ski Tour Canada last season that encompassed eight races. “It’s important for the development of cross-country skiing to have World Cup organizers outside of Europe. Canada is an important nation in the sport and this is a great opportunity to come back to North America. The World Cup finals should always be something special and Québec City is clearly the right place to host a great World Cup finals,” shared Mignerey.

We wondered if the dates would be the same as originally scheduled which Mignerey confirmed but one event may be cancelled. “Yes the dates will remain the same as for Tuymen. In any case we will probably have only three races though on Friday, Saturday, Sunday,” he commented (the 3/5km FR Prologue scheduled for Thursday, March 16 will likely be cancelled).

The logistics of the XC ski caravan transferring to North America is no small undertaking and we wondered how the teams and athletes are reacting to the news.

“The first feedback from the teams and athletes was positive even though the logistics will be more complicated for Québec compared to Scandinavians sites. Such late changes need fast decisions and it’s difficult to involve everyone in the process. Nevertheless we are in constant discussion with all the stakeholders – including the teams – in order to make the appropriate decisions,” explained Mignerey.

We contacted Dave Dyer, CCC’s event coordinator, a key player in the execution of Ski Tour Canada for his take on things. CCC is also in the middle of a leadership transition as Shane Pearsall is taking over from out-going CEO Pierre Lafontaine – read more here.

“We’re supportive as this would be another fabulous opportunity for cross-country skiing in Canada and for our developing athletes who would normally not get a World Cup start,” commented Dave Dyer, CCC’s event director. “With the time of year and the holiday period the project is taking a bit longer to confirm final logistics and whether the Finals are financially viable under the timelines provided by the International Ski Federation. We hope to have a decision shortly.”

Mignerey confirmed that around 60 women and 70 men are expected to compete at the final competitions, and that FIS has not set an effective deadline for making a decision on the venue, but hopes to finalize things as soon as possible. “We are expecting some news from CCC very soon and we will hopefully be able to make a decision next week.”

The 2016 Ski Tour Canada FIS cross-country Stage World Cup races in Montreal and Quebec City were organized by GESTEV which also organized a very successful downtown sprint in Quebec City in 2012.

“FIS approached us and we are very happy and grateful,” explains Marie-Michelle Gagné, Chief of Media Relations for GESTEV. “On the other hand, with the very short deadlines between now and the event, we must analyze everything to see the feasibility of the project, thus obtaining the necessary permits from the City and the (Plains of Abraham) Battlefields Commission, as well as the support of Cross Country Canada. We will have to position ourselves quickly, just like our partners from a financial support point of view, to hand over our decision within the time-frame prescribed by the FIS.”

GESTEV’s President, Patrice Drouin, previously told the Journal de Quebec that while hosting the event is organizationally feasible, the main question is about financing. Questions we asked GESTEV and CCC about possible government support have so far been unanswered.

The successful Ski Tour Canada 2016, from March 1-12, which included the historic FIS cross-country World Cup finals in Canmore, Alta., marked the first time the legendary Crystal Globes were awarded outside of Europe.

SkiTrax’s previous report here.

January 01, 2017 (Val Mustair, Switzerland) – Canada’s Alex Harvey finished strong in 8th and is now third overall following the 10km CL mass start race on Stage two at the Tour de Ski won by Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov taking his second straight victory. Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby finished nearly two seconds back at 24:51.9 with fellow Norge Didrik Toenseth in third.

“It was a good day. I’m happy with the result and the way I skied,” said Harvey, who has consistently been in the top-10 this year. “The skis were good and I made up some spots on the down hills today.”

Harvey’s teammate Devon Kershaw finished in the points in 27th with a solid effort as he started in 54th. Graeme Killick also moved up nicely 14 spots to finish 33rd while Len Valjas rounded out the Canadian contingent in 38th. The USA’s Erik Bjornsen finished 42nd, Noah Hoffman was 46th and Simi Hamilton placed 75th.

Starting in fifth spot on the front line of the mass start race, Harvey executed his tactics to near perfection as 78 of the world’s best Nordic skiers jockeyed for position while venturing around the narrow 2.5 kilometre loop four times.

“The course was pretty dangerous. The snow was super fast with sharp corners. The first goal was to stay near the front and out of trouble. The second goal was to stay with the leaders. I accomplished both of those today so it was a great first two days,” added Harvey.

A lightening quick pace, skiing at altitude on a tricky layout that features a long, four-minute climb off the start mixed with tight corners, down hills and flats along in a rare 10-kilometre race distance were the perfect ingredients for a tough day at the office.

“Skis were great – they have been good all year this year. The boys are doing a fantastic job,” commented Kershaw. “It was hard to pass for sure. It was a short loop (2.5km) and a lot of turns – so it was hard to make any passes. Especially early. I started in the 11th row with bib 54, so it was really busy out there for me – but I was patient and managed my energy well I felt. I did what I could out there.

“I’m decently happy. I don’t want to be living just inside the top 30 – especially in classic distance races – but to move up from such a bad bib and deep in the field on this course – I felt like I did what I could,” he concluded.

Harvey, who has been battling heavy legs the last couple of days added, “I still didn’t feel 100 per cent today but better than yesterday. It is a bit higher altitude here than in Davos. It is the same for everyone, but it will be nice to get to sea level again in Oberstdorf.”

Results here.
Overall here.

December 31, 2016 (Val Mustair, Switzerland) – The USA’s Jessie Diggins delivered a solid 6th place finish in the women’s Sprint FR as Stage 1 of the 11th annual Tour de Ski got underway on man-made snow in great conditions at Val Mustair, Switzerland.

Sweden’s Stina Nilsson took the women’s win over Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR) in second at 2.48 seconds behind with Heidi Weng in third at 6.47 seconds back.

Diggins, who qualified 9th, was the only American to advance thru the heats as Sophie Caldwell qualified fifth, Sadie Bjornsen was eighth, and Kikkan Randall, who also celebrated her birthday today, made the heats qualifying in 29th.

In her opening 1/4 final Diggins raced fast and smart into second place at 0.52s behind Nilsson. She was also matched up with Nilsson in the semifinals, finishing third, but again, a fast heat that put her into the finals as a lucky loser.

In the finals, no one could match up with Nilsson. Diggins fell behind at the start and had to constantly work to keep up with the torrid pace being set by Nilsson, who skied a full two seconds faster than her semifinal time to take a win by 2.48 seconds – huge by sprint standards.

“I was happy with a good start to the Tour and especially since I didn’t know what to expect after being sick and not having quite the training I wanted during break,” said Diggins. “It’s always nerve-wracking when you haven’t raced in a while, but it felt good to get back at it and I’m excited for the rest of the Tour. Our staff did a great job and delivered great skis, and it was fun to race on a course with some rollers and fun downhills!”

Caldwell narrowly missed second in a photo finish but was in a slow heat and did not advance while Bjornsen led much of her heat before fading to fifth.

Randall’s performance was a bright spot in her return to the World Cup after a year off. In each race since her return a month ago she has incremented her results, this time sneaking into the finals and coming away with a strong finish.

“Today definitely felt like another step forward toward getting my race sharpness back,” said birthday girl Randall. “My qualifier was decent and I felt like I had more punch in my quarter final. Tough to just miss the lucky loser spot because I was feeling stronger as I went and actually felt competitive for the first time this season. Still lots of racing ahead, though, so I am satisfied with today as a good start and am feeling good about the races ahead.”

Qualifications here.
Results here.

December 31, 2016 – Team US is having a solid start to the season but the squad has been celebrating even more good news over the holidays as next September they will take delivery of their new wax truck. Fundraising for the $500,000 project has been underway for a little over a year and was spearheaded by Liz Arky and Kikkan Randall.

Arky is a member of the Board of Directors and Board of Trustees at USSA, and the chair of a US Nordic Advisory group she formed. Well connected in Washington she is also the principal at Arky Group Consulting, LLC, a specialty firm providing strategic, government relations and development advice to corporate and non-profit clients.

The US team has been making steady performance gains on the World Cup with Randall leading the way over the years against many strong and well-funded Scandinavian and European teams such as Norway, Sweden, Finland, Germany, France and Russia… all of whom have wax trucks for their service crews.

“We’ve been talking about this for awhile, perhaps five years, but needed to get some other fundamentals in place first,” said US XC Team head coach Chris Grover. “We wanted our wax tech team and support crews in place along with some training projects and a few other segments dialed before focusing on the wax truck. We were ranked 6th in the world at the end of last season, but the USA is only team ranked in the top-9 last year without a wax truck – now that it’s almost here it’s pretty amazing to see it all come together.”

“We’re working with the same Swedish companies as the Canadians did – Scania and SKAB who also work with the Russians and Norwegians. Our wax truck will be similar to Canada’s but we’ve customized it for our needs so it will open in three directions including a covered porch option for outdoor waxing,” Grover continued.

The US team’s head of service, Oleg Ragilo, was also heavily involved reviewing what other wax trucks offered and providing valuable design input for the US team’s utilitarian requirements. It was a real “team effort” stressed Grover. Randall says the team members were bubbling with enthusiasm and “overjoyed and pumped up” when news that the funding for the truck had been secured.

Randall and Arky were somewhat of a dynamic duo and things snowballed rapidly when the two began the process of raising the half a million price tag. It was Arky’s earlier work with the formation of a Cross Country Advisory Group to the USSA Cross Country team that was the foundation for projects like the wax truck. The Group’s mission has been to help with fundraising, visibility and messaging.

“In the two and a half years I’ve been working with the team, I’ve been really impressed with the innovation and togetherness of the team so along the way I formed a Cross Country Advisory Group. There is an incredible camaraderie and longevity of the athletes, a consistency of leadership and coaching as well as an innovative support team that has enabled high performance in spite of less resources than the nations ahead of us,” said Arky.

“I travelled to World Cup races in Davos with USSA CEO Tiger Shaw two years ago. We were both surprised to see the waxing environments and the wax trucks of the nations ahead of us. While we were impressed with how well our team was doing in spite of not having one, we became determined to level the playing field,” Arky explained.

Randall was the perfect partner as a veteran star of the US team who was the lone woman at the Torino Games in 2006 and is now surrounded by a very talented group of women coached by Matt Whitcomb.

“I helped out with the fundraising for the wax truck but it was really Liz Arky that worked the magic. She brought me to the USSA Board of Trustees meeting last year in Vail and I just got to talk about our team and what we do. A lot of the board members were surprised to hear how small our budget is compared to some of the powerful Nordic nations and how “outgunned” we are by the teams with trucks,” commented Randall.

“I shared my story from Sochi and stressed that it not only takes the world class physical and mental preparation to win medals, it also takes a world class service team and getting the right skis on the right day. I shared the stories and Liz made sure the right people heard them… then she followed up to keep them invested,” she continued.

The message hit home and things began to fall into place. “With Tiger’s Foundation staff, we appealed primarily to individuals. While we have not widely appealed to companies some announcements are coming,” said Arky. “We found many individuals who are impressed with the rising performance of the team, who agreed the truck will help the wax techs to produce consistently competitive skis in a state of the art work environment. A number of the individuals are cross-country enthusiasts who are new donors to the team, while several are members of the Board of Trustees.”

Randall’s passion for the sport and the team is infectious and she is also the Chair of the FIS Athletes’ Commission and President of Fast and Female USA. “I was really impressed with how interested the trustees were in our team and how much they were willing to throw their support behind this project. Our board tends to be dominated by the alpine world so I think it was really eye opening for the trustees to hear more about the cross-country team, how far we’ve come and how close we are to those Olympic medals,” added Randall.

Arky echoed how well the message resonated. “The Board of Trustees has always been supportive of the cross-country team, and several found the wax truck to be a tangible, viable and visible resource to level the playing field. As a group they were delighted to hear directly from Kikkan, who is of course widely admired and respected. The Trustees all look for the ways in which they can contribute to giving our athletes an edge — Kikkan brought tears to their eyes with her stories of Sochi and the World Champs, and made it clear how critical the waxing process is to high performance. We are all excited to provide a resource that will be a source of pride for the team, staff and supporters for years to come,” shared Arky.

For Grover the safety and comfort of the team is always top of mind and the working environment of the wax crew is crucial to delivering consistent top level skis at every race site. “The elements of the environment in our wax truck include consistent ventilation, more space to move about and operate, consistent lighting, customization and familiarity with the service techs work space, etc.  These things should help the staff stay healthier, work more efficiently, and provide better overall ski service,” said Grover.

We wondered how many skis the team will need to have on hand. “Right now we carry about 500 pairs. It will depend on the size of the World Cup Team and how many athletes we have who are skiing at that level,” commented Grover.

He answered the tough question about how many more podiums the team might see this way. “It’s hard to objectively say what kind of improved consistency of fast skis we can expect from the new working environment. The truck will provide an environment that doesn’t change from week to week which should allow the us to more consistently make great skis.

“This investment gives us a 20-year mandate and it’s amazing and rewarding to see it come together. The plan is to take delivery on Sept. 1 next year as we head into an Olympic season – it will be stored in Estonia until we head to Europe – we couldn’t be more excited,” concluded Grover.

For Randall the wax truck adds additional kick to her swan song season in 2018.

“I was really motivated to help fund raise for this truck because I’ve seen how hard our service team works and I know how good this truck can be for their health and their capacity to make even better skis. I also was secretly hoping it would arrive before I retire so I could get a chance to experience the truck for my final season,” quipped the legendary triple Sprint Globe winner.

Team USA’s Wax Team
– Oleg Ragilo – Head of Service, Head of Kick
– Jean-Pascal Laurin – Head of Glide
– Marek Sander – World Cup Serviceman
– Tim Baucom – World Cup Serviceman
– Andrew Morehouse – World Cup Serviceman
– Jason Cork – World Cup Coach and service for Jessie Diggins

December 29, 2016 (Val Mustair, Switzerland) – The U.S. Cross Country Ski Team will enter one of its deepest and most experienced squads ever with nine athletes named, as the FIS Tour de Ski 2017 gets underway in Val Mustair on New Year’s Eve day with a freestyle sprint. The 7-stage tour will cover four stops in three nations before the finale up the staggering Alpe Cermis hill climb in Val di Fiemme, Italy on Sunday, January 8.

Among the top U.S. skiers will be Jessie Diggins (Afton, MN), who led the USA last year finishing 10th overall; Sophie Caldwell (Putney, VT), who won a classic sprint stage a year ago; Liz Stephen (E. Montpelier, VT), a powerhouse on the final climb who holds the U.S. best overall finish in fifth; and Simi Hamilton (Aspen, CO), winner of a sprint in the 2014 Tour at Lenzerheide (SUI); also returning to the Tour after a year’s absence will be Kikkan Randall (Anchorage), who won the Val Mustair sprint in 2013.

Andy Newell (Shaftesbury, VT), the lone skier at Team USA’s inaugural Tour in 2010, is sitting out this year while fellow American, Kris Freeman (Andover, NH), skied to the best-ever U.S. men’s finish in 2011 claiming 7th. Randall scored the first U.S. podium at the Tour in 2012 finishing second in the sprint at Toblach; the next year she earned two stage wins. As mentioned Hamilton won in 2014 and last year, Caldwell won a classic sprint while Diggins took a 5km freestyle victory.

Diggins, who took a World Cup win this season at the 5k freestyle in Lillehammer (NOR), will be looking to improve on her 10th place TdS finish a year ago. Bjornsen, meanwhile, has had a solid and consistent early season across both freestyle and classic races and is poised to improve on her 14th place Tour finish a year ago.

Again this year, NBC Sports will be covering the entire Tour de Ski with live streaming each day at NBCSports.com, plus same-day broadcast coverage every afternoon (USA time) on Universal HD featuring commentary from world champion and Olympic medalist Johnny Spillane. Live scoring data will be available at FIS-Ski.com, including GPS tracking on several events.

2017 U.S. Team Tour de Ski 2017 Roster

MEN
Erik Bjornsen, Winthrop, WA
– Third Tour de Ski start
– Finished 41st in 2016, only full Tour finish

Simi Hamilton, Aspen, CO
– Fifth Tour de Ski start
– Won 2014 Lenzerheide freestyle sprint
– Has not completed full Tour

Noah Hoffman, Aspen, CO
– Fourth Tour de Ski start
– Fastest time in freestyle pursuit from Cortina to Toblach in 2014
– Finished 22nd in 2016
– Has three full Tour finishes

WOMEN
Sadie Bjornsen, Anchorage (Winthrop, WA)
– Third Tour de Ski start
– Finished 14th in 2016 in lone Tour finish
– Strong, consistent early season results this year

Rosie Brennan, Anchorage (Park City, UT)
– Second Tour de Ski start
– Was 42nd in first appearance in 2016

Sophie Caldwell, Putney, VT
– Fourth Tour de Ski start
– Won Oberstdorf classic sprint in 2016
– No full Tour finishes

Jessie Diggins, Afton MN
– Fifth Tour de Ski start
– Finished 10th in 2016 – matching second best U.S. women’s finish ever
– Won Toblach 5k freestyle in 2016
– Three full Tour finishes
– Strong early season including 5k freestyle World Cup win in Lillehammer

Kikkan Randall, Anchorage
– Returning after year’s absence to make fifth Tour de Ski start (skipped 2014 Tour to prepare for Olympics and 2016 while pregnant)
– Won two stages in 2013 including Oberhof prologue and Val Mustair freestyle sprint
– Finished 10th in 2012
– Three full Tour finishes

Liz Stephen, E. Montpelier, VT
– Seventh Tour de Ski start
– Has finished all six Tours she has entered
– Holds top U.S. Tour de Ski finish of fifth (2015) as well as a seventh (2014)
– Second in Alpe Cermis hill climb in 2013, 2014 and 2016
– 5th in Val di Fiemme10k classic mass start in 2016

2017 TOUR DE SKI SCHEDULE
All events to be live streamed on NBCSports.com

Saturday, December 31 – Val Mustair, Switzerland
8:50 a.m. – Men’s and women’s freestyle sprint

Sunday, January 1 – Val Mustair, Switzerland
7:00 a.m. – Men’s 10k classic mass start
10:00 a.m. – Women’s 5k classic mass start

Tuesday, January 3 – Oberstdorf, Germany
6:15 a.m. – Women’s 5k/5k CL/FS skiathlon
9:15 a.m. – Men’s 10k/10k CL/FS skiathlon

Wednesday, January 4 – Oberstdorf, Germany
5:30 a.m. – Women’s 10k freestyle pursuit
6:45 a.m. – Men’s 15k freestyle pursuit

Friday, January 6 – Toblach, Italy
4:45 a.m. – Men’s 10k freestyle
7:00 a.m. – Women’s 5k freestyle

Saturday, January 7 – Val di Fiemme, Italy
8:30 a.m. – Women’s 10k classic mass start
9:30 a.m. – Men’s 15k classic mass start

Sunday, January 8 – Val di Fiemme, Italy
5:30 a.m. – Women’s 9k freestyle pursuit – hill climb
9:30 a.m. – Men’s 9k freestyle pursuit – hill climb

December 29, 2016 (Val Mustair, Switzerland) – Canada’s Alex Harvey (St.-Ferreol, Qué.), Devon Kershaw (Sudbury, Ont.), Len Valjas (Toronto), and Graeme Killick (Fort McMurray, Alta.) are set to hit the start line when the world’s best cross-country skiers kick off the ultimate high-performance 9-day grind at Val Mustair, Switzerland on December 31 as the 11th edition of the epic Tour de Ski gets underway.

Kershaw is one of a handful of athletes that started in all 10 previous editions of the Tour that is modeled after the Tour de France in cycling. One of the featured events on the Nordic calendar it features seven punishing races at four different venues in three countries to determine the king and queen of cross-country skiing.

Team Canada’s four entries will focus on fighting for the podium at each stage while contending for spots in the top-10 at the overall Tour when it wraps up on Jan. 8 in Val di Fiemme, Ita.

Former Alpe Cermis winner, Ivan Babikov, has been assigned Canada’s coaching duties for the Tour, and has assembled a closely-knit wax team of six experienced techs. To contend for the overall Tour lead there’s no margin for error in ski preparation and Team Canada will have one of the best athlete-to-wax tech ratios for each Tour stage.

Tour de Ski 2017 Schedule

December 31 – Val Mustair, Sui.
Skate Sprint

January 1 – Val Mustair, Sui.
10km Classic Mass Start

January 3 – Oberstdorf, GER
10km Skiathlon

January 4 – Oberstdorf, Ger.
15km Skate Pursuit

January 6 – Toblach, Ita.
10km Skate

January 7 – Val di Fiemme, Ita.
15km Classic Mass Start

January 8 – Val di Fiemme, Ita. (Alpe Cermis)
9km Skate Pursuit

December 24, 2016 – Dear President Bach, President Kasper, members of the IOC Executive Board, and members of the FIS Council, We find the handling of the evidence of state-sponsored systematic doping named in the McLaren report and other doping violations surrounding the 2016 Rio Summer Olympics to have been disturbingly lenient across multiple sports. This has damaged the credibility of what it means to be an Olympic athlete. We believe that this lenience is not befitting to an organization such as the IOC which should be working to clean up sport.

We are also concerned with some of the comments coming from FIS leadership regarding doping in our sport.  We would like to request an open meeting with President Kasper at the FIS World Ski Championships in Lahti in February 2017 to discuss the future of clean sport.

We believe a soft-handed approach to anti-doping is allowing cheating to persist in our sport. We request stronger leadership by both the FIS and IOC to be dedicated to clean sport.

Thus, we, the undersigned athletes of the Cross Country World Cup support the following statements:

– We deserve the right to compete on a doping-free playing field, and request stronger leadership from the FIS, IOC and WADA to accomplish this.
– We support a stronger, independent World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), with the power and autonomy to impose meaningful sanctions on the signatories to the WADA code in the case of their non-compliance.
– We expect strict, swift, consistent and transparent sanctions for any signatories to the WADA code who violate the code.
– We will not intentionally violate the WADA CODE, and support all measures to uphold it.

These statements have been drafted by an international committee consisting of World Cup athletes from eight nations.

Signed,

Alex Harvey (CAN)
Bob Thompson (CAN)
Tim Puiras (CAN)
Devon Kershaw (CAN)
Emily Nishikawa (CAN)
Cendrine Browne (CAN)
Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (CAN)
Maya Macisaac- Jones (CAN)
Julien Locke (CAN)
Timothy Smith (CAN)
Sam Greer (CAN)
Knute Johnsgaard (CAN)
Dahria Beatty (CAN)
Lenny Valjas (CAN)
Graeme Killick (CAN)
Laurien Van Der Graaff (CH)
Nadine Faehndrich (CH)
Heidi Widmer (CH)
Hannes Dotzler (DE)
Sebastian Eisenlauer (DE)
Sandra Ringwald (DE)
Thomas Wick (DE)
Stephanie Boehler (DE)
Florian Notz (DE)
Victoria Carl (DE)
Valentin Maettig (DE)
Hanna Kolb (DE)
Thomas Bing (DE)
Jonas Dobler (DE)
Nicole Fessel (DE)
Katharina Hennig (DE)
Sofie Krehl (DE)
Julia Regleb (DE)
Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FI)
Sami Jauhojärvi (FI)
Martti Jylha (FI)
Ristomatti Hakola (FI)
Lari Lehtonen (FI)
Krista Pärmakoski (FI)
Perttu Hyvarinen (FI)
Jean-Marc Gaillard (FR)
Maurice Magnificat (FR)
Clement Parisse (FR)
Clement Arnault (FR)
Robin Dullivard (FR)
Paul Goalabre (FR)
Baptiste Gros (FR)
Lucas Chanavat (FR)
Coraline Hugue (FR)
Virginia De Martin (IT)
Greta Laurent (IT)
Federico Pellegrino (IT)
Lucia Scardoni (IT)
Ilenia Defrancesco (IT)
Elisa Brocard (IT)
Francesco De Fabiani (IT)
Gaia Vuerich (IT)
Francesca Baudin (IT)
Giulia Sturz (IT)
Ragnhild Haga (NO)
Ingvild Flugstad Østeberg (NO)
Marit Bjørgen (NO)
Maiken Caspersen Falla (NO)
Astrid Jacobsen (NO)
Eirik Brandsdal (NO)
Sindre Bjørnestad Skar (NO)
Natalia Korosteleva (RU)
Elena Soboleva (RU)
Alisa Zhambalova (RU)
Daria Vedenina (RU)
Anna Haag (SE)
Teodor Peterson (SE)
Jens Burman (SE)
Ida Ingemarsdotter (SE)
Maria Nordstrøm (SE)
Stina Nilsson (SE)
Emma Wiken (SE)
Simon Andersson (SE)
Evelina Settlin (SE)
Maja Dahlqvist (SE)
Emil Joensson (SE)
Jonna Sundling (SE)
Jennie Oberg (SE)
Daniel Rikardsson (SE)
Martin Johansson (SE)
Charlotte Kalla (SE)
Hanna Falk (SE)
Linn Somskar (SE)
Kikkan Randall (US)
Noah Hoffman (US)
Simeon Hamilton (US)
Sophie Caldwell (US)
Ida Sargent (US)
Elizabeth Stephen (US)
Kris Freeman (US)
Caitlin Patterson (US)
Sadie Bjornsen (US)
Eric Packer (US)
Rosie Brennan (US)
Jessie Diggins (US)
Andrew Newell (US)

December 23, 2016 – Earlier today FIS provisionally suspended six Russian cross-country skiers linked to doping violations during the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics while yesterday the IBU held a special Extraordinary Executive board meeting to announce two Russian biathletes have also been provisionally suspended.

These steps are the direct result of the McLaren Report 2, commissioned by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), which suggested as many as 1,000 athletes could be involved in Russia’s massive doping scandal of which 28 Nordic athletes were highlighted by the International Olympic Committee. The IBU (International Biathlon Union) has 31 biathletes listed within the pages of McLaren’s scathing report.

While the six Russian cross-country skiers appear to have tested positive at the Olympics, the majority of cases under investigation by the IOC appear to have occurred during other events.

As previously reported Expressen based in Sweden discovered a coding system used in the McLaren Report to identify athletes being investigated and their findings pointed to top Russian skiers Alexander Legkov, Maxim Vylegzhanin, and Nikita Kriukov.

While not officially named Ski-Nordique.net used the same coding system to identify and list the six Russians xc skiers serving the provisional suspension as Legkov, Vylegzhanin, Evgeny Belov, Alexey Petukhov, Julia Ivanova and Yevgenia Shapovalove – and provided a link to the spreadsheet that correlates the coding system to the athletes.

The Russian website championat.com has also listed the 6 skiers reporting that, “… according to confirmed sources in the Russian Ministry of Sports and the Russian XC Ski Federation, the Russians that have been provisionally suspended are Alexander Legkov, Maxim Vylegzhanin, Evgeny Belov, Alexei Petukhov, Evgenia Shapovalova, and Yulia Ivanova due to the presence of foreign substances in their doping samples.”

According to a report in Langren.com Ivanova confirmed to Russian news agency TASS that she’s been suspended. As yet the two biathletes remain unnamed and apparently are not related to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

The Russian XC Ski Federation issued an official release as well confirming that six athletes are under investigation while claiming “The Russia Cross-country Skiing Federation once again underlines its zero tolerance policy towards doping, is a champion of fair and equal play in sports, and counts on objectiveness of the current investigation.”

Neither FIS nor the Russian XC Ski Federation have indicated the skiers in question and SkiTrax has not verified the published names. Russian XC Ski Federation President, Elena Vialbe, claims the athletes were not doping.

In light of these developments, the FIS XC Ski World Cup finals scheduled to take place in Tyumen, Russia, in March 2017 will be relocated to a new venue not yet announced. Meanwhile the IBU is apparently considering to move the 2021 Biathlon World Championships out of Russia.

Coupled with this news is a recent headline in The Guardian that Anti-Doping Organizations are frustrated with IOC President Thomas Bach who is said to have sidestepped a meeting the organizations are keen to have.

Ski Noridique here.

Expressen Report here.

IBU Release here.

FIS Statement here.

Russian Ski Federation here

Championat here.

Anti-Doping vs Bach here.

December 23, 2016 (Switzerland) – On December 22 the International Olympic Committee (IOC) communicated to FIS that it has opened investigations into alleged anti-doping rule violations in connection with the Olympic Winter Games 2014 in Sochi (RUS) for six Russian cross-country skiing athletes.

As a result of the current circumstances whereby the FIS competition season is in full swing and the competitions and sporting accomplishments of the athletes are being undermined by the shadow of the McLaren Investigation Report, the IOC has empowered FIS to undertake follow-up actions in its own competence with the alleged anti-doping rule violations that took place during the period of the Sochi 2014 Games.

The six athletes against whom the IOC has opened Disciplinary Proceedings are thereby provisionally suspended from 22 December 2016, in accordance with the FIS Anti-Doping Rules, article 7.9. The investigation of the alleged anti-doping rule violations will be carried out by the IOC Disciplinary Commission, which has the results and case management authority for anti-doping at the Olympic Winter Games, whereby the provisional suspensions are imposed by FIS. Both organisations IOC and FIS will cooperate and share information in the investigation of these cases.

The athletes and the Russian National and Cross-Country Ski Associations have been duly notified of the disciplinary proceedings, further investigations and the provisional suspensions. The FIS is not empowered to communicate the names of the athletes before the disciplinary proceedings are concluded in accordance with the provisions of the World Anti-Doping Code, and leaves it to the athletes and the Russian Ski Association to do so.

The Russian Cross-Country Ski Association has communicated to FIS their determination to build its credibility in the cross-country skiing community and commitment to clean sport. As a first step it has returned to FIS the upcoming Cross-Country World Cup Finals, which were scheduled to take place in Tyumen in March 2017. Details of their re-allocation will be communicated by FIS in due course.

FIS President Gian Franco Kasper said: “The findings in the McLaren Report have seriously damaged the integrity of sport and we are determined to ensure the necessary measures are undertaken to punish the offences. We will work together with the Russian Ski Association to rehabilitate the Russian cross-country skiing community and we sincerely count on their commitment to clean sport.”

December 22, 2016 – IOC president Thomas Bach has apparently ruffled the feathers of 24 Anti-Doping Organizations who sought to meet with him for an urgent face-to-face meeting to discuss the problems in the global anti-doping system reports The Guardian. Bach is reported to have sidestepped their request and instead IOC director-general, Christophe De Kepper, responded after a two-week delay to suggest a meeting in January. The urgent meeting was in reaction to the second part of the McLaren report that identified that more than 1,000 Russians athletes across more than 30 sports were involved in, or benefited from, state-sponsored doping between 2011 and 2015. Bach’s sincerity to take action is being called into question – read more here.

December 17, 2016 (La Clusaz, FRA) – Canada’s Alex Harvey was a strong 7th in the men’s 15km FR in La Clusaz but a fateful crash took him out of the mix for the podium as Norway’s Finn Haagen Krogh made a late charge for the finish line, edging out his teammate Martin Johnsrud Sundby at the line. Russia’s Alexander Legkov snagged the bronze medal.

The USA’s Eric Bjornsen scored his first skate distance points with a solid 20th-place finish – a career-best result for him. His teammate Noah Hoffman was 49th still feeling the impact of illness. Harvey’s 7th is his best early season result on the World Cup

“Really disappointed, the guys gave me great skis,” said Harvey post race. “I had a good body but fell at the end of the 3rd lap and dropped to 26th. I made it back to the group but the top 4 were gone.”

Skiing at the top of the pack in fifth place on the third of eight laps, Harvey crashed and dropped way back into 26th spot on the narrow 2km loop made entirely from man-made snow.

“There is no snow at all in Europe so they actually cut blocks of ice from a lake to create a base on the track and put snow on it so the corners were icy. We are used to that, but I just lost my focus for a bit and crashed on my own,” said the 28-year-old who has consistently been in the top-10 this year.

“The hardest lap was the one right after. When you crash you are super tense, but I was able to recover and get back into relaxed mode. The course was super narrow so it was hard to pass. I slowly made my way up to the front. I felt really good, but I think it was a missed opportunity today.”

Knute Johnsgaard was the only other Canadian to finish placing 63rd. Devon Kershaw pulled out mid-race with illness while Andy Shields was lapped.

Full results here.

December 17, 2016 (La Clusaz, FRA) – The USA’s Rosie Brennan was the top North American in 22nd while Canada’s Dahria Beatty continued her good form chalking up the best distance result of her career, finishing 26th in the women’s 10k freestyle mass start World Cup in La Clusaz.

Heidi Weng led a Norwegian podium sweep with Marit Bjoergen taking the silver and Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg landing on the final podium spot.

Fellow American Liz Stephen finished just behind Brennan in 23rd with Beatty 26th, Kikkan Randall 36th, Caitlin Patterson 37th. Canadian Cendrine Browne was 41st while her teammate Emily Nishikawa finished 48th.

The race was run on a narrow swath of snow, but the track was excellent reported skiers. The illness-ravaged U.S. Ski Team meant the both Jessie Diggins and Sadie Bjornsen were unable to start.

“It is truly amazing what the organizers were able to do without any snow! We had a solid 2k loop that held up remarkably well. It didn’t break down much or get too icy. The course has 3 short steep hills and 3 downhills with some somewhat fast and technical corners. Knowing this I was hoping to be aggressive from the start and get into a good position knowing that it would be hard to pass and that the downhills were going to take some people down,” commented Brennan.

“Unfortunately, I got in a tangle about 100m into the race, spun around and fell over, leaving me headed up the first hill in last place. I was able to quickly regroup and found Liz who also had a tough start. We are both better on the climbs so we just moved together through the field as best as we could, picking people off one by one on every uphill and holding it together on every downhill. I have had a tough start to the season and I was so happy to feel more like myself today and be able to be in the race. Our team has been destroyed by illness the last few weeks. It was so sad to not have the full squad out there, but I was happy to have come back from the illness myself after sitting out last weekend and I’m sure everyone will be back in force after the holidays,” wrote Brennan by email.

Beatty was over the moon with her result earning her first World Cup distance points at her first European mass start race. She finished 25th in a skate-sprint race in Davos, Switzerland last weekend.

“This was my first European WC mass start. I have raced a couple in Canadian WC’s. It unfolded as I had hoped. Honestly it was better than I expected. I was able to ski on the outside up to about 35th place on the first lap after being caught behind a little crash at the start. I was feeling good today and on my second and third lap was able to slowly move up through the field a bit. The last two laps were really hard but I new that I’ll I had to do was hold my position to score my first ever distance WC points.

“I am thrilled with the result. The course was hard and fun and stayed in good condition. There was lots of cheering with the short course which really helped at the end. Before today my best distance result was 40th so I am super super happy to have finished 26th,” she concluded.

Meanwhile according to Randall when the world cup was in La Clusaz in the late 80’s, “We had no USA skiers racing. So we’re pretty pumped to have a strong team over here now that can contend every weekend.”

“The course was a challenging but exciting 2km lap.  The snow was actually stayed in good condition throughout most of the race.  There were some high speed turns that held up surprisingly well,” she continued.

“My goal today was to go out hard and try to move up into the front of the pack on the first lap.  Even though I started near the back I was able to move up pretty well in the first lap and held a good position in the top 20 for the first two laps.  Started to fade going into lap three and wasn’t able to keep the speed up to maintain my position.  Laps 3 and 4 were tough and then I worked hard the final lap to empty the tank.

I’ve had some indications in the first period that my fitness is better than my results are showing and that is a matter of sharpening my race form. Every race is helping me get a little bit closer. I am moderately satisfied with my race today.  I had a good first half but there were a few windows to try and get a little more out of myself in the 2nd half that I didn’t quite get today.  Going to learn from this and keep pushing forward,” commented Randall.

With the illnesses in the US team the starting lineup for the 4x5k relay remains in jeopardy. Coaches will make the determination on Sunday morning. The US women have been on the podium in the last three team events.

Results here.

December 17, 2016 (Nove Mesto, CZE) – American Susan Dunklee continued her world class performances with a personal-best 4th in the women’s pursuit at the BMW IBU World Cup 3 in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic on Saturday. France’s Anais Chevalier took the win for her first-ever World Cup victory with one missed target.

Italy’s Dorothea Wierer had a season best in second place, with two penalties, 9.5 seconds back. Sprint winner Tatiana Akimova of Russia finished third, with one penalty, 19.4 seconds back.

Canada’s Julia Ransom matched a career-best World Cup pursuit result in 19th. The 23-year-old from Kelowna, B.C. shot clean until her fourth and final stop on the range where she missed one.

Dunklee started third off the line in the women’s race, five seconds behind Friday’s sprint winner Akimova and less than a second back of Chevalier. In the first prone shooting stage Dunklee was the only one to go clean, giving her the lead and a 15-second advantage over Wierer who also went clean.

“I wanted to catch a ride on the first loop,” Dunklee said of her race strategy. “I now trust my range work to put me where I want to be. Mostly I was just focusing on skiing in control as the race is long and leading early doesn’t necessarily mean much.”

After a miss in her second prone stage, Dunklee dropped back to fourth place, 14 seconds out of first. Another miss on her last target in the first standing stage knocked her down to fifth, but she reclaimed fourth with a clean final standing. That put her five seconds behind Akimova leaving the range, but she couldn’t close the gap in the final stretch.

“Everyone was struggling a lot today with the icy surface,” Dunklee added. “It is impossible in places to get any purchase on the snow.” Dunklee, who had the fastest total range time in the field, crossed the line 8.6 seconds after Akimova.

Canadian Rosanna Crawford moved up five spots to finish 32nd with two misses on the range while American Joanne Reid hit 18 of 20 targets to finish 54th.

Full results here.

December 09, 2016 (Prince George, BC) – World Para Nordic Skiing, Cross Country Canada and the Canadian Paralympic Committee are pleased to announce that the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club in Prince George, British Columbia, has been chosen as the host site for the 2019 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships.

Approximately 140 athletes from over 20 countries will travel to Prince George to compete in Para cross-country skiing and biathlon events.

The event will mark the first World Championship held in the city of Prince George. In 2015, the city successfully hosted the 2015 Canada Winter Games, the country’s largest domestic multisport event. Now, it is set to welcome the world.

“The first-ever World Championship in Prince George – I like the way that sounds,” said Lyn Hall, Mayor of Prince George. “Thank you to World Para Nordic Skiing for recognising that Prince George is a special place with world-class venues, world-class volunteers, and world-class experiences for athletes. We look forward to welcoming you in February 2019.”

“Less than a year after the PyeongChang 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, the 2019 World Para Nordic Skiing Championships in Prince George will be a fantastic opportunity to expose Canadians to world class competition,” added Karen O’Neill, CEO of the Canadian Paralympic Committee. “Fans can expect to see many established stars from PyeongChang, as well as new athletes with great potential, competing in Prince George in 2019.”

Canada has a rich history in Para Nordic skiing. Brian McKeever has won 13 Paralympic medals in three Games, including 10 gold, the most ever by a Canadian winter Paralympian. His brother and original guide, Robin, is now a national coach in the sport.

Added Erica Hummel, CEO of Tourism Prince George: “We are thrilled that this high profile event is coming to Prince George, creating further recognition that we are succeeding in building a reputation as a world-class sport hosting destination. We’re looking forward to showcasing our northern city and creating the warm hosting atmosphere we’re known for here in Prince George.”

The local Nordic skiing community has been working towards an event like this for many years.

“This is a terrific milestone for our club and we surely wouldn’t be making an exciting announcement like this one today without our members and amazing volunteers,” said Kevin Pettersen, Chair of the Local Organising Committee. “Hosting this World Championship in 2019 is a natural progression from hosting the Canada Winter Games and the facility improvements we made at the Caledonia Nordic Ski Club. I’m tremendously honoured to be leading the Organising Committee for the World Para Nordic Skiing Championships and can’t wait to make it happen!”

December 08, 2016 (West Yellowstone, Montana) – Round #1 of the 2016/17 USSA Cross Country SuperTour took place this past weekend, Dec. 3-4, in West Yellowstone, Montana as lack of snow at the original site in Bozeman, MT forced organizers to relocate the event. Inconsistent snowfalls over the past several years have played havoc with early season races in the SuperTour series.

The first weekend of racing included the 1.3km Freestyle Sprints for Men and Women on Saturday, December 3rd. Sunday, Decmeber 4th saw the Men’s 15km Classic and Women’s 10km Classic, as well as the WYSEF 5km Classic Juniors race.

In the Men’s 1.3km FR Sprints kicked things off as Matt Gelso (Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation) took his first SuperTour sprint win, beating out Tyler Kornfield (Alaska Pacific University) in second with Reese Hanneman (APU) in third. Gelso maintained a lead he established half-way through the final crossing the line almost 2s ahead of Kornfield with Hanneman another 2.27 seconds back. Benjamin Saxton, Cole Morgan and Dakota Black horsevon Jess rounded out the heat.

In the women’s 1.3km contest, Jennie Bender (Bridger Ski Foundation) won over Stratton Mountain School’s Erika Flowers and Annie Hart. Bender, the top qualifier, dominated with Hannah Halvorsen claiming 4th, Chealsea Holmes 5th, and Petra Hyncicoba was 6th.

Day 2 of the SuperTour opener saw Gelso (SVSEF) top of the podium again winning the men’s 15km classic individual start with a hefty 32.2-second margin over Ben Lustgarten (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) followed by Scott Patterson (Alaska Pacific University) in third.

In the women’s 10km classic individual start, Liz Guiney (CGRP) stopped the clock with a time of 33:52.8, securing her the win over Katharine Ogden (Stratton Mountain School) in second at 7.7 seconds back. Kaitlynn Miller (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) rounded out the podium in third at 28.4 seconds back.

The first Period of racing in the USSA SuperTour will conclude on December 9-10 in Silver Star, British Columbia.

Sprint Q here.
Men’s final here.
Women’s final here.

10/15km CL results here.

December 08, 2016 (Canmore, AB) – Dahria Beatty and Knute Johnsgaard are barely old enough to remember the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, but they got to experience the Norwegian city’s lung-busting ski trails Dec. 2-4 during a World Cup mini-tour at the historic small city.

The northerners gained valuable experience against an extremely deep field, facing the impossibly strong Norwegian team, who were playing for keeps in their own backyard. Superstars Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Heidi Weng dominated the field, Beatty and Johnsgaard once again got a glimpse of the rocket power required to become the best on the planet.

Beatty managed a 66th place finish in the classic sprint (Dec 3), and took 62nd spot in the 5 km Freestyle race (Dec. 4). Her time of 14:14.7 in the 5 km race was a mere 34 seconds out of the top 30, demonstrating the thin margin of error between the World’s top skiers. Beatty was actually sitting in the top-20 at the halfway mark, but faded on her second lap.

“I was really happy with the first 2.5 km. The giant climb was just too long,” Beatty laughed. “I just need to keep building the race endurance so I don’t die so hard, but it was definitely a positive day even if the result wasn’t great.” Jessie Diggins of the United States won the race (12:40.3), followed by Norwegians Weng and Marit Bjoergen.

In the sprint, Beatty finished less than a second behind Canadian teammate and AWCA alumnus Emily Nishikawa, and 11 seconds outside of the heats. Weng took the win ahead of her countrywoman Maiken Caspersen Falla. Sweden’s Hanna Falk finished third.

Johnsgaard, whose Norweigian name gets plenty of attention overseas, had one of the best world cup results of his career, finishing 51st in the sprint. He was four seconds off qualifying for the sprint heats, and barely two seconds behind Canadian teammate Devon Kershaw. The skier, whose training included incredible treks chasing moose through the Yukon wildlands, impressed his coaches with some great speed on the day. Calle Halfvarsson of Sweden took the win.

In the 10 km skate, Johnsgaard finished 73rd with a time of 25:26.9 at 2:22 behind winner Halfvarsson of Sweden.
“I died on the last hill. That puppy is long,” said Johnsgaard.

AWCA head coach Chris Jeffries said he saw a lot of great things from Beatty and Johnsgaard, and notes the best is yet to come as the World Cup races enter mountainous terrain.

“For the second week in a row, Knute and Dahria did some really good things in their racing, but have yet to connect it all together for that perfect race. At this level and this time of year, you really need the perfect race to be competitive on the World Cup. I’m quite confident that next weekend when the tour gets to the mountains that both will see a jump in performance. Both have struggled a bit finding their rhythm in diagonal stride, and they are looking forward to two skate races,” said Jeffries.

The Canadians travel to Davos, Switzerland on Dec. 10-11

Silver Star Bound
The race to become Canada’s top domestic skier begins this weekend in Vernon, B.C. with the Haywood NorAm Buff Sprints and USSA Super Tour Points race at the Sovereign Lake Nordic Centre. The series attracts the top athletes from the United States and Canada, who can earn a trip to the World Cup by garnering enough points domestically. AWCA athletes such as Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt, Annika Hicks, and Maya MacIsaac-Jones are expected to be in the medal hunt, while the junior athletes work towards their big races in February at World Junior Championship trials. Follow the results here.

Jack Attack Reaches Norway
AWCA’s Jack Carlyle is taking a slightly different route this year, competing in Scandinavian Cup races in Norway, not far from the recent World Cup venues. The 23-year-old Sault Ste. Marie native is in his third season with the Academy. He got his first taste of international racing last year at the U23 World Championships in Romania, and the experience whetted his appetite for a veritable buffet this year.

Lake Louise, Winter Wonderland
After kicking off the weekend at last week’s Alberta Cups, the Academy athletes had the weekend off racing.After a couple easier days, it was back to work with some hard max aerobic speed work on the rollerski treadmill.The team was out this weekend in the Winter Wonderland of Lake Louise for some volume training, after which they will turn their focus to the start of the 2016-17 Nor Am calendar:

– Saturday December 10 – Sovereign Lake, BC – Classic sprint
– Sunday December 11 – Sovereign Lake, BC – 10/15km skate
– Friday December 16 – Rossland, BC – 10/15km skate
– Saturday December 17 – Rossland, BC – Skate sprint
– Sunday December 18 – Rossland, BC – Classic pursuit

November 23, 2016 (Park City, Utah) – The 2016-17 U.S. Cross Country Ski Team was announced today, just before the International Ski Federation (FIS) World Cup opener in Ruka, Finland on Nov. 26. A total of 16 athletes were named to the A, B and D Teams.

Head Coach Chris Grover is anticipating a strong season with stars on both the men’s and women’s side, and an especially deep women’s team with the return of Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, AK), who took last season off for the birth of her first child.

The season kicks off in northern Finland and will feature the 11th running of the Tour de Ski in early January, FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland in late February, plus the USANA FIS Nordic Junior World Championships and U23 World Championships on the Olympic trails at Soldier Hollow near Midway, UT.

“I believe the 2016-17 squad will be the strongest team in the history of USA cross country ski racing. With the return of Kikkan Randall, we have an incredibly experienced and veteran group of podium performers headed to Europe this fall,” said Chris Grover, Head Coach. “We’ve had a very productive preparation period that has included more time working on technique on snow than ever before. The Team is healthy, fit and stoked for the 11th edition of the Tour de Ski, the 2017 Lahti Nordic World Championships and the World Cup in general.”

Highlights

– A total of 16 athletes were formally named to the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team.
– The past season tied the best in USA World Cup team history with 11 podiums total.
– Randall returns: Veteran Kikkan Randall is returning to World Cup racing after the birth of her son Breck this past April.
– Jessie Diggins and Sophie Caldwell both had World Cup wins last season (first for Caldwell) with Diggins collecting seven podiums and Caldwell two podiums. Simi Hamilton had his best season ever with two World Cup podiums.
– Women’s relay success: Last season, the 4x5k women’s relay team had the best finish in the history of U.S. women’s skiing with a second place in Nove Mesto.
– World Championships: All eyes are on the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships this year, taking place in Lahti, Finland.
– U.S. Ski Team debuts: Ian Torchia and Hannah Halvorsen make their U.S. Cross Country Ski Team debuts this season.
– Off-season prep: The team had productive camps this year in Bend, OR, Mt. Bachelor, OR, Eagle Glacier, AK, Wanaka, New Zealand and a dryland camp in Park City, UT.
– Soldier Hollow: The Olympic venue of Soldier Hollow near Midway, UT will play host to the U.S. Cross Country Championships Jan. 7-12, 2017 and the USANA 2017 FIS Nordic Junior and U23 World Ski Championships Jan. 28-Feb. 8, 2017.
– The World Cup opens November 26-27 in Ruka, Finland.

“The 2016-17 U.S. Cross Country Ski Team has experienced skiers and younger skiers, a great staff and a very strong team spirit. It’s a very important season for U.S. cross country skiing,” commented Robert Lazzaroni, Nordic Domestic Program Director. “With the USANA 2017 FIS Nordic Junior and U23 World Ski Championships taking place in Park City, UT – the first time in the U.S. since 1986 – we have the opportunity to showcase the talent we have domestically. On the World Cup side, this is the last season before the 2018 Olympics. The Lahti 2017 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships will be the key focus of the season. Go USA!

2015-16 U.S. Cross Country Ski Team Roster
Name (hometown; home club) (skis, boots, poles, eyewear, gloves) birthdate
* Olympian
** World Championship team member
*** Participating in Westminster College partnership program

A Team
– Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, WA; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center) (Fischer, Fischer, Swix, Rudy Project, Swix) 11/21/1989 * **
– Sophie Caldwell (Peru, VT; SMS Elite Team) (Fischer, Fischer, Swix, Rudy Project, Toko) 3/22/90 * **
– Jessie Diggins (Afton, MN; SMS Elite Team) (Salomon, Salomon, Swix, Rudy Project, Swix) 8/26/1991 * ** ***
– Simi Hamilton (Aspen, CO; SMS Elite Team) (Fischer, Fischer, Excel, Oakley, Toko) 5/14/1987* **
– Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT; SMS Elite Team) (Fischer, Alpina, Swix, Rudy Project, Swix) 11/30/1983 * **
– Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, AK; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center) (Fischer, Fischer, Yoko, Rudy Project, Yoko) 12/31/1982 * **
– Ida Sargent (Orleans, VT; Craftsbury Green Racing Project) (Madshus, Madshus, Swix, Rudy Project, Toko) 1/25/1988 * **
– Liz Stephen (East Montpelier, VT; Burke Mountain Academy) (Rossignol, Rossignol, Exel, Rudy Project, Toko) 1/12/1987 * **

B Team
– Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, WA; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center) (Rossignol, Rossignol, Swix, Oakley, Toko) 7/14/1991 * **
– Rosie Brennan (Park City, UT; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center) (Rossignol, Rossignol, Exel, Rudy Project, Toko) 12/2/1988 **
– Noah Hoffman (Aspen, CO; Ski and Snowboard Club Vail) (Madshus, Madshus, Madshus, Julbo, Toko) 8/1/1989 * **

D Team
– Patrick Caldwell (Lyme, NH; SMS Elite Team) (Fischer, Fischer, Swix, Rudy Project, Swix) 2/18/1994
– Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, CA; Sugar Bowl Academy) 2/19/1998
– Julia Kern (Waltham, MA; SMS Elite Team) (Fischer, Alpina, One Way, Rudy Project, Toko) 9/12/1997
– Katharine Ogden (Landgrove, VT; Stratton Mountain School) (Fischer, Fischer, Swix, Toko) 11/17/1997
– Ian Torchia (Rochester, MN; Northern Michigan University) (Fischer, Fischer, Start, Oakley, Toko) 3/8/1996

2016 U.S. Cross Country Ski Team Staff

Coaching Staff
– Chris Grover, Head Coach
– Matt Whitcomb, Women’s Coach
– Jason Cork, World Cup Coach
– Bryan Fish, Development Coach

World Cup Service Team
– Oleg Ragilo, Head of Service
– Jean-Pascal Laurin, World Cup Service
– Marek Sander, World Cup Service
– Tim Baucom, World Cup Service
– Andrew Morehouse, World Cup Service

U.S. Cross Country Ski Team Sponsors and Suppliers

Uniforms
– L.L.Bean
– CRAFT

Ski Equipment and Soft Goods
– 2XU
– Alpina
– Atomic
– Big Truck Brand
– Bolle
– Briko
– Buff, Inc.
– Exel Poles
– Fischer
– Huge
– Johaug Gloves
– Julbo
– Khombu
– Madshus
– Neve
– Oakley
– OneWay
– Rossignol
– Rudy Project
– Salomon
– SmartWool
– Soul Poles
– Swix
– Toko
– Vertical Brands
– Yoko

Wax, Tools and Training Devices
– Boulder Nordic
– BOSU Fitness
– Dermatone
– Dominator
– DryGuy
– EPS-Doublet
– Extended Exposure
– Holmenkol
– HWK Ski Wax
– Identity Plus
– Insight Replay
– Lasting Impressions
– Liftopia
– Little Hotties
– Reliable Racing
– Rollerblade
– Skier’s Edge
– Slingshot Sports
– Start Wax
– Sun Valley Ski Tools
– Swix
– Team Fan Shop
– Toko
– Thule
– TriggerPoint
– Vauhti Wax
– Vertical Brands
– WinCraft
– World Cup Supply
– Yaktrax

Uniform Logo Sponsors
– Audi
– CRAFT
– GoPro
– High Sierra
– L.L.Bean
– Putnam Investments
– USANA
– Visa

World Cup Live Streaming
Most of the FIS Cross Country World Cup tour will be live streamed on NBCsports.com.

November 17, 2016 (Toronto, ON) – With the first FIS World Cup kicking off the season on Nov. 26-27 in Ruka, Finland, we’re pleased to announce the launch of our annual SkiTrax FIS Fantasy World Cup 2016/17 Contest. Next up is the popular Tour de Ski Contest followed by our Lahti 2017 Contest, as another rockin’ ski season gets underway.

November 01, 2016 (Canmore, AB) – Jesse Cockney from Foothills Nordic and Dahria Beatty of Whitehorse topped their respective fields today in the Classic Sprint Qualifications today on Day 2 at Frozen Thunder. The qualifier was the first of two races used for selection for the upcoming first period World Cups in December.

Cockney bested Lenny Valjas (Team Hardwood) by a 4-second margin with Graeme Killick (Ptarmigan Nordic) in third – both Valjas and Killick have berths on the World Cup team.

In the women’s race Beatty finished a little over a second ahead of local skier Annika Hicks (Canmore) and American Kelsey Phinney (Sun Valley) in 3rd.

The tough CL sprint featured two laps of about 750m that included two large uphills. Temperature was about -2C, and the snow was hard, however conditions were on the slow side due to fresh snow overnight.

The race was a normal sprint qualifier however new classic sprint rules were in place with a ‘striding only’ zone on the main climb of the course to prevent skiers from double poling the course.

All skis were waxed as part of a central ski depot program run by the National Ski Team to ensure that everyone was on the same wax and that there was no waxing advantage or disadvantage. This rule was also put in place to help skiers and teams reduce racing costs. Temperatures remained close to zero for most of the day with generally cloudy weather, keeping the tracks fairly consistent.

The sprint heat format was a Kings Court format consisting of three heats where everyone in the race competes based on their qualifying time in heats of four.

All categories – men, women, juniors, and seniors – raced “together” in the rounds with the best two skiers moving up to the next faster heat, and the slowest two skiers moving down to the next slower heat. This provided good quality racing in each heat, and let all skiers have a solid race with hard efforts.

Not all skiers raced the heats as many elected to only ski the qualifier or a heat or two depending on what their focus was for training. When the dust settled Julien Locke of Black Jack won the men’s race followed by Brian McKeever (Lifesport) in second with John Hegman of Sun Valley in third.

The USA’s Phinney prevailed over Beatty in the women’s final despite an early lead and several challenges by the Canuck who settled for second with Hicks third and Andrea Dupont (Rocky Mountain Racers) 4th.

Shaw television was also on hand to broadcast the race live on TV!

Qualifications here.

October 31, 2016 (Canmore, AB) – Canadian National Team and Para Team skiers were on hand for the Frozen Thunder Festival activities with high-five greetings and Halloween theme costumes for kids and fans alike. Check out these photos for a peak at this year’s squad with the final team announcement coming later this week.

October 30, 2016 (Park City, UT) – Check out the new 2016-17 U.S. Cross Country Ski Team uniforms and gear from L.L.Bean and Craft Sportswear North America unveiled at the Center of Excellence in Park City, UT during the team’s training camp.  Think Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall look excited about their new L.L.Bean and Craft Sportswear North America gear?

October 13, 2016 (Norway) – Norway’s Therese Johaug, an Olympic and Nordic Worlds champion, has tested positive for the banned anabolic steroid Clostebol during an out-of-competition control on September 16 according to the Norwegian press.

Johaug, 28, was in tears at a press conference at VIF-Hall Stadium in Ullevaal claiming innocence as apparently the Norwegian Team doctor, Fredrik S. Bendiksen, gave her cream he purchased at a local local pharmacy in Livigno, Italy where the team was training, to use against her sun-burned lip.

According to Johaug her lip was bleeding and she consulted the team doctor who gave her a first cream that didn’t work and a second one Trofodermin containing the banned substance. “I asked if it was on the list, and he said no. I trusted 100 percent on it,” says Johaug in the report.

Bendiksen has resigned taking full responsibility and concurs with Johaug’s statements and believes she should not be sanctioned but ultimately all athletes are responsible for what substances they have in the body.

In July, the Norwegian Team came under fire when Martin Johnsrud Sundby twice tested positive for Salbutamol, a medication he used to treat asthma. Sundby received a two-month suspension and was stripped of his 2014/15 Tour de Ski title and his overall World Cup title. The Norwegian Federation said in a statement that it assumed full responsibility for the matter.

Then in August Norwegian officials were scrambling again to explain their use of asthma medication on athletes that don’t need it which again highlighted top skiers such as Marit Bjørgen and Sundby who have permission to use the medication. Many in the ski community like Justyna Kowalczyk from Poland have complained for years about so-called “loose” restrictions in Norway.

Johaug like Sundby described the situation as her “worst nightmare” and the Norwegian press is up in arms including sports commentator, Lasse Anrell, who told Aftonbladet TV, “Norwegian cross-country stinks, they have not taken the problem seriously.”

According to Erik Røste president of the Norwegian Ski Federation, “Here is a day of sorrow. What should not happen, which is not possible to happen, happened. And I think that’s hard to explain. The matter rests with Anti-Doping Norway, and the case is not ended there. Therese has chosen to go out with the case, which is why we sit here today, and she has the full support of the Norwegian Ski Association.”

Read more here.
Sundby Loses Titles here and here.
Norwegian Federation in Hot Water here and here.