June 22, 2018 – US Olympic gold cross-country ski medalist, Jesse Diggins, will appear in the latest edition of ESPN The Magazine’s Body Issue, which will be released digitally on June 25.

Along with teammate Kikkan Randall, the Minnesota native became the first Americans to win an Olympic gold medal as the duo won the women’s team sprint at the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, China earlier this year.

The 26-year-old Diggins will appear in the issue alongside other prominent athletes such as soccer player Zlatan Ibrahimovic, golfer Greg Norman and legendary football player Jerry Rice as well as another Minnesotan, the NBA’s Karl Anthony-Towns.

The ESPN Body issue debuted in 2009, but has not featured a cross-country ski athlete until Diggins.

According to Diggins “Thanks for reaching out. I have a blog post coming soon (on the 25th, when the photos come out) that will explain the reason I did the shoot, and in the meantime my instagram post gives a shorter explanation.”

For this, the tenth anniversary edition, ESPN is also releasing a digital photo archive of every athlete to have appeared here.

Read more in the Stillwater Patch here and the Star Tribune here.

June 21, 2018 (Red Deer, Alberta) – Nominate a torchbearer by June 30 for the first national MNP Canada Games Torch Relay coming to a number of Canadian communities from October 4, 2018, until February 15, 2019.

The MNP Canada Games Torch Relay visits almost 50 communities across Canada through a series of celebrations and torch relay stops, with 10 to 15 torchbearers in each torch relay community carrying the the Roly McClenahan Canada Games Torch. Torchbearers across the 26 torch relay stops are selected following a nomination process on the 2019 Games website that closes June 30.

“I encourage everyone across Canada to find the MNP Canada Games Torch Relay stop near them and nominate an outstanding individual in their community for the honour in being a torchbearer in this historic relay,” said Lyn Radford, 2019 Canada Winter Games Board Chair. “What a fantastic opportunity to recognize the youth, sport and community builders across ournation who are making an impact in our communities.”

“The MNP Canada Games Torch Relay is a wonderful opportunity to celebrate community spirit across Canada and we’re honoured to participate in the torchbearer nomination process!” said Jason Tuffs, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, MNP. “We’re excited to discover the unique stories behind the candidates chosen to carry the Roly McClenahan Canada Games Torch. For 60 years, MNP has developed strong ties in each of the locations along the relay, so we’re especially proud of the focus these vibrant, big-hearted communities will garner. Join us in shining a spotlight across Canada!”

The MNP Canada Games Torch Relay is a significant element of the Canada Games and has united communities across the nation for the past 51 years. It officially starts in Ottawa from the Centennial Flame on Parliament Hill on October 4, 2018, and visits almost 50 communities across Canada before arriving in Red Deer for the Opening Ceremony of the 2019 Games on February 15, 2019.

For more details on the MNP Canada Games Torch Relay stops and the torchbearer nomination process, please visit here.

June 14, 2018 – Every year NENSA honors leaders in the New England skiing community with traditional annual awards. This chance to formally recognize the energy, effort, and engagement of some of our community leaders is one of the highlights of the year for the NENSA staff. Please join us in thanking these great folks and celebrating their accomplishments for our community.

NENSA is excited to to announce the inaugural Wendall “Chummy” Broomhall Award. This award is named after Chummy, who was the Chisholm Ski Club leader for 70-plus years, 2-time Olympian, and builder of the Olympic race courses for Squaw Valley, Lake Placid and Black Mountain. Chummy was a man who was able to enlist the best people to carry out the tasks needed to run ski races.

He embodied the spirit of being a volunteer as he was a man who gave his time to generations. It is in this spirit that this award be in his honor for the unsung heroes of ski racing. This year the award is going to Herbert L. Adams, a Chisholm Ski Club member, ski racer, coach, and long time volunteer.

Link to full story here.

June 08, 2018 (Rockland County, New York) – Enrique Cubillo, an endurance athlete, became the first man to roller ski up New York’s Bear Mountain on May 25 – all 1,289 feet of it = in 39 minutes and 55 seconds. “Nordic cross-country skiing, for me, it is the sport of Gods,” says Cubillo. “I’m nuts for it and I feel fantastic at 54. Since I began late to all transport sports, I’m just like a 12-year-old every time I arrive at a new one.”

It’s just the latest in a long line of feats Cubillo, a New Yorker with AFib heart disease and Raynaud’s Syndrome, has accomplished. A roller skiing coach in the Lower Hudson Valley working from Kingston to Harlem, Cubillo, who formerly raced USA Cycling category 2, also claims to hold the cycling speed record for Central Park. He is also passionate about spikeboarding, using a single pole and a long skateboard-style contraption to move along with cycling and anything else that combines recreation and transportation.

When asked how difficult it was to push himself straight up a mountain on roller skis, Cubillo was blunt and enthusiastic.

“Difficult is not a mental state I ever engage in,” he says. “The mountain is wanting to put a hurting on you pretty darn bad at the base, she always does and mentally the lower parts of all my summits are the worst. Once you are nearing the top it gets mentally much less challenging. Here is my manta: ‘I did not get this far to choke.’”

Roller skiing has been used as a training tool for cross-country skiers for decades to build both core strength and endurance. Its proponents include recent Olympic gold medalists Jesse Diggins and Kikkan Randall.

Cubillo would like to see more athletes embrace sports such as roller skiing, which is one of the reasons why he attempted the summit climb.

“I wanted to inspire West Point (United States Military Academy) and help spark a nation to begin to understand that if they can hang from rings over mud they might like to summit the tar off our wonderful North American paved roads,” he says.

Cubillo was born in Spain, and raised in St. Louis and moved to New York City when he was 20. He never left. In his younger days, his athletic endeavours took a back seat to drinking and smoking until 1991, when he decided to hop on a mountain bike and start racing. He switched to road in 1993, the same year he also saw roller skiing for the first time in Central Park.

Cubillo began big mountain climbing in 2015 when he summited Mt. Tamalpias in California followed by another in High Point, New Jersey. Locally, he trains on Storm King mountain in New York on both roller skis and a spikeBoard.

“The mountain calls your name, you can hear it, feel it and anyone with half a heart to run the body hard will answer,” says Cubillo. “Nordic skiing is pedaling upside down plus some. If you cycle hard you can ski hard. God gave me core and I intend to use it.”

For him, recreation is also about transportation whether by bicycle, or ski or roller ski. It’s good for the planet, and gangbusters for the cardio.

“I believe 100 per cent in recreation that becomes transportation,” he says.  “We race we commute. We make the planet proud.”

In addition to big mountain feats of endurance, Cubillo can often be found roller skiing the streets of Harlem, which seems a whole lot dangerous, but to him it’s all skiing and it’s all good.

“There is less danger to mitigate skiing in Harlem than short track speed skating at Flushing Meadows. I do both of these,” he says. “I also paddle big open water all over NYC at night. That is also much more dangerous than roller skiing in Harlem. Life was dangerous the day we were born.”

June 07, 2018 (Canmore, AB) – Cross Country Ski de fond Canada has tapped Nic Lemyre to guide the organization’s high-performance program into a new era. Originally from Montreal, Lemyre takes on the role of high performance and development advisor with clear goals in mind – to break barriers and establish Canada as a strong Nordic nation with multiple male and female athletes performing at the highest level, while providing our nation’s best cross-country skiers with the means to be back on the Olympic podium in 2026 and ensure the Para-Nordic program remains a dominant force for future generations.

June 06, 2018 (Bozeman, MT) – Specialty consulting firm Nordic Group International (NGI) has announced a program where snow industry people can receive a $500 (U.S.) commission for referring us to potential new clients, most notably golf courses. Golf courses in Snowbelt regions of the U.S. and Canada are prime candidates for becoming profitable in winter. (More than 120 courses in North America already have groomed trails.)

Jonathan Wiesel, NGI’s president, says that “Industry people of all kinds are uniquely qualified to help us find golf courses that can develop winter operations. They understand the benefits of XC skiing/snowshoeing and even tubing, while at the same time they can earn a $500 commission for referring us to potential new areas.”

Snow-based benefits for golf courses include:

• Revenue opportunities from winter activities
• Maintaining key staff positions
• New community recreational opportunities
• Enhanced golf course and real estate values
• Increased asset utilization
• Turf protection from incidental winter use

Key NGI services cover:

• Market and economic feasibility studies (for new sites)
• Operations evaluations (for existing areas)
• Planning/design for other winter recreation
• Trail design and terrain gardens
• Recreation and guest services programming
• Snowmaking and lighting plans
• Turf management strategies
• Construction oversight

What NGI proposes is pretty simple – but potentially vital to the health of Nordic skiing in North America. We plan to pay a $500 commission to anyone in the snow business that refers a golf course to us if that golf course becomes an NGI client. The commission will be paid in full when NGI receives its initial project fee.

Referrers will need to provide NGI with information on the golf course, including a manager’s name and course location. They should contact us via email (i.e., in writing), with their name and mailing address, the date, and their ski world affiliation.

To help referrers screen possibilities, it’s useful to know that high-potential 18-hole courses in Snowbelt regions will probably need to have sizable winterized clubhouses (for rental and retail), plus food and alcoholic beverage services. Lodging and real estate affiliations are major plusses.

This kind of referral takes very little time (figure two hours maximum). If successful, referrers will be making $250/hour. Supplier reps can also benefit from placing rental/retail product at new areas.

That’s it! Just contact us if anything needs clarification 303-579-4739, (jonathan@nordicgroupintenational.com).

The same commission arrangement applies to successful referrals to inns and lodges, hotels, guest ranches, communities/parks, alpine ski areas, resorts, corporate landowners, and more.

June 06, 2018 (Harbor Springs, Michigan) – Snowgroomers.net manufacturer of quality high performance groomers for all snow sports including Nordic / cross country trails and classic tracks, narrow fat bike trails, hiking trails and more is seeking a Canadian equity partner, contact sales@snowgroomers.net or visit our website here.

June 05, 2018 (Leogang, Austria) – The IBU Executive Board held its 136th regular meeting in Leogang, Austria, with governance reforms and important competition-related decisions high on the agenda.

The Executive Board decided to establish an Ethics Commission monitoring good governance in the federation. The IBU Legal Committee is now asked to elaborate an amended Code of Ethics including a proposal on the structure of the Ethics Commission in time to be voted upon by the member federations at the IBU Congress in Porec (CRO), 5-9 September 2018.

Acting IBU Secretary-General Martin Kuchenmeister informed the Executive Board that the external audit of the IBU anti-doping program conducted by the Institute of National Anti-doping Organizations (iNADO) will commence in June, when the iNADO representatives will make their first visits to the IBU headquarters in Salzburg.

The Executive Board agreed with the Athletes Committee proposal to include an athlete representative as a member of the Board. This will be decided by the Congress in September 2018. The Executive Board further acknowledged the Athletes Committee appointment of Daniel Böhm (GER) to the IBU Technical Committee.

The Executive Board also discussed the situation of the Russian Biathlon Federation (RBU) acknowledging the election of new leaders to the RBU Board. The Executive Board respects the efforts and the new structure of the RBU. However, the decision to restore the RBU to a full member was referred to the IBU Congress 2018. The RBU was relegated to provisional membership status in December 2017 by the Executive Board.

IBU Sports Director Felix Bitterling highlighted that the preparations for the upcoming season are proceeding according to plan. The Executive Board confirmed the BMW IBU World Cup and IBU Cup calendars for the 2019/2020 season (see below) including the competition program for the IBU Biathlon World Championships in Antholz, Italy, 12-23 February 2020. Several new competition formats were approved for testing at the IBU Cup second tier event series.

For the BMW IBU World Cup the Executive Board will propose to the Congress an increase in the number of wild cards from four to eight, with a maximum of two per national federation. Similar adjustments concerning wild cards for the Olympic Winter Games will be discussed with the International Olympic Committee.

Finally, each of the six IBU Committees (Technical, Medical, Development, Athletes, Information and Legal) reported on their work following their May meetings. The IBU Executive Board further received a status report from the IBU anti-doping working group, which is composed of external experts who are continuing their investigation of material provided by WADA and advise IBU on further proceedings.

The next IBU Executive Board meeting will take place 8-10 July 2018.

May 30, 2018 (Oro Medonte) – Canada’s most decorated Canadian Winter Paralympian, Brian McKeever, is coming to speak at multiple events in Simcoe County. McKeever will be delivering an inspirational message to audiences at Hardwood Ski and Bike on Wednesday, June 20th at 5:00pm.

Canada’s flag bearer for the Opening Ceremonies of the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games, who has racked up 17 Paralympic medals including 13 gold, will speak at events at Hardwood Ski and Bike and New Path Youth and Family Services.

“We are working together with our community partners to bring this incredible story of resilience to our community,” says Glen Newby, New Path Youth and Family Services CEO. “Brian’s story is an incredible example of working towards your dreams despite seemingly insurmountable challenges. We are truly grateful for our collaboration with Hardwood Ski and Bike, Team Hardwood, and New Path Foundation that made this possible. We invite all members of the community to attend our events to hear Brian’s story.”

McKeever, who has been cross-country skiing since the age of three, has close ties to Hardwood Ski and Bike and Head Coach, Jack Sasseville. Sasseville coached McKeever’s older brother, Robin, who competed as Brian’s guide in the Paralympics until 2014, and coached the Canadian Para-Nordic Team to record-setting results in 2018 where they combined to win an unprecedented 16 medals.

“We are very excited about Brian’s visit. He is an inspiration to us all for the way he has been able to overcome his personal hardships and to excel, not only in the para-world, but also in life,” says Jack Sasseville, Team Hardwood Head Coach. “Overcoming obstacles is important for all of us and the message rings especially true at Hardwood Ski and Bike as we continue to rebuild in the aftermath of the Christmas Day fire.”

McKeever will be speaking to audiences about the importance of never giving up on your dreams and sharing his triumphant story of overcoming adversity. McKeever began competing at the age of 13 with his hopes set on the Olympics for Cross-Country Skiing. At the age of 19, however, he was diagnosed with Stargardt disease, a macular degeneration or loss of central vision including fine detail and colour.

Brian continued to chase his dreams in both Olympic and Paralympic sport. He became the first Canadian ever to be named to both the Olympic and Paralympic Teams in 2010.

May 29, 2018 – Russia has apparently admitted that there was systematic doping in the country in a letter to the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and concurs with the findings in the International Olympic Committee’s Schmid Report reports Inside the Games and Daily Nation.

But the letter falls short of accepting the findings of the McLaren report. It was reportedly co-signed by Kolobkov, ROC President Alexander Zhukov and Russian Paralympic Committee President Vladimir Lukin, and addressed to WADA president Sir Craig Reedie and both Thomas Bach and Andrew Parsons, respective Presidents of the IOC and International Paralympic Committee (IPC),

While not a big move it’s a step in the right direction says WADA as Russia tries to win back approval from the agency and have the suspension of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) lifted.

“We’ve been exchanging correspondence now for what, a year or a year-and-a-half,” said Reedie, during a press conference in Montreal on May 17. “There have been many different variations of the words. I think this one is the most encouraging one.”

Two key conditions imposed by WADA, have yet to be acknowledged, first granting access to the Moscow laboratory and samples that may have been stored there, as well as Russia fully accepting the findings of the McLaren report which Kolobkov says,”…. contains unsubstantiated conclusions that can only be proved in court, after a thorough investigation, once irrefutable evidence is presented,”

Inside the Games here
Daily Nation here.

May 28, 2018 – The International Ski Federation (FIS) is considering a move to reduce quota spots for countries with multiple doping violations, a move that FIS said is designed to bolster their zero-tolerance policy and serve as a preventative tool in the fight against doping.

The FIS news comes following a similar declaration by the International Weightlifting Federation, which implemented new anti-doping rules that could mean up to 16 countries could lose their spots in competitions after repeated violations.

The move to reduce quota spots was part of the discussion during the annual FIS Congress held in Greece this past May, but there were no new rules established specifically dealing with quotas, only formal acknowledgement that it is a point of discussion.

When implemented, the new quota rules would cover World Championships as well as World Cup and Olympic Games competitions.

The FIS Doping Panel also reported on the sanctioning of Italian cross-country athlete Marina Piller for an Athlete Biological Passport (ABP) anti-doping rule violation for two years from 1st January 2017 until 31st December 2018.

FIS also announced new services to bolster its commitment to new anti-doping rules including a whisteblower hotline, investigation services and an ethics and compliance office, which will be managed through an “independent specialist organisation.”

Link to FIS Congress anti-doping rules here.

May 24, 2018 (Park City, Utah) – U.S. Ski & Snowboard has announced its U.S. Ski Team cross country nominations for the 2018-19 season. Nominations include those active athletes who qualified based on published selection criteria in the prior season.

The team had a historic 2017-18 season with Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) and Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska) winning the first Olympic gold medal for the U.S. in the team sprint.

Diggins also finished the season ranked second in the overall and third in the distance World Cup standings, with Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.) finishing third in the sprint standings.

Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) also had a breakthrough season with four individual podiums, landing herself sixth in the overall World Cup standings. The 16-member team will look to carry that momentum into the 2018-19 World Championship season.

Each athlete accepting their nomination to U.S. Ski Team receives world class program support, along with access to the U.S. Ski & Snowboard Center of Excellence, as well as athletic benefits including an elite coaching, sport science, sports medicine and high performance staff, and education opportunities.

An official team announcement will be made in the fall.

U.S. Ski Team
2018-19 Cross Country Nominations
(Hometown; Club; Birthdate)

A Team

Men
Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 5/14/87)

Women
– Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 11/21/89)
– Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 3/22/90)
– Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 8/26/91)
– Ida Sargent (Orleans, Vt.; Craftsbury Green Racing Project; 1/25/88)

B Team

Men
– Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 7/14/91)
– Kevin Bolger (Minocqua, Wisc.; Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation; 4/11/93)
– Patrick Caldwell (Lyme, N.H.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 2/18/94)
– Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 1/28/92)

D Team

Men
– Ben Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School; 2/13/00)
– Gus Schumacher (Anchorage, Alaska; Alaska Winter Stars; 7/25/00)
– Ian Torchia (Rochester, Minn.; Northern Michigan University; 3/8/96)

Women
– Hannah Halvorsen (Truckee, Calif.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 2/19/98)
– Julia Kern (Waltham, Mass.; Stratton Mountain School Elite Team; 9/12/97)
– Katharine Ogden (Landgrove, Vt.; Stratton Mountain School; 11/17/97)
– Hailey Swirbul (Aspen, Colo.; Alaska Pacific University Nordic Center; 7/10/98)

May 24, 2018 (Park City, Utah) – USA Nordic Sport is excited to announce nominations to the National Teams in the disciplines of Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined for the upcoming 2018/2019 season.

Kevin Bickner, 22 (Wauconda, IL), will once again lead the Men’s Ski Jumping National Team. After posting his strongest season to date, with seven top 30 World Cup finishes, including a season’s best 16th place at the Ski Flying World Cup in Planica, Slovenia, Bickner has been named to the “A” team. Joining Bickner will be Michael Glasder, 29 (Cary, IL) on the “B” team, and Casey Larson, 19 (Barrington, IL), will be named to the “C” team.

Sarah Hendrickson, 23 (Park City, UT), former World Champion and the longest tenured member of the Women’s National Team, has been named along with Nita Englund, 25 (Florence, WI) to the Women’s Ski Jumping “B” team. Hendrickson and Englund were both members of the 2018 US Olympic team. They will be joined by Nina Lussi, 24 (Lake Placid, NY), Tara Geraghty-Moats, 25 (West Fairlee, VT), Logan Sankey, 19 (Steamboat Springs, CO), Samantha Macuga, 16 (Park City, UT), and Annika Belshaw, 15 (Steamboat Springs, CO) who have all been named to the Women’s “C” team. This is the first year on the team for Sankey, Macuga, and Belshaw, all of whom were members of the Women’s Junior National Team last season.

2018 Junior World Championships medalist and 2018 Olympic athlete Ben Loomis, 19 (Eau Claire, WI), will lead the Nordic Combined National Team this year. Loomis’ results during the 2017/2018 season, including multiple top five finishes on the Continental Cup circuit, have earned him a spot on the “A” team.

Veteran Taylor Fletcher, 28 (Steamboat Springs, CO), has been named to the “B” team along with Jasper Good, 22 (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Stephen Schumann, 18 (Park City, UT). Grant Andrews, 20 (Steamboat Springs, CO) and Jared Shumate, 18 (Park City, UT), have both been named to the Men’s Nordic Combined “C” team.

For the first time ever, USA Nordic is excited to announce that we will be nominating a Women’s Nordic Combined Team. In addition to her nomination to the Women’s Ski Jumping “C” Team, Tara Geraghty-Moats has also been nominated to the 2018 Women’s Nordic Combined National “C” Team.

“We are excited about our continued expansion of our teams and with the exciting development of Women’s Nordic Combined including confirmation of the event in the 2021 World Championships! Tara Geraughty-Moats continues to be one of our top talents in the sport and, though she was unable to compete in any Nordic Combined competitions last year due to injury, USA Nordic recognizes the importance of growing our sports and developing athletes who have the ability to push the envelope and we are excited to lead growth and opportunity in this new discipline of Womens Nordic Combined,” said USA Nordic Sport Executive Director Bill Demong.

“USA Nordic staff and coaches are excited to get back to training with our national teams.  We have a great group of young, motivated athletes that will no doubt continue to make big strides forward this season.  We are also planning for the Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined teams to work together whenever possible.  Both teams have certain strengths that we feel will benefit our program as a whole,” commented USA Nordic Sport Team Director Clint Jones.

May 22, 2018 – On behalf of the entire Nordic community, Cross Country Ski de Fond Canada would like to extend its deepest condolences to Joan Groothuysen’s family, friends and numerous associates within our ski community following her passing earlier this month.

Groothuysen was a very successful junior skier winning several Canadian and also US National Championships races in the mid 70’s. She was also a very successful distance runner and represented Canada at the 1976 and 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Nordic skiing. Her best result was 27th in the 5km in 1980, ahead of Canadian legends Sharon and Shirley Firth. She was also a member of the relay teams that finished 7th and 8th respectively in ‘76 and ‘80. A resident of many ski communities, including Ottawa, Inuvik and Edmonton. Groothuysen was an Olympian, in achievement and in spirit and will be missed tremendously.

Joan Elizabeth Groothuysen
Ottawa, September 6, 1957 – Edmonton, May 7, 2018

Groothuysen was an Olympian, in achievement and in spirit. She was a world-class Nordic skier who represented Canada at Innsbruck (1976), Lake Placid (1980), and at numerous World Cups and World Championships. But she defined herself through her relationships, lovingly. She trained, competed and took on the many challenges in her life with unyielding determination. But she was gentle and gracious with loved ones and casual friends alike.

She embodied the Olympic motto – “faster, higher, stronger” – but rarely talked about her brilliant athletic career. She excelled at everything else she did as well: orthodontic technician, home renovator and seamstress, textile and jewelry artisan. But she made everyone around her feel better about themselves. She was quiet, and somewhat private, but shared of herself willingly and was loved and admired by many.

Cancer took her down hard and fast, even though she lived a simple and healthy life. She suffered, but continued bravely, striving each day to the end to be a better person. If you’re ever on the trails around Edmonton, and you see a “train” of skiers pushing hard, think of Joan, because they’re chasing her spirit. She was an Olympian!

Online tribute

May 19, 2018 (Costa Navarino, Greece) – The FIS Congress in Costa Navarino had many forward-looking meetings. The Nordic Combined Committee was no exception to this and, confirmed by the FIS Council and the FIS Congress, made several major decisions especially concerning the female athletes of the discipline.

From 2019, the ladies will be part of the official FIS Junior World Championship program with an inaugural 1 jump, 5 km Individual Gundersen competition taking place at the Junior World Championships in Lahti (FIN) in January 2019.

At the same time, the FIS Congress approved the inclusion of a Nordic Combined Ladies’ event in the World Championship program from Oberstdorf 2021 on, so that the females of the discipline can now plan for their first medal events on junior and senior level.

Race Director Lasse Ottesen also presented the calendar for the second Ladies’ Continental Cup season, which not only includes one inaugural Summer Grand Prix event for ladies in Oberwiesenthal in August 2018 but also a record-breaking 12 events at five different venues in the USA, Estonia, Norway and Russia.

In addition, ladies can also compete at six Youth Cup events in Oberstdorf, Harrachov and Knyken. All Alpencup ladies events remain open to athletes from all countries as well.

COC-L Calendar

Youth Cup Calendar

On the men’s side, the Committee made two major decisions, all about tweaking and fine-tuning existing competition formats:

The Mass Start will make its comeback on a World Cup level but will be included exclusively in the Ruka / Lillehammer Tour program at the season start for now. The athletes will compete in a 1 jump, 5 km Individual Gundersen event first, followed by a Mass Start in which the top 50 racers are qualified to take part in the final ski jumping round. The wind and gate system as well as full judging of the jump will be in place.

The Team Event received an update with the purpose of making the events tighter and more action packed: The average score of the four jumps will be taken to calculate the cross-country time differences and the metre value set to 15 points per minute. The cross-country distance will be reduced to 15 kilometres, divided into four stages of 5 km, 2.5 km, 2.5 km and a concluding 5 km leg. This concept is going to be tested in the Continental Cup in the upcoming season before any definitive decision about a final rule change will be made.

Regarding the World Cup calendar, a few changes have occurred since the Spring Meetings in Zürich:

After deliberating a weekend in December, Trondheim finally decided to return to their customary mid-week spot in March. A final confirmation for a World Cup venue in Japan will follow until the 5th of June.

World Cup Calendar

The men’s Continental Cup calendar features 20 events in eight venues, four of them shared with the ladies. The calendar will take the athletes to Park City (USA), Steamboat Springs (USA), Klingenthal (GER), Ruka (FIN), Planica (SLO), Rena (NOR), Eisenerz (AUT) and Nizhny Tagil (RUS) and feature two two tests of the revised Team Event and a Final Individual Gundersen in Nizhny Tagil.

COC-M Calendar

May 18, 2018 (Costa Navarino, Greece) – As meetings continue at the biennial FIS Congress held in Costa Navarino (GRE), some important issues have been discussed already and the committees have agreed on proposals they wish to push forward to the FIS Council for final validation.Starting with the classification subcommittee, the main topic was the wish to adapt the penalty of the different races held from the FIS level to the World Cup. The aim of this rule adaptation is to better reflect the reality with the points awarded at each race, especially rewarding the World Cup racers better.

In the ladies’ alpine skiing subcommittee, the topic of gender equality was discussed and the subcommittee is supporting various recommendations to improve gender balance within the FIS Council, the Congress, and the various committees. Also, it will be proposed that two athletes can represent the athletes’ commission in the FIS Council, one lady and one man. As no renewed proposal was brought up regarding Lindsey Vonn’s request to race with the men in Lake Louise, this topic was tabled indefinitely.

Discussions on drones took place in the Rules subcommittee, but no conclusion has yet been determined. Safety and fairness must be taken into consideration as well as the legal aspects in each country. The proposal that was on the table in the subcommittee wasn’t approved and will be reviewed – with the wording clarified – in order to be presented again at the meetings in the fall.

The World Cup subcommittee spent quite a lot of time sharing thoughts on various topics raised by the National Ski Associations and the Athletes’ Commission. The proposal to change the enrollment for the City Events has been approved by the subcommittee. If the FIS Council agrees as well, there will be no more national quotas meaning the next racer on the slalom WCSL would move up in the event that a qualified athlete cannot participate in the race. On the topic of a possible reduction of the World Cup starting field, a small step but strong sign was taken by the subcommittee which agreed to reduce the maximum number of athletes from a single nation participating in a race on the men’s side by one athlete (previously a maximum of eight athletes per nation reduced to a maximum of seven). Hannes Reichelt was present to represent his fellow ski racers and mentioned different aspects that the athletes would like to see improved on the World Cup. Even though none of the proposals could be approved as such, the active participation and the interaction with the main actors of the World Cup was appreciated by both sides.

Thursday is the excursion day at the FIS Congress, and a visit to the place of birth of Olympia is on the program. In the evening, there will be what is likely the most important decision, the appointment of the 2023 FIS Ski World Championships. The two candidates for the alpine events are Courchevel-Meribel (FRA) and Saalbach (AUT). Both bids are very serious and prepared on a high level, so the vote by the 16 FIS Council members is likely to be close. Follow the decision live on the @fisalpine Facebook page tomorrow (Thursday 17th May), from 19:00 (local time) / 20:00 (CET) on.

May 17, 2018 – Paralympian Search is a one-day athlete identification event designed to test participant aptitudes to excel in various Paralympic sports, and maybe one day represent Canada at the Paralympic Games.

The event also welcomes current or former athletes from all levels aiming to transfer into a new Paralympic sport or discover a new sport that can complement their main discipline.

Each participant goes through a set of basic physical tests conducted by national team coaches and other experts. During this event, you will also get to meet current Paralympic athletes and alumni from various sports who will be sharing their experience and answering your questions.

Following participation in Paralympian Search, participants may be selected for a local club, provincial or national development program designed to propel athletes from their developmental stages to a Paralympic podium. Additionally, all participants will receive information on how to get started in the sports of their choice.

Who Can Participate?
– Ages 14-35
– Have a physical disability or visual impairment*
– With or without previous sport experience
– Interested in discovering which Paralympic sports you are eligible for and have the greatest potential.

*Click here for more information about eligible Paralympic disabilities

Upcoming events
– Victoria, BC, Saturday May 26, 2018
– Montreal, QC, Saturday June 9, 2018

Register Now!

For more information please contact:
paralympiansearch@paralympic.ca
(613) 569-4333

May 15, 2018 (Afton, MN) – Jessie Diggins received an amazing homecoming when she returned to Minnesota following her stunning gold medal performance in the women’s Team Sprint alongside Kikkan Randall at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang.

She was welcomed in the Minnesota House state legislature, she and her family met Governor Mark Taylor, there were talks about climate change and bringing a FIS World Cup event and even the Nordic World Championships to Minnesota, a parade in Stillwater, and Selma’s Ice Cream Shop in her home town of Afton held a contest to choose the perfect flavour for a Diggins special blend, as well as the name of the ice cream – the icing (cream) on the cake so to speak.

“Here Comes Diggins” debuted this past weekend in time for the town’s celebration of Diggins’ big Olympic victory. Now Minnesotans can cool off with a couple of scoops of Here Comes Diggins, which combines blueberries, strawberries and graham crackers into one tasty ice cream.

“Thank you to everyone who came for the ice cream…and stayed for the gold and glitter! It was very moving and humbling to feel the love from thousands of people coming out to celebrate cross country skiing. I can’t think of a more motivating way to begin the training season!,” she said, thanking her town for their support via social media. “From the new ice cream flavor by Selma’s (“Here Comes Diggins”) to the stretch of road named after me to every cute little peanut who got to hold up the medal, it was an amazing way to get to share this past season with my hometown community.”

May 13, 2018 (McDougall, ON) – Cross Country Ski Ontario is pleased to announce Peter Wiltmann of Georgian Nordic Ski and Canoe Club near Parry Sound, Ont., as the recipient of the Heinz Niederhauser Outstanding Coaching Award.

Peter has been volunteer coaching with Georgian Nordic for more than 20 years. His passion and dedication to athletes of all abilities is demonstrated through his ongoing desire to learn and grow as a coach.

“Peter continues to always learn about coaching cross-country skiing and has been involved in ski camps with the Ontario Talent Squad and the Ontario Ski Team. As well, Peter’s passion and dedication to the non-elite athlete is another aspect of Coach Peter that sets him above his peers. He is still the most passionate person about teaching youth to love sports,” cites one of Georgian Nordic’s coaches. Heinz would approve!

May 11, 2018 – Cross Country Ski de fond Canada is proud to present the talented athletes that will represent Team Canada for the 2018-19 season! We wish all the best to Canada’s top athletes as they show the world we are a leading nordic nation!

National Ski Team – Senior Team
– Alex Harvey (Club Nordique Mont Ste-Anne – CNEPH, QC) A-World Cup Team
– Len Valjas (Team Hardwood, ON) A-World Cup Team
– Dahria Beatty (Whitehorse – AIAWCA. YT) B-World Cup Team
– Julien Locke (Blackjack, BC) B-World Cup Team
– Cendrine Browne (Fondeurs-Laurentides – CNEPH, QC) B-World Cup Team
– Katherine Stewart-Jones (Nakkertok – NTDC Thunder Bay, QC) U25 Team
– Maya MacIsaac-Jones (Rocky Mountain Racers, AB) U25 Team
– Gareth Williams (Telemark. BC) U25 Team
– Graham Ritchie (Big Thunder Nordic – NTDC Thunder Bay, ON) U25 Team
– Antoine Cyr (Skinouk – CNEPH QC U25 Team

National Ski Team – Junior Team
– Sam Hendry (Canmore Nordic) AB
– Remi Drolet (Black Jack) BC
– Pierre Grall-Johnson (Nakkertok Nordic) ON
– Finn Dodgson (Barrie Cross Country) ON
– Tallon Noble (Strathcona Nordic) BC
– Malcolm Thompson (Big Thunder Nordic) ON
– Elizabeth Elliott (Revelstoke Nordic) BC
– Roxane Vermette (Club Nordique Mont Ste-Anne) QC
– Benita Peiffer (Whistler Nordic) BC
– Beth Granstrom (Revelstoke Nordic) BC
– Alexandra Racine (Club de ski de fond Orford) QC

Para-Nordic National Ski Team
– Mark Arendz (Rocky Mountain Racers, AB) World Cup Team
– Collin Cameron (Laurentian Nordic, ON) World Cup Team
– Brittany Hudak (Sturgeon River Nordic, SK) World Cup Team
– Russell Kennedy [guide] (Canmore Nordic, AB) World Cup Team
– Brian McKeever (Fast Trax Run & Ski Club, AB) World Cup Team
– Graham Nishikawa [guide] (Whitehorse, YT) World Cup Team
– Natalie Wilkie (Larch Hills Nordic, BC) World Cup Team
– Emily Young (Telemark, BC) World Cup Team
– Sébastien Fortier (Skibec, QC) Development & Prospects Team
– Derek Zaplotinsky (Strathcona Wilderness Centre, AB) Development & Prospects Team
– Jesse Bachinsky (Kenora Nordic, MB) Prospects Team
– Kyle Barber (Laurentian Nordic, ON) Prospects Team
– Ethan Hess (Nordic Racers-Vancouver, BC) Prospects Team
– Cindy Ouellet (Club Nordique Mont Ste-Anne, QC) Prospects Team

May 03, 2018 – The International Olympic Committee (IOC) will be appealing the decision made by the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) to clear 28 Russian athletes of doping sanctions from the Sochi 2014 Olympic reports Inside the Games and other media.

A detailed testimonial has yet to be released, but the IOC’s appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal will likely challenge the decision by the CAS to rescind sanctions against Russian athletes claiming that decision was based on standards typically applied to criminal law rather than sports law. Criminal law adheres to standards of absolute proof, whereas a civil court, such as the CAS, usually sanctions when cases are proven “beyond a reasonable doubt”.

The CAS unanimous ruling to reinstate 28 of 39 Russian athletes, who appealed their IOC sanctions, was apparently decided based on insufficient evidence against each individual.

While the CAS did uphold the appeals of the charged Russian athletes, they maintained that despite being cleared, the athletes were not being declared innocent of involvement in organized doping programs.

The Court emphasized that their mandate was “not to determine generally whether there was an organized scheme allowing the manipulation of doping control samples… but was strictly limited to dealing with 39 individual cases and to assess the evidence applicable to each athlete on an individual basis.”

Whether the appeal passes depends on the review by the Swiss Federal Tribunal of the legal interpretation that resulted in the CAS decisions.

After the initial annulment, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) voiced concerns with the CAS decision and expressed their support for an appeal: “WADA understands that this decision will cause dismay and frustration among athletes. The agency supports the IOC’s intention to analyze these decisions very carefully and consider all options, including an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.”

With the appeal now moving forward, IOC President Thomas Bach stated that, “the chances of winning did not play a role” in their decision, and that: “The only factor which led us to the decision was this protection of clean athletes who have finished behind these Russian athletes who have note been declared innocent.”

101 Sports here.
Inside the Games here.

May 02, 2018 (Canmore, AB) —After accomplishing what was once the unthinkable for a young man representing Canada in the sport of cross-country skiing at the elite level, Devon Kershaw has decided to hang up the racing boots, Cross Country Ski de Fond Canada announced on Wednesday.

“It has been 15 great years chasing my dreams in a sport that I absolutely love, but I have a wife and a 15-month-old daughter now, and it is just getting harder and harder to be away” said the 35-year-old Kershaw, who added the financial constraints that come with being an athlete on Canada’s National Team weighed in on his decision to call it a career.

“It was an incredible journey. Everything that I have in my life – my wife, my daughter, my friends and the incredible people I have met along the way – I owe to this great sport. Two of the many great coaches that had a huge impact on me were Dave Wood and Justin Wadsworth, and the amazing wax staff including Yves Bilodeau and Joel Jaques who were at my side the whole time. I can’t thank all of them, my family, my sponsors and the community enough for their support in helping me create this remarkable story on the ski trails.”

Kershaw first broke onto the National Ski Team in 2003 with a group of young Canucks born out of training centres across the country who were following an international path blazed by Pierre Harvey, Beckie Scott and Sara Renner.

“I was just a kid from Sudbury (Ontario) dreaming of one day competing at the Olympics. I knew there was a guy in Canada named Pierre Harvey who was held in high esteem for his five World Cup medals in cross-country skiing but that was 20 years before my time. Having Beckie and Sara around was huge for us young guys. They did some heavy lifting and taught the next generation of athletes like myself what it takes to compete at this level,” said Kershaw.

“When I made the team, we were a strong group of eight like-minded men who all worked hard towards the same goal. We weren’t thinking about winning, or standing on the podium. We pushed each other and were focused on working hard – really hard – and believed in the possibility to improve. What transpired is unfathomable really.”

Weeks removed from the Canadian women claiming two medals in cross-country skiing at Kershaw’s Olympic debut in Torino, Italy, the young 23-year-old became the second Canadian male ever to stand on the World Cup cross-country ski podium when he won the bronze medal in a sprint race in Borlaenge, Sweden.

“I remember when I saw I had the fourth fastest qualifying time in that race, I thought there must be a mistake in the results,” said Kershaw. “Nobody believed it was possible for Canadian men to be contenders on the World Cup. The world didn’t believe it, and the Canadian cross-country ski community by and large didn’t believe it.”

Kershaw stepped up and was ready to carry the torch for a new era of cross-country skiers in Canada. Over the next decade, multiple athletes stepped onto the World Cup podium before the four-time Olympian, and his longtime World Cup mate Alex Harvey, took things to a new level in 2011 when they became the first Canadian men to win a World Championship medal, claiming gold in the team sprint race at the birthplace of the sport in Oslo, Norway.

In 15 short years, Kershaw helped put the Canadian men’s team on the radar having racked up a total of 14 World Cup medals, including three victories. It was a run highlighted by a second-place overall finish on the 2012 World Cup circuit.

“Devon was like a big brother for me. He showed me the path of excellence in our sport from the day I joined the World Cup team,” said Alex Harvey. “It’s been a great journey for us. We gave Canada its first World Championship title together and since that day, we never looked back. Watching Devon dominate the world of cross-country skiing in 2012 really opened the flood gates for me, and it definitely broke the glass ceiling on the overall World Cup podium for a North American man. He was a great teammate and I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

Harvey, Kershaw and the Canadian squad were thriving on the road to the 2014 Olympics in Sochi with nearly the entire World Cup team having taken a turn standing on the international podium.

“It is really crazy to think now that I have been a part of breaking all of these records – winning the World Championships, the World Cup medals, and the first distance relay medal last year, and to see what Alex (Harvey) has been able to do. It is just an amazing thing, and something I am very proud of.”

Kershaw’s illustrious career also brought him agonizingly close to becoming the first Canadian male to stand on the Olympic podium with a fourth-place finish in the team sprint with Harvey, and a fifth-place result in the 50-kilometre classic-ski race at the 2010 Games.

“After skiing for two hours, and to finish two seconds from a gold medal, and less than a second from a bronze in 2010 really was a heartbreak, but I did believe I’d have another chance,” said Kershaw. “We went to Sochi with the strongest men’s team ever. We were all in good shape and winning medals leading up to those Games. We were ready, but everything that could go wrong unfortunately did. I wanted nothing more than to see a Canadian male stand on the Olympic podium while I was skiing. It is heartbreaking to know I won’t be a part of that, but I know I have to be proud of what we all accomplished as a team.”

Now living in Norway with his wife – accomplished Norwegian cross-country skier Kristin Stoermer Steira – and their daughter, Kershaw has a long list of items to tackle on his “To Do List.” At the top is spending precious time with his family and then hitting the books.

“There are a lot of tough choices you have to make being a cross-country skier from Canada. We lived out of our suitcases while traveling around the world for more than seven months of the year. It was getting really tough to leave my family last year, so I’m looking forward to being close to home,” said Kershaw, who also admits he’s going to work on learning to speak more Norwegian. “I want to stay involved in the sport at some level – whether it is in Canada or Norway – but in the short term – I need to get back to school and continue my education, so my mom can sleep well at night. That is first on the agenda!”

May 02, 2018 (Lake Placid, NY) – U.S. Biathlon is pleased to announce the addition of two new national team coaches. Armin Auchentaller returns to the U.S. team after coaching the Swiss women’s biathlon team for several years. The Italian comes from the Antholz valley famous for hosting a World Cup every year and being a major biathlon center. German Olympic champion Michael Greis also worked for the Swiss biathlon team and joins the U.S. Team as the men’s head coach. The two head coaches arrived Monday at the Lake Placid Olympic Training Center with U.S. Biathlon Chief of Sport Bernd Eisenbichler for a tour of the facilities and to meet with athletes and staff.

“I’m looking forward to being back,” Auchentaller said. “Coming back to the U.S. team feels like being home. I hope we’ll have a really strong team together and be successful in the World Cup and at the World Championships.”

Auchentaller’s hometown of Antholz, Italy, will be playing host to the IBU World Championships in 2020, providing a not-too-distant target for the new head coach.

“2020 will be a really great championship in Antholz and, of course, I want to succeed there with the U.S. team.”

‘I’m glad to be here in Lake Placid,” added Greis. “First impressions are great here and I’m really looking forward to working with the men’s team. We have a small team but a talented team and we will push the limits.”

“I think interest in biathlon and nordic skiing in America is at an all-time high,” said Frisbie, who competed in biathlon as a junior and has held various coaching positions since, including being the U.S. Biathlon coach intern since June 2017. “It’s a real privilege to be asked to join the team at this time and begin working towards increasing opportunities for participation and competition in this sport over the next four years.”

“I’m very excited for the new teams starting their jobs today,” said Eisenbichler. “With Armin Auchentallar we have a coach coming back who’s worked five years with us from 2009-2014. He’s done a really good job with the Swiss women’s team and we think he is the absolute right person for our women’s team to develop them further. Michael Greis was a super successful athlete and will greatly help our young men’s team develop in the coming years. Combined with the additions of Tim Burke and Danika Frisbie who will focus their efforts on the development side, there are exciting times to come for U.S. Biathlon.”

May 01, 2018 – American ski legend and former Olympian, Jon Rein Engen, 61, passed away near his home in Sun Valley, Utah on April 26 from pancreatic cancer. A passionate athlete, coach and multi-decorated masters champion, Engen was popular and well respected across the USA.

Upon the news of his death tributes filled Engen’s Facebook page, a testament to his love of life and competition, and the camaraderie that goes with it.

“My good friend Jon Engen passed away yesterday after a very courageous battle with pancreatic cancer. Jon was a very special person who made the most out of life and had a tremendous passion for Nordic skiing. Not only was he a three-time Olympian, a many-time world master champion and a skilled coach, but most of all he was dedicated to making the sport better for everyone,” wrote Jim Fredericks, former director of Nordic racing at Rossignol and the Catamount Trail Assoc. “Jon touched many people over the years and I feel honored to be one of those who got to know him. He will be truly missed and I will always cherish the wonderful memories he leaves behind. My heart goes out to his wife Darlene during this difficult time.”

The Norwegian native, born in 1957, came to the United States in 1979 to attend Montana State University and stayed put, competing at three Olympic Games for Team USA in 1988 with the cross-country ski squad, and in 1992 and 1994 in biathlon. He also won two gold medals at the Masters World Cup Nordic Championships staged in 2004 at Lillehammer, Norway.

Engen was a lifelong athlete, and an active member of the local Nordic ski and cycling communities in Sun Valley, and was a member of the Sun Valley Ski Hall of Fame. In 2014 he was recognized for his years of service and contributions receiving an Excellence Award from the U.S Ski and Snowboard Association. He will be sorely missed.

Engen is survived by his wife Darlene Young. No services are scheduled at this time – please visit the Dignity Memorial website here to receive notifications.

SkiTrax joins the ski community in sending condolences to Engen’s family and friends and thanking him for his passion and many contributions to the sport.

April 30, 2018 (Seljalandsdalur, Iceland) – The USA’s John Downing (AXCS) led the charge as the top North American man finishing 21st overall, while Canada’s Brandy Stewart (Nakkertok) was the top woman placing 35th overall. Both claimed second in their respective age categories. Downing is the National Director of the American Cross Country Skiers (AXCS) and President of the World Masters Association that recently held the MWC2018 with the Loppet Foundation in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

Other top North American results include former US Olympian Bob Gray winning the 25km CL Men 66+ category over Mike Ivie (USA) in second. Carolyn Tiernan (USA) led a North American sweep in the 25km CL Women 66+ category with Danièle Grenier (CAN) second and Kathy Christy (USA) third. In the 25km CL race Lindsey Bengtson (USA) won the Women 35-49 category with Barbara Kreisle (USA) second and Mark MacLachlan (USA) won the Men 35-49 race.

Maria Gräfnings (SWE) and Gräfnings and Ilya Chernousov (RUS) won the 50 km classic main competition. France’s Anouk Faivre Picon was second and Selina Gasparin (Sui), winner of the 25km F race was 3rd. For the men it was Alexander Panzhinskiy (RUS) in 2nd and local skier Snorri Eybór Einarsson (ISL) in 3rd.

Results (brief)

50 KM Cl Fossavatnsgangan

Women
1. Maria Gräfnings (SWE) 02:36:17
2. Anouk Faivre Picon (FRA) 02:45:20
3. Selina Gasparin (CHE) 02:46:56
4. Kristina Axelsson (SWE) 02:46:57
5. Elsa Guðrún Jónsdóttir (ISL) 02:56:20

Men
1. Ilya Chernousov (RUS) 02:13:59
2. Alexander Panzhinskiy (RUS) 02:19:11
3. Snorri Eyþór Einarsson (ISL) 02:23:17
4. Karl-Gunnar Skjönsfjell (NOR) 02:35:11
5. Dagur Benediktsson (ISL) 02:40:38

Men 50-65
1. Einar Ólafsson (ISL) 02:57:46
2. John Downing (USA) 02:58:51
3. Kirill Gorev (RUS) 03:02:58
4. Stephen Smigiel (USA) 03:05:06

Women 35-49
1. Kamila Borutova (CZE) 02:59:41
2. Brandy Stewart (CAN) 03:11:36
3. Guðbjörg Rós Sigurðardóttir (ISL) 03:29:29

Women 50-65
1. Cathrine Bendz Aarrestad (NOR) 03:25:02
2. Marjut Rolig (FIN) 03:31:41
3. Tricia Swartling (USA) 03:34:25

Women 66+
1. Carolyn Tiernan (USA) 03:55:54
2. Danièle Grenier (CAN) 04:53:59
3. Kathy Christy (USA) 04:58:13

Full results here.

25 km F Fossavatn Skate

1. Ilya Chernousov (RUS) 01:05:34
2. Snorri Eyþór Einarsson (ISL) 04:28
3. Alexander Panzhinskiy (RUS) 10:04

8. John Downing (USA) 20:26
12. David Knoop (USA) 25:10
14. Brandy Stewart (CAN) 25:40
18. Stephen Smigiel (USA) 27:33
19. Randal Bladel (USA) 28:54
20. Kyle Sarasin (USA) 30:21

Full results here.

25km Cl Fossavatnsgangan

Women
1. Karoline Øren (NOR) 01:31:09
2. Linda Rós Hannesdóttir (ISL) 01:32:36
3. Lindsey Bengtson (USA) 01:52:04
4. Hildur Karen Jónsdóttir (ISL) 01:54:20
5. Martha Ernstdóttir (ISL) 01:54:59

Men
1. Steven Patrick Gromatka (ISL) 01:27:33
2. Mark MacLachlan (USA) 01:32:18
3. Einar Birkir Sveinbjörnsson (ISL) 01:39:27
4. Václav Mráz (CZE) 01:43:40
5. Simo Sukselainen (FIN) 01:44:31

Women 35-49
1. Lindsey Bengtson (USA) 01:52:04
2. Barbara Kreisle (USA) 02:03:30
3. Hege Karete Hamre (NOR) 02:14:44

Men 35-49
1. Mark MacLachlan (USA) 01:32:18
2. Václav Mráz (CZE) 01:43:40
3. Jan Knyttl (CZE) 01:45:39

Men 50-65
1. Simo Sukselainen (FIN) 01:44:31
2. Guðmundur Rafn Kristjánsson (ISL) 01:51:46
3. Paul Kadziora (CAN) 01:52:15

Men 66+
1. Bob Gray (USA) 01:46:48
2. Mike Ivie (USA) 01:57:31
3. igurður Gunnarsson (ISL) 02:06:50

Full results here.

April 20, 2018 – The CXC Junior Development Program (JDP) is recruiting and inviting new athletes to join the program. The JDP is open to junior athletes looking to work with a quality training group on a year round basis.

This training opportunity is designed to help athletes progress step-by-step with an appropriate Nordic skills development plan.

The intent of the JDP is not to replace your local team, but to work with your local team and club to provide each individual programing opportunities to strive to achieve at high levels.

April 19, 2018 (Calgary, AB) – The city of Calgary’s hot and then cold interest in making a bid to host the 2026 Winter Olympics is heating up again after a push from Mayor Naheed Nenshi swung a tight city council vote in his favour reaffirming the continued bid exploration, according to a recent CBC media report.

There is a certain number of councillors speaking out against the bid, and when it was thought that others were also coming out against further exploration, a non-confidence vote was put to council.

As the potential bid was hanging in the balance, numerous high-profile Canadian athletes, including many former Olympians, such as Luge athlete Jeff Christie and swimmer Mark Tewksbury, held a rally in the city to encourage the continuation of the bid.

The Calgary Bid Exploration Committee had been putting in its due diligence on the file since last summer and had pegged the cost of hosting the Games at $4.6 billion, but along with the legacy of sporting memories and facilities comes long-lasting debt. For instance, it took Vancouver four years to pay off the debt after it hosted the Games.

The Calgary bid received a positive shot in the arm last January when the IOC determined that many of the facilities used in the 1988 Olympic Games in Calgary would qualify for use again in 2026.

Even bidding to host the Games is a very expensive proposition with no guarantee of success. Just last week, several councillors were up in arms over spending almost $2 million for a public consultation plan leading up to a bid.

In addition to Calgary, there are numerous cities considering making bids for the Games that have joined the International Olympic Committee’s official “dialogue” stage and took part in the 2018 Observer Programme in PyeongChang, South Korea including Sapporo, Japan; Sion, Switzerland; and Stockholm, Sweden.

The winning bid will be announced in September, 2019.

CBC report here.

City of Calgary bid information site here.

April 17, 2018 – The Rocky Mountain Racers (RMR) is now accepting applications for all programs this upcoming season. Dating back to 1995, RMR’s focus is on the development of junior and senior athletes to “help them achieve excellence in their sport”, and “prepare them for Provincial, National, and International competition.” With coaching expertise, access to the best training facilities and resources available, and educational resources like the National Sports School (NSS), RMR has helped out over 150 athletes pursue their athletic dreams and has a strong history of outstanding results. In just the last two years RMR athletes have qualified to represent Canada at World Cup races, at World Junior Championships, at IPC World Championships, IPC World Cups, and at the Nordic World Championships.

Find the application and registration information on the RMR website here.
For more information or to receive the RMR invitation letter, contact head coach Luke McGurk at lukemcgurk@hotmail.com.

April 17, 2018 (Salzburg, Austria) – Following the ongoing police investigations involving former IBU President Anders Besseberg and former IBU Secretary General Nicole Resch, the Execu-tive Board met for an informal meeting on Sunday the 15th April, 2018. The purpose of the meeting was to further evaluate the situation and discuss strategy for moving forward. Anders Besseberg has stepped aside from his post until further notice, and Nicole Resch is provisionally suspended, for the duration of the investigation.

Acting Secretary General Martin Kuchenmeister informed the Executive Board that there was no new information regarding the investigation as it does not involve the IBU as an organization, but involves the former IBU President and Secretary General as individuals. It was confirmed that all day-to-day operations of the IBU are running smoothly and all plans for the 2018/2019 season are on track and on schedule. Preparations for the IBU Congress are running according to plan also.

It was agreed that IBU VP Sport Max Cobb will attend the SportAccord Convention. By the initiative of IBU VP Medical Jim Carrabre, the Executive Board has also requested the Working Group do everything within its powers to accelerate the process of clarifying all open cases, where the Anti-Doping Rule has been violated.

The Executive Board has decided to hold the next IBU Executive Board Meeting as soon as possible. The next steps and further challenges will be discussed, including but not limited to, the creation of a Code of Ethics. The IBU Acting Executive Board is completely committed to operating under the highest standards of good governance and transparency, and discussions are underway to further implement the necessary checks and balances to achieve this goal.

March 28, 2018 (Craftsbury Common, VT) – SkiTrax’s Peter Graves caught with Erik Bjornsen (APU) winner of the Men’s 50km CL, the final race of the season and of the 2018 L.L. Bean U.S. Long Distance Nationals in Craftsbury Common, VT.

March 28, 2018 (Craftsbury Common, VT) – Erik Bjornsen (APU) took home the Men’s 50km CL Mass Start victory in a close battle with Adam Martin (Craftsbury Green Project) in second at 1.5 seconds followed by Scott Patterson (APU) in third another another 22 seconds behind. Bjornsen reclaimed the title having won in 2016 while Patterson, the defending champ, settled for third.

David Norris  (APU) claimed 4th and Simi Hamilton (SMS T2), known for his sprinting prowess, had a strong day finishing 5th at the final race of the 2018 L.L. Bean U.S. Long Distance National Championships at Craftsbury Common in Vermont. Finishing 10th was Canada’s Scott Hill from Team Hardwood.

“It was a tough race out there today with some tactical moves along the way and trying to decide when to change skis. Scott [Patterson] and I made the switch at about the halfway mark – then we chased down Adam [Martin],” explained Bjornsen. “Then it was kind of the three of us to the finish.”

With three APU skiers in the top 10 we wondered about team tactics. “APU is my club team but all the guys out there are my teammates so it’s fun to race here at home with other Americans. It’s great to see everyone and see guys like Adam pushing hard,” he continued.

Bjornsen had a stellar World Cup season with a breakthrough career-best 9th place finish at Seefeld, Austria in the men’s 15km FR mass start and scored points in about 15 races. “I’m looking forward to breaking into the top 2o more often and of course more top 10’s as well… the podium is the real target,” added the winner.

“After a record year, @ebjornsen1991 finished out the season strong by winning the 50k classic national title at the U.S. Cross Country Champs. And channeling the teamwork that makes this team so special, he said he learned from his sister @sbjornsen’s second-place finish yesterday to take the win,” tweeted @TeamUSA.

Bjornsen plans to spend a few days down south by the beach with his fiance, but says he’s eager to get back on his skis and get ready for next year… his sister Sadie told us the same (interview here) and we look forward to marking their progress.

Men’s 50k Results here.

March 27, 2018 (Craftsbury Common, VT) – Following today’s women’s 30km CL, the final race of the season, we caught up with winner Jessie Diggins (SMST2), silver medalist Sadie Bjornsen (APU) and legendary Kikkan Randall (APU) who landed on the podium at the final race of her career.

March 25, 2018 (Fairbanks, Alaska) – Stratton Mountain bided their time in the Mixed Relay 4x5km and when the dust settled once again topped the podium to defend their title over APU 1 in second with Craftsbury Green Racing Project 1 landing third on the podium.

Simi Hamilton, Sophie Caldwell, Patrick Caldwell, and Jessie Diggins marked their APU-1 rivals and kept them in check as Erik Bjornsen, Sadie Bjornsen, Scott Patterson and Kikkan Randall looked strong. Adam Martin, Ida Sargent, Alex Howe and Caitlin Patterson from Craftsbury challenged early on but settled for third.

Hamilton, Erik Bjornsen and Martin were the front runners on the opening leg and all tagged off together with APU-1 having a slight edge.

Then Sadie Bjornsen dropped Sophie Caldwell and Ida Sargent (Craftsbury Green) and garnered a 7-second lead as she tagged Patterson for leg three.

Patrick Caldwell battled against Scott Patterson on the third leg and clawed back some time as APU-1 anchor, Randall, enjoyed a 4-second lead but not for long as Diggins soon joined her.

But Randall eould not contain her Olympic gold partner as Diggins raced to victory for Stratton once again with Randall taking second and Caitlin Patterson taking third.

“We knew that APU and Craftbury were going to be tough,” said Sophie Caldwell. “Our goal was to keep it as close as possible for Jessie because we knew we had a really strong anchor leg. We are psyched.”

“We knew it was going to be tough going against Stratton today based on how they were skiing all week and we knew it would be key getting a little time going into that last leg,” said Randall. “Scott gave us the gap and I was hopeful going into the last lap. I tried to put the pressure on, but Jessie caught me at about 2.5k. She had a bit more and pulled away to take the win. The team relay is such a great event and having three clubs on the podium just shows the depth of the team.”

Results here.

March 25, 2018 – Our Canmore and Calgary Training Centres are currently accepting applications. Our Program Guidelines for 2018-19 and application form is now available: Program Guidelines 2018-19

Don’t forget to submit your expression of interest to Cross Country Canada as well as submit your application with the Alpine Insurance Alberta World Cup Academy.

March 24, 2018 (Craftsbury Common, VT) – Erik Bjornsen (APU) captured the men’s 15km FR mass start race on day one of the 2018 USSA SuperTour Finals as Simi Hamilton (SMST2) battled to second place followed by Tad Elliott (Ski Club Vail) in third.

Conditions were great with sunshine and lots of fans on hand at the Craftsbury Outdoor Centre. Patrick Caldwell (APU) finished 4th, Brian Gregg (CXC/Team Gregg/LNR) was 5th and Patterson, Scott Patterson (APU) rounded out the men’s final podium.

“Super fun racing with the boys out there. The trails here are in great condition. They had a nice course lined out for us with a few solid climbs. I broke a pole on the second lap and all the guys in the lead group were super helpful in getting me a new one,” said Bjornsen. “Simi actually grabbed one for me at one point. I was able to put a little gap in on the last big climb about a kilometer from the finish and then just stayed in the lead from there. I was happy to not have to sprint to the finish against Simi because there is a chance it would have played out differently.”

Hamilton took home his first distance podium for a superb end to his season. “It was a fun race…mass starts always keep my attention much better than individual starts. The pace was pretty high the first lap, and then we kind of settled into a more comfortable pace on the 2nd and 3rd laps. I was skiing towards the back of the group mostly, and I had to close down some gaps that opened up occasionally in the lead pack, but I felt like I was skiing pretty well within my zone the whole time. If you don’t count prologues that we used to have at the SuperTour finals a few years ago, that is my distance first podium.

“The skiing is awesome and the whole Craftsbury crew is doing an incredible job with the course prep. As always, it has a very professional vibe to it here. Erik was able to open up a small gap, probably about 2 or 3 seconds with about one km to go. I was still in the very back of our pack of six chasers at that point, so on the last significant climb with about .5 km to go I made a move to the front of our chase pack with Tad Elliott, and then on the final hill was able to put a small gap on Tad before the finish stretch. Erik basically held his gap the whole time, but maybe I clawed back a second or two by the time we crossed the line.

“It’s always awesome racing at home, especially in Vermont where there is such a great buzz around XC skiing and we have some many family, friends, and fans cheering us on. Our relay team is really psyched going in to tomorrow. Even though we’re the defending champs, we still consider ourselves the underdogs a bit because APU always puts together an incredible team. However it plays out, it will be an incredibly fun race,” commented Hamilton.

Men’s results

March 24, 2018 (Craftsbury Common, VT) – Jessie Diggins (SMST2) took home her second straight victory at at the 2018 USSA SuperTour Finals, winning the women’s 10km FR mass start race with Sadie Bjornsen (APU) a close second followed by Kikkan Randall (APU) in third.

“It’s so much fun to be back racing in the US and getting to see all my buddies from teams all over the country,” said Diggins. “Craftsbury does an amazing job here and a huge thanks to the volunteers for making the races go so well. Today I was just out to have fun and ski hard while enjoying the fun courses.

For Bjornsen it was a fun day as well where she did her best to hang on to Diggins. “It was a fun day of racing here in Craftsburry. It was a hot pace from the start, as I sat in second place behind Jessie. She tumbled at the bottom of the hill, at which point I took over the lead, but she was quickly back on the front by the bottom of the next hill.

“It felt and sounded like Jessie and I had made a gap on most of the field at the top of the longer climb at the end of the first lap, but Kikkan and Rosie F. managed to pull back onto us on the flat at the top of the climbs. It felt like that kept happening most of the longer climbs throughout the course, but it was really hard to tell. My muscles still have a little bit of energy left in them, but mentally I am running on fumes… so today I just set my brain on hanging onto to Jessie as long as possible, and taking a few turns at the front during the rolling sections. Conditions are great here with plenty of snow, and really fun and challenging courses.

“It is really fun to be back with my club team for one final week of racing. I am in that place where I am so tired that everything makes me giggle until my core gives out. It sure is fun to celebrate those fun moments with my club team, and truly celebrate a successful season for everyone,” added Bjornsen.

Randall was stoked to finish 3rd. “Conditions are great, lots of snow and nice temps. Sun came out after the race making it nice for everyone to hang around. Pace was fast but reasonable out of the start. It was really fun to ski with those girls today. I have felt a far away from that level the last couple of weeks so it was nice to find some better gears today.

“The level of the racing here has certainly come up over the last several years.  It’s great that for at least one race series a year we can get all the USA skiers together to race. It really nice to see everyone that we haven’t seen all season. The spectators have really come out in force and it’s great to see the enthusiasm in the whole community.

We wondered if she realized just how much she’d accomplished during her career. “I’m sure when the season actually finishes and I have some time to look back over my career, some of the gravity will sink in. What I love is how normal this new level feels now, as if it’s always been this way.”

And what about that mixed relay title ? “A lot of pride on the line tomorrow. It was tough to loose the title to SMS last year so you can guarantee team APU is hungry to get the title back,” shared Randall.

Women’s results

March 24, 2018 (Craftsbury Common, VT) – There was something truly magical in the air today at the Craftsbury Outdoor Center in Vermont that took place just after the prize-giving ceremony. Members of the USA Olympic cross-country ski team kindly gathered together to respond to wonderful questions asked by the likes of New England Youth and members of BKL programs from around the East.

The whole affair which last but half and hour was a powerful reminder of the concept of community and the beauty of a special shared experience in the sport. In the presence of many of the heroes of our sport, including Olympic gold medalists Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall, wide-eyed young racers asked interesting questions of the whole team.

The questions asked by the kids covered a wide range of topics from how the squad grew their special team togetherness that has been clearly demonstrated to be a highly effective motivator, to what music on their playlists they listen to to get pumped up before a race. Other questions included what is your favorite kind of milk – most agreed on chocolate, low fat (of course), to if you were a monster what character would you be. All agreed there were great questions asked.

As the sky cleared to a brilliant blue and the youth gathered round, the Olympians answered questions in a most thoughtful and encouraging manner. The key concept centered around following one’s dreams and staying with it, even during the tough days, because the sport can take you anywhere you might want to go. Just as with their skiing, the Olympians hit the mark. Many stressed that skiing and racing should indeed be fun.

The vibe was something special…it was a give-and-take that proved deeply effecting making us all think of the athletes who inspired so many generations of skiers. This team deserves to be commended for taking the time and care to pay it forward. The kids inspired here today, will be inspiring us in the future.

These Olympians represent the present, and the 100 or so young athletes gathered represent the future. It was a moment in time that was filled with humor, love and fun.

Like everyone in the crowd, I’m proud to be in a sport where these important interactions can take place, where everyone cares for one another, where inspiration is the watchword.

For those lucky enough to be gathered about today for this function, there was a papable feeling that we all came away from this moment in time very much the richer for it.

March 23, 2018 (Craftsbury Common, VT) – Jessie Diggins (SMST2) took home another victory winning the women’s CL Sprint on day one of the 2018 USSA SuperTour Finals with Sophie Caldwell (SMST2) in 2nd and Ida Sargent (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) third just edging out top qualifier, Sadie Bjornsen (APU), in 4th. Also making the A-Final were Rosie Brennan (APU) in 5th and Kikkan Randall (APU) in 6th.

Andy Newell (SMST2), who won the qualifier as well, delivered the goods in the men’s CL Sprint besting teammate Ben Saxton (SMST2) in second followed by Erik Bjornsen (APU) in third. Claiming 4th was Kris Freeman (Caldwell Sport) with Simi Hamilton (SMST2) 5th and Reese Hanneman (APU) in 6th.

“It feels great to be back in the US after 5 months away and to be racing here in Vermont. Maybe it’s being back stateside or maybe its putting on my SMS suit again but I felt a lot stronger yesterday than I have in the past month or so. Conditions were great and the sun was out so it was perfect spring skiing conditions,” said Newell.

“Racing in the US is always different because for the first time all season you feel like you are competing against your US Ski Team teammates. We really don’t have that feeling in the winter since we are all racing for the USA, it’s all one team. But when we go home to our clubs it’s a different atmosphere like we are racing against each other.  So to have my world cup teammates in the final and to come away with the win was a really fun way to end the season.
‘
“I knew in the final it would come down to the last gradual hill and into the lanes so I tried to focus on that section and push the striding in the warming snow,” added Newell.

Madison Morgan (UNH) took home the Junior Women’s Sprint CL title with Phoebe Sweet (Craftsbury Nordic) second and Alexandra Lawson (Middlebury College Ski Team) in third.

Canada’s Étienne Hébert (Montériski/AIAWCA) was the fastest in the Junior Men’s final followed by fellow Canuck, Nicolas Beaulieu (Orford), as Middlebury College’s Peter Wolter claimed the title as the first American in third overall. Adam Glueck (Dartmouth Ski Team) was second and Karl Schulz (UVM Ski Team) was the third-fastest US junior.

W Sprint Qualifier here
M Sprint Qualifier here
Women Sprint Overall here
Men Sprint Overall here
Sprint Brackets here.
Junior Sprint Brackets here

March 22, 2018 – As the 2017/18 ski season winds down, so do the international racing careers of Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephen, two of the longest standing women of the current US National Cross Country Ski Team. The duo have raced on the world stage for a combined total of thirty years; eighteen for Randall and twelve for Stephen.

They were recently honoured with a victory lap at the FIS World Cup finals in Falun, Sweden where a packed stadium celebrated their careers as Randall’s son Breck joined in along with Sweden’s Anna Haag and Finland’s Aino Kaisa (Aikku) Saarinen who is also retiring.

Randall was the lone female on the US World Cup team back in 2006 and was the spark that helped build and evolve the squad into the current American powerhouse women’s team that Stephen joined along the way.

They leave an amazing legacy behind and contributed to lifting US cross-country skiing to new heights of accomplishment while establishing a culture of team spirit and support that resulted in Olympic gold for Randall and Jessie Diggins in the Team Sprint at Pyeongchang 2018… a storybook ending to Randall’s amazing career (look for a separate post on Liz Stephen’s stellar career).

Randall, who was actually born in Salt Lake City, began her career in Alaska as an APU junior skier at age 16 “…when it was called Gold 2002.” She chose to continue with Jim Galanes’ program after high school and started taking classes at APU in 2001. Erik Flora took over in 2007 and APU’s record of success is renowned in Nordic circles around the globe.

Randall won her first national title “…the day after my 19th birthday in January 2002 in Bozeman, MT. It was the freestyle Sprint and that helped me qualify for the 2002 Olympics. It was also when I made the decision to forgo NCAA eligibility to pursue my international goals full time.”

She was named to the US Ski Team as part of the development squad in 2000 until 2005 but the team was cut for the 2005-2006 season and Randall was part of the US women’s team at the 2006 Torino Games where she finished a record 9th in the freestyle Sprint. At those same Games her Canadian pals Chandra Crawford won gold and Beckie Scott and Sara Renner won team sprint silver.

For the 2006-2007 World Cup season she was renamed to the national team, but to the A-squad, and so her rise to stardom began. She was the only woman competing on the World Cup full-time that season and most of 2007-2008 and 2008-2009 as well. Pete Vordenberg was head coach and in 2006 Chris Grover became the US team’s sprint coach while Matt Whitcomb was named Head Development Coach.

Randall earned her first World Cup sprint podium in January of 2007 at Rybinsk, Russia and soon after began an avalanche of stunning results. The next year she won her first World Cup sprint race in Rybinsk and would go on to claim 13 World Cup victories during her career including 29 podiums – read Randall’s original Race Tails report on her first WCup win here.

Just prior she was the first U.S. woman to record a top-5 World Cup finish in x-c (March 7, 2006, a skate sprint in Borlaenge, Sweden) and as mentioned she was the first U.S. woman to break into the top 10 in an Olympic cross-country race (Feb. 22, 2006 in Pragelato Plan, the Olympic venue an hour west of Torino).

In 2008 she married Canadian xc skier, Jeff Ellis, who cut his teeth in journalism at SkiTrax, and later joined the Cross-Country PR & Communications team at FIS becoming the voice of the World Cup as their post-race interviewer, and the point man for their innovative “Inside the Fence” video series.

Then in 2009 Randall won her her first FIS Nordic World Championship medal at Liberec, Czech Republic, capturing silver in the freestyle Sprint. Those championships were an amazing milestone as Team USA took home six medals courtesy of Todd Lodwick, who captured two Nordic Combined golds, Billy Demong, who won Nordic Combined gold and bronze, and Lindsay Van, who won gold in the inaugural women’s ski jumping debut.

By then the US women’s team was coming together with Randall and US  head coach Pete Vordenberg creating the framework and building blocks with skiers like Stephen, Holly Brooks, Laura Valaas, and Morgan Arritola. Later Jessie Diggins, Sadie Bjornsen, Sophie Caldwell, Ida Sargent, Rosie Brennan and others would come on board.

In 2010 Grover took over as head coach and along the way Whitcomb became the head coach of the women’s team that was starting to raise eyebrows both at home and abroad.

Randall’s leadership was key as she shared a Team Sprint World Cup podium first with Bjornsen in 2011 at Düsseldorf, Germany, and then with Diggins in 2012 at Milan, Italy and again in Quebec, City later that year… formidable!

In 2012 Randall made history again winning her first Sprint Cup globe, and defended her title for two consecutive years in 2013 and 2014 against the best sprinters in the world.

The Team’s first women’s 4x5k relay podium was also in 2012 at Gallivare, SWE as Brooks, Randall, Stephen and Diggins claimed bronze. They repeated in Lillehammer, Norway the next year with Bjornsen replacing Brooks… and again at Lillehammer in 2015 and finally at Nove Mesto, Czech Republic in 2016.

Team USA’s signature women’s relay socks, which Randall bought at a convenience store in Germany after the 2012 Tour de Ski, became the talk of the town. They made their first debut “….in a night sprint that Liz and I did in Italy and then the first World Cup was the Milan team sprint with Jessie and I,” recalled Randall.

Randall and Diggins hit the big time in 2013 winning Team Sprint gold at the FIS Nordic Worlds in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Randall’s third Worlds medal was a bronze in the freestyle Sprint in 2017 at Lahti, Finland.

Her infectious spirit, passion and “fun” attitude permeated the team and in 2015 they released a brilliant “Uptown Funk” video just before the Falun 2015 Nordic World Championships sparking other teams to do the same.

Just prior to her final World Cup season in fall 2017, the US team took delivery of their first wax truck, that became a reality following the work of Randall and Liz Arky as the dynamic duo shared the team’s story with donors who signed on to the dream – and it paid off big time.

The storybook ending to Randall’s incredible career saw her win the first-ever Olympic gold medal for the US cross-country ski team in the Team Sprint with Diggins at the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang. “Team work makes the dream work,” tweeted Randall.

“The most satisfying part of winning an Olympic gold medal has been finally earning the validation for all that our US Cross Country team has been working for, and believing in, since that first women’s cross country team competed in 1972!  It’s so fitting that it happened in a team event because this has always been a joint effort.

““We are incredibly proud and honored to have been able to represent USA out on the course that night and finally show our country and the world that we can compete with the best,”  Randall told Trax post Games. Apparently, it runs in the family as Randall’s Aunt Betsy and Uncle Chris Haines went to the Olympics to compete in cross-country races, he in 1976 and she in 1980.

Now a 5-time Olympian she has been on the FIS Athletes’ Commission and was recently elected to the IOC Athlete Commission for the next eight years. Randall is also the President of Fast & Female USA while working on an MBA at APU, along with motivational speaking and sponsor work. She and her husband Jeff celebrated the birth of their son Breck in April, 2016 and according to Randall, “there’s nothing better than coming home to his smiling face.”

What a career!

March 18, 2018 (Falun, SWE) – The USA’s Jessie Diggins and Sadie Bjornsen wrapped up the season in style landing second and third in the women’s 10km FR pursuit finale in Falun, Sweden.

The finish moved Diggins into the second spot in the season-long World Cup overall standings – a mere 40 points behind winner Heidi Weng of Norway with teammate Ingvild Flagstaff Østberg in third. Norway’s Marit Bjoergen took the win in the Pursuit while Diggins took the Winner of the Day title with the fastest individual time in the Pursuit race.

“Today was a dream come true,” said Diggins. “I knew I needed a good day to hold my position, but I didn’t know that I would come within 40 points of the overall globe. What an awesome end to the year.”

Her second in the overall is the best American finish since Bill Koch won the globe in 1982. Diggins is only the second American woman to finish in the top three, joining Kikkan Randall (Anchorage) who was third in 2012. She had been third coming into the day, but surpassed Norway’s Ingvild Flagstaff Østberg who settled for third.

Bjornsen’s podium netted her a boost up to sixth in the overall standings and eighth in distance – career bests and among the best U.S. rankings of all time.

“It is amazing to finish the season on that note,” said Bjornsen. “I did not know that would be possible today. When I saw the other girls and how quickly the race went, I decided I was going to fight for the podium.”

The top Canadian was Cendrine Browne in 39th with the 27th fastest time, followed by Emily Nishikawa in 48th, Dahria Beatty in 54th and Zina Kocher in 60th.

“The atmosphere in Falun is great with people are cheering for all the countries which is pretty cool. It’s a relief to finish as it’s been a long season. Overall I would say my best results were 33rd at the Olympics and my 36th at the Holmemkollen (even if I fell twice and lost the top 30… it was a great race),” said Browne. “The Canadian’s women team is getting better and better. It’s encouraging to be a part of a team that keeps growing, learning and improving together.”

Diggins started third in the pursuit, 43 seconds behind Bjoergen, carving 27 seconds out of the Norwegian’s lead – just 16.7 seconds back at the finish for the fastest time of the day. She started out in a group with Østberg just ahead of her and Finland’s Krista Parmakoski right behind.

The trio skied together as a chase pack for three kilometers before Diggins decided to up the pace and broke away. She began knocking down the gap by huge chunks and by the 5k mark had put over 30 seconds on the chase group and had Bjoergen in sight. She continued to carve time on Bjoergen, but didn’t have enough race left to catch her.

“I actually love getting to just go hammer by myself, skiing the downhills exactly how I want to. So I was happy to be out there looking for every second I could get,” said Diggins. “Our awesome techs nailed the skis and we had the boards to go out there and lay down a fast race.”

Bjornsen, who started 57 seconds back along with Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla, had to bridge up to the Østberg-Parmakoski group. With Diggins out alone, a chase pack developed by mid-race establishing a battle for third. Bjornsen held her spot in heavy traffic then seized an opportunity to break free in the final stretch to the finish to take third over Norway’s Ragnhild Haga.

The race was a farewell for a host of athletes including Americans Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, Alaska) and Liz Stephen (E. Montpelier, Vt.). Randall was celebrated after the finish, taking a victory lap with son Breck in her arms in front of the thousands in Falun for the World Cup Finals.

Randall leaves with a strong legacy starting with her World Cup sprint win at Rybinsk in December, 2007. She ended up winning 14 World Cup races and three sprint crystal globes. She and Diggins combined for a team sprint World Championship in 2013 and the recent Olympic gold.

Stephen left her mark on the flanks of Alpe Cermis, establishing herself as one of the most dominant hill climbers in the sport. A regular podium finisher on the final hill climb of the Tour de Ski, she recorded one of the best tour finishes in history with her fifth in 2015.

Pursuit results here.
Fastest of the Day here.
Mini Tour results here.
World Cup Distance here.
Overall World Cup here.

March 18, 2018 (Oslo, Norway) – The men’s 4×7.5km relay was the final race of the season for Team USA which is boycotting next week’s World Cup final in Russia.

It also marked the final race and storied careers of Lowell Bailey and Tim Burke. The 4-time Olympians, who grew up racing together in Lake Placid, closed out their careers on the same day.

It was a memorable day as Bailey and Burke teamed up with Sean Doherty and Leif Nordgren to finish 7th for the team’s best relay finish of the 2017-18 World Cup season, and second only to their 6th-place effort on the final day of the PyeongChang Winter Games.

The Americans used eight spares to finish at 2:01.5 behind Norway who won relay gold using only three spares. On the final leg Austria with five spares took over second from Russia who settled for third with five spares. Canada’s Christian and Scott Gow, Brendan Green and Macx Davies finished 16th with 10th spares.

Results here.

March 18, 2018 (Oslo, Norway) – Olympian Susan Dunklee wrapped up her 2017-18 season with a bronze medal around her neck taking third in the women’s 10km Pursuit on the final day of the BMW IBU World Cup 8 at Holmenkollen Stadium.

Darya Domracheva of Belarus attacked on the steepest hill in the final loop to pull away from Anastasiya Kuzmina of Slovakia and claim the victory with two penalties. Kuzmina suffered four penalties to finish at 9.2 seconds back. Dunklee also had two missed targets finishing third at 29.5 seconds behind the winner.

“I felt like I had the best preparation all summer and fall that I ever had and was really excited for the Olympic season, where so much pressure is put on that,” said Dunklee. “That was tough on me, but being a biathlete is all about being resilient, being able to pick yourself up over and over again. I am so happy to have this payoff at the end.”

Coming into the final shooting stage, Dunklee was in 10th position, but after clearing all her targets she exited the range in a battle for third with Japan’s Fuyoko Tachizaki right on her heels.

Dunklee gradually pulled away from Tachizaki for an eight-second advantage at the line to secure the bronze. Canada’s Julia Ransom was 51st with four penalties and Rosanna Crawford was 52nd with five penalties as the duo crossed the line together. Ransom announced her retirement just prior to the Pursuit race as she heads back to school.

Results here.

March 18, 2018 (PyeongChang, Korea) – Canada’s Nordic skiers will leave the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games with 16 medals around their necks. The Canucks put an exclamation mark on their record-setting performance, adding a silver and bronze medal in the mixed and open relay races on the final day of the Games Sunday in PyeongChang, Korea.

Mark Arendz, of Hartsville, P.E.I., etched his name in the history books by setting a record for winning the most medals ever in one Games by a Canadian Winter Paralympian after anchoring the mixed 4×2.5 kilometre relay team to a silver medal.

Natalie Wilkie (Salmon Arm, B.C.), Emily Young (North Vancouver), Chris Klebl (Canmore, Alta.) and Arendz clocked a second-place time of 25:21.9.

“This is fantastic. It is our first relay medal ever. It is great to end the Games with a historic moment that we get to share with each other for the rest of our lives,” said Arendz, who will carry Canada’s flag into the Closing Ceremonies. “This is a great team of two veterans and two rookies. I’m so happy we were able to get this done.”

The 17-year-old Natalie Wilkie, who already had a gold and bronze medal in the cross-country ski races coming into the final day, she skied the first classic-ski leg for the Canucks, and handed off to Young in fifth spot.

The 27-year-old Young, who shared the podium with Wilkie in yesterday’s middle-distance race, had the Canadians in seventh spot at the midway point of the race following her skate-ski leg, leaving it up to the Paralympic veterans to bring it home.

“Our team worked so well together. It looked a little scary in the beginning, but we knew we had Chris in third and Mark anchoring which was going to be the difference,” said Young. “We each held our own in our individual sections and it is so fun to win this one as a team.”

Klebl, who won a gold medal at the 2014 Games, closed the gap for the Canucks while making up 27 seconds on the field. Thanks to a brilliant effort by Klebl, the 28-year-old Arendz began the final classic-leg in fourth spot. Charging out of the stadium, Arendz hunted down Japan’s Taiki Kawayoke, before bombing past Germany’s Alexander Ehler down the final hill into the finishing stretch to take the silver, and make it six medals in as many starts.

“I came in here thinking I could get three medals, but to get six is incredible,” said Arendz. “Today’s is a special one. I am happy we got this done, but there is no way I could do another race. I’m done.”

The team from the Ukraine won the gold in the mixed relay format, finishing with a time of 24:31.9.

Germany held on for the bronze medal with a time of 25:25.3.

The high-powered Canadians weren’t done there.

Paralympic legend, Brian McKeever (Canmore, Alta.) – along with his guides Graham Nishikawa (Whitehorse) and Russell Kennedy (Canmore, Alta.) – and sit-skier Collin Cameron (Sudbury, Ont.) added a bronze medal in open 4×2.5 kilometre relay.

The 28-year-old Cameron skied the first and third legs of the race, while McKeever skate-skied the second and anchor leg.

“I just tried to pace it properly and be as fast as I could. It was so much fun,” said Cameron. “This is my first relay, so I was really looking forward to this. I am super happy to leave here with three medals.”

Cameron, who had two biathlon bronze medals earlier in the week, finished the opening loop in eighth spot. Nishikawa and McKeever made up huge time in their first rip around the 2.5-kilometre track to put the Canadians into fourth spot.

Cameron held his spot in the last lap until dropping up a pole up the final hill, costing him considerable time while having to circle back to pick it up. With three nations passing him, he came through the final exchange in sixth spot, 25 seconds behind the Ukraine team in third.

Russell Kennedy, who also competed for Canada at last month’s Olympics, led the 13-time Paralympic gold medallist McKeever, for one final ski around the Alpensia Biathlon Centre. When all was said and done, it appeared the Canadians would finish in fourth place, but the Ukraine’s were handed a 30 second penalty for an early exchange, moving the Canadians onto the final step of the podium.

It was the 17th Paralympic medal for the 38-year-old McKeever.

“It’s incredible to get two relay medals today. We knew we had a shot if we all had really good days,” said McKeever. “What Mark, Chris and the girls did in that first relay was awesome. These races are so interesting with all different disabilities together. It is never over until last tour around, and in both cases, we saw that today with lots of different lead changes out there.”

France handily won the open relay with a time of 22:46.6. Norway celebrated the silver at 23:09.1.

Canadian Para-Nordic Team Highlights:

– 16 medals are a best ever Paralympic performance;
– Mark Arendz named Closing Ceremony flag bearer after winning six medals in six races (1 gold, 2 silvers, 3 bronze) …setting record for most medals by a Winter Paralympian in one Games;
– Every member of Canada’s Para-Nordic World Cup goes home with a medal;
– The youngest member of Canadian Paralympic Team, 17-year-old Natalie Wilkie, won a complete set of cross-country ski medals;
– Other first-time Paralympians, Collin Cameron, won two bronze in biathlon, and one relay bronze; Brittany Hudak won a biathlon bronze; Emily Young won silver and bronze in cross-country skiing;
– Opening Ceremonies flag bearer, Brian McKeever, became Canada’s most decorated Winter Paralympian with 17 medals. McKeever captured the triple treble, winning three individual cross-country ski gold medals in the last three Olympics. He also added a relay bronze;
Canadian Team wins first-ever medals in Paralympic relays.

Complete Cross County Relay Results here.

March 17, 2018 (Falun, Sweden) – Canada’s Alex Harvey finished 20th in the men’s 15km CL race in Falun and sits fourth overall in the World Cup rankings as Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov finally claimed his first World Cup victory.

It came at the expense of the home crowd favourite Calle Halfvarsson (Swe) who looked set to take his first win of the season but Bolshunov would not be denied and overtook Halfvarsson with 70 meters to go.

In third place was Italy’s Francesco De Fabiani at 3.1 seconds behind. Canada’s Devon Kershaw finished in the points in 26th while the top American was Erik Bjonrsen in 52nd.

Results here.

March 17, 2018 (Falun, Sweden) – The USA’s Jessie Diggins finished 8th in the women’s 10km CL mass start and remains third overall with one race to go as Krista Parmakoski of Finland took the win over Marit Bjoergen (NOR) in the final 100 meters. Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg finished third.

Sadie Bjornsen was 11th as Diggins, from Afton, Minn., is poised to become only the second American woman to finish the season ranked in the top three. Kikkan Randall (Anchorage) was third in 2013. The top Canadian was Emily Nishikawa in 36th.

“Today was an ok race for me, not my best feeling, which tells me how far I’ve come when 8th in a classic World Cup doesn’t bring the same fireworks anymore,” said Diggins. “Today I just went as hard as my body would let me and it was good to only lose 15 seconds on the winner of the day, because in a mini-tour every second counts.”

Diggins set the early pace before Bjoergen and Oestberg took control. Near the midway point, Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen and Heidi Weng joined the leaders while Diggins dropped back with the chase pack.

Just past the halfway mark, Parmakoski moved quickly to challenge. In the final stages, Bjoergen, Oestberg and Parmakoski were in charge with Parmakoski charging past Bjoergen to take the win.

“I’m really excited for tomorrow – a pursuit style skate race is one of my favorite formats and my strategy is pretty simple. Just go chase down as many seconds as I can and race the course as fast as I can! I’ll be starting bib #3 around some awesome girls, so I’m hoping we can work together to keep us moving at a fast pace,” said Diggins.

Results here.

March 17, 2018 (Oslo, Norway) – The USA’s Sean Doherty matched his career-best 12.5km pursuit result finishing 17th with two penalties at 1:34.2 behind France’s Martin Fourcade also missing two targets on the range.

It was Fourcade’s 72nd World Cup victory as Italy’s Lukas Hofer finished second at 18.1 seconds back with one penalty. Third place went to Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Boe with four penalties at 32.5 seconds behind Fourcade. The top Canadian was Scott Gow in 51st with five penalties.

“I am very happy with my race today,” said Doherty. “My execution on the range was very crisp, especially in prone, which I have been working on.”

Results here.
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March 14, 2018 (Pyeongchang, Korea) – Canada’s Para-Nordic enjoyed their most successful day in the history of the Paralympic Winter Games celebrating three athletes hopping onto the podium along with a trio of near misses on Wendesday in PyeongChang, Korea.

Canada’s Brian McKeever won gold in the 1.5-kilometre cross-country sprint visually impaired final at the 2018 Winter Paralympics.

It was the 12th gold of McKeever’s storied career and his second in Pyeongchang. The 38-year-old from Canmore, Alta., now owns 15 Paralympic medals and became Canada’s most decorated Winter Paralympian earlier at these Games.

“These sprint races are miserable. They are so hard. The young guys are fast, and have natural snap,” said McKeever following a grueling day under the warm sun and heavy snow conditions. “There is so much stress in sprint racing, and it goes all day long. I’m much more comfortable with the longer distances. But it was a great day for us. Russell carried the load for us today, and just thrilled we were able to cross the line first.”

McKeever, who has won all three sprint races since the discipline was introduced into the Paralympic program in 2010, double-poled the entire course with guide Russell Kennedy (Canmore, Alta.) in the sprint.

“That was tough and it hurt a lot,” said the 26-year-old Kennedy. “We played things a bit more strategic in the semis because we knew the final was going to be a tough fight, and it was. That first hill hurt a lot. Once I got to the stop I was able to settle down and said to myself ‘okay you got this’.”

Kennedy helped also played a key role in leading McKeever to the top of the podium in Monday’s distance race as the Canadians exercised a two-guide strategy with Graham Nishikawa (Whitehorse).

Nishikawa joined McKeever on the podium for that race. Kennedy will get his first taste of gold at Wednesday’s medal ceremony.

“This is a new experience for me – especially coming from the Olympics where the focus is all on yourself.  Brian is such a strong athlete and guiding him requires a lot more communication. Competing here at the Paralympics is really rewarding because you do this as a team. It is hard at times to know if I’m going too hard or if he needs me to go faster, but it has been a lot of fun for me.”

McKeever has a shot at completing a “triple treble” with a gold in the men’s 10-km event; he won gold in all three individual men’s races — sprint, 10 km and 20 km — at both the Vancouver and Sochi Games and is two-thirds of the way there in Pyeongchang.

Earlier, Mark Arendz tied for bronze in a thrilling finish in the men’s standing sprint final.

It was the first-career Paralympic cross-country medal for the 28-year-old from Hartsville, P.E.I., who already owns silver and bronze biathlon medals from these Games. Arendz also claimed biathlon silver and bronze at the 2014 Paralympics in Sochi.

Arendz appeared to have a shot at gold in the race before Kazakhstan’s Alexandr Kolyadin surged past the front three to claim gold. From there, the Canadian battled it out with Finland’s Ilkka Tuomisto, with both skiers sharing third place in a photo finish.

“Sitting there in the finish waiting for the results of the photo finish, I was just hoping for a tie,” said the 28-year-old Arendz. “It was a really good race but I made a mistake down the finishing stretch switching to try and find a faster track and that may have cost me the whole race.

“I came here for medals in biathlon and was hoping to get my first one in cross-country. To come away with my first bronze in cross-country skiing means alot. I couldn’t be happier.”

Canada’s medal count grew shortly afterward thanks to 17-year-old Natalie Wilkie. The Salmon Arm, B.C., native earned her first-ever Paralympic medal in the women’s standing sprint, racing to a bronze medal. Fellow Canadians Emily Young and Brittany Hudak finished fourth and sixth, respectively.

“It feels so awesome. This is my first Paralympics and I am just so happy to have won a medal,” said Wilkie, who found comfort racing in the final alongside two other Canadian women. “We are competing against each other, but we are also helping each other. It was calming for me to have them there with me. We talked about strategy as a team before the final because the goal was for us to win a medal for Canada.”

Collin Cameron finished just three-tenths of a second off the podium in the men’s sitting sprint. The 29-year-old from Sudbury, Ont., qualified in a tie for first for the final, but placed fourth following an intense finish to the event.

“I raced as hard as I could…it is what it is. I just came up a little short,” said a dejected Cameron. “It is amazing that I got a medal this week in biathlon, I wasn’t expecting it, but that was behind me. I really wanted something here. This was the race I wanted a medal in. It was a close one.”

Chris Klebl (Canmore, Alta.) and Derek Zaplotinsky (Smokey Lake, Alta.) both finished sixth in their respective semifinals and didn’t advance. Sébastien Fortier (17), Ethan Hess (27) and Yves Bourque (29) did not move past qualification; in the women’s sitting sprint, Cindy Ouellet failed to advance to the semis, placing 17th.

The top Para-Nordic athletes will enjoy a rest day before the final biathlon race of the Games takes place on Friday.

March 13, 2018 (Thunder Bay, Ont.) – Check out this great inside look by CBC.ca at what goes on behind the scenes following months of planning as Lappe Nordic Centre in Thunder Bay, one of Canada’s best kept secrets for cross-country skiing, hosts hundreds of some of the best skiers in the country. Before those skiers hit the trails each day in search of medals, hundreds of volunteers, coaches, wax technicians and snow groomers are busy each morning setting up and making sure everything is in place so that athletes can accomplish the best ski possible – full story here.

March 13, 2018 (Pyeongchang, Korea) – Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kansas) won his third medal in as many starts at the Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018 as he took home silver on Tuesday. Cnossen was joined on the podium of the middle-distance biathlon sitting competition by U.S. teammate Andy Soule (Kerrville, Texas) with bronze on the fourth day of competition at Alpensia Biathlon Center.

This was a historic day for the U.S. Paralympic Nordic Skiing Team as Team USA celebrated two men on the podium in a biathlon event for the first time in Olympic or Paralympic history. Both men are military veterans. Cnossen served as a Navy SEAL who was awarded both a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with Valor from the Secretary of the Navy for his service in combat. Following the September 11 attacks, Soule decided to serve his country in the Army and was deployed to Afghanistan where he sustained his injury.

Cnossen was in outstanding form both in the range and on his skis. Despite winds gusting up to 15 mph, Cnossen shot clean, making all 20 targets during his four visits to the range. Soule, who only missed two of the 20 shots, grabbed the second Paralympic medal of his career, adding to his biathlon bronze from Vancouver 2010.

On the women’s side, Kendall Gretsch (Downers Grove, Illinois) finished just off the podium in fourth place in the sitting event. Gretsch overcame numerous challenges on the course, including three falls, to finish within 12 seconds of the podium. Gretsch claimed two gold medals earlier in the week in cross-country and biathlon.

U.S. Paralympic Nordic Team Medal Count: 8
Gold: 3 – Kendall Gretsch (cross-country 12km, biathlon sprint); Dan Cnossen (biathlon sprint)
Silver: 3 – Dan Cnossen (biathlon middle-distance, cross-country 15km); Oksana Masters (biathlon sprint)
Bronze: 2 – Andy Soule (biathlon middle-distance); Oksana Masters (cross-country 12km)

Today’s Biathlon Middle-Distance Finishes
2nd: Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kan./Navy/men’s sitting)
3rd: Andy Soule (Kerrville, Texas/Army/men’s sitting)
4th: Kendall Gretsch (Downers Grove, Ill./women’s sitting)
7th: Aaron Pike (Park Rapids, Minn./men’s sitting)
11th: Ruslan Reiter (Manchester, Maine/men’s standing)
14th: Sean Halsted (Spokane, Wash./Air Force/men’s sitting)
16th: Bryan Price (Leeton, Mo./Army/men’s sitting)

Quotes
Dan Cnossen – silver
On how helpful it was to shoot clean…
“For me, personally, this was such an important breakthrough: to shoot 20 for 20, especially on the last shooting stage. I’ve had some mental blocks in the past where I overthink things or get a little anxious, so I really took my time, especially on the last two shots. I wanted to get my heart rate down and make sure the wind wasn’t blowing. It feels really good to overcome this mental hurdle. I just wanted to see what I could do today, and have my own race, and not worry about what other people are doing.”

On how this race felt…
“This race feels especially good because I have my teammate, Andy, on the podium. I knew he was going to have a good race. I’m really proud and happy to see him on the podium. For me personally, this was a big breakthrough. This was only the second time I’ve ever shot clean in a four-stage, 20-shot race, and to do it at the Paralympics, I feel like I really overcame a big mental hurdle. For me, this means a lot that I shot well under pressure.”

Andy Soule – bronze
On what it means to secure his second Paralympic medal…
“I’m really happy for our whole team, to see how much success we’re having. I think it’s a testament to great coaching, great support, great staff. Lots of great work being done behind the scenes by so many people that you don’t even see who are out here long before we even arrive at the venue. It’s a great group of athletes. I’m so happy to be a teammate with these guys.”

On how he came back after missing two shots…
“I was really skiing at an aggressive pace. I was struggling to hold it together at the range those last two shootings. When I missed those two, I also knew that I had seen other people missing. I knew a miss or two wasn’t going to necessarily put me out of it. I knew I just needed to get back up, set the same aggressive pace, and maybe back it off just a little earlier on the next lap to make sure I get the shots. It came together just fine.”

Looking Forward
Competition resumes Wednesday with the men’s and women’s cross-country sprint. Skiing starts at 10:00 a.m. KST (Wednesday, March 14)/7:00 p.m. EDT (Tuesday, March 13).

Tune-in Details
NBC Olympics is providing 250 hours of coverage from PyeongChang, including 94 hours on television, which is NBC Olympics’ most ever for a Paralympic Winter Games. View the complete TV and streaming schedule here.

Full results here.