November 15, 2012 (Toronto, ON) – We’re excited to report that our popular annual SkiTrax FIS Fantasy World Cup Contest has over 200 teams from around the world entered for its 2012/13 edition. If you want to get in on the action, you have until 10pm EST on Friday, Nov. 23 to register your team. The following day will see the 2012/13 Viessmann XC FIS World Cup season kick off in Gallivare, Sweden!
This is the first of four Fantasy Contests this season… up next is the FIS Marathon Cup contest, followed by the popular Tour de Ski contest, and finally fans can enjoy our Fiemme 2013 Nordic World Championships contest.
Register your team of four (4) men, and four (4) women including two (2) Outlaw Skiers – one (1) male and one (1) female not in the top 15 of the FIS World Cup overall rankings.
Points will be awarded following each World Cup based on each skier’s performance and published regularly at skitrax.com so you can see how your score compares to other international players and the actual FIS standings. Earn bonus TdS or Fiemme 2013 points, and other bonus points – all information, skier menus and contest rules are available when you register your team.
These are the only FIS Fantasy Nordic contests of their kind worldwide so don’t miss your chance to enjoy fabulous top level xc ski racing and the chance to win fabulous prizes.
The deadline to register or revise your team is Friday, Nov. 23, at 10pm EST, the day before the Viessmann XC FIS World Cup season kicks off in Gallivare, Sweden – good luck to all contestants.
Thanks to all of our great sponsors, including Fischer, Trapp Family Lodge, SkiGo, Alpina, One Way, Bjorn Daehlie, 2XU, Bliz, Fresh Air Experience, High Peaks Cyclery, Auclair, and Buff.
SkiTrax Fantasy FIS World Cup 2012/13 Contest Prizes * 1st Prize – Fischer 12/13 Carbonlite Skating Hole Skis, Xcelerator Bindings, Carbonlite Poles (value $1,100) * 2nd Prize – Trapp Family Lodge – 2 nights lodging in a Deluxe Room w/breakfast (value $600)
* 3rd Prize – SkiGo Carbon 335 Skate Roller Skis (value $420)
* 4th Prize – Alpina ESK Ski Boots (value $419) * 5th Prize – One Way Premio Ski Poles (value $400) * 6th Prize – Bjorn Daehlie Exclusive US XC Ski Suit (value $300) * 7th Prize – 2XU Long Sleeve Thermal Compression Top and Elite Socks (value $195) * 8th Prize – Bliz Proflip Visor (value $129) * 9th Prize – Fresh Air Experience or High Peaks Cyclery Gift Certificate (value $100) * 10th Prize –AuclairMicro Mountain Olympic Gloves + Earbags (value $65) * WCup Breaks –BuffHeadware to top 3 contest leaders before the Tour de Ski (value $23)
SkiTrax is North America’s leading Nordic skiing publication and the official magazine of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Cross Country Canada (CCC).
November 08, 2012 – There are only 16 days left until the start of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Gällivare, Sweden. Russia’s 24 athletes are going to take part in the opening ladies and men competitions.
The ladies’ part of the Russian Cross-Country team travelled to Europe already and has trained in Muonio, Finland. “All the athletes are healthy and we train as planned,” head coaches Gregor Menshenin and Dmitry Bugaev say. Russian skiers have been on snow already a month as they carried out a training camp in Ramsau.
Sprinters in Yakutia
Russian sprint specialists carried out the first winter training camp of the season in Aldan ,Yakutia region. The sprinters took part in a show competition that was organised at the opening of the new skiing centre in Aldan. The 85-long super sprint was won by Olympic Champion from 2010 Nikita Kriukov. “Unfortunately Alexey Petukhov and Anton Gafarov could not take part in the competition. Alexey has been recovering from illness and Anton has had small issues with his back. So we did not want to risk anything,” sprint coach Mikhail Deviatiarov said.
October 22, 2012 – As confirmed by the FIS Council in the spring, the FIS Cross-Country World Cup will implement several new rules this season, including format changes and a new kid’s program.
The competition format for the men’s relay in the World Cup will be shorter, each leg measuring 7,5km instead of 10km. The aim is to make the competition more attractive and exciting as well as secure its complete TV transmission.
The Sub-Committee for the World and Continental Cups also discussed future calendars with a particular emphasis on principles and basics for each World Cup period. “The aim is to set a clear framework for each of the World Cup periods. We wish that National Ski Associations will work together with their Organizing Committees and other partners on the long-term planning and strategies,” FIS Cross-Country Race Director Pierre Mignerey said.
The Sub-Committee also discussed new rules regarding waxing facilities as many nations are planning to use their waxing trucks in the World Cup and the World Ski Championships.
Sub-Committee for Youth and Children thoroughly discussed the introduction of a new competition – the so-called Cross-Country Cross, featuring technical skills and techniques. Thanks to the expertise from Norway, Sweden and Germany a booklet has been put together that will help the National Ski Associations and Organizers with such competitions. FIS will also continue to develop its Bring Children to the Snow campaign with the second edition of the FIS World Snow Day set for January 20TH and continuing FIS SnowKidz activities.
The complete World Cup rules, as well as the Tour de Ski and multi-stage competition rules, are available HERE.
October 03, 2012 – This season, Canada will see the planet’s top cross-country ski racers make two stops in Canada for FIS World Cup events. The first layover will be in Quebec City, with the second in a perennial favourite venue, Canmore, AB.
Quebec City Sprints
Renowned Quebec event organizer Gestev is in charge of the Quebec City edition, December 6-9. Ski fans will see their favourite athletes go head-to-head in historic downtown Quebec in exciting sprint competitions, including individual and team sprint races. All hopes will be on local hero Alex Harvey’s shoulders as he goes full throttle on home turf.
Alberta World Cup
Athletes will then head to the beautiful Rocky Mountain town of Canmore, AB, December 13-16. As the HQ for Cross Country Canada and the Canadian Ski Team, this is the country’s flagship event. Coming just two weeks before Christmas, World Cup 2012 will have a distinctive Christmas theme surrounding the actual races and part of the Canmore downtown activities as well.
Races will include sprint and distance events to test athletes to their fullest. The Alberta World Cup 2012 is hosted by the Alberta World Cup Society and is expected to have a worldwide TV audience of over 35 million people.
October 01, 2012 – FIS Cross-Country World Cup season 2012/13 kicks off in 57 days in the Swedish Gällivare. With only a few weeks left until the opener, the organising committee reports record interest.
Almost 200 people came to the official kick off meeting for the partners that was held by the organising committee. “We are absolutely surprised by the interest of sponsors, partners and volunteers. So many showed up for this event,” Secretary General of the LOC Tommy Niva says.
The FIS Cross-Country World Cup opener is the biggest sport event in Norrbotten and preparations have been already in full swing. About 250 volunteers are needed to cope with all organisation aspects of the World Cup ranging from competition course to transport and catering.
“The World Cups activates the entire community. Everybody is very proud of the event and interest only increases every time we organise the first World Cup of the season. As early as in the sumer people would show up and asked about the chance to participate and help with the competitions,” Tommy Niva says.
“FIS has given us the trust to organise the season opener for the fifth time since 2004. I can say we are preparing a great skiing festival. Our goal is to secure all arrangements at the top level and the great interest gives us plenty of inspiration in this work,” Niva concludes.
FIS Cross-Country Word Cup kicks off in on November 24th. One week before the World Cup junior and FIS competitions will take place in Gällivare as test events.
May 22, 2012 (Park City, UT) – In this edition of Talkin’ with the Gravy-Train, Peter Graves speaks with USSA VP of Communications, Tom Kelly, at the recent USSA Convention in Park City, UT. Kelly has been involved in the sport for decades, sporting the role of reporter and photographer along the way, and working with such legends as Tony Wise as his Public Relations Director for the Telemark Lodge, along with the venerable journalist Paul Robbins. He was also the co-owner (with Graves) of Worldwide Nordic, a travel company that specialized in trips to the World Loppet and other international Nordic races. Born and raised in Madison, WI, Kelly is also a member of the FIS Media and Marketing Committee. In his interview, he speaks about Kikkan Randall’s historic season, but more significantly, the impact she and her team mates have created with regards to cross-country skiing in the USA.
May 07, 2012 – Like everyone else, I had huge intentions of writing a huge blog post (almost a month ago now) reviewing my season, talking about the highs and lows in detail – and covering everything in between.
However, in reality, I needed time to rest – both my body and my mind and that included taking a short hiatus from blogging and telling the world about my exploits 🙂
Now that I’ve had that time to rest, here is how it went, in a nutshell:
– A delayed departure for Europe due to no snow…. got my first taste of tunnel skiing in Torsby
– An awesome streak of World Cup performances – better than I had ever imagined… scoring WC points in 6 of 9 individual start races. I almost made the distance red group after one period alone! This was certainly a break through for me mentally, physically & emotionally. It also gave me the green light to extend my season in Europe and join the Tour de Ski USA crew! This meant spending Christmas in Europe.
– Christmas night: fell on icy road and broke my wrist four days before Tour de Ski. (Nice timing, right?)
– Proceeded to race the Tour de Ski with my wrist – didn’t find out it was broken until half way through the Tour when I got x-rays and an MRI en route to Italy.
– Stubbornly finished the Tour with the help of pain killers and tape jobs (thanks Steph!) Was ecstatic to reach the top of the Alps Cermis, even if my performance took a huge tumble.
– Proceeded to take some much needed rest in Italy at the home of Bill and Kathy Estes – thanks Guys!
– Continued onto Ramsau, Austria, SOLO for a one-pole ski camp… often in a blizzard.
– Got back into World Cup racing in time to come down with the weird stomach bug that took almost everyone out at one point or another. Dropped out of a race in Czech (Heck, I didn’t even drop out of races when I had a broken wrist!) and then the next day summoned all my courage and energy to help the USA ladies to our best 4x5k relay result ever. Certainly a HIGHLIGHT of the season!
– Just the day before I had purchased a ticket home for a 2-week recovery trip. My wrist episode combined with the stomach bug took a bigger toll on me than I’d thought. I traveled back to the States, 30 pairs of skis and all; knowing that I wanted to come back but not knowing if I could come back.
– Raced the American Birkebeiner and WON! That one had been on my list for a while ever since loosing my an inch in 2009!
– Returned to Europe for the Lahti World Cups but skied poorly. Perhaps 20,000 + miles in an airplane, a 50k and jumping 4 time zones doesn’t work….
– Skied and WON OPA cup finals in Toblach, Italy! It wasn’t WC Finals but it certainly felt good to stand on TOP of a podium. I won countless pounds of cheese and meat for my efforts.
– From Italy I continued onto Craftsbury Vermont where I met my APU teammates. It was close to 80 degrees so we had to get tanks and shorts at thrift stores…. I continued to have what I felt were mediocre races at spring series.
In all, the season was a huge breakthrough for me. Going into it, I had no idea that I would be spending almost five straight months overseas. I didn’t anticipate a 13th place in Davos, just missing the distance red group at the end of December, or even starting the Tour de Ski. Injuring myself was a huge bummer, especially with the momentum that I had created….. but on the bright side, it wasn’t an Olympic year, right? I raced in 26 different World Cup races in countries and venues all over Europe. In all, I raced 51 times last year, summer events included. I learned a lot, as you’d hope I would in that period of time. But perhaps the most important lessons when it comes to International performances are that 1 – I can do it; we can do it. We have the tools to succeed, let alone WIN against the Europeans. 2 – Next season I will need a planned break to come home to AK 3 – Diversify racing venues and level of competition – I didn’t race my first non-World Cup race until the American Birkie in February! As hard as it is to miss World Cups, standing on a podium and being in the hunt for the win is important and not to be under estimated.
All in all, I’m excited to train really hard this summer and take another stab at it next winter. I’m crossing my fingers to stay injury free and be able to pick up where I left off!
WHEW….. That wasn’t supposed to be long winded but it was, sorry. Here are some pictures of my spring to make up for it:
Following the ski season I did what so happy skiers do after 5 months of traveling on the road, chasing snow; go to the beach! This trip was actually planned as a college reunion some 8 months prior to going. There was lots to celebrate and lots to catch up on including BIG birthdays…. (and some anxiety on my part for those that know me well!) Time with my college girlfriends was awesome. We cooked amazing meals and talked for HOURS about all kinds of non-ski related things. My friends are all amazingly accomplished and it was fun to hear about mobile butchers for Sarah’s meat CSA, Al’s trips on the Grand Canyon, Jayne’s PhD in geophysics & Laura’s teaching exploits from Oahu!
It was a tight turn around to get to Hawaii. I came into Alaska on a red eye and had less than 24 hours in AK to give my husband a hug, vote, pack, un-pack, lead a clinic & attend to all kinds of business and months of mail. Then, I departed on another red eye for the islands….. arriving 10 hours later; exhausted to say the least. (I’m NOT complaining though!)
The girls also put up with my need to exercise – at least a bit. I’ve always wanted to bike on the islands and this time I was finally able too. Here I am at the 9,000 ft. lookout for Mauna Kea.
The other super fun thing I did this spring was attend my good friend, Chrissy’s bachlorette party. Instead of a night on the town we took a water taxi across K-Bay in Homer to her family cabin. We brought skis, running shoes, and blow-up paddle boards – and used them all!
The spring is also a great time to participate in some awesome community programs. ARISE is a new program co-lead by Alaska Sports Hall of Fame and Healthy Futures. It stands for Anchorage Runners Inspired to Succeed and Excel. Basically, it brings local runners and health advocates into Title I schools in Anchorage to run with elementary school kids at recess. The goal is to show that being active can be fun! This spring Tyson Elementary in Mountain View is the pilot program.
The grades, K-5 are having a competition to see which class can run the most. Mid-week last week, the Tyson kids had run 584 miles total! Last Thursday we had a “speed gun” where kids did a full on sprint. The school is going to take our mileage and overlay it across the state of Alaska. The goal is run from Anchorage to the North Slope – at least!
In other news, training for 2012-2013 has started and we’re hitting it hard with APU. Lucky for us, we can still ski in Anchorage so we’re mixing some on-snow training in with running, lifting, etc. Should be fun (and sometimes sore) times!
April 11, 2012 (Anchorage, AK) – After spending five months racing and training in Europe, USST member and 2011/12 FIS WCup XC Sprint champion Kikkan Randall, 29, finally returned to her home in Anchorage, Alaska. This was the first time Randall committed to staying in Europe for the entire season and it paid off big for the US star as she took home the Sprint Cup globe. But as we all know there’s no place like home as she recently tweeted… So nice to be back in my kitchen. Home cooked Tex Mex with my hubby.
March 27, 2012 (Toronto, ON) – We are excited to announce the final standings for the SkiTrax FIS Fantasy WCup 2011/12 Contest after the WCup in Falun, Sweden along with the final overall contest winnners following the Doping De-points rule.
The 2011/12 season was historic for both the U.S. and Canadian squads, with Kikkan Randall (USA) picking up the crystal globe in the women’s Sprint discipline and Team Canada taking home a boat-load of medals, led by Devon Kershaw’s second place overall in the WCup.
The winner of the SkiTrax FIS Fantasy WCup 2011/12 Contest is Team FxG, who racked up 2,260 points to grab first place and take home 1st Prize – a Fischer package, including 11/12 Carbonlite Hole Skis, Xcelerator Bindings, Carbonlite Poles (value $1,100). The maximum number of points after Falun is 2,376.
Second Prize goes to Team JOlca2 trailing by a single point with a total of 2,259 points, receiving a fabulous pair of SkiGo Carbon 780 Roller Skis (value $580).
Third Prize went to Team Jcas from Canmore, AB who wins a pair of Alpina ESK Ski Boots (value $449).
We congratule all contest winners and would like to thank the many teams from around the world for participating in the SkiTrax Fantasy FIS World Cup 2011/12 Contest.
Thanks as well to all of our great sponsors, including Fischer, SkiGo, Alpina, Bjorn Daehlie Clothing, Sporthill, Fresh Air Experience, High Peaks Cyclery, Rottefella, Bliz, Concept 2, Auclair, and Buff.
For the complete SkiTrax FIS WCup Fantasy Contest standings after Falun, click HERE.
SkiTrax Fantasy FIS World Cup 2011/12 Contest Winners
– Siggy’s Speedsters – Craig Cardinal – Northfield, MN
– 3LIT3 – Andrew Pfeiffer – Evanston, IL
– Sssssspandy – Andy Shields – Thunder Bay, ON WCup Break – Buff Headware (value $23) to top 3 contest leaders before the Tour de Ski
SkiTrax is North America’s leading Nordic skiing publication and the official magazine of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Cross Country Canada (CCC).
March 27, 2012 (Vuokatti, Finland) – Canada’s Para-Nordic athletes added three more medals on Tuesday to their haul at the IPC World Cup Finals, bringing their week total to seven.
Brian McKeever and his guide, Erik Carleton, completed their golden sweep of the three cross-country ski events in the men’s visually impaired category. McKeever, a 10-time Paralympic medallist, dominated the men’s 10-kilometre skate-ski race while battling through the heavy winds to clock a time of 25:43.7.
“I’m feeling better than I have all year. My shape has been building and it was a pretty solid day all-around for me,” said McKeever. “My skate skiing has been stronger this year and I put it together for the first time in a Para race.”
McKeever knocked of his Russian rivals, Stanislav Chokhlaev and Maksim Pirogov, in skate skiing for the first time this year. The Russians posted a second-place time of 26:39.3. Two other Russian skiers, Nikolay Polukhin and his guide, IIya Cherepanov, rounded out the men’s visually impaired podium in third at 26:39.9.
Canada also grabbed two bronze medals in the men’s and women’s sit-skiing races.
Chris Klebl, of Canmore, Alta., brought his season medal total to six after claiming the bronze in the men’s 10-kilometre sit-ski race with a time of 29:33.8. The 40-year-old Klebl finished one minute off the golden pace set by Russia’s Ramil Ilalutdinov at 28:33.3. Roman Petushkov, also of Russia, claimed the bronze at 28:55.0.
Saskatoon’s Colette Bourgonje rounded out the trio of medals after claiming her second straight bronze in the sit-skiing middle distance races. The reigning World Champion crossed the finish line with a time of 16:15.1 in the women’s 5km race.
Norway’s Mariann Marthinsen battled her way back to the top of the podium with a time of 15:52.2, while Lyudmyla Pavlenko, of the Ukraine, finished second at 16:02.1.
The IPC World Cup Finals continue on Thursday in Finland with the start of the Biathlon events.
March 26, 2012 (Falun, Sweden) – Following her historic crystal globe presentation in Falun, Sweden, Peter Graves caught up with the USA’s biggest XC ski sensation of the last three decades, FIS World Cup Sprint series winner Kikkan Randall. Randall reflects on her incredibly successful World Cup season in which she placed fifth overall in addition to her Sprint Cup title victory. She was finally awarded the crystal globe on Sunday, March 18, and was awed by the trophy’s sheer weight.
Randall is the first American women to win a World Cup overall title ending a 30-year drought as the last time the US won a World Cup title was when the legendary Bill Koch captured the men’s overall in 1982. But her season is not quite over yet. The shining star stayed in Scandinavia a little longer to compete in some invitational sprints such as the Red Bull Nordix and returned home this past weekend to race in the USSA SuperTour Finals and 30/50km National Championships on from March 24-31 in Craftsbury, VT…
March 09, 2012 (Toronto, ON) – We are pleased to announce the SkiTrax FIS Fantasy WCup 2011/12 Contest standings after the WCup in Drammen, Norway where USA’s Kikkan Randall made history when she clinched the women’s WCup Sprint title. Read about it HERE.
It was also a decisive day for team JOlca2 who jumped into the pole position ahead of longtime leader Siggy’s Speedsters. The race is incredibly tight, with only a one-point difference – JOlca2 has 1,553 points to Siggy’s Speedsters’ 1,552. Team FxGo has maintained third place with 1,527 points. The maximum number of points after Drammen is 1,629.
For the complete FIS WCup Fantasy Contest standings after Drammen click HERE
The next FIS WCup takes place in Oslo, Mar. 10-11.
SkiTrax Fantasy FIS World Cup 2011/12 Contest Prizes * 1st Prize – Fischer 11/12 Carbonlite Hole Skis, Xcelerator Bindings, Carbonlite Poles (value $1,100) * 2nd Prize – SkiGo Carbon 780 Roller Skis (value $580)
* 3rd Prize – Alpina ESK Ski Boots (value $449) * 4th Prize – Bjorn Daehlie Exclusive US XC Ski Suit (value $300) * 5th Prize – Sporthill XC Pants/Tights and Glacier Top (value $220) * 6th Prize – Fresh Air Experience or High Peaks Cyclery Gift Certificate (value $150) * 7th Prize – Bliz Proflip Visor (value $129) * 8th Prize – Rottefella Xcelerator Skate/Classic Bindings (value $120)
* 9th Prize – Concept2 Goodie Duffle Bag (value $100) * 10th Prize – Auclair Micro Mountain Olympic Gloves + Earbags (value $65) * WCup Break – Buff Headware (value $23) to top 3 contest leaders before the Tour de Ski
Thanks to all of our great sponsors, including Fischer, SkiGo, Alpina, Bjorn Daehlie Clothing, Sporthill, Fresh Air Experience, High Peaks Cyclery, Rottefella, Bliz, Concept 2, Auclair, and Buff.
SkiTrax is North America’s leading Nordic skiing publication and the official magazine of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Cross Country Canada (CCC).
February 16, 2012 – Russell Currier, 24, a rising star on the US men’s biathlon squad, surprised even himself when he scored a career-best sixth place in the 10k sprint at the IBU Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic last month – read more HERE. He then proved he could do it again when he matched his sixth place in Kontiolahti, Finland last weekend. It was an historic day for the entire US squad, with the team’s best showing ever in a World Cup. Lowell Bailey finished 5th, while Tim Burke placed 13th and Jay Hakkinen was 16th. SkiTrax caught up with Currier after his breakthrough results and here’s what he had to say:
The coaches and I had no idea what to expect out of the sprint race on Saturday. I came down with what I think was food poisoning the day before and wasn’t even sure if I should race. I didn’t feel 100% Saturday morning, but I was close, and with the way shooting and ski speed had been going lately, I made the call and decided to go for it.
I like the course profile in Kontiolahti. It’s very basic and has a good variety of climbs. The -15 Celsius weather wasn’t as fun. I’m not a fan of racing in a buff or with tape on the face, but I didn’t have much choice in the sprint race.
My shooting has felt good the past couple of weeks. Our coach and I worked on bringing my range times down a little bit. I was able to shave off a few seconds for the race on Saturday, which ended up making a huge difference.
Ski speed felt decent considering I had to duck out of the mixed relay the day before. I don’t know what food it was, but this is not the first time this has happened to me in Finland. I didn’t have anyone that I knew was fast around me. All I could do was break the course down into increments and do each one as best as I could. On the last loop, I only had a few splits. Hearing that I was in the top eight helped get me through the last flat section before the finish.
The whole race felt surreal. My goal was to get in the top 40. With the way I had been feeling the day before, I was just hoping to make the top 60 for a pursuit start. The whole day for the men’s team was a tremendous success. It was officially the best day the US men had ever had. I was honored to be able to say that I was part of it.
The pursuit was another good day for our team. I moved down to 23rd, but it was still a good race for me. Prone was decent with one in each stage. I would have liked to have shot a little better in standing, but I wasn’t the only one struggling with shooting that day. Pacing and tactics were much more professional in Sunday’s pursuit than the pursuit in Nove Mesto. My legs felt a little heavy and stiff so I was very surprised when I found out afterwords that I had the 10th fastest ski time.
The IBU Cup field is more competitive than ever. You could say the same thing about the WC field to, but the IBU field has taken the biggest increase the past couple of years. Biathlon is such an up and down sport it’s not always fair to compare results from day to day. I can finish a race and give a better analysis of how it went than the result list can. I’ve had a few mediocre days on the IBU and WCup circuit this season. The sprint race in Kontiolahti was just one of the very good days.
Both races this past weekend were a confidence boost for the athletes and staff. We’re not working any less hard or professionally than the Euros. There’s no reason why we shouldn’t be up on the result list. The weekend was simply a good example of this and our organization as a team.
February 16, 2012 (Toronto, ON) – We are pleased to announce the SkiTrax FIS Fantasy WCup 2011/12 Contest standings after the Nove Mesto WCup in the Czech Republic. Siggy’s Speedsters has earned 1,184 points and widened the gap over second place. Team 3LIT3, which is now at 1,177 points, has stepped into second and seems to be locked in a back-and-forth battle with third place, Team daviking, only six points back at 1,171. The maximum number of points after Nove Mesto is 1,286.
For the complete FIS WCup Fantasy Contest standings after Nove Mesto click HERE.
The next FIS WCup takes place in Szklarska Poreba, Poland, Feb. 17-18.
SkiTrax Fantasy FIS World Cup 2011/12 Contest Prizes * 1st Prize – Fischer 11/12 Carbonlite Hole Skis, Xcelerator Bindings, Carbonlite Poles (value $1,100) * 2nd Prize – SkiGo Carbon 780 Roller Skis (value $580)
* 3rd Prize – Alpina ESK Ski Boots (value $449) * 4th Prize – Bjorn Daehlie Exclusive US XC Ski Suit (value $300) * 5th Prize – Sporthill XC Pants/Tights and Glacier Top (value $220) * 6th Prize – Fresh Air Experience or High Peaks Cyclery Gift Certificate (value $150) * 7th Prize – Bliz Proflip Visor (value $129) * 8th Prize – Rottefella Xcelerator Skate/Classic Bindings (value $120)
* 9th Prize – Concept2 Goodie Duffle Bag (value $100) * 10th Prize – Auclair Micro Mountain Olympic Gloves + Earbags (value $65) * WCup Break – Buff Headware (value $23) to top 3 contest leaders before the Tour de Ski
Thanks to all of our great sponsors, including Fischer, SkiGo, Alpina, Bjorn Daehlie Clothing, Sporthill, Fresh Air Experience, High Peaks Cyclery, Rottefella, Bliz, Concept 2, Auclair, and Buff.
SkiTrax is North America’s leading Nordic skiing publication and the official magazine of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Cross Country Canada (CCC).
February 14, 2012 – US Best – Sunday’s relay effort by the US women has to be one of the top racing days in the history of Women’s Cross Country skiing in the US – if not the top day. It opened a huge gateway into the future. There were many reasons for this relay to be a bomb of the year rather than an effort that would have everyone over here cheering in their offices, breakfast nooks, cars, and where ever they were watching this effort on their computers.
For starters Kikkan Randall, the team’s best skier, sat out another race. On top of that the four ladies on the team had skied a very hard 15km CL WC the day before, Holly Brooks (the starter) is still wearing her wrist splint (now and then) and doesn’t have a bunch of races under her belt the last few weeks and didn’t finish the classic race the day before. Ida, the 4th lady in the pecking order, was replacing Kikkan the leader – BUT – on race day they came to the start line dressed in their striped USA red, white and blue socks over their uniforms and painted red and blue USA’s on their faces to lay down four of the best performances in their careers landing the best-ever USA relay result – 5th place.
Not only missing 4th place by a second, but being less then a minute behind Norway who won – that is something to talk about. QUESTION: What does the future hold – it’s exciting for everyone – and kudos to the coaches and the skiers for their dedication to having such an aggressive approach to building the relay team’s going forward – here we come Sochi! They now have quality and depth in taking this direction that they decided on in the summer months. Sounds like a plan!
Now North of The Border – You have just the opposite direction being taken by the Ladies program in Canada. As I wrote last week the women never made it to Rybinsk and now moving forward (or backward) from there only Perianne [Jones] was in Nove Mesto, while Chandra had to go home for a family emergency and Dasha, the lone member of the newly formed “senior team”, was in Seefeld with her boyfriend for training and an Austrian Alps holiday. It’s been two weeks and only one of the three ladies has raced once in that period – not an international scope in focus that I can see.
Here are some of the numbers that will show you the disparity between the US and the Candian women’s program when it comes to racing starts from the beginning of the season in Sjusjoen, Norway to Nove Mesto, CZE.
US Ladies: – Jessie – 24 – Kikkan – 35 – Holly – 34 (broken wrist) – Liz – 33 – Ida – 25 – Sadie – 19 (off the circuit a couple of weeks ago)
I don’t place the blame on the Canadian girls, but on the coaching staff, mainly [Justin] Wadsworth and [Eric] DeNys as they work with the ladies and chart the course for the year. But mainly it’s the coaches direction and expertise that is counted on here for going in the right direction. You say I’m not being fair, what about the Men’s program? They’ve been pounding the circuit since Sjusjoen in mid-November, so why not the Ladies? It’s a program that is not building towards Sochi.
I can remember watching Devon [Kershaw] fighting his way through season’s 5-6 years ago and getting beaten down but going back for more the next year… and look at him now.
The Canadian Ladies are racing about 1.4 races per week (mostly sprints) which is not enough to be in racing shape. This plan has way too many breaks – the training should have been done in the summer. I think this was the way of the 90s, the old North American way, not the new dedicated “we will be in Europe all winter way” adopted supposedly by both team this year. Sorry Canadian Ladies – you got the short straw this year.
Can any of the Canadian Ladies make it to Falun for the WCup finals…? Not likely – Chandra has a chance, but it is slipping away fast. Time for this program to change gears – real fast.
February 09, 2012 (Toronto, ON) – The Viessmann FIS XC World Cup featured a Russian extravaganza last week with an exciting midweek sprint event in Moscow, followed by another World Cup weekend. It was a momentous week for Canada’s Devon Kershaw, who took home bronze in Moscow and GOLD in Rybinsk. Read the stories HERE and HERE.
Siggy’s Speedsters still has a hold on the SkiTrax FIS Fantasy WCup 2011/12 Contest lead with 1,097 points, but Team daviking has moved from third into a close second with 1092 points, bumping 3LIT3 into third and a mere three points back.
For the complete FIS WCup Fantasy Contest standings after Moscow and Rybinsk click HERE.
SkiTrax Fantasy FIS World Cup 2011/12 Contest Prizes * 1st Prize – Fischer 11/12 Carbonlite Hole Skis, Xcelerator Bindings, Carbonlite Poles (value $1,100) * 2nd Prize – SkiGo Carbon 780 Roller Skis (value $580)
* 3rd Prize – Alpina ESK Ski Boots (value $449) * 4th Prize – Bjorn Daehlie Exclusive US XC Ski Suit (value $300) * 5th Prize – Sporthill XC Pants/Tights and Glacier Top (value $220) * 6th Prize – Fresh Air Experience or High Peaks Cyclery Gift Certificate (value $150) * 7th Prize – Bliz Proflip Visor (value $129) * 8th Prize – Rottefella Xcelerator Skate/Classic Bindings (value $120)
* 9th Prize – Concept2 Goodie Duffle Bag (value $100) * 10th Prize – Auclair Micro Mountain Olympic Gloves + Earbags (value $65) * WCup Break – Buff Headware (value $23) to top 3 contest leaders before the Tour de Ski
Thanks to all of our great sponsors, including Fischer, SkiGo, Alpina, Bjorn Daehlie Clothing, Sporthill, Fresh Air Experience, High Peaks Cyclery, Rottefella, Bliz, Concept 2, Auclair, and Buff.
SkiTrax is North America’s leading Nordic skiing publication and the official magazine of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Cross Country Canada (CCC).
February 02, 2012 (Moscow, Russia) – Canada’s Devon Kershaw grabbed a bronze medal in today’s cold and windy World Cup 1.5km Sprint in Moscow after topping the qualifications with superb skiing. Fifth-place qualifier Teodor Peterson (SWE) pulled out all the stops to snap up his first World Cup win, with Anders Gloeersen (NOR) wearing the #10 bib powering to second.
The mostly flat course winds itself around the famous Luzhniki Olympic Stadium in Moscow. A total of eight North Americans advanced to the heats in the men’s and women’s competitions today – read more about the qualifications HERE.
The result marked Kershaw’s second podium in as many weekend’s as he attempted to bring home Canada’s first WCup sprint gold medal. “My goal today was to just get to the front in each heat and I thought that would be the key to winning,” said Kershaw of Sudbury, Ont. in a team release. “My body is shocking me everyday. It was a long cold day, but I felt great again and it was a super solid race today.”
In the quarterfinals, Kershaw handily won his heat, skiing at the front the entire race and pulling away over the second hill for the win. Alex Harvey (CAN) also skied well, finishing second in his heat, with American Andy Newell in fifth. Len Valjas (CAN) was leading his quarterfinal, only to be nipped by Norway’s Eirik Bransdal at the finish as both advanced to the semis.
Kershaw placed a prophetic second to Peterson in the semis, despite sharing the lead with teammate Harvey for most of the distance until Harvey faded to wind up fifth and ended up 9th overall. Fellow Canuck Valjas finished sixth in his semi final and did not advance claiming 12th.
Kershaw looked strong in the final, skiing solidly in third and fourth positions. He made his move on the final hill with a powerful attack, but couldn’t hold off the storming Scandinavians, Peterson and Gloeersen, and had to settle for third.
“You should never be disappointed with a podium at a World Cup, but I am a little disappointed because I really felt like I was going to win,” added Kershaw, who also won a bronze medal last week in the 15-kilometre classic ski race last week in Otepaa, Estonia, his first race since placing fourth overall in the grueling Tour de Ski.
Looking at the big picture Kershaw was philosophical about his back-to-back podiums – one distance, one sprint. “It (these results) is crazy. The body is so good right now and I just always seem to be in that zone when the race is on. Sometimes you can be your own worst enemy, but right now I just feel like racing is a sanctuary for me and I feel so present.”
The world’s XC ski powerhouses take to the snow in Rybinsk, Russia this weekend, Feb. 4-5, for the distance races for the next round of FIS World Cup competitions.
February 02, 2012 (Moscow, Russia) – Twenty-year-old Jessica Diggins (USA) scored sixth today in the 1.5km Women’s Freestyle Sprint in Moscow, her best-ever individual World Cup result. Diggins was on fire qualifying first with a 2.47-second margin and started the final wearing the #1 bib – read more on the qualifications HERE.
“When I heard the results after the qualifier I actually thought it was some sort of joke they were playing on me! And then I did a couple backflips on the inside. Sometimes it all comes together at the right moment and you’re just having a great day,” Diggins told SkiTrax after her race.
Veteran skier, Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) put the power down when it counted in the final to take the win, followed by Natalia Korosteleva (RUS) in second and Anastasia Kotsenko (RUS) third. Diggins, who skied in third and fourth positions for most of the final, couldn’t maintain the blistering pace, and finished sixth. With her victory Kowalczyk takes over the overall WCup lead from Marit Bjoergen (NOR) who did not compete in Moscow but expects to be racing in Rybinsk this weekend.“The final was such an unreal experience for me, I was just so psyched to be there and tried my best to keep up but ran out of energy in the last couple hundred meters. But I was super pumped to be right there, in the fight and maybe someday I’ll be able to hang on longer,” said Diggins.
Diggins was the only North American to qualify for the final. Teammate and WCup Sprint Cup leader, Kikkan Randall, just missed out to finish seventh overall, with Ida Sargent 12th. Daria Gaiazova (CAN) was the top Canuck in 22nd, followed by team mates Perianne Jones in 24th and Chandra Crawford 36th.
“Wasn’t quite what I hoped for myself, but great to see my teammates ski so well,” Randall told SkiTrax. “Jessie looked like she has been doing this for years, skiing so smooth and confident. And great to see Ida get right in the mix as well.” It was an historic finish for the USA as it was the first time three Americans had made the semi finals.
Randall has been under the weather recently and we wondered if she’s 100% or still a little flat after being sick. “I think I’ve rebounded pretty well but I did feel like I was missing my final sprint gear today. I think I was about 95%,” said the Sprint Cup leader.
“It was pretty cold and windy out there! Just like racing at Kincaid stadium in Anchorage,” quipped Randall.
The qualifying heats were exciting for Diggins, who led her quarterfinal from the start, only to be nipped at the line by Ida Ingemarsdotter (SWE). Randall was in the same boat, leading her quarterfinal, only to be taken at the finish, while Sargent squeaked into her first semis as a Lucky Loser.
Things heated up for the U.S. trio in the semis, with all three contesting the same heat. The Americans led for most of the semi, with Diggins taking the win, and Russia’s Korosteleva nipping Randall for second. Sargent finished sixth.
“In the semifinal I had a moment where I realized that USA was going 1-2-3 and I was just so excited to be there and be in that moment, making some history go down,” said Diggins.
Was Randall surprised that Korostaleva nipped her at the line? “I knew she was coming on strong and I was having trouble digging into my sprint gear. I didn’t come off the bridge as strong as I wanted too and I think that cost me some momentum. I gave it what I had but I didn’t quite have enough to the line today. Frustrating for sure to be so close,” she confided.
Diggins is stoked for her next chance to compete with the world’s best at this weekend’s FIS World Cup events in Rybinsk, Russia, Feb. 4-5. “I don’t have any big strategies for Rybinsk… just to go as fast as I can, and do my best.”
Qualifying results HERE.
Final results HERE.
WCup Overall standings HERE.
January 31, 2012 (Cable, WI) – Canada’s Chris Klebl skied to his second-straight silver medal at the IPC Cross-Country Skiing World Cup in Cable, Wisconsin on Monday in the Men’s 10k sit ski race.
The 40-year-old Klebl, of Canmore, Alta., powered his way around the challenging Wisconsin track – site of the famous American Birkebeiner ski race – to finish in second spot with a time of 33 minutes, 26.7 seconds on the 10-kilometre course.
“It was a good day and we had really good skis,” said Klebl, who added the conditions were windy and cold.
Klebl joined the Canadian squad after moving to Canmore, Alta., last year from the United States. Growing up in Austria, he became paralyzed from the waist down in 1995 in a snowboarding accident. The two-time Paralympian started competing in cross-country skiing in 2005, and finished fourth overall on the World Cup in 2011 with one World Cup bronze medal.
It was just the second race of the season for the 2011 World Champion since breaking his leg in November.
While his quick comeback to top form is nothing short of stellar, Klebl was no match for Russia’s Roman Petushkov who finished nearly 90 seconds ahead of the Canuck with a time of 33:26.7.
“Petushkov was in a league of his own today, but fortunately I maintained the gap and opened the lead throughout on the third place,” said Klebl, who only had one informal race against friends in Colorado this season to measure his fitness. “You just never really know where you’re at. When the injury happened I was super fit and having surgery instead of a cast was a bonus because I only lost 10 real days of training.”
Italy’s Enzo Masiello was third at 33:59.0.
Two Quebec-based Canadians were also in the men’s sit-ski race. Sebastien Fortier was 14th at 37:56.4, while Yves Bourques finished 18th (42:35.2).
The U.S. squad was led by Daniel Cnossen, who finished seventh in a time of 35:11.5. His teammates, Andrew Soule and Jeremy Wagner finished 15th and 16th, while Eric Frazier, Jose Augusto Perez, Ken Lacombe, Robert Ackerman, John Kremer, and Dan Santos finished 19th through 24th, respectively.
Women
Saskatoon’s Colette Bourgonje was the top Canadian in the women’s five-kilometre sit-ski event. The legendary Paralympian finished sixth at 22:46.5 – three minutes, 31 seconds off the golden pace set by Norway’s Mariann Marthinsen (19:19.2).
Alicia Brelsford Dana (USA) led Team USA in ninth place, with fellow Americans Christina Kouros and Micayla Briere in 11th and 14th spots.
Quebec’s Christine Gauthier was 10th at 31:11.1, while Ontario’s Christy Campbell placed 13th with a time of 35:47.2.
Men’s 10k sit ski results HERE.
Women’s 5k sit ski results HERE.
Other Canadian results on Monday included: Ontario’s Caroline Bisson was fifth (21:08.5) and Erica Noonan sixth (21:47.2) in the women’s five-kilometre standing category; Mark Arendz, of Springton, P.E.I., was 13th (31:37.2), and Louis Fortin, of New Brunswick, 21st (39:53.3) in the men’s 10-kilometre standing division; while Ontario’s Margarita Gorbounova and guide Brian Berry placed sixth at 19:22.4 in the women’s visually impaired division.
January 22, 2012 (Otepaa, Estonia) – It was a great day for Canada’s Devon Kershaw in Otepaa with a bronze medal performance in the men’s 15km classic and yet another podium for the Canadian team in as many days. In fact it was Kershaw’s best-ever distance result in a non-Tour de Ski World Cup commented Justin Wadsworth, Canadian Head Coach.
The Sudbury skier was in the zone and lead at both intermediate splits on the Otepaa course, arguably one of the toughest cross-country ski courses on the circuit. But in the last portion of the race he was overtaken by Lukas Bauer (CZE) who surged near the end, and eventual winner Dario Cologna (SUI).
“I went out really hard today. I went for the win and I don’t regret it,” said Kershaw in a team release. “It has been a hard couple of weeks for me personally and I didn’t know what to expect coming off the Tour. Today I was able to mentally switch off the brain and focus on skiing which felt amazing.”
“The climbs out here are are relentless and punishing. They are so long which we don’t normally ski,” added Kershaw. “The Estonians know how to set up a course to ensure the strongest man wins.”
This was his first weekend of racing since his remarkable fourth overall at the grueling nine-stage Tour de Ski that ended Jan. 8. The team jetted to the Canary Islands for a break after the Tour which may become more popular with WCup skiers given Kershaw’s medal performance today and his teammate, Alex Harvey’s 4th place in the CL sprints yesterday.
Harvey finished 19th for a solid effort and was followed by the USA’s Kris Freeman (USA), the top American in 22nd place – his best distance result so far this season. Noah Hoffman (USA) also had a strong day scoring points and a personal best World Cup classic distance result, with a 26th-place finish (he was 25th in the pursuit in Whistler at the pre-Olympics).
“The race today felt really good. I went out focused on starting under control. The course was incredibly difficult, possibly the hardest I’ve ever raced on, but more than that I didn’t want to repeat my mistakes from the 15km at US Nationals,” Hoffman explained to SkiTrax post-race. “I executed that part of my plan pretty well. I also had great skis and good energy. I was happy with the way things went. I’m looking forward to building on this result for the rest of the season.”
Canada’s Len Valjas crossed the line in 31st just out of the points coming close to his best-ever World Cup finish in a distance event which was 29th in Kuusamo.
With today’s result Kershaw is now 5th overall in the World Cup ranking while Harvey sits eighth overall. Harvey was impressed with his teammate’s skiing saying, “Just so everybody knows Devon Kershaw is the man. Third place in Otepaa but special mention for gutsiest skiing!”
For Kershaw his stellar day didn’t quite erase his disappointment at placing fourth at the Tour de Ski but he’s stoked with the Canadian team’s overall performance season
“Finishing fourth has been tough to take and it was at the Tour. It is heartbreaking, but that is the thing about cross-country skiing – there is always more,” said Kershaw. “The biggest factor for me is that I’m now feeling much stronger and more comfortable every race because of the people I’m surrounded by on our team.
“We have had an athlete in the top-five at every World Cup stop this year, which I think is a credit to the athletes we have on this team, and the support from our wax techs and coaches. Mentally it is so good for me.”
Results HERE.
Results detail HERE.
World Cup Overall HERE.
January 19, 2012 – Petter Northug (NOR) will skip this weekend’s Otepaa, Estonia World Cup, along with three members of the German National Team.
Northug intends to take one extra weekend off after Tour de Ski, where he finished third behind Dario Cologna (SUI) and Marcus Hellner (SWE).
He has been on the roster for the upcoming World Cup weekend in Otepää, but after a discussion with the head coach Trond Nystad on Wednesday, it became clear that Northug will get a permission to skip the Estonian World Cup.
Northug’s priority is to resume training and to take part in the 15 km free technique at the Norwegian nationals in Voss on Thursday on January 26, which will be his only show up at the national championships.
The day after the 26-year-old World Champion is traveling to Italian Val di Fiemme to take part in the famous Marcialonga on Sunday 29.
Only Ten Germans to Start Otepää
Germany’s national coach, Jochen Behle, travels to Estonia with a team struck by illness. Only ten Germans are to start on the upcoming weekend in Otepää.
Due to health problems, Behle is traveling to Estonia with a smaller team. Both Axel Teichmann and Hanna Kolb have been on antibiotics. Steffe Böhler is skipping the coming World Cup weekend as she has not come over aftereffects of a flu infection. Hannes Dotzler will make his debut in the World Cup instead. The youngster from Sonthofen could not show up in the World Cup this season due to broken leg.
Three German ladies are lined up for the World Cup weekend in Otepää will take start both in the sprint and distance competition. For the men’s sprint Behle will count on Heun, Wenzl and Wünsch. Angerer, Filbrich, Dotzler and Eisenlauer will be racing for Germany in the distance competition on Sunday.
Women
– Nicole Fessel (SC Oberstdorf)
– Denise Herrmann (WSC Erzgebirge Oberwiesenthal)
– Katrin Zeller (SC Oberstdorf)
Men
– Tobias Angerer (SC Vachendorf)
– Hannes Dotzler (SC Sonthofen)
– Sebastian Eisenlauer (SC Sonthofen)
– Daniel Heun (SKG Gersfeld)
– Jens Filbrich (SV Eintracht Frankenhain)
– Josef Wenzl (SC Zwiesel)
– Oliver Wünsch (SV Großwaltersdorf)
January 16, 2012 (Milan, Italy) – It was a historic day for North American’s female skiers at the FIS WCup 6×1.4km free team sprints in Milan on Sunday, with both the U.S. and Canadian squads sharing the podium in the silver and bronze medal positions, respectively. The Swedish duo of Hanna Brodin and Ida Ingemardsdotter scored gold.
This was Jessie Diggins first Team Sprint ever so landing on the podium was uber-special for the Afton, MN native. She suffered two crashes during the competition but dusted herself off, kept her cool, and came back for more.
For Randall it was another brick in the wall as the Sprint WCup leader continues her march toward claiming the Red Leader’s bib for good this season – with six events remaining and a strong lead in the series things are looking up for Randall.
SkiTrax spoke with the U.S. team’s Randall and Diggins after their silver-lined effort and learned how they overcame a fumbled exchange to regain their medal spot. We reached Randall first by email (see below) then caught both in the team car as they jetted out of Milan on their way to Seiser Alm for a break and some training before the upcoming WCup in Otepaa, Estonia this coming weekend – great team pic HERE.
Jessie Diggins
Kikkan Randall
Congrats on an amazing day. How was the start?
Kikkan Randall: The start was good, pretty uneventful. Jessie started near the back but did a good job of getting right in the pack.
How congested was it on the Milan course?
KR: It was definitely pretty narrow, and without any major terrain changes, everyone was going the same speed and it was hard to pass.
How were your skis today and conditions on the track?
KR: Conditions were much firmer and faster than yesterday. Our skis were running really well. We each raced on our two fastest pairs.
You and Jessie have never raced together like this – what kind of prep did you do?
KR: Yeah, we hadn’t raced together before and Jessie had actually never even done a team sprint before. So we talked strategy before the race, Sadie passed along some advice from Ddorf, and we practiced some tags in the warmup.
It’s hard to predict these kinds of races, but did things play out as you expected?
KR: More or less, yes. There was a lot of teams changing places, depending on tags and crashes, etc. We wanted to get in a good position early and then move up through the race.
The exchanges are crucial – can you describe the tension and feeling during the exchanges?
KR: The exchange zone was really close coming off the final turn, so it was always hard to line up for your teammate. Everyone was coming in so fast and together that it was hard to navigate without collisions.
What happened on the crash exchange?
KR: I think another skier cut right in front of Jessie just before the tag. I was already accelerating, thinking we were about to have an awesome tag, when I felt Jessie crash into me. I didn’t feel the hand to body contact though so I had to stop and go backwards toward her. She fell again as we tagged, but we got the right contact this time and I had to charge after the pack, which had already turned the corner.
What was going thru your mind as you tried to catch the pack?
KR: I knew I still had a shot to get back up there, so I chased hard to make up the gap. Just as I got on the back, the pace picked up again and I had to dig one more level.
Jessie really got after it on her final lap and then we nailed the final tag, which shot me into the lead going into the final leg. I didn’t really want to lead, but I tried to keep the pace high to hopefully wear out some of the others.
On the final stretch, did you think you could catch Ingemarsdotter?
KR: She made a good acceleration with 200m to go and got a little gap. I tried to close back up, but the finish stretch was so fast today and my legs were pretty flooded.
Did you know Chandra had moved up so well and was now challenging you?
KR: I didn’t realize it was Chandra coming up until we were meters from the line. Really awesome to see her have such a strong finish. I had to make a big lunge to hold her off.
It’s got to feel good to land another Team Sprint silver and make history with Team Canada?
KR: At our joint camp in Alaska last summer, we talked a lot about getting more North Americans on the podium and so it was great to get the double podium today. It’s really a symbol of how far we’ve come!
January 16, 2012 (Milan, Italy) – Canada’s Perianne Jones and Chandra Crawford won bronze in the women’s 6×1.4km team sprint FIS WCup in Milan on Sunday – their first-ever medal together and Jones’ first time on the WCup podium.
The moment was made even more special by the fact that Jones and Crawford had the honour of sharing the limelight with their American friends, Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall, who grabbed the silver medal – a North American first.
But their medal was not a given however, as a crash in the semis by Jones put their spot in the finals in jeopardy. Ten teams of two skiers made it to the final, including the Canuck duo, who worked efficiently together in their exchanges and skied excellently to earn their podium spot.
“This feels great. Today our whole goal was to relax, stay on our feet and kick when it counts,” said 28-year-old Crawford. “It is dynamite to be on the podium with Peri. We are a real team out here and want each other to succeed and it is awesome to share this with her.”
Last season in Dusseldorf Crawford landed on the podium in the team sprint with teammate Daria Gaiazova taking home the bronze. In Saturday’s individual sprint Crawford was 7th and her bronze in Milan on Sunday was her second WCup medal this season, after she won silver in the individual freestyle sprint in Rogla, Slovenia in December.
Jones was 12th in the individual sprint matching her career-best finish on the World Cup earned in Stockholm, Sweden last season. Her first visit to a WCup podium is a dream come true for the Almonte, Ont. skier and SkiTrax caught up with Jones after the team sprint event:
You lead off today – how was the start?
Perianne Jones: The first lap was totally crazy, I crashed in our semi-final, so I was just trying to stay out of trouble and read the rest of the people around me to make sure that didn’t happen again. There were lots of broken poles, and crashing everywhere, but we stayed out of trouble.
Is this is your first Team Sprint with Chandra – what kind of prep did you do?
PJ: Chandra and I have teamed up a few times in Dusseldorf, so this wasn’t our first time racing together, but we just practiced our tags a few times, and chatted briefly, but we have total confidence in each other after training so many hours side by side, so we didn’t talk much just went out and did our thing.
How were your skis today and conditions on the track?
PJ: Skis were amazing today, our techs are the best. The track held up really well too, so it was super fast.
Talk about the congestion on the Milan course and your exchanges.
PJ: We totally nailed the exchanges today, in the semifinal we figured out what worked, and we stayed with it through the final, and were always making up places in the exchanges.
You’ve been making steady solid gains with your skiing – what are you doing differently?
PJ: Nothing drastically different, just building on the fitness I have and being able to handle more training.
This is your first-ever WCup podium – how special is it for you?
PJ: It feels pretty great to hit the podium, it’s been a goal for a long time, and it’s also great to share it with Chandra. We have been teammates for a long time, since we were juniors…and being up there with Kikkan and Jessie was a real bonus.
All the best Peri – we are really proud of you guys.
PJ: Thanks!
January 16, 2012 – I’ve got to hand it to Juerg Capol and Vegard Ulvang from FIS. They truly have made an effort to bring cross-country skiing to the people of the world. The Tour de Ski with it’s various interesting stages concluding with a climb up a downhill slope is a great example of how they have turned what was once a boring sport to watch into something that is exciting for every kind of fan.
Another example of this is the city sprints like the ones in Milan, Italy, this past weekend. Milan rarely has snow and the Milanese usually have to travel a long way to ski. To bring the best sprinters in the world to this city is brilliant.
What is also brilliant is how well skiers from North American are doing on the World Cup this year. Kikkan Randall, Devon Kershaw, Alex Harvey, and Chandra Crawford have all consistently been at the top of the results list and it has become a pleasure to report on their success this season.
As well, Len Valjas, Ivan Babikov, Perianne Jones and Dasha Gaiazova from Canada as well as Simi Hamilton, Andy Newell, Sadie Bjoernson, Holly Brooks and now Jessie Diggins have also had good races and have scored World Cup points and in some cases have been on the podium.
Every week it seems that someone different from Canada or the US is standing on a podium. The most consistent has been Kikkan Randall who finished 2nd twice in Milan, once on her own in the individual sprint and a second time with young sensation Jessie Diggins in the team sprints.
Diggins had dominated the domestic racing scene in December after a stellar junior career. She is a legitimate talent who has the speed and endurance to be a star on the World Cup.
Chandra Crawford, after a 7th place in the individual sprints, hit the podium again this time with Perianne Jones in the team sprints where they finished right behind the Americans in 3rd. Chandra has been consistently in the top 10 over the past few races and is now a contender in every sprint race.
Len Valjas was the best of the North Americans in the individual sprints finishing in 14th. Simi Hamilton continues to improve finishing in 19th while Andy Newell continued to struggle in heats finishing in 26th after qualifying 8th.
Randall is showing incredible endurance by continuing to race in every World Cup. She has said that she wants to race every one and, barring illness, she will. She continues to lead the Sprint World Cup and sits 4th in the overall World Cup. I have stopped thinking of her as a sprinter. She is now a great overall skier who can succeed in any race.
Kershaw, Harvey and Babikov have taken a much needed rest this week before returning to the World Cup circuit next week in Otepaa, Estonia. There will be classic sprints on Saturday followed by classic individual start distance races on Sunday. The course in Otepaa is one of the hardest in the world and it is one where the best classic skiers and climbers in the world can shine.
This race is another example of how the FIS has created a World Cup circuit for everyone. It appeals to the traditional fan who likes to see an individual start and classic technique race like the old days – 15 years ago!
One last question that I would like to ask all of you – do you think that the Tour de Ski with 8 races over 11 days is as hard as a professional cycling tour that would be the same number of races? Do you think that it is as hard as the Tour de France or the Giro d’Italia? And finally what makes it harder or easier?
January 15, 2012 (Milan, Italy) – The Russian duo of Alexey Petukhov and Nikolay Morilov scored the win in the men’s 6×1.4km free men’s team sprint at the FIS WCup Sunday in Milan. Sweden’s Calle Halvarsson and Teodor Peterson took the silver medal, while, to the delight of the Italian crowd, David Hofer (ITA) and Fulvio Scola (ITA) sprinted to bronze.
The U.S. squad of Andy Newell and Simeon Hamilton did not advance to the final, finishing off with a 19th-place ranking. No Canadian team was entered in the event.
January 13, 2012 (Nove Mesto, Czech Republic) – Olga Zaitseva (RUS) took the win in the women’s 7.5km sprint event at the IBU Biathlon World Cup in Nove Mesto on Friday with a time of 23:08.1 and a perfect shooting score, despite conditions that went from bright to stormy during the competition.
Tora Berger (NOR) finished second with two shooting penalties and +25.5 behind the winner, while Magdalena Neuner (GER) raced into third spot with three penalties and a deficit of +34.5.
Canada’s Zina Kocher (CAN) was the top North American finisher in 23rd spot. Teammate Megan Imrie (CAN) finished 44th, Susan Dunklee (USA) was 45th, Annalies Cook (USA) 51st, Sara Studebaker (USA) 54th, and Tracy Barnes (USA) 87th.
January 11, 2012 (Oberhof, Germany) – In tough conditions with snow falling, Germany’s Magdalena Neuner won her second victory of the weekend taking the women’s 12.5km Mass Start with a winning time of 40:02 despite three shooting penalties. Norway’s Tora Berger was only 12.5 seconds back in second with two penalties while Neuner’s teammate, Andrea Henkel had only one shooting penalty to claim 3rd at 32 seconds back. No North American women qualified for the event.
The skiing was very challenging as the heavy snowfall created taxing ski conditions and difficult shooting. None of the top racers shot clean. With 2.5km to go, Neuner took the lead with her strong skiing and didn’t look back taking her second win of the weekend.
“It was a great race and a lot of fun since it is my last time here. I am in very good shape and I had very good skis, so I am very happy with my race,” Neuner told Biathlonworld post-race. “The penalties did not faze me I was always close to the lead and felt all day like I had enough power to handle Tora and Andrea. I was very relaxed all day.”
The snow subsided shortly after the men’s 15km Mass Start race began and it was Germany again as Andi Birnbacher was unstoppable shooting clean on his way to victory with a finishing time of 38:34. In second was Simon Fourcade of France at 24.3 seconds back with only one shooting penalty, followed by Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) in third with three penalties at 29.6 seconds back.
With better conditions a total of 19 men shot clean on the first round of prone shooting including Lowell Bailey of the USA, the lone North American in the field. Nine men shot clean on the second prone round and after the first standing session Birnbacher was one second behind the race leader Klemen Bauer (SLO).
Birnbacher shot clean in the final round while Bauer cracked missing three shots and was out of contention. Bailey missed two rounds in his first standing session, the only shots he missed on the day to finish 16th overall.
“I was pretty tired after the travel and competition in Schalke,” said Birnbacher, “I was still tired in the sprint so it was amazing that I did so well today. Having the wins is good for my confidence, but puts no pressure on me.”
January 10, 2012 (Oberstdorf, Germany) – Heavy snowfall and wind during the jumping event and strong snowfall during the cross-country race made for challenging conditions in Oberstdorf at the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup, but the four-man US team comprised of Taylor Fletcher, Johnny Spillane, Bryan Fletcher (all Steamboat Springs, CO) and Billy Demong (Vermontville, NY) moved up three spots after jumping to eighth to finish fifth overall in the team event in Oberstdorf.
Bryan Fletcher laid down another strong cross country performance skiing the second fastest leg in his round. Team Norway ultimately took the win after making up one spot after the jumps.
“Today was an OK day. It was hard on the jump with the changing wind – same old story. There was a massive snow storm during the race which made ski selection difficult. The service guys did a great job anyway. We’re looking forward to tomorrow,” said Dave Jarrett, USSA Nordic Combined Head Coach.
In the individual Gundersen on Day 2, the U.S. Ski Team’s Demong and Spillane punched into the top-15 with 14th and 15th respectively, while teammate Fletcher was 16th. Norway’s Mikko Kokslien took the win.
Spillane had the best jump for the U.S. with 20th and started the race one minute 23 seconds back, just in front of Demong and Fletcher. Fletcher skied the eighth fastest cross-country time, which was the fastest out of the Americans.
“It was a good day today. All three were close to getting the lead pack but just couldn’t close the gap all the way. Jumping was better for Billy and Johnny. Bryan had an awesome trial jump and wanted just a little more in the comp and got a little less. He is solid, though. Good skiing from everyone. Looking forward to Chaux Neuve,” said Jarrett.
Fellow US teammates Nick Hendrickson (Park City, UT) and Taylor Fletcher (Steamboat Springs, CO) did not start after finishing out of the top 50 in the provisional competition round jump.
The weekend competitions were originally scheduled in Schonach, but forced to move earlier this week due to adverse conditions. The World Cup now moves to Chaux-Neuve, France Jan. 14-15 for a pair of large hill individual Gundersen events.
January 06, 2012 (Oberhof, Germany) – The Russian and Italian teams won gold in the women’s 4x6km and men’s 4×7.5km relay, respectively, at IBU World Cup #4 in Oberhof, Germany.
In the women’s race, Olga Vilukhina (RUS) anchored the Russian team to bring home gold with an overall time of 1:19:32 and 13 shooting penalties. Team Norway cruised in +5.9 later for the silver medal, and the French team grabbed bronze.
The Italian squad put together a fantastic race in the 4×7.5km men’s race with only five shooting penalties opposed to second place Russia’s 13. Italy won by a +6.1 margin, while Sweden scooped up bronze with six penalties and a +32.7 gap.
Team USA’s Lowell Bailey, Jay Hakkinen, Tim Burke, and Leif Nordgren opened the World Cup competition with a 11th-place finish, trailing the leaders by +5:42.3 and racking up 19 penalties.
“With the rain training has not been easy, but the organizers have been doing everything they can to put a good track together, ” said U.S. Biathlon High Performance Director Bernd Eisenbichler. “In the Relay, it’s always tricky in these conditions with both skiing and waxing….”
Results
Women 4×6 km Relay HERE.
Men 4×7.5 km Relay HERE.
December 27, 2011 (Davos, Switzerland) – When the Canadian XC squad was in Davos for the FIS WCup earlier this month, new CCC sponsor One Way organized a photo shoot for the country’s top skiers. Check out the pics and put on your shades for the ones where the team is decked out in their “yellow flash” parkas!
December 19, 2011 (Sjusjoen, Norway) – Canada’s Brian McKeever and Erik Carleton teamed up to win their first-ever IPC World Cup race together in a 10-kilometre classic-ski race in Sjusjoen Norway on Sunday.
The childhood ski friends growing up in Calgary, who won three silver medals in as many races this week, finally climbed onto the top step of the podium together after clocking the fastest time of the day at 27:38.2 in the men’s visually impaired category.
“We have been doing a lot of skate racing so it was nice to change the technique and get this one,” said the 32-year-old McKeever. “I think we still have a little advantage over some of the guys in classic racing. The key to winning is to exploit your strengths and others weaknesses and we did that today.”
The track to the podium was anything but easy for the Canadian duo. Battling fatigue from a long period of racing in Europe and blowing conditions, McKeever relied heavily on the 33-year-old Carleton to find the quickest line to the finish.
“Erik pulled really hard at the front in some pretty strong headwinds,” said McKeever. “He worked hard crossing between tracks to find the fastest line and did an awesome job for me today.”
The Canadians were sandwiched on the podium by two Russian teams. Nikolay Polukhin and Andrey Tokarev skied to the silver medal at 28:50.6, while Stanislav Chokhlaev and Maksim Pirogov were third with a time of 29:39.9.
McKeever has become of the most accomplished para-nordic skiers in the world since being diagnosed with Stargaards disease in 1998. Brian, along with his longtime guide and brother Robin, has won 10 Paralympic medals including seven gold in his three trips to the Paralympics.
Brian leaned on Carleton to guide him to three victories at the 2011 IPC World Championships when Robin was sidelined with an ACL injury last year. A 1998 Olympian, Robin is now the head coach of the Canadian Para-Nordic Team. Regardless of the guide, the younger McKeever has worked tirelessly to win everything on the table in para-nordic skiing.
“We have trained more than 800 hours this year which is right up there with able-bodied skiers,” said McKeever. “Winning isn’t easy as we saw this week (finishing second three times in a row) so we have to keep working hard because it hasn’t been enough so far.”
Two other Canadians also suited up on Sunday. Colette Bourgonje, of Saskatoon, finished seventh in the women’s five-kilometre sit-ski race. Mark Arendz, of Springton, P.E.I., who won a gold, silver and bronze medal in biathlon races this week, finished 11th in the men’s 10-kilometre standing class.
December 16, 2011 (Obertilliach, Austria) – Two young Calgary biathletes shocked the world by finishing third and fourth in a men’s 10-kilometre sprint competition at the IBU Biathlon Cup in Obertilliach, Austria on Friday.
Nathan Smith put his name in the history books as one of a handful of Canadian biathletes to win a medal in international racing after capturing the bronze with a time of 24 minutes, 18.1 seconds, while senior team rookie, Scott Gow, narrowly missed the podium placing fourth at 24:31.4 against a deep field of nearly 100 athletes – many of whom compete regularly on the World Cup circuit.
“It feels great. Only a few other Canadians have had top-four results on the IBU Cup so two in one day is exceptional,” said Smith, who turns 26 on Christmas Day and becomes the sixth Canadian biathlete to medal on the IBU Cup over the last decade. The Canadian squad also finished fourth in Wednesday’s mixed relay.
“During the training season I made some strong improvements in both skiing and shooting and I was hoping to carry those over to the competition season. This result is affirmation the work is paying off in actual results.”
Both Smith and Gow shot clean with light winds blowing through the range, and took advantage of good skis on the hard-packed, fast Austrian course.
“Our coaching and waxing team have been doing an awesome job. I’m fairly certain our skis in Obertilliach have been the best of all the teams thus far,” added Smith. “So far this winter four men have put down top results on both the IBU and World Cup. This shows that our team is building depth. I also hope younger biathletes in Canada will see our results and strive to match and exceed them.”
Russia’s Evgeniy Garanichev won the gold medal with a time of 24:09.7 despite missing one shot in his first round of shooting. Germany’s Daniel Bohm snagged the silver with a time of 24:11.4.
Despite finishing just shy of the podium, it was a stellar day for the 21-year-old Scott Gow who made the climb to the senior ranks this year where he has split time on the World Cup and IBU Cup Circuit – a feeder series to the World Cup.
“The race today felt amazing. It was one of those rare days where great skiing with perfect shooting came together, and I’m more than ecstatic it happened today on the IBU Cup,” said Gow, who was clean in his two rounds of shooting. “The skis were the difference today. I have felt great the last two weeks on the boards and they were really good today which gave us an edge on our competitors.”
Equally brilliant off the snow, the sharp-shooting biathlete was an honours student at the National Sport School where he was one of a small group of students selected from around the world to attend United States Space School four years ago at NASA in Houston. An incredible experience for the young Canuck, Gow’s mission has since been focused on achieving his Olympic dream. He enjoyed a memorable campaign in 2011 where he carried the Alberta flag into the closing ceremonies of the Canada Winter Games after winning four gold medals in as many competitions, one week following a ninth-place finish at the Junior World Championships.
“This result is important for me because I feel like it validates my training over the past year, and gives me the confidence going forward to know that I am competitive on the IBU Cup,” said Gow. “Doing as well as I did today against the competition I had is a real boost of confidence because they guys we’re finishing with have good results on the World Cup and are considered World Cup caliber athletes, so it’s another major boost for sure.”
Two other Canadian men suited up on Friday. Calgary’s Tyson Smith shot clean to finish tied for 50th at 26:23.5. Aaron Gillmor was 96th (28:05.9).
Quebec’s Claude Godbout finished as the top Canadian in the women’s 7.5-kilometre sprint, placing 32nd at 24:32.2. Yolaine Oddou, of Val Belair, Que., was 34th (24:44.8), while Melanie Schultz, of Camrose, Alta., finished 53rd (25:43.1).
Russia’s Ekaterina Glazyrina shot clean to win the women’s competition with a time of 22:30.8.
Meanwhile, the top women’s biathletes in the country also had a solid outing on the World Cup circuit down the road in Hochfilzen, Austria.
Megan Imrie, of Falcon Lake, Man., skied to the final spot in the top-25 for the best result of her career. The 25-year-oldImrie, who represented Canada at the 2010 Olympics, missed two shots in her first of two bouts of shooting to clock a time of 22:18.1 in the women’s 7.5-kilometre sprint competition.
Zina Kocher, of Red Deer, Alta., will join Imrie in the pursuit competition with the top-60 athletes after placing 50th with a time of 23:08.0. Rosanna Crawford, of Canmore, Alta., rounded out the Canadian performances in 73rd (24:05.7).
Russia’s Olga Zaitseva won the women’s sprint with a time of 20:36.6. Darya Domracheva, of Belarus, settled for the silver medal at 20:%0.5, while Sweden’s Helena Ekholm locked up the bronze after clocking-in at 21:06.8.
The IBU Cup and World Cup events continue on Saturday in Austria with the pursuit competitions.
World Cup Women
1. Olga Zaitseva, RUS, (0+1), 20:36.6
2. Darya Domracheva, BLR, (1+1), 20:50.5
3. Helena Ekholm, SWE, (1+0), 21:06.8
4. Magdalena Neuner, GER, (1+1), 21:21.5
5. Vita Semerenko, UKR, (0+1), 21:32.2.
December 16, 2011 – The exciting new season continues! First off a skate sprint weekend along the Rhein river in Düsseldorf, Germany. In the individual sprint, I started off the day with a 10th in qualifying and then battled my way through the rounds on the narrow course to make the final. In the final, there was some bumping early on in the race, but I was able to stay on my feet and make a free-skating charge at the end to take the win.
In the next day’s team sprint, I lined up with my APU teammate Sadie Bjornsen and made it through to the finals. On the first lap we had some bad luck and got stuck behind a fall, dropping us to last. We never lost faith however, kept charging and on the last lap I was able to make up a few spots and get us into the silver medal position. The first ever team sprint podium for a US sprint team!
The next weekend took us to Davos, Switzerland where the snow finally arrived and we got to contest a 15km skate on a 7.5km loop (a rarity on WC these days), and a skate sprint.
In the 15km, I had a good start early but then faded through the race, just managing to stay in the points at 27th place. It proved to be a great warm-up for the sprint however, and I was able to qualify 1st and lead through the quarters and semis to make the final.
In the final I took the lead midway through and made an aggressive acceleration over the top of the hill to break up the pack. I ended up breaking away for the win. I also got to wear the red Sprint Leaders jersey through the day, which was pretty fun!
Now we’re on to Rogla, Slovenia for the last weekend of Period 1. There’s not much snow here but the organizers are working hard to put on some good races. We’ve got a 10km classic mass-start and a skate sprint coming up!
Quote of the Day
“We all shared in the success and it made it so incredibly special! ”
What’s Coming Up
– Dec. 17/11 – 11 Rogla WC – 10km C Mass-start
– Dec. 18/11 – Rogla WC – Sprint F
– Dec. 29/11 – Tour de Ski – Oberhof Prologue
– Dec. 30/11 – Tour de Ski – Oberhof 10k C H
– Dec. 31/11 – Tour de Ski – Oberstdorf Sprint C
– Jan. 1/12 – Tour de Ski – Oberstdorf 10k Skiathlon
The Full Report
Hello everyone! It’s been another couple of exciting weeks! I have to admit that I’ve been having so much fun celebrating the good races and hanging out with my teammates that I’ve been a little delinquent in getting my Race Tails out. Here is a quick recap of the last two weekends.
Following the mini-tour in Ruka, Finland, we headed down to Central Europe to the sun! Winter had not arrived yet here either, and the first few days of training were confined to 1-3km loops of man-made snow on top of green grass!
Düsseldorf Sprint Weekend
Once in Düsseldorf, the scene was pretty much the same as the previous years. Except, this time in the giant stadium attached to our hotel, the soccer field was covered with a car racing track. We got to watch the drivers test out their cars and I have to admit it was pretty fun to see them sliding the corners and revving their engines.
On Saturday morning we awoke to pouring rain. Luckily I had all my stuff this year and packed my bag with just about every piece of ski clothing I had brought! The most exciting thing was that I had female teammates this year, three of them, which meant that we could actually ski in the team sprint for the first time!
Individual Skate Sprint
For the qualifying round I was given bib #1 for the 2nd week in a row, so with a fresh course before me, I set off around the 750m loop! I came around the first corner so fast that I almost lost my balance. Luckily, I stayed on my feet and made it around the course in less than two minutes. It was a solid burn but over so fast! I ended up qualifying in 10th position.
Thankfully the rain stopped in time for the heats. In the quarters and semis, I had decent starts, worked my way up through the pack on the back stretch and used strong finishes each time to advance.
In the final, I did not get a good start and ended up bumping skis with a couple competitors down the first straight away. After a few more bumps coming up to the first turn with fellow NA racer Chandra Crawford, I decided to settle back in the pack. As we approached Mt. Düsseldorf I noticed a narrow opening in between Chandra and the Russian, Matveeva. I went for it. A few more bumps. Over the top I managed to get myself into 2nd position. As we came off the final turn, I worked an aggressive free skate and swung wide into the outside lane. Skating low and without poles, I managed to sneak into the finish lanes just ahead of Matveeva and secured the win at the line. I let out an ecstatic yell!
Düsseldorf has one of the most fun awards presentations after the race, up on a big stage next to the course. They blasted techno music while they called up the top ten and I couldn’t help but do a little dance. After the awards were presented, they played the US National anthem and it was incredibly special to hear it out loud. I sang every word.
Right away we had another important race to focus on, the team sprint. It was decided that Sadie Bjornsen and I would team up on the first team, and Holly and Ida would team up for our second team. We were all pretty excited to get in the mix!
Team Sprint
The next day we awoke to clearer skies and less wind. While the snow was much dirtier than the day before, the course was holding up well. We did some jogging to warm-up and then hit the course for a short window of ski testing before the race. I found my legs to be quite tired from the full day before.
In the semis, Sadie skied our lead off leg. Over the first few laps, we just hung contently in the pack and tried to avoid all the chaos. The exchange zones were war fields every time but we managed to make it through unscathed and in good position going into the final lap. I was able to pass a couple teams in the finish stretch to automatically advance us to the final. The pace had been fast and furious and we both hoped we had more left in the tank for the finals.
Sadie and I hung out together in the wax trailer during the short break between rounds. Sadie played it pretty calm, but disclosed to me later that she was really nervous. The funny thing is, I was too. Although, I did manage to drift off to sleep for a few minutes and dream about Santa Claus of all things.
For the finals Sadie again skied the lead off leg. She got off to a fantastic start and was near the front when suddenly, just past the exchange zone, she got caught up behind a fall and dropped to the back. Not panicking, I chased hard once I got the tag and over the next couple laps we just tried to get back in contention. Sadie skied a fantastic last leg and got us back on to the back of the lead group, we were in 9th.
Once I got the final tag, I decided to go for it. I went wide up the first rise and around the corner and made up a couple places. While everyone seemed to relax a bit on the back stretch, I again worked the wide lane and by the time I got over Mt. Düsseldorf, I was in 4th. When we came off the final turn, I free skated like crazy again and headed for the far wide lane. This time I did manage to use a couple of pole plants and somehow managed to get us into 2nd place by the time I hit the line. Podium #2!
Sadie immediately ran over and gave me the biggest hug. A wave of emotion surged over me. We jumped up and down together and then our other teammates and coaches, who had been yelling like crazy for us, came over and we had a big group hug. We all shared in the success and it made it so incredibly special!
We got to go up on stage for the awards ceremony and dance some more. We did a special tribute dance to our teammates back in the US and took in all the atmosphere. It was pretty fun to be watching Sadie do all this for the first time!
On Monday we packed up and headed back to Davos, Switzerland. A little bit of natural snow had started falling and through the week, it would start to look more and more like winter.
I was pretty bagged for the first couple days and took it nice and easy to recover. Davos is one of my favorite places in Europe. Not only is the skiing (usually) amazing, but the town is really welcoming and cozy, and there is an incredible coffee shop called ‘Kafe Klatsch’ that is great for meeting up with our international friends.
Midweek activities included a Secret Santa poem night with our team, where we all had drawn a collegue’s name out of a hat and then wrote a poem about that person and gave them a small gift. It was good for a plethora of laughs and team bonding!
The other highlight of the week was getting a fika (coffee date) with our Swedish friends Anna Haag and Charlotte Kalla. We were discussing the early season success of the Norwegian women’s team and decided that if we were able to displace some of them from a podium spot during the weekend, we would spray champagne at the flower ceremony to celebrate.
15km Individual Freestyle
The first race of the weekend was the 15km skate individual start. Earlier in the week when it looked like there wouldn’t be enough snow, the race was going to be shortened to 10km. But the organizers did an amazing job and got the 7.5km loop ready in time for the longer distance. Over the past few distance starts here in Davos I have really struggled. So I was hoping a longer event on a slightly different course might help me break my Davos distance curse.
My plan was to start aggressive, which had worked well in Sjusjoen, and then try to maintain a steady but solid pace through the race. Without really noticing, I managed to hit this strategy right on and at the first split at 2km, I was leading the race with 49 racers through. The pace felt reasonable and I was feeling confident that I could build speed through the race. But then, only a kilometer later, as I made my way to the high point at 4km, I began to unravel. My body felt stiff and my focus started to waiver.
I kept fighting, reminding myself to work the gradual terrain, bend my legs and keep my tempo up, but I was really struggling to kick myself into the next gear. Skiing totally alone, I had to keep trying to coax myself to stay on pace and dig deeper. When I crossed the finish line, I was definitely exhausted, yet didn’t have that flop-on-the-ground, totally dead feeling I had wanted to achieve. In the end I had to settle for 27th place.
While it was my worst race of the season so far, it was still a big improvement over my other distance results here in Davos, it was still in the points and only 13 seconds out of the top 20, and I had great results from my teammates (Holly in 13th and Liz in 21st) to celebrate. I crossed it off as a successful day and turned my attention to the next day’s sprint.
Individual Skate Sprint
This time, I did not draw bib #1 for the qualifier. But I did get to wear the red Sprint Leader’s jersey for the first time this season. The sprint course would be two laps of a 600m loop and required the right pacing.
During the warm-up my legs felt pretty heavy and I was anxious about the 15km’s effects on my energy reserves. Once I started the qualifier however, I could tell the feelings were good and I set off on an aggressive first lap. As I came through the stadium for the lap, I could feel the burn setting in. I dug down and pushed hard through every transition, not letting up until I slid my foot across the line. The announcer immediately called out, “And now Randall has the new best time.”
When all the racers had finished, I had managed to stay atop the leader board by 0.11 seconds! This was the first time that I had ever qualified first and it almost made me a little more nervous than usual. I finished my cool down and then made my way into the athlete’s tent. Many of the other teams had their massage tables out with therapists working on their athletes. Meanwhile, I laid on a foam stretching mat on the floor, covered myself in jackets and fought off shivers for the next 45 minutes.
Thankfully I was able to warm myself back up again pretty quickly in time for the quarterfinals. I got off to a good start and controlled the pace from the front. I put in a little extra push over the top of the last hill and stayed in the lead to advance to the semis. The effort was hard however, and I wondered if I could handle such a pace for two more rounds!
In the semis I got off to a good start again and led the race. This time I was able to relax a little bit more on the flats and then put in another good push over the top of the climb to keep my lead and advance to the final.
The sun was just setting as we lined up for the final introductions. Just happy to be back in the final again, I gave an excited double wave to the camera and to the crowd. Then we crouched…set…BANG!
I had a decent start and came out pretty even with the other girls. We all spread out and I gradually worked my way up towards the front, but then let Matveeva take the lead around the first corner. I followed her up and over the hill. My skis were fast and I glided up next to her as we came back into the lap lane. For a second, I thought I would try and tuck in behind her, but then I got the urge to take the lead. I V2’d powerfully up alongside and as we approached the hairpin turn, I got into the lead. I took one more second to relax and then accelerated coming out of the turn. I jump skated like crazy and made sure to push over the top.
As we glided back down into the stadium, I took a quick glance over at the jumbo tron. I saw three dark figures coming down the hill together and figured that was the other skiers right on my tail. So I kept hammering, determined to stay in front.
When I burst onto the homestretch I opened up into a tall V2 and imagined the others shadows coming up beside me at any second. Finally, when I got a few meters from the line I realized there was no one coming up and got to raise my arms in celebration across the line. Another thrilling day!
I was immediately just so happy to have put together such a solid day, feeling strong through four rounds. Once I caught my breath, I did a quick interview for the TV cameras and then got to exchange hugs and high fives with my team. Suddenly I remembered that I had made that bet with Anna and Charlotte about champagne on the podium. I asked Grover if he could try and find some at the last minute and he set off on a mission.
Just before the flower ceremony, Grover reappeared with a bottle of champagne. So after they presented the flowers and the medals and our official photos were snapped, Grover snuck the bottle (slightly shaken and the cork poised) to me on the podium and I popped the cork and sprayed the champagne around. I had always seen the alpine skiers do this on the podium and I was proud to show that the cross-country skiers can celebrate a good day too!
That evening I got to share another champagne toast with my team. They really did a fantastic job of making sure all I had to think about was racing fast. I’m so grateful to have such a hard working team behind me and it is the best thing to celebrate all together! Later I got to share another toast with my Swedish friends, Anna Haag and Emil Joensson (who was also on the podium) and their families over dinner. It was a great night.
All of the hard racing and emotion caught up with me the next couple days however and I was pretty bagged again. So I just took it easy, enjoyed the good skiing, took long naps and did some Christmas shopping.
One little thing I decided to do, in celebration of the team’s great results so far this season, was to buy a small espresso machine for the team. Already it’s getting a lot of use and makes us feel a little more at home in our hotel rooms!
Yesterday we said goodbye to Davos after a very delightful early morning ski and headed on to Rogla, Slovenia for the final stop of Period I. Upon arrival, it feels like we’ve gone back to September again. It was pouring rain here today and there was even thunder and lightning this afternoon. The organizers are busy trying to piece together a course and we’re hoping the temperature will drop back below freezing!
We’ve got a 10km classic mass-start on Saturday and another (third in a row!!) skate sprint on Sunday.
More reports to come in a few days!!
I’m posting daily updates of my training on my SkiTrax Daily training rap which can be viewed here: Kikkan’s Daily Training Rap
December 10, 2011 (Hochfilzen, Austria) – It was a Norwegian showdown in the men’s 12.5km pursuit in Hochfilzen this morning in the men’s 15km IBU WCup pursuit, with Emil Hegle Svendsen besting fellow countryman Tarjei Boe in a final sprint to line with a time of 33:09.0 and a winning margin of only 0.1s. It was a nailbiter, with Svendsen racking up two shooting penalties and Boe only holding one. Switzerland’s Benjamin Weger claimed third place at 4.9 seconds back and only one penalty.
The top North American result was logged by USA’s Lowell Bailey, who finished 17th. He trailed by +57.4 and amassed two penalties. Canada’s Brendan Green finished 33rd at +2:00.5 back with three penalties. Jay Hakkinen (USA) landed 45th spot with four penalties.
In the 10km women’s pursuit, Darya Domracheva (BLR) showed an impressive display of determination to snag her victory over second place, Olga Zaitseva (RUS), and third place, Magdalena Neuner (GER). Domracheva came from behind, trailing by 55s after the third shooting stage, to claim the victory on the final round. She finished her race in 29:34.4 with two penalties, while Zaitseva finished only +0.3 back with a single penalty.
Zina Kocher (CAN) scored the best North American result with a solid 23rd place, trailing by 3:09.5 and logging two penalties. Susan Dunklee (USA) finished 43rd, followed by team mate Sara Studebaker (USA) in 44th.
December 08, 2011 (Davos, Switzerland) – Thanks to positive snow conditions and heavy snowfall yesterday, the Organizing Committee of Davos together with FIS has made the decision to return to the original distances 15 km ladies and 30 km men on Saturday. A course of 7.5 km will be prepared from tomorrow on.
“We are pleased that we finally could decide to have the individual races over the long distances of 30 km and 15 km on Saturday,” said Jürg Capol, FIS Race Director Cross-Country. “The OC and TV showed a great flexibility this morning to change the plannings and we will be back on the old traditional course.”
Check out this video about the announcement. It features interviews with some of the world’s top skiers, including Canada’s Devon Kershaw.
December 07, 2011 (Davos, Switzerland) – I just returned to “home away from home” Hotel Kulm from an exciting, high-paced World Cup weekend in Dusseldorf, Germany. While the weekend’s racing format didn’t explicitly compliment my skill set it was a great experience and more importantly, I was there to witness my teammates stand on a World Cup podium.
If you’ve been living under a rock (or perhaps you aren’t a ski news junkie and that’s perfectly okay) Kikkan and Sadie won a silver medal in the team sprint yesterday on the city streets of Dusseldorf, Germany. Ida Sargent and I teamed up for the sprint as well and unfortunately we were 2 seconds from making it through to the finals as “lucky losers.” Although I was disappointed, it provided us with great viewing and cheering opportunities for the other girls. Funny thing was, amongst the crowds, Sadie and Kikkan both said they could hear us screaming for them on course!!!!
Yesterday was an incredible day for my teammates and for all of US Skiing. Once again, we have shown the Euros that WE can be in there. That we are competitors, and even though we live out of a suitcase for months on end to do it, they should not discount our fitness, courage or tenacity.
I have to admit, when it comes to taking pictures, I have no problem pushing to the front of crowds and getting my canon “powershot SD1300” out there amongst the 3-foot long lenses. Also, perhaps I’m a horrible person for doing this but I may or may not have stepped in front of a small child to get some great shots! I couldn’t help it – how often do the girls you roller ski in the rain with (while everyone else is still sleeping off hangovers) stand on World Cup podiums? I mean, really?! Can you say Alaska Pacific University Nordic Ski Center ROCKS?! I can!
While it’s easy to give all the congratulations to Kikkan and Sadie – and of course they deserve every ounce of it….. I’d like to acknowledge the coaches and particularly one person, Erik Flora for helping make this happen. As a competitor that’s also been a coach and a wax tech, my perspective stems from all angles. While there were only two people standing on the podium yesterday in D-dorf, Erik Flora has gone above and beyond to make that silver medal possible, not to mention, my success over here too….
I don’t know anyone else in the world that loves skiing more than Erik does. The guy could literally inspire a rock to get up off the ground and do some burpees. (A really hard exercise that combines a push up and a jump.) He is a student of the sport spending his night-time hours watching the latest video, corresponding with other coaches from around the world on theories, testing our skis by headlamp once everyone else has gone home….. some may say he’s crazy but isn’t there some kind of saying that says something like, “Great things happen when people break the norm” or something to that effect?
In 2006, the APU program was in transition. Erik saw the opportunity to create a World-class ski team in a setting where the time was right. He seized the opportunity. Since then, everyday for the last five years he’s been working 12-23 hours a day to make us fast. To make us competitive. To give us every advantage he possibly can.
Erik turns any hardship into an opportunity (it may be white-out fog and blowing wind but THIS could be CHAMPIONSHIP conditions one day!) and exudes the excitement of a 6-year old on Christmas morning on a DAILY basis. His work ethic and his dedication to the betterment of the sport and to the athletes he coaches is impressive and admirable. When times are tough and confidence is low he has a special ability to find the bright side of any situation. He never underestimates anyone or tells them they can’t or they won’t or they shouldn’t.
Yesterday, when I was standing in the crowd looking up at my teammates on the podium I was envisioning three people up there: leg one and two of the team sprint relay along with their coach who had the biggest grin from ear to ear that you’ve ever seen.
Thanks to Erik Flora for his dedication and to all the coaches and support stuff out there that help athletes realize their dreams and inspire others to do so as well.
Oh – and here are a couple of other shots from D-Dorf…. the Germany Christmas bazaar was amazing! I wish I had more than 1/2 hour to check it out.
Thanks for reading and thanks again for the words of support and encouragement!
December 05, 2011 (Toronto, ON) – The 2011/12 Viessmann FIS XC World Cup season continued with round two on Nov. 25-27 in Kuusamo, Finland. We are pleased to announce the SkiTrax FIS Fantasy WCup 2011/12 Contest standings after Kuusamo: team B Sul is tied with birks ski in first place with 360 points while Hoaxia and The Moose Patrol are in second place, each with 349 points. Team domy is just behind in 5th place with 348 points.
The World Cup series moved to Duesseldorf, Germany this past weekend for round three and we’ll have the contest standings following these races posted shortly.
For the Contest Standings after Kuusamo click HERE.
SkiTrax Fantasy FIS World Cup 2011/12 Contest Prizes * 1st Prize – Fischer 11/12 Carbonlite Hole Skis, Xcelerator Bindings, Carbonlite Poles (value $1,100) * 2nd Prize – SkiGo Carbon 780 Roller Skis (value $580)
* 3rd Prize – Alpina ESK Ski Boots (value $449) * 4th Prize – Bjorn Daehlie Exclusive US XC Ski Suit (value $300) * 5th Prize – Sporthill XC Pants/Tights and Glacier Top (value $220) * 6th Prize – Fresh Air Experience or High Peaks Cyclery Gift Certificate (value $150) * 7th Prize – Rottefella Xcelerator Skate/Classic Bindings (value $130) * 8th Prize – Bliz Proflip Visor (value $129)
* 9th Prize – Concept2 Goodie Duffle Bag (value $100) * 10th Prize – Auclair Micro Mountain Olympic Gloves + Earbags (value $65) * WCup Breaks – Buff Headware (value $22) to top 3 contest leaders before the Tour de Ski
Thanks to all of our great sponsors, including Fischer, SkiGo, Alpina, Bjorn Daehlie Clothing, Sporthill, Fresh Air Experience, High Peaks Cyclery, Rottefella, Bliz, Concept 2, Auclair, and Buff.
SkiTrax is North America’s leading Nordic skiing publication and the official magazine of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Cross Country Canada (CCC).
November 27, 2011 (Toronto, ON) – With the 2011/12 Viessmann FIS XC World Cup season officially underway, we are pleased to announce the SkiTrax FIS Fantasy WCup 2011/12 Contest standings after round one of the series in Sjusjoen, Norway this past weekend and apologize for the delay. Leading the contest is team Paulleloupbleumauvevertgrisnoirblanc with 174 points. Probably the winning team trails by 6 points and is tied in second with team domy.
The World Cup series moved to Kuusamo, Finland this weekend for round two and we’ll have the contest standings following these races posted shortly.
For the Contest Standings after Sjusjoen click HERE.
SkiTrax Fantasy FIS World Cup 2011/12 Contest Prizes * 1st Prize – Fischer 11/12 Carbonlite Hole Skis, Xcelerator Bindings, Carbonlite Poles (value $1,100) * 2nd Prize – SkiGo Carbon 780 Roller Skis (value $580)
* 3rd Prize – Alpina ESK Ski Boots (value $449) * 4th Prize – Bjorn Daehlie Exclusive US XC Ski Suit (value $300) * 5th Prize – Sporthill XC Pants/Tights and Glacier Top (value $220) * 6th Prize – Fresh Air Experience or High Peaks Cyclery Gift Certificate (value $150) * 7th Prize – Rottefella Xcelerator Skate/Classic Bindings (value $130) * 8th Prize – Bliz Proflip Visor (value $129)
* 9th Prize – Concept2 Goodie Duffle Bag (value $100) * 10th Prize – Auclair Micro Mountain Olympic Gloves + Earbags (value $65) * WCup Breaks – Buff Headware (value $22) to top 3 contest leaders before the Tour de Ski
Thanks to all of our great sponsors, including Fischer, SkiGo, Alpina, Bjorn Daehlie Clothing, Sporthill, Fresh Air Experience, High Peaks Cyclery, Rottefella, Bliz, Concept 2, Auclair, and Buff.
SkiTrax is North America’s leading Nordic skiing publication and the official magazine of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Cross Country Canada (CCC).
November 25, 2011 (Kuusamo, Finland) – Teodor Peterson (SWE) and Marit Bjeorgen (NOR) were victorious in today’s classic sprint races in Kuusamo, Finland, the first of three days of racing in the first Viessman FIS World Cup mini-tour event of the season. North Americans had a decent day, with a handful qualifying for the heats and the USA’s Kikkan Randall and Canada’s Lenny Valjas making it into the finals. Norway’s Petter Northug, a threat in any race, was a surprise 16th, after failing to make it out of his quarter final.
Racing in icy conditions with fresh snow falling in the tracks as the finals got underway, Peterson notched his first World Cup victory with a convincing win over Russia’s Nikita Kriukov and Norway’s Oeystein Pettersen. Canada’s Valjas recorded a career best World Cup result, placing 5th in the closely contested final. Finland’s Anssi Pentsinen, something of a surprise winner in the morning’s qualifier, delighted the stadium crowd by making it into the final, in which he placed 6th.
Bjoergen, who qualified 5th, once again demonstrated her power, taking control of the women’s final at the halfway mark and never looked back. Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla was second, with Vibeke Skofterud finishing third, just holding off the hard-charging Randall, who established a career-best in classic sprint result claiming 4th, and making her first World Cup final in the discipline.
A number of other North Americans qualified for the heats today in Kuusamo. Canada’s Chandra Crawford earned her way into the heats for the first time in five tries in Kuusamo, qualifying 10th, showing that her classic sprinting has come a long way. Crawford was eliminated in the quarters and finished 22nd. Her teammate, Dasha Gaiazova, shook off the jet lag from her recent arrival in Scandinavia to qualify in 12th overall before also being knocked out in the quarter-finals and finishing 14th on the day.
The USA’s Andy Newell qualified 19th and Canada’s Alex Harvey was 29th. Both were eliminated in the quarter finals, with Newell holding at 19th and Harvey moving up to 24th.
It was a tough day for Canada’s Perianne Jones and Devon Kershaw, both of whom failed to qualify. Jones finished 44th and Kershaw 56th in qualification.
Results
Women
1. Marit Bjoergen (NOR)
2. Charlotte Kalla (SWE)
3. Vibeke Skofterud (NOR)
November 24, 2011 – Check out the third installment of our new SkiTrax audio series, Talkin’ with the Gravy-Train, featuring legendary commentator and sports reporter Peter Graves. Our guest this week is US skier, Andy Newell, who just arrived in Kuusamo, Finland for this weekend’s Viessmann FIS XC World Cup races. Newell reflects on his performance last weekend in Sjusjoen, Norway and looks ahead to round two, which starts Friday.
Peter’s first interviewee was Kikkan Randall, and if you missed that interview, click HERE. For Peter’s interview with Kris Freeman, click HERE.
November 24, 2011 – Tommorow, the Czech Republic’s top Cross-Country Skier, Lukas Bauer, will kick off his FIS Cross-Country World Cup season, while Finland’s Matti Heikkinen will sit out the second round of the series due to injury.
Friday will feature the classical 1.4 km sprint, Bauer’s favourite event: “Yes, my favorite classical sprint,” Lukas Bauer said with a smile.
Bonus seconds will be distributed to the top 30, with the winner of tomorrow’s race receiving 60 bonus seconds, while 30th place gains 1 second. Stage 2 of the “Mini-Tour” takes place on Saturday with 5/10 km Free technique individual start. The 10/15 km Classic Pursuit race on Sunday will determine winners of the second edition of Ruka Triple. The overall winner takes 200 points and 33 750 CHF, winner of the day will be awarded with 50 points.
“I’m not setting for myself any goals not only for the sprint but for not the Mini-Tour either. I can only surprise after the training drop-out. On the other hand be sure I’d like to confirm good feelings from trainings also in the race,” Bauer is warning his competitors.
The Czech skier started last year’s Ruka Triple with 104th position in the opening sprint. His fastest time in the third day brought him to a decent 9th place overall. Bauer sit out the opening FIS Cross-Country World Cup season in Norway and has been catching up after the training drop-out earlier in November.
“I’ve increased the training load step by step. At first I did only one hour skiing in the morning, in the afternoon I was walking around with ski poles and excercised some light strength training. The following day I did two 90 minutes skiing training sessions and the third day it was two times two hours of skiing and quality strength training,” Lukas Bauer describes. During the recovery Bauer was under the thorough surveillance of the team coach Martin Koldovsky.
“I did not want to do the come back with too much haste. I trained four days in the row having followed the training plan from Janko Neuber,” Bauer adds up.
FIS Cross-Country World Cup overall winner from the 2007/08 season has been aiming to prepare a good training base and to carry out quality fast workouts. “In spite of having been shortly after the training drop-out, the feeling from skiing was good. I was happy about that,” Bauer says.
Matti Heikkinen to Skip Ruka Triple Due to Injury
Finland’s World Champion from Oslo Matti Heikkinen has been forced to withdraw from the home World Cup in Kuusamo and will not be starting in Ruka Triple.
Heikkinen should have led the Finnish squad in the three-day Mini-Tour in Kuusamo but unfortunately will not appear at the start of tomorrow’s stage 1, classical sprint. Heikkinen injured his eye when he jumped over the fence and fell down afterwards. Heikkinen is to leave Kuusamo and is returning home.
“I’m naturally disappointed. I’ve been in Kuusamo since Monday and have been preparing for the competition. Now, I’m going home and have to rest for 3-4 days so that no sweat gets in my eye,” Heikkinen said at the Finnish press conference in hotel Rantassipi, Ruka.
Finnish national coach Magnar Dahlen revealed he would step in instead of injured Heikkinen. “Mikko Koutaniemi will be in the World Cup team and Teemu Harkönen will start within the national quota,” the coach explained.
The first stage of Ruka Triple starts tomorrow at 9:45 (CET) with qualification and 11:30 with quarterfinals.
November 24, 2011 (Canmore, AB) – Check out this breathtaking, heart pumping video that gives fans and racers alike a glimpse of the upcoming cross country skiing Alberta World Cup scheduled for December 2012.
November 23, 2011 (Sjusjoen, Norway) – Check out the gallery of photos below from this past weekend’s World Cup opening races in Sjusjoen, Norway, courtesy of the USST’s Holly Brooks. The women of the USST had a historic weekend, with personal best results in individual distances races by Kikkan Randall (8th) and Liz Stephen (18th), and a historic ninth place in the women’s 4x5km relay (anchored by Brooks), equaling their performance in the World Championships in Oslo last year. While the US men couldn’t match the success of the women’s team, they put in some good hard efforts, including finishing 11th in the men’s 4x10km relay, and will be looking to move up the results in Kuusamo, Finland this weekend.
For Women’s Relay coverage, click HERE.
For Women’s 10km Free coverage, click HERE.
November 21, 2011 (Sjusjoen, Norway) – Without a doubt, one of the most stressful weekends for a cross-country ski racer is the first meaningful race weekend of the year. All of the skiers have trained for six or more months and it is not until you race these first races that you know even a little bit about where you stand in relation to your competitors.
This is the nature of cross-country ski racing. There are no personal best times or world record times in this sport. You can do all the testing you want, and compete in roller ski racers or early season time trials, but the only way that you can really measure yourself is racing against your peers.
This is true at every level right up to the World Cup and if you read the quotes from the skiers from Saturday (link to this article) you will see that a common theme is that they didn’t know how they would do before the start and that made them nervous.
Here are some of my thoughts after the first weekend in Sjusjoen, Norway:
– I think that the Norwegian women are going to dominate all year long. They had seven of the top nine on Saturday and their relay teams finished 1st and 2nd in the relay on Sunday. Only Charlotte Kalla of Sweden and Kikkan Randall of the US were able to break into the top 9 – it looked like a Norwegian championship race.
– Marit Bjoergen has lost nothing since last year. She won by almost 30 seconds in a 24-minute race. If they had been racing a track and field event she would have almost lapped the whole field. Last year Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) won the overall World Cup because Bjoergen was concentrating on winning at the World Championships in Oslo. This year is going to be different.
– it’s clear that the USA’s Kikkan Randall is better than last year – 8th in a distance race is a fantastic result. Watch out!
– I also think that the US women’s team is really improving. With Liz Stephen placing 18th on Saturday and then having a decent relay on Sunday – and Randall’s and Brooks’ strong legs – the team is now showing just how much they have improved.
– Johan Olsson is one of the best technical skaters in the world and when he’s healthy he’s certainly one of the best. He had a tough year last year after two bronze medals in Vancouver but it looks like he is back now.
– I think that NO ONE – and I mean no one seems to be able to beat Petter Northug (NOR) in a sprint. It was sad watching the last leg of the relay on Sunday. None of the lead skiers was willing to put it on the line and go for the win except for another Norwegian Sjur Roethe. The lead group was going SO slow that he was able to come from 45 seconds back to pass all of them and take the lead in only 5km. It looked like Northug was just playing with those guys. He has an almost unbeatable formula now for distance races. All he has to do is hang around the leaders, never leading and then in the last km he moves to the front and wins the sprint.
– but Northug IS beatable in the individual start races, despite the fact that he’s getting better in these events as well. He was second on Saturday and is having a much better start to his season than last year when he over-trained and did not have any good results until after Xmas at the Tour de Ski. I also think that he is pretty well a lock to win the World Cup this year unless someone can figure out how to beat him in a sprint.
– that being said Canada’s Alex Harvey may be the one to beat Northug. His 5th place showed that he is in great shape and his sprint win in Oslo over Ole Vigen Hattestad to win the Team Sprint gold at the Nordic Worlds have shown that he has the fitness and the sprint speed to win. He has beaten Northug in a sprint in the past and even Petter has acknowledged that Harvey can beat him. I think that if Canada wants to do anything in relays they have to have Alex on the team as the anchor skier. This is the second relay in a row including the relay in Olso that Harvey did not race.
Next weekend the World Cup moves to Kuusamo, Finland for a three day mini-tour de ski. The skiers will likely have to race on icy, man-made snow again, but it will be colder and darker and the hills will be bigger and steeper. It will be the first chance for the sprinters to come out and play as well as the classic skiers. Should be a lot of fun to watch.
November 18, 2011 – Wow, another race season is roaring into action already! With one race under my belt and my first World Cup start of the year just over a week away, it’s high time that I update you on what the heck I’ve been up to all summer! I apologize in advance for the lack of detail but in lieu of a novel, I figured it’d be best to just give you the Coles Notes…
As it seems to be the case with most summers of training, the time flew by. I regret not writing an update sooner but my website was being held hostage by my previous web hosting company (long story) and I have finally completed the arduous task of moving my website to a new host. I hope you enjoy the newly designed drewgoldsack.ca, check back often for updates throughout the winter!
As is the case with most years, I started off the spring pretty much living at the ski hill. Sunshine Village near Canmore is generous enough to comp NST members lift tickets, so come April I’m a full time hill rat. Springtime in the Rockies almost always brings big dumps of snow and I enjoyed some incredible steep and deep days this spring!
From the majestic snow covered peaks of the Rockies, I headed across the prairies to Eastern Manitoba and the rugged terrain of the Canadian Shield to try my hand at ranching. For a guy who grew up in the prairies, I am embarrassingly green when it comes to anything ranch.
However, it didn’t take long to tune into the cowboy blood that, as it turns out, has been coursing untapped through this Alberta boy’s veins…well at least that’s how I saw it anyway! I spent an incredible week horseback riding, crust skiing, sauna-ing, being entertained by newborn lambs, eating freshly laid eggs and relaxing next to a wood-fired stove.
Three lambs were born just before my arrival, which was good news as delivering lambs may have been just a little outside of my abilities. Plus, I got to experience all the fluffy cuteness and none of the gooey sponginess! After being repeatedly stared down and stomped at by the mama sheep, one thing’s for certain: “The older they get, the cuter they aint!” to steal a classic line from The Simpsons.
Though it was hard to leave the serenity of ranch life behind, the beach was calling, and I soon headed off to Miami for some sun and last bit of non-athlete fun before starting up with training for yet another season. Elated to find out that I had been named to the National Team for another year, I was also really looking forward to building on a great season of training with the Alberta World Cup Academy. This year’s training kicked off with the AWCA at an on snow camp in Silver Star in May, followed by a great road bike camp in Kaslo, BC in June.
From there, I made a quick trip up to the Haig Glacier (the best kind of trip to The Haig imho) with the National Team that was actually delayed for a week by TOO MUCH snow, so much snow in fact that they couldn’t find the buried Pisten Bulley on the glacier! The glacier camp was followed by a great month spent training at home in Canmore and a quick trip to the eastern beaches of Cape Breton Island for a friend’s wedding.
The late summer brought a training camp in Whistler with the Academy and then an incredible high altitude camp in Park City, UT with the National Team. From there, I headed back to Whistler with the NST for an intensity block which included four hard intensity sessions in six days and a week of torrential rain… luckily, spending the week shacked up at the Four Seasons Whistler offset the lousy weather!
With fall in the air and more leaves on the ground in Canmore than feral bunnies, I returned home for some much needed rest. It wasn’t long before Frozen Thunder (Snow stored under sawdust from the previous winter… I know, it sounds crazy but it actually works!) was rolled out at the Canmore Nordic Centre (October 15th) and before I knew it the ski season was under way! The last two weeks of October delivered outstanding ski conditions in Canmore and I was able to log a lot of hours on snow before taking off for Europe and the start of the World Cup season….
It’s shaping up to be a great year of racing, see you out there!
– Drew Goldsack
Overheard:
‘I’m going to log out of Facebook, Seriously.’ – Alex Harvey
In the Tape Deck:
Artist: Ben Howard, Album: Every Kingdom
Artist: Bon Iver, Track: Calgary (Cillo Remix)
Artist: Devil Makes Three, Track: Chained to the Couch
Artist: Active Child, Track: When Your Love is Safe
November 17, 2011 (Toronto, ON) – The final deadline to register your team for the annual SkiTraxFIS Fantasy World Cup 2011/12 Contest is on Friday, Nov. 18 at 10 pm EST – the day before the first FIS World Cup race in Sjusjoen, Norway.
We are excited to announce that over 300 teams have registered. The SkiTrax Fantasy Contests are the only ones of their kind worldwide, so don’t miss your chance to enjoy top level xc ski racing and win great prizes – good luck to all contestants.
SkiTrax Fantasy FIS World Cup 2011/12 Contest Prizes * 1st Prize – Fischer 11/12 Carbonlite Hole Skis, Xcelerator Bindings, Carbonlite Poles (value $1,100) * 2nd Prize – SkiGo Carbon 780 Roller Skis (value $580)
* 3rd Prize – Alpina ESK Ski Boots (value $449) * 4th Prize – Bjorn Daehlie Exclusive US XC Ski Suit (value $300) * 5th Prize – Sporthill XC Pants/Tights and Glacier Top (value $220) * 6th Prize – Fresh Air Experience or High Peaks Cyclery Gift Certificate (value $150) * 7th Prize – Rottefella Xcelerator Skate/Classic Bindings (value $130) * 8th Prize – Bliz Proflip Visor (value $129)
* 9th Prize – Concept2 Goodie Duffle Bag (value $100) * 10th Prize – Auclair Micro Mountain Olympic Gloves + Earbags (value $65) * WCup Breaks – Buff Headware (value $22) to top 3 contest leaders before the Tour de Ski
Thanks to all of our great sponsors, including Fischer, SkiGo, Alpina, Bjorn Daehlie Clothing, Sporthill, Fresh Air Experience, High Peaks Cyclery, Rottefella, Bliz, Concept 2, Auclair, and Buff.
SkiTrax is North America’s leading Nordic skiing publication and the official magazine of the United States Ski and Snowboard Association (USSA) and Cross Country Canada (CCC).
November 15, 2011 – With the new World Cup season about to get underway, Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) has decided to start out with new equipment. Last year’s winner of the overall World Cup has already been successful with Fischer skis for a number of years and will now be placing her trust in boots from the Nordic number one as well.
The most successful ski and boot brand in the World Cup for two years running – a convincing record for the perfectionist from Poland. Plus the fact that the 28-year-old is perfectly happy with the RCS Carbonlite Classic boot, as she demonstrated in impressive style in the FIS races last weekend in Muonio (FIN). And, thanks to the WC Carbon Cuff, the RCS Carbonlite Skating is also ideal for her energetic skiing style.
The winner of the Tour de Ski 10l11 likewise took a new approach in her preparations. After five years of training alone she has taken Maciej Kreczmer (POL) on board as a team training partner at times. “It’s hard to always train alone and I want to improve,” says Justyna Kowalczyk. “I hope the training with Maciej will help me achieve this.” Preparations went smoothly with trips to New Zealand, Otepää (EST), Sierra Nevada (ESP) and Ramsau (AUT).
Armed with new equipment and excellent preparations, Justyna Kowalczyk is now looking forward to the new season with a personal highlight: the first World Cup race in her home nation which will be held in Szklarska Poreba in February.
October 31, 2011 – After the kind of season that Canada’s Alex Harvey had in 2010-11, climaxing with a gold medal in the Team Sprint event with Devon Kershaw at the Nordic World Championships in Oslo, Norway – a Canadian first – he couldn’t be blamed for resting on his laurels and relaxing for a little while.
But after SkiTrax caught up with him by phone outside Quebec City following the recent team press conference, it’s clear that Harvey has no intention of doing so. When his World Cup rivals take to the start line at the first FIS World Cup race of the 2011-12 season in Beitostolen (NOR) just under three weeks from now, they will find Harvey, a world champion, more motivated than ever to come out on top.
The son of the legendary Pierre Harvey wracked up an impressive list of achievements last season, establishing himself as a podium threat just about every time he strapped on his skis. After a couple of shaky World Cup starts in Kuusamo and Gallivare before Christmas, Harvey began showing his true form starting with last year’s Tour De Ski – he recorded four top-10 finishes and placed 10th overall in the grueling 10-day event.
Together with his teammate Kershaw – who won his first WCup gold in Toblach, Italy (Stage 5) and placed 7th overall – Harvey was in the mix or near the front in just about every stage of this daunting event modeled after the Tour de France.
A few weeks later Harvey put in a stellar effort at the U23 Nordic World Championships in Otepaa (EST) where, with the exception of Russia’s Evgeniy Belov, no one could match his gold-medal winning pace in the Men’s 30km Pursuit. Then in February he notched his best World Cup result to date, a close 2nd place finish to Sweden’s Emil Joenssen in a sprint event in Drammen (NOR).
But it was at Oslo 2011, in Norway’s famed Holmenkollen stadium, that Harvey revealed the form, ambition and confidence that made him a persistent threat in every race. After posting a solid 7th place in the Sprint event, Harvey sent a message in the 30km Pursuit race when he gapped the field and skied solo at the front until the closing few kilometres, where he was stricken with leg cramps and had to settle for a respectable 12th.
More was coming for fans worldwide and by far his best and most gratifying race, came in the Team Sprint. Skiing the anchor leg for Canada, with Kershaw as his teammate, Harvey out-sprinted Norway’s Ola Vigen Hattestad for the gold medal, stunning the boisterous and partisan throng of Norwegian fans. Proving his strength as an all-around contender, Harvey went on to finish 5th in the 50km race as well, on what is widely viewed as the toughest race course on the planet.
While Harvey can look back with pride on many of his feats from last season, his Nordic World Championship victory stands apart as the season highlight. To win Canada’s first ever World Championship gold medal in cross-country skiing, and to do it in the birthplace of skiing in front of the huge and enthusiastic crowds at the Holmenkollen was a dream come true.
Sharing the victory with his teammate, Devon Kershaw, while representing Canada, made the victory that much sweeter. “Winning with a partner, winning for our country, for Team Canada, was just amazing,” Harvey told SkiTrax. The victory in this particular event, against a world class field, also helped erase some of the painful memories left over from the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, where Harvey and Kershaw placed 4th in the Team Sprint event.
The Oslo victory was “redemption for sure,” added Harvey, “Since the last day of the 2010 season, we had been thinking about and looking forward to the Oslo World Championships – we really were going for a medal that day. After Vancouver we wanted that medal pretty bad!” Small wonder the two erupted into their now famous air guitar victory celebration at the finish line in Oslo!
Our conversation then turned to training this past summer and Harvey’s preparations for the 2011-12 season. He explained that his dryland training has gone according to plan, with no interruptions due to illness or injury. He has increased his training volume slightly to about 800 hours, up from 755 last year, in keeping with his age and training base.
While his coaches, Louis Bouchard and Justin Wadsworth, have made no major changes to his overall plan, Harvey says his program, along with that of his teammates, placed more emphasis on uphill skating and striding than in previous years, reflecting the importance of climbing ability in events like the Tour de Ski.
“Pretty much all of our camps this year were for doing uphill training,” he continued. With this year’s Tour de Ski serving as the de facto World Championships, Harvey wants to make sure he doesn’t lose ground on the final climb up Alpe Cermis like he did last year, where he fell from 7th to 10th overall in the final few kilometres.
Asked about his goals for the coming season, Harvey has his sights set on placing higher in the overall World Cup standings than last year’s 10th place overall. Doing so will depend on his ability to race with more consistency than he has in past seasons. “My goal is to score points in every race, and hopefully a lot of them,” he said.
Harvey also identified the Tour de Ski as key to overall World Cup success, given the number of World Cup points available during the event. “To be good in the overall you need to be good in the Tour … there are a lot of races, 9 stages, with 50 points available every day and then 400 points for the overall, so it’s a big event for points”. With that in mind Harvey declared, “I’ll try to be at my peak for the Tour de Ski”. Harvey has other unfinished business on the World Cup circuit. “I’ve never won individually either a World Cup or a World Championships, so I want to win individually as well.”
We concluded our conversation with a discussion about success, motivation, and pressure. I was curious as to whether the World Championship win had affected Harvey’s motivation in any way, and if it had lessened or increased any pressure to perform that he felt. His response reveals an athlete whose motivation is primarily internal and intrinsic, who competes for his own reasons, as opposed to those motivated by the opinions and expectations of others.
“I’ve never really felt pressure coming from anyone except myself. I put a lot of pressure on my self every day, every workout, every session… I really want to achieve specific things every day and improve, so there’s a lot of pressure coming from myself. Pressure from the outside, I ignore all of that. I don’t really care what people say on the outside, I know what I want to do, what I will do.”
And if his World Cup rivals were counting on last year’s World Championship gold to dampen Harvey’s motivation to compete, they will be disappointed. “I’ve tasted [victory] once and I want to taste it more and more.”
Look for Canada’s Harvey to attack off the front more often this season – then it will up to the field to see if they can catch him.
October 27, 2011 – Simi Hamilton and Noah Hoffman leave November 6th for Europe to compete against the best skiers in the world. Please come show your support and celebrate the start of the winter season… free beer, pizza and prognostication. Meet the local US Ski Team athletes and learn how they plan to go head to head with the fastest nordic skiers on the planet!!
Shockingly… these US Ski Team members are heading into the race season unfunded. Even though they have earned their stripes and have skied their way onto the 2010 Olympic team and 2011 World Championship team, very recent budget cuts have left these local skiers scrambling to fund airfare, travel and lodging for the entire World Cup season. They need our help! Beitostolen Norway, Kuusamo Finland, Duesseldorf Germany and beyond, follow these athletes and be a part of The A Team Project. Every dollar helps and your 501c(3) donation goes directly to Noah and Simi. Donate HERE.
So spread the word, bring a friend and come meet our local champions. Help toast and launch them toward a podium season with our community support- October 28th 5-7pm at the Limelight Lodge!
October 26, 2011 – Elite Italian cross-country ski racer Magda Genuin, 32, recently announced on her personal website her intention to retire from World Cup racing. In the post, Genuin wrote that she returned early from a training camp in Val Senales after making her decision after a successful 11-year career, which included four World Cup individual podiums and a fifth-place finish at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
“It is not a bolt from the blue, already last spring as I anticipated that I would need to find a period of stimulation and see if I still had the ability to return after the disappointment of how things had gone to the World Championships in Oslo,” Genuin wrote about her decision (translated from Italian via Google Translate).
“I leave the World Cup, but I do not leave cross-country skiing, because it’s what I’ve done all my life and I still like to ski, but now I will only do for me!” she added.
Read the full article on the FIS website HERE.
Read Genuin’s announcement HERE (Italian).
![Making a late-night orthopedic clinic visit in Obertsdorf. [P] courtesy of Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-late-night-orthopedic-clinic-visit-in-Obertsdorf.jpg)
![Holly Brooks’ first time tunnel skiing in Torsby. [P] courtesy of Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-tunnel-skiing-in-Torsby.jpg)
![Holly Brooks helped Team USA achieve its best 4x5k relay result ever! [P] courtesy of Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-helped-Team-USA-achieve-its-best-4x5k-relay-result.jpg)
![Tad Elliott and Holly Brooks won the 2012 American Birkebeiner. [P] courtesy of Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-won-the-American-Birkebeiner.jpg)
![Team USA celebrates another successful season. [P] courtesy of Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-Team-USA.jpg)
![Post-season girls’ college reunion in Hawaii. [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-college-reunion-in-Hawaii.jpg)
![Holly Brooks and her friend Jayne in Hawaii. [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-and-her-friend-Jayne.jpg)
![Holly Brooks at 9,000 feet – Mauna Kea lookout. [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-at-9000-feat-Mauna-Kea-lookout.jpg)
![Water taxi to Chrissy’s bachelorette. [P] courtesy of Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-at-Chrissys-bachelorette.jpg)
![Holly Brooks didn’t go paddle boarding in Hawaii, but she did in Alaska! [P] courtesy of Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-paddle-boarding-in-AK.jpg)
![Holly Brooks and friends showing this is an “Only In Alaska” moment. [P] courtesy of Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-showing-its-an-Only-In-Alaska-moment.jpg)
![Holly Brooks participated in the ARISE program. [P] courtesy of Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-participated-in-ARISE-program.jpg)
![Holly Brooks running with the kids at ARISE. [P] courtesy of Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-running-with-the-kids.jpg)
![Holly Brooks (centre) and friends (far left, Kikkan Randall) 3.5h crust ski – May 1st. [P] courtesy of Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Holly-Brooks-and-friends-crust-ski-May-1st.jpg)
![Brian McKeever – Vuokatti, Finland [P] Cross Country Canada](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Brian-March-27-4.2.jpg)
![Chris Klebl – Vuokatti, Finland [P] Cross Country Canada](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Chris-Klebl-March-27-4.2.jpg)
![Chris Klebl – Vuokatti, Finland [P] Cross Country Canada](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Chris-Klebl-March-27-3.2.jpg)
![Brian McKeever – Vuokatti, Finland [P] Cross Country Canada](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Brian-March-27-2.2.jpg)
![Chris Klebl – Vuokatti, Finland [P] Cross Country Canada](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Chris-Klebl-March-27-2.2.jpg)
![Brian McKeever – Vuokatti, Finland [P] Cross Country Canada](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/feature_Brian-March-27-3.2.jpg)
![Chris Klebl – Vuokatti, Finland [P] Cross Country Canada](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Chris-Klebl-March-27-1.2.jpg)
![Brian McKeever – Vuokatti, Finland [P] Cross Country Canada](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Brian-March-27-1.2.jpg)
![Petet Graves [P] MSA](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/GravesDSC02081.3-22.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall (USA) celebrates bronze in Davos. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Randall-Davos-12112011cm253.2.jpg)
![Men’s sprint championion Teodor Peterson (SWE) with Women’s champion Kikkan Randall (USA) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Randall-Peterson150312ah071.2.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall with Sadie Bjornsen (USA) finished second in the team sprint in Duesseldorf [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Randall-Bjornsen-041211ah205.2.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall and friends… [P]](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Randall-Group-IMG-20120316-00348.21.jpg)
![Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall celebrate team sprint silver in Milan. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Diggins-Randall-Milan-150112ah008.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall (USA) during the Tour de Ski individual sprint in Oberstdorf. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Randall-TdS-311211ah005.2.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall finished third in the individual sprint in Davos. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Randall12112011cm257.2.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall (USA) and Chandra Crawford (CAN) embrace after the FIS World Cup Sprint in Rogla. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Randall-Crawford-181211ah024.2.jpg)
![USST in Nove Mesto [P] courtesy of Kikkan Randall](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Team-Pic-Milan.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall shows off her FIS Sprint World Cup crystal globe. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Randall150312ah032.2.jpg)
![Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall in Milan [P] Matt Whitcomb](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Diggins-Randall-Milan-20120115-00170-2.2.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall (USA) celebrates in Dusseldorf. [P]](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Randall-Dusseldorf.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall and her USST friends chillin’ in Moscow. [P] courtesy of Sadie Bjornsen](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Moscow-cold.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall (USA) with her FIS World Cup Sprint crystal globe. [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Randall150312ah019.21.jpg)
![(l-r) Morilov, Gloeersen, Kershaw, Wenzl, Harvey and Peterson [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Group020212ah022.2.jpg)
![(l-r) Gloeersen 2nd, Peterson 1st and Kershaw 3rd [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Podium020212ah008.2.jpg)
![Alex Harvey (CAN) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Harvey020212ah028.2.jpg)
![Devon Kershaw (CAN) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Kershaw020212ah025.2.jpg)
![Len Valjas (CAN) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Valjas020212ah019.2.jpg)
![Andy Newell (USA) behind Martin Jaeger (SUI) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Group020212ah027.2.jpg)
![Devon Kershaw (CAN) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Kershaw020212ah035.2.jpg)
![Jessie Diggins (USA) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Diggins-Moscow-NordicFocus.jpg)
![Kikkan Randall (USA) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Randall-Moscow-NordicFocus.jpg)
![(l-r) Korosteleva 2nd, Kowalczyk 1st and Dotsenko 3rd [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Podium020212ah010.2.jpg)
![Natalia Korosteleva (RUS) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Korosteleva020212ah003.2.jpg)
![Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Kowalczyk020212ah005.2.jpg)
![(l-r) Kowalczyk (POL) Sargent (USA) and Gaiazova (CAN) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Group020212ah021.2.jpg)
![Ida Sargent (USA) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/SargentGroup020212ah023.2.jpg)
![Olga Vilukhina (RUS) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Vilukhina01132012cm103.2.jpg)
![Olga Zaitseva (RUS) [P] Heinz Ruckemann file photo](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Olga-Zaitseva-RUS.jpg)
![Magdalena Neuner (GER) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Neuner01132012cm101.2.jpg)
![Tora Berger (NOR) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Berger01132012cm111.2.jpg)
![Magdalena Neuner (GER) [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Neuner01132012cm075.2.jpg)
![(l-r) Tora Berger, Olga Zaitseva and Magdalena Neuner [P] Nordic Focus](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/Podium01132012cm052.2.jpg)
![Arriving at Sjusjoen, not sure what to expect [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Arriving-at-Sjusjoen-not-sure-what-to-expect.jpg)
![Icy roads in Lillehammer made running treacherous [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Icy-roads-in-Lillehammer-made-running-treacherous.jpg)
![Marit Bjoergen and the Norwegian paparazzi [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Marit-Bjoergen-and-the-Norwegian-paparazzi.jpg)
![Canada’s team van [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Canadas-team-van.jpg)
![Tad Elliot, my Salomon Complete buddy [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Tad-Elliot-my-Salomon-Complete-buddy.jpg)
![Celebrating Graham Nishikawa’s birthday [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Celebrating-Graham-Nishikawas-birthday.jpg)
![Sadie and Ida with crustaceans [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Sadie-and-Ida-with-crustaceans.jpg)
![The ornate hotel buffet [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/The-ornate-hotel-buffet.jpg)
![Pre-race face-painting [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Pre-race-face-painting.jpg)
![APU girls, Holly, Kikkan and Sadie [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/APU-girls-Holly-Kikkan-and-Sadie.jpg)
![Start of men’s relay race [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Start-of-mens-relay-race.jpg)
![Bird, followed by the Russians [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Bird-followed-by-the-Russians.jpg)
![Tad Elliot (middle) skiing a great 3rd leg for the USA [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Tad-Elliot-middle-skiing-a-great-3rd-leg-for-the-USA.jpg)
![Men’s lead pack in the 3rd leg [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/Mens-lead-pack-in-the-3rd-leg.jpg)
![The whole men’s team [P] Holly Brooks](https://skitrax.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/The-whole-mens-team.jpg)
