“Demong, of Vermontville, N.Y. ended America’s golden goose egg in Nordic sports at the Winter Games by winning the 10-kilometer cross-country leg in 25 minutes, 32.9 seconds Thursday.”br/br/ – em
Category: XCFeeds
A collection of live feeds from cross-country ski blogs around the web.
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“Demong, of Vermontville, N.Y. ended America’s golden goose egg in Nordic sports at the Winter…”
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Gold. (photo Patrick Seeger, EPA)
img src=”http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kyf6ojQnjP1qzt3xbo1_r1_500.jpg”/br/br/pGold. (photo iPatrick Seeger, EPA/i)/p
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Gold. (photo Patrick Seeger, EPA)
img src=”http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kyf6ojQnjP1qzt3xbo1_r1_500.jpg”/br/br/pGold. (photo iPatrick Seeger, EPA/i)/p
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Double pole sections = not such a super tour.
img src=”http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_kyepdzJse01qzt3xbo1_500.jpg”/br/br/pDouble pole sections = not such a bsuper/b tour./p
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Wally rolls again. (via Husaby.)
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MY Olympics
a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9xNJ4bEswds/S4bRdq4JZgI/AAAAAAAAAng/4GgajGIzQv4/s1600-h/IMGP2931.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_9xNJ4bEswds/S4bRdq4JZgI/AAAAAAAAAng/4GgajGIzQv4/s320/IMGP2931.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442267507380020738″ border=”0″ //abr /What a whirlwind! It’s really hard to be believe that my Olympics are essentially over! All my racing is done, now all that’s left is for me to enjoy the last few days of being here and take in some of the things I haven’t had time for before now. Let me do a quick re-cap of the last two races.br /br /The Individual race was a bit crazy. I felt really confident going in since my shooting had been so good in previous races. In an Individual format race, you have to have good shooting or you won’t have a solid result. It’s tough for even the best skiers to ski off a minute penalty. I had the slight advantage, and slightly nerve-wracking privilege of having bib #1 that day. It was a bit of an advantage because the day was very warm and so the snow stayed cold and hard for most of my race, which was lucky. But, being #1 was still a bit scary-no one out in front to get things going, only me! It was neat to have so many people cheering for me as I got the race started. I also had the chance to ski for a short bit with eventual race winner and bib #2 Tora Berger from Norway. She has an amazing engine, and it was great to be able to see where I need to go from here, and what speed will win medals. I had only 1 penalty in my third (prone) stage, and was able to hold on to 34th place when all was said and done. I was extremely happy with my performance, and though I felt I could do better skiing, I cannot complain about a top 35 result at my first Olympics. Making the day even better, my teammate and roommate Lanny Barnes had a great race, shooting clean and ending up 23rd! It was a solid day for the American women.br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9xNJ4bEswds/S4bQ6Ugw4RI/AAAAAAAAAnI/hiucbcPC4G8/s1600-h/LukeFlag2.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 213px; height: 320px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9xNJ4bEswds/S4bQ6Ugw4RI/AAAAAAAAAnI/hiucbcPC4G8/s320/LukeFlag2.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442266900080943378″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”My brother, aka best cheering section ever, showing his pride. br //span/divbr /Then it was just the relay left. I was slated to lead off in the “scramble” position, which I was pertty excited about. I like the excitment of the first leg and feel that I deal well with some of the crazy things that happen in the first lap of a mass start race. This race was no different-right away there was a scramble for position as those with faster skis (myself included) got a bit stuck in behind some of the slower skiers on the first little downhill. Then, on the big uphill about 0.5km in, a girl fell right in front of me and I had to quickly shift and double pole on one leg around her to avoid getting caught in the crash. I came in with the pack of women and used only one extra round to clean my prone. I left the range with a group and was able to stick with them into the second shooting. I cleaned standing without any extra rounds, and took off from the range, leaving several teams behind still shooting. I had a great last loop, catching a couple more girls, and coming in just behind the first chase group and only 30 seconds out of the lead in 11th place. I was very happy with my race, and my coaches were also pleased with how well I had done. Unfortunately, we were unable to hold our strong start and finished 17th, but it was a fun day for everyone anyway, and a great note for me to end on.br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9xNJ4bEswds/S4bQ6mca56I/AAAAAAAAAnQ/r597F9qRrWQ/s1600-h/Group200210cm055.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 213px;” src=”http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_9xNJ4bEswds/S4bQ6mca56I/AAAAAAAAAnQ/r597F9qRrWQ/s320/Group200210cm055.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442266904894564258″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”Women’s Team having some fun in the sun the day before the relay.br /br //span/divNow I’ve been enjoying walking around Whistler, sleeping in a bit and hanging out with my family and friends who were here to see me race. It’s nice to have a few days here before we head out. I really feel like I can take everything in now and really enjoy the Olympic fever. After closing ceremonies, I will head back to Lake Placid for a few days and then back to Europe for the last couple World Cup races. We’ll be off to Kontiolahti, Finland and Oslo-Holmenkollen, Norway and I’m really looking forward to racing there. I feel I’ve had great results here in Vancouver and am only improving, so hopefully I can have a strong end of the season. Although in some senses it feels like the season should end with the Olympics, I’m still feeling ready to go, and am glad we get a couple more chances to race!br /br /div style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9xNJ4bEswds/S4bQ5rmgQbI/AAAAAAAAAm4/kSpUQ39PccA/s1600-h/IMGP2885.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_9xNJ4bEswds/S4bQ5rmgQbI/AAAAAAAAAm4/kSpUQ39PccA/s320/IMGP2885.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442266889099166130″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”Getting ready for the press conference in the “green room.” Very big time, right?br /br //span/divdiv style=”text-align: center;”a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9xNJ4bEswds/S4bQ7JLRcII/AAAAAAAAAnY/ykvh-_NoAaI/s1600-h/IMGP2912.jpg”img style=”margin: 0px auto 10px; display: block; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_9xNJ4bEswds/S4bQ7JLRcII/AAAAAAAAAnY/ykvh-_NoAaI/s320/IMGP2912.jpg” alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5442266914217881730″ border=”0″ //aspan style=”font-size:85%;”A view from the top of the Whistler Olympic Village. When it’s not raining, it’s beautiful here!/spanbr //divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/5588342252406387658-9179396817011401489?l=sarastudebaker.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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Alaska Girls are here in force!
div class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”They drove throughout the night and showed up just in time to watch Petter Northug (the Norwegian Anchor with the ego the size of a beach ball) throw down in the men’s 4x10k this morning……nbsp;/divdiv class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”br //divdiv class=”separator” style=”clear: both; text-align: center;”
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Prime Time
Word on the street is that today’s 4 x 10km relay will be broadcast tonight on NBC in Prime Time. This doesn’t happen often for cross country, so be sure to tune in. Our relay team was made final at the last minute with our two distance skiers feeling a little under the weather this week. We had a solid group of sprinters on our team that had the potential to take gold if we were racing a 4 x 1.5km relay. As it was, we were a little further back, but had a lot of fun out racing.
The forerunners had their work cut out for them today and skied almost constantly around the course in small teams in front of the leaders, making sure the snow was out of the track for the racers coming through. They were a little extra motivated as the Canadians had a strong start in their classic legs. Andy Newell kicked off the race for our team. He said the pack took things out pretty slow and he was able to maintain contact with the lead pack for the majority of his leg.
Some of the biggest snowflakes I’ve ever seen started falling during the 2nd leg of the relay when Torin got the tag from Andy. Andy and Torin both skied on “Zero” skis (best at Zero degrees Celsius when the precipitation is between snow and rain) with a synthetic cork and rubber base in the kick zone, which offered the best kick and glide during the race. Torin made a valiant effort to catch up to the Kazakh and Russian teams, but eventually paid dearly for the effort and lost a bit of time on his final lap.
I got the tag from Torin who came in with an Estonian skier. The Estonian took off like a rocket from the start. I figured he’d either catch up to the group in front of us (not likely) or he’d blow up and I’d catch him (very likely). Sure enough, around 5km into my 10km leg I caught him. I sat in and drafted him for a little bit, but he was skiing pretty slow. I took the lead and made a hard pull to make up some ground on the guys in front of us. While I wasn’t able make up a lot of time, I did maintain the pace and tagged off to Simi right with the Estonian.
The snow stopped and the sun started to shine for the final leg of the relay
Simi skied a smart race. The gap was too large for him to make up time on the next pack, so he sat behind the Estonian and got in a good draft. Sim’s skis were blazing fast and he was able to stand up and rest behind on the descents. Finally, sprinter Simi put the hammer down going up the final climb and came into the stadium with a comfortable lead. It definitely wasn’t the final result we were hoping for, but we had a good battle out on the trail and had a lot of fun.
Simi and Andy, all smiles at the finish line. We’re definitely looking forward to seeing the next generation of skiers (or ourselves) battling with the leaders in the next 4 x 10. The US cross country program is definitely stronger than we’ve showed at these Games, but I’m confident we’re taking the right steps. We need the US junior programs to continue working hard and the elite and masters skiers to continue to provide support and coaching for the younger generations. I’m looking forward to watching the United States win the gold medal in this event and I think it’s going to come sooner than later.
Simi in the “Mixed Zone” fielding questions from the press after the race. I’m now finished with my racing at the Games. I’m looking forward to getting into Whistler and taking in some of the festivities, as well as watching more events during the final days of the Olympics. It’s been a great experience.
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Can There Be Too Much of a Good Thing…
divbr //divdivWith 30+ inches and more on the way, we are keeping busy on campus! Shoveling, snowball fights, igloos on the soccer field, and hot chocolate in the dining hall. Too much snow for skiing and grooming so we set out to pack the trail with snowshoes. Hard work ahead…/divdivbr //diva onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/S4W5ZkYlJuI/AAAAAAAAAjM/heYU79IvUj0/s1600-h/P2240010.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/S4W5ZkYlJuI/AAAAAAAAAjM/heYU79IvUj0/s320/P2240010.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441959573661755106″ //abr /div style=”text-align: center;”Snow Days = Fun Around SMS/divbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/S4W5JxRIXYI/AAAAAAAAAjE/attvSjTVeAQ/s1600-h/P2240011.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 240px;” src=”http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/S4W5JxRIXYI/AAAAAAAAAjE/attvSjTVeAQ/s320/P2240011.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441959302242262402″ //abr /div style=”text-align: center;”Syd couldn’t even drive the stuck snowmobile out of the field/divbr /a onblur=”try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}” href=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/S4W40qLunOI/AAAAAAAAAi8/Peahk4GfB3A/s1600-h/P2240020.JPG”img style=”display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 240px; height: 320px;” src=”http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_xxDw1qNK1JA/S4W40qLunOI/AAAAAAAAAi8/Peahk4GfB3A/s320/P2240020.JPG” border=”0″ alt=”” id=”BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5441958939563302114″ //abr /div style=”text-align: center;”Walls of snow surround the SMS Campus/divdivbr //divdivbr /br //divdiv class=”blogger-post-footer”img width=’1′ height=’1′ src=’https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/4680416899705879324-342381074602237261?l=smsxc.blogspot.com’ alt=” //div
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Aussie Wax Prep. Koala makes a great final prep. (Via DBHvonS)
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Olympic TV heaven, almost
A few days ago I was planning to post about how great it was to be following the Olympics from Sweden. We are 7 hours ahead of Vancouver, so everything xc ski race is live in the evening, from around 5 P.M. to 11 P.M. No commercials and complete start-to-finish video feed. Multiple channels, so if an important Swedish curling match is on one channel, the other is free to broadcast more nordic skiing. Could it get any better than this?
Watching skiing at the bar, Hotel Scanic Lugnet, Falun, Sweden.
And then I tried to find the Nordic Combined team relay. Sweden did not field a team. There was no coverage to be found. I have read about the US/Austria battle in the final lap, but have yet to see it.That aside, it is such a pleasure to watch the nordic races on TV here. After dinner, a large group of masters skiers in Falun for the Masters World Cup gather around the large screen TV in the bar to watch the Olympic racers do their thing. Per Elofsson, a former World Cup sensation from Sweden, provides expert commentary. Before the race, there is a significant amount of time spent discussing what we will see, and who the favorites are. After the race, there is video replay and analysis of crucial moves, missed opportunities and comparison of fast skis, etc. Pretty much like watching a NFL football weekend. But with skiing. And no lite beer commercials. Or any commercials.
Per Elofsson, far left, offers nightly commentary.At the grocery checkout line Sunday, all the newspapers had front page photos of Swedish nordic ski racers. Think we will ever be able to say that in the US?
Front page coverage in Swedish newspapers of Anna Haag’s Silver in the team relay.At dinner a few nights ago, amidst general praise for the Olympic TV coverage here, one person said that as far as they could tell from watching Swedish TV, there was no longer any ice skating at the Olympics. Just day after day of skiing. To Americans who had come to Sweden to race on skis, that sounded pretty good. -
Olympic TV heaven, almost
A few days ago I was planning to post about how great it was to be following the Olympics from Sweden. We are 7 hours ahead of Vancouver, so everything xc ski race is live in the evening, from around 5 P.M. to 11 P.M. No commercials and complete start-to-finish video feed. Multiple channels, so if an important Swedish curling match is on one channel, the other is free to broadcast more nordic skiing. Could it get any better than this?
Watching skiing at the bar, Hotel Scanic Lugnet, Falun, Sweden.
And then I tried to find the Nordic Combined team relay. Sweden did not field a team. There was no coverage to be found. I have read about the US/Austria battle in the final lap, but have yet to see it.That aside, it is such a pleasure to watch the nordic races on TV here. After dinner, a large group of masters skiers in Falun for the Masters World Cup gather around the large screen TV in the bar to watch the Olympic racers do their thing. Per Elofsson, a former World Cup sensation from Sweden, provides expert commentary. Before the race, there is a significant amount of time spent discussing what we will see, and who the favorites are. After the race, there is video replay and analysis of crucial moves, missed opportunities and comparison of fast skis, etc. Pretty much like watching a NFL football weekend. But with skiing. And no lite beer commercials. Or any commercials.
Per Elofsson, far left, offers nightly commentary.At the grocery checkout line Sunday, all the newspapers had front page photos of Swedish nordic ski racers. Think we will ever be able to say that in the US?
Front page coverage in Swedish newspapers of Anna Haag’s Silver in the team relay.At dinner a few nights ago, amidst general praise for the Olympic TV coverage here, one person said that as far as they could tell from watching Swedish TV, there was no longer any ice skating at the Olympics. Just day after day of skiing. To Americans who had come to Sweden to race on skis, that sounded pretty good.
![](http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_YdBR2KPksBA/S4U2Rw_FRXI/AAAAAAAAAB8/aJViasESvBI/s1600-h/bar.jpg")
![](http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_YdBR2KPksBA/S4U2SFNORmI/AAAAAAAAACE/4-fYqYrVxP4/s1600-h/per.jpg")
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