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From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.

Tag: 2015 FasterSkier Awards

FasterSkier’s Cross Country Skiers of the Year: Liz Stephen and Alex Harvey

Liz Stephen of the U.S. Ski Team is FasterSkier’s female cross country skier of the year. (Photo: Marcel Hilger)

With the 2014/2015 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil the last (but not least!) of its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S. and Canada, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review.

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Liz Stephen, U.S. Ski Team, Burke Mountain Academy

Liz Stephen is a lot of things. She’s a world class athlete, the “glue” of the U.S. Ski Team, one of the friendliest people you’ll ever meet, and FasterSkier’s female cross country skier of 2015.

Stephen entered the 2014/2015 season with the goal making it to the next level of competition. Disappointed with an Olympics that fell short of the her expectations, the 27 year old hit the pavement hard in the summer — winning the acclaimed Blink Festival rollerski hill climb in Norway in addition to Climb to the Castle in Lake Placid, N.Y.

Once on snow, Stephen took some time to ramp up, but when she reached her peak there was no stopping her. Her best result from the first period of the World Cup season came in the 10-kilometer freestyle in Davos, Switzerland, where she finished 12th. But the Vermont native was just warming up, and in the first stage of the Tour de Ski, she finished an impressive eighth. Throughout the following races of the Tour, Stephen fought to stay near the top of the rankings. After the penultimate race, she sat in sixth position and ready to tackle her best event: the 9 k climb up Alpe Cermis.

Stephen aggressively attacked the climb, passing Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk and catching Norway’s Ragnhild Haga. While it appeared that Stephen had the edge on Haga in the middle of the race, the Norwegian powered in the final meters to best Stephen by roughly 10 seconds.

Although she was meters away from fourth, Stephen’s fifth-place finish marked the best placement by an American in the Tour de Ski and was lauded by the domestic and international ski community.

More success was on the horizon for Stephen. In Rybinsk, Russia she rocketed to a second-place finish in the 10 k freestyle — the best distance result on the World Cup by an American female.

After her podium in Russia, Stephen explained that her results were not just a product of her individual abilities, but also the support of her team. Pointing to her fellow American skiers and coaches, Stephen said that everyone, especially women’s team coach Matt Whitcomb, who taught Stephen how to ski at Burke Mountain Academy, played a role in both performances.

“It means a lot to be with this team, having this result, and knowing that you’re never ever out there by yourself. Good days, bad days, great days, this team forms around you,” she said.

Riding the momentum into the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Sweden, Stephen finished 11th in both the skiathlon and the 30 k mass start. In her signature event — the 10 k freestyle — Stephen battled heavy snow and a slow track to place 10th.

Before the 10 k, Stephen was seen as a U.S. favorite for a distance medal. At the end of the day, however, it was Jessie Diggins and Caitlin Gregg who claimed two spots on the podium for the U.S. Despite missing her goal by 20 seconds, Stephen was upbeat, humble and ready to celebrate the successes of her team.

“Certainly it’s not the podium I put down on my goal sheet and that was in my brain when I started the race but I’m really happy with the effort. My day was in Russia this year and it will come again. I’m just so happy for the U.S. Ski Team,” she said with a smile.

“I’ve always skied for the effort and the team and the love I have for the sport, and today was a perfect representation of all of those,” Stephen added. “The podium is just a gold star you get at the end. The people and the sport are why I do it.”

Medal or not, the way Stephen raced that day particularly impressed her coach.

“I’ve never seen Liz ski so perfectly as she did today. It’s the best I’ve ever seen out of her,” Whitcomb said.

To finish the World Cup season, Stephen placed an impressive ninth in the Holmenkollen 30 k. She will return this 2015/2016 season, once again on the USST A-team.

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Canada’s Alex Harvey (5) is FasterSkier’s male cross country skier of the year. (Photo: flyingpointroad.com)

Alex Harvey, Canadian World Cup Team

If you’re not rooting for Alex Harvey, maybe it’s time to start.

The 26 year old has already earned male cross country performance of the year for his collective results at the 2015 World Championships. There in Falun, he captured silver and bronze in the classic sprint and skiathlon, respectively, skied the fastest first leg of the men’s relay, and finished fifth in the 50 k classic mass start.

“I had two medals in my career in World Championships, and now I have two in three days,” he added after achieving his fourth medal. “It’s crazy.”

The podiums had more significance than personal achievement, as much of Canadian funding is tied to high performance results. Canadian head coach Wadsworth noted the impact the medals had on the program after Canada took home one medal between the last two previous championships (2013 World Championships and the 2014 Olympics).

“To have two medals [in Falun], it’s more [about] showing that we do have one of the best programs for waxing and we’ve invested a lot in it,” he said. “We’ve also done things that are a little bit different than other teams or the U.S. by having a little bit smaller team. We’re here to get medals and this is what’s going to help our program in the long run, where we can put it back into development and other things. We have to go for it at these big events like this.”

As if that wasn’t enough, Harvey finished ninth overall in the World Cup standings after several standout performances, including taking silver in both the second stage of the Tour de Ski and the World Cup sprint in Østersund, Sweden. While it wasn’t the third-place ranking he achieved in 2014, ninth marked Harvey’s third-best season ranking in his career.

When you factor in the physical challenges Harvey faced over the course of the winter, his results become even more impressive. Although he appeared to be on top of his game in the 2014/2015 season, he was struggling with debilitating pain in his legs.

Due to friction on his iliac arteries, Harvey had difficulty skiing to his full capacity in both training and racing. In training, the problem was was made worse when he ran. “In training and running, when my heart rate goes above 150/155 I can’t go any further and they completely shut down,” Harvey said, referring to his legs.

While classic skiing was easier due to the increased use of upper body, the injury was especially painful when skating on steep, long hills. Due to the injury, Harvey has not competed in the Tour de Ski’s final climb since 2013.

“In skating, already you’re using your legs a little more on the flats than in classic, and then on the climbs you can’t use your upper body as much,” Harvey explained. “When it was an effort that was longer than three to four minutes on a steady climb, in skating that’s when the problem started to appear.”

Immediately after the end of the 2015 World Cup season Harvey returned to his home in Quebec to undergo surgery on both his iliac arteries. The procedures, which took place March 20 and April 1, give Harvey the chance to ski without the painful symptoms for the rest of his career.

Harvey returned to training May 1 and will look to be at the top of the international circuit for yet another season.

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Other 2015 FS Awards: Junior | Collegiate | Nordic Combined | Biathlon | Para Nordic | Breakthrough | Coach | Continental | International Performance | Cross Country Performance | Biathlon Performance | Nordic Combined Performance | International Skier

May 22, 2015
FasterSkier’s International Skiers of 2015: Marit Bjørgen and Petter Northug
Norwegians Marit Bjørgen and Petter Northug are FasterSkier’s international skiers of 2015. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)

With the 2014/2015 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S. and Canada, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review.

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Marit Bjørgen, Norway

Marit Bjørgen is the undeniably the queen of skiing. Just take a look at her stats from her long career:
- Since 2003 Bjørgen has earned 153 World Cup podiums, 93 of which were victories.
- In her 36 World Championships appearances she earned 22 podiums, including 14 wins
- She garnered 10 olympic medals over the course of four games, six of which are gold
Impressed? We are too, but for someone of Bjørgen’s stature it takes a little more than that to win international skier of the year. Yes, she took the overall World Cup title in the 2014/2015 season and added three more World Championships medals to her name, but perhaps her biggest accomplishment of the year came in January.

Before this past season Bjørgen had never won the Tour de Ski, and on Jan. 11 she did just that. Entering the final climb with a large lead, the Norwegian clocked the third-fastest time to cross the finish line at Alpe Cermis ahead of teammates Therese Johaug and Heidi Weng by over a minute-and-a-half. The win marked the final barrier in Bjørgen’s search for complete dominance.

“It is a big victory for me. To win the FIS Tour de Ski has been a goal for me for a long time. It took me nine years to achieve it,” Bjørgen said to FIS after her win.

The 34-year-old will return to the Tour de Ski and the World Cup circuit in the upcoming season. Maybe this year her goal should be to win every race she enters.

Petter Northug, Norway

Whether you hate to love him or love to hate him, it’s hard to deny that nordic skiing’s bad-boy is at the top of his skiing game. In a year surrounded by controversy (much of which was created by the skier himself) Northug walked away from the 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden with four gold medals.

Roughly a year ago, Northug crashed in a drunken driving incident. As a result he was sentenced to 50 days in prison and 180,000 kroner in fines, in addition to losing driving privileges. At one point it was unclear whether Northug would compete in the entirety of the season, but after the sentencing he was given the possibility of serving his jail time later in the year. While it’s impossible to say whether he learned from the incident, Northug entered the season more subdued than his normal self. Even during his biggest wins, the often overly boastful Norwegian refrained from showy acts such as his 2011 finishing snowplow. At times he would even stay behind in the finish area to congratulate fellow competitors finishing minutes behind him.

At Worlds, Northug brought his best skiing to the trails of the Lugnet Stadium. In each of his four wins the 29-year-old demonstrated passionate and tactful skiing. All those in attendance could tell that he wasn’t just trying to win a medal, he was attempting to be the best skier in the world.

Whether or not he’s the best skier in the world remains to be seen, but his four World Championships golds and this third place standing in the overall World Cup rankings was enough to earn him FasterSkier’s international skier of the year award, in addition to the title of performance of the year for his come-from-behind 50 k win.

While the controversy continues to swirl around the Norwegian as he negotiates a spot on the National Team, he plans to continue racing in some form in the 2015/2016 season.

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Other 2015 FS Awards: Junior | Collegiate | Nordic Combined | Biathlon | Para Nordic | Breakthrough | Coach | Continental | International Performance | Cross Country Performance | Biathlon Performance | Nordic Combined Performance
May 21, 2015
FasterSkier’s International Performances of 2015: Petter Northug and Charlotte Kalla

Petter Northug and Charlotte Kalla delivered FasterSkier’s international performances of the year at the 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden.

With the 2014/2015 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S. and Canada, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review.

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Petter Northug, 2015 World Championships 50 k classic mass start

Like him or not, it’s hard to deny Petter Northug has a winning formula. In mass starts the Norwegian will often save his energy in the middle of lead pack, wait till the end of the race, and sprint past the world’s best skiers to victory. He did exactly that in the 2015 World Championships 50 k mass start, a performance that earned him the title of FasterSkier’s international men’s performance of the year.

The victory was Northug’s fourth at the 2015 World Championships and his 13th career World Championships. The gold medal is also his fourth in the 50 k, with additional wins at the 2009 and 2011 Championships and the 2010 Olympics. The number ties Swedish skier Sixten Jernberg who won two World Championship titles in 1958 and 1962 in addition to the 1956 and 1964 Olympic titles.

Petter Northug Pawers down the finish of the men’s 50 k at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Sweden. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)

According to Northug, there was no particular part of the World Championships 50 k that necessarily suited him. He explained in a press conference that his plan was to remain in the middle of the pack until the final 10 k, and then make his way towards the front. After his finish, Northug told NRK Sport that one of his favorite parts about racing is the actual finish, especially in a long 50 k.

“It is a great relief to go in the finish. The feeling of crossing the finish line first is indescribable. That is what we train for, and that is what we hope to replicate in Championships,” he said. “I have had the opportunity several times here in Falun. It is the feeling that is difficult to describe. It is so good that you do everything you can to get it back.”

Northug faced a turbulent year after crashing a car in May and subsequently being charged with intoxicated driving. The Norwegian rarely mentions his thoughts surrounding the incident, but said to NRK that the 50 k win was the high of two extremes in the past year. He explained that his complete focus on training in the 2015 season was essential to his four victories in Sweden.

“There are two extremes, from being completely down to win four gold in a World Championships” he said. “The road has been long, it has been a lot of training, many tough sessions. But the plan we put in May has been solid. It has been very quality of what we have done and that is why I have been in such good shape that I’ve been in this Championship.”

Charlotte Kalla, 2015 World Championships 10 k freestyle interval start

Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla racing to her first-career individual gold at 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden. Kalla won the 10 k freestyle by 41 seconds over silver medalist Jessie Diggins. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)

There was one name on everyone’s lips at the 2015 World Championships: Charlotte Kalla. The Swede was skiing in front of a fanatic home crowd and by the middle of the championships she had already won her first individual World Championships medal – a bronze in the skiathlon – in addition to silver in the team sprint.

However, throughout the Championships Kalla had her eyes set on one race. The 10 k freestyle individual start suited all her strengths and there was extra incentive from the thousands of cheering Swedes singing her name.

“I was a little bit nervous before the start and for the whole morning; I just longed to go to the competition area and put on my race bib,” Kalla said in a post-race press conference. “When the speaker presented me before the start, it was an amazing atmosphere in the stadium. I had to keep calm and focus on skiing all the way and not just go crazy because there was a big crowd cheering for me.”

The combination of the home course, cheering crowd, and focused training appeared to work for Kalla as she sped to victory. The Swede rounded the course in 25:08.8, 41 seconds faster than the next finisher, American Jessie Diggins.

What was truly impressive of Kalla’s win was her ability to overcome the day’s conditions. Lightly falling snow at the start turned into a full-fledged downpour of wet-and-heavy snowflakes throughout the race, making an already soft track in above-freezing temperatures even slower. And while some of the Norwegians, like Therese Johaug, later said they felt like they were skiing on glue, the snow didn’t seem to bother Kalla. Although, early starters had faster and more stable conditions, Kalla was not one of those skiers. She faced the worst of the weather, yet was able to dominate the day.

None of the famed Norwegians, including powerhouse Marit Bjørgen, came anywhere close. Heidi Weng – who was the highest finisher from the team – placed 22nd and 1:51.9 behind Kalla. The rest of the squad finished over two minutes back, demonstrating the impressive demonstration of power by the Swede in the challenging conditions.

“It’s a dream come true, to become world champion at home,” Kalla told Expressen after the win. “It probably has not really dawned on me yet. I need enough time for it to melt in.”

Honorable Mentions:

Therese Johaug, World Championships 30 k classic mass start

The World Championships 30 k classic mass start demonstrated that Johaug is called the energizer bunny for a good reason. From the beginning to the end of the longest women’s race at World Championships, Johaug’s high tempo created an ever-growing gap over her competitors so that when she crossed the finish line, the Norwegian was 52.3 seconds ahead of teammate Marit Bjørgen.

French men, World Championships 4 x 10 k relay

The French men did what no one expected at the 2015 World Championships: earn a repeat bronze in the men’s 4 x 10 k relay. They accomplished the feat at the 2014 Olympic games, but it was a day that the Norwegians and other nations missed the wax. That was not the case in Falun, where the French led for much of the race. It was a clear, decisive accomplishment for a team with just a fraction of the resources of the Swedes, Norwegians, or fourth-place Russians, and from a country where cross-country skiing is hardly a popular pastime.

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Other 2015 FS Awards: Junior | Collegiate | Nordic Combined | Biathlon | Para Nordic | Breakthrough | Coach | Continental

May 19, 2015
FasterSkier’s Coach of 2015: Louis Bouchard

Louis Bouchard (r), a Canadian World Cup Team coach and Alex Harvey’s personal coach, at work with the team’s wax staff. Bouchard is FasterSkier’s pick for 2015 Coach of the Year. (Photo: Cross Country Canada)

With the 2014/2015 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S. and Canada, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review.

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Louis Bouchard has been Alex Harvey’s go-to coach for the last decade and the man in charge of the Pierre-Harvey Training Centre — one of three national training academies in Canada — for 15 years.

Also Cross Country Canada’s co-World Cup coach, Bouchard is well known across the country and internationally. He’s won multiple awards, including the 2014 Gala Triomphe International Coach of the Year, one of 15 accolades recognizing top athletes, coaches, volunteers, and sporting events around Québec City.

Louis Bouchard, Gala Triomphe 2014 Coach of the Year (Photo: CCC/Simon Clark)

The soft-spoken French Canadian re-entered the spotlight this past February when Harvey, 26, lunged for a best-ever silver in the classic sprint at 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden. Not only had Harvey outdone his previous best of third in the classic sprint at 2013 World Championships, he also secured an important initial medal for Canada.

“Now we can expect so many things,” Bouchard said after the Falun sprint. “You need it for the program. You need it for the development. That is a benefit for everybody in Canada, so that is good.”

Development was key when it came to Harvey’s rise to two individual medals at 2015 World Championships in the classic sprint and the skiathlon (in which he took bronze two days later).

“He’s more stable, he has less injury, he can train more and recover more, so I think it’s normal to expect to see him get better and better at 26 years old,” Bouchard said.

Louis Bouchard (Photo: CCC)

And Bouchard is also responsible for developing a strong contingent of up-and-coming skiers in and around Québec City. Five of his athletes were nominated to the 2015/2016 national junior team (Anne-Marie Comeau, Marie Corriveau, Phillipe Boucher, Zachary Cristofanilli, and Olivier Hamel), and Cendrine Browne was one of five women named to Canada’s senior team (specifically, the C-U23 development team).

“I spend a lot of time thanking the people who occupy each of the development stages in my sport. Without them, I would not have this success,” Bouchard said after receiving his 2014 Gala Triomphe award, according to a translation. “I’m just finishing a job that was started long ago with Alex, as well as other athletes. All these people are important.

“We have developed a healthy human relationship exchange,” he added. “Alex is an academic, me, coach. He teaches me and I learn it.”

This season, Bouchard and national-team head coach Justin Wadsworth will trade off weekends heading the World Cup Team in Europe. The two have worked together with the team’s highest-level athletes for the last five years.

“Louis and I [have] a great relationship and great communication,” Wadsworth said shortly after CCC announced its integrated coaching structure in April. “I think that working relationship now is almost stronger than ever.”

***

May 14, 2015
FasterSkier’s Breakthrough Skiers of 2015: Rosie Brennan and Graeme Killick

Rosie Brennan and Graeme Killick are FasterSkier’s breakthrough skiers of 2015.

With the 2014/2015 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S. and Canada, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review.

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Rosie Brennan, USST B-team, Alaska Pacific University

Rosie Brennan isn’t new to the nordic scene. In fact, she’s been around for a long time and has a list of impressive results to her name. What makes her the 2015 Breakthrough Skier of the Year, you might ask? Her remarkable jump from the continental cup to international success.

“If there is a most improved skier award it goes to Rosie, potentially on the entire World Cup,” U.S. Ski Team Women’s Coach Matt Whitcomb said after her performances at the 2015 World Championships. “I don’t know if any nation has had an athlete show from their continental cup with no prior success and hit it out of the park the way that she has.

“She’s being rewarded for years of hard work. It’s been a tough year for her, and to see all the work pay off and incredible results from start to finish is really neat,” he added.

If Whitcomb hasn’t convinced you, her results from the past season will.

A successful junior skier who earned a top-10 finish at Junior Worlds in 2007, Brennan made large strides in her early career and was named to the U.S. Ski Team in her first two years at Dartmouth College. While her position on the USST lasted only two years, Brennan continued her journey in professional ski racing.

Since beginning her professional career, the APU skier has continually been at the top of the domestic circuit. The 2014/2015 season, however, proved to be a momentous year as Brennan won all but two races between the first period of SuperTour races and the 2015 U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich.

Rosie Brennan skiing in the 30 k mass start at the 2015 World Championships as she focuses on staying on the tails of Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland.

In her first World Cup appearance since 2013, Brennan teamed up with Ida Sargent to take sixth in the Otepää, Estonia team sprint. A week later, Brennan earned a career-best individual result with a 13th place finish in the Rybinsk, Russia World Cup 10 k freestyle. The weekend’s success continued with a 31st in the freestyle sprint and 20th in the 15 k skiathlon. Although the the 10 k marked her best individual World Cup result, both the sprint and skiathlon also surpassed her previous best finish of 35th in the 10 k at a 2012 World Cup in Canmore.

In the leadup to the biggest races of the season, Brennan skied to 33rd and 32nd in the classic sprint and 10 k freestyle in Östersund, Sweden. The best was yet to come, however, as Brennan entered her first-ever appearance in a World Championships.

Brennan raced in three competitions in Falun, Sweden and impressed every time she took to the famed trails. She earned 30th in the 15 k skiathlon and held onto a charging Justyna Kowalzcyk in the second leg of the women’s 4 x 10 k relay to aid the team in a record-tying fourth place finish. Kowalczyk and Brennan would meet again in the 30 k classic mass start, where Brennan out-sprinted the four-time overall World Cup champion to take 16th.

“If you had asked me at the beginning of the year, no way,” she said when asked whether she had expected perform at such a high level at World Championships. “After I came over here and started having a few good results, I was hoping that I could find some sort of peak here and have some good results. So I’m really happy with how it went. I wish I could have raced more races, but it was my first time, so I have to earn my way onto all the starts.”

In the upcoming season, Brennan’s hard work will pay off – she enters the season with a nomination to the USST B-team and will have the option to race in all period one World Cup competitions as the overall SuperTour leader.

Graeme Killick of Canada on his second loop in the World Championships men’s 4 x 10 k relay in Falun, Sweden.

Graeme Killick, Canadian National Development B-team

Like Brennan, Graeme Killick had a momentous 2015 World Championships. Prior to the two-week event the Canadian’s best result in the 2014/2015 season was 40th in the Rybinsk 30 k skiathlon, but in his first race in Falun, Killick surpassed the mark with a 32nd placement in the 15 k freestyle.

Killick also raced in Canada’s 4 x 10 k relay which finished 10th, but his focus was on the final race of the Championships – the 50 k classic mass start. The 26-year-old had demonstrated his potential in the 50 k at the 2014 Olympics event with a 28th-place finish and was ready to see what he could do.

“I was just hoping I would hang in there and not cramp on the last few laps,” Killick said to FasterSkier in Falun. “[When it comes to] 50 k’s, it seems like they’re really hit and miss for me. Domestically I’ve struggled to get top 15, but internationally, my best results have been in the 50 k. If I’m in shape, they can go really well, but I would say the focus for me [at World Championships] was the pursuit [skiathlon], which I didn’t end up doing because I got sick in Östersund… When that was out, the 50 became the main focus.”

Killick remained within the top 30 during the entirety of the 50 k, at times breaking into top 10. Eventually he placed 19th for his best-ever international result.

Reflecting on his breakthrough finish Killick said he was excited about his prospects.

“This year I was able to start on the World Cup for the first time in my career and spend a significant portion of the year over here,” he said. “Just seeing the level and seeing how these guys train and race I think has given me a lot of ideas for next year. I’m really excited to try to take the next step and become a contender here on the World Cup.”

In the coming season, Killick will return to Canada’s National Development B-team.

***

May 13, 2015
FasterSkier’s Para-Nordic Skiers of 2015: Andy Soule and Oksana Masters

Andy Soule (l) and Oksana Masters, both of U.S. Paralympics Nordic, are FasterSkier’s 2015 Para-Nordic Skiers of the Year.

Andy Soule

When you become the first American to rack up five medals in six individual events at World Championships, you’re essentially a shoo-in for Para-Nordic Skier of the Year. Andy Soule, a U.S. Army veteran and sit skier, did just that at the 2015 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships in January in Cable, Wis., taking silver in two biathlon events and the 10-kilometer cross-country race plus bronze in the cross-country 15 k and sprint.

Andy Soule and his hardware from 2015 IPC World Championships: five medals with three silvers and two bronze. (Photo: James Netz)

“After the second podium, I just started feeling like that wasn’t a fluke,” Soule said in February. “This isn’t just a one-time thing … I can come out and compete on a level with the top guys every day. It was a confidence builder as well when you have that feeling.”

In his eighth year on the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Team, Soule, 35, was named IPC’s January athlete of the month. After World Championships, he improved to third overall in the World Cup and finished the season first overall in the cross-country standings.

“It is a great feeling and a great finish to the season,” he said at World Cup Finals in Surnadal, Norway.

In all, Soule tallied four World Cup golds — all of which came in Asahikawa, Japan — and a bronze during the 2014/2015 season.

And all the success has led him to commit to another three seasons leading up to the 2018 Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. According to his teammate, Dan Cnossen, Soule considered retiring after 2013/2014.

“I’m right at that age and I’m right at the point in my career where I’m in the prime of real top-performance potential,” Soule said. “I feel really great about what I have going forward and that I’ll be able to build on it and still improve on it.”

Oksana Masters

It got even better for U.S. Paralympics as Oksana Masters, another sit skier, also rose to the top of the 2014/2015 World Cup cross-country podium in her second year on the team.

Oksana Masters (U.S. Paralympics Nordic) in a biathlon competition at 2015 IPC World Cup Finals in Surnadal, Norway. Masters won the 5 k cross-country sitting to clinch the overall World Cup cross-country title for 2014/2015. (Photo: IPC Nordic Skiing/Facebook)

A rowing convert, Masters, 25, earned two cross-country medals at 2015 World Championships — silver in the middle distance and bronze in the sprint — and won four out of five races in Japan this year. That put her on top of the IPC overall and she ended the season in first with a total of seven individual World Cup golds and two silvers.

“I respect my competition, of the years they put in to be where they are now,” Masters said in February. “I’m playing catchup and I’m just doing what I can and focusing on myself. It just so happens to be putting me much higher than I ever could imagine being.”

She explained that it took her 13 years to reach the Paralympic podium in rowing (she earned bronze in the double scull in 2012) and was humble about the strides she had made in skiing since starting the sport a year and a half ago.

A silver and bronze medalist at the 2014 Winter Paralympics, Masters committed to skiing full time last spring, partially to alleviate a past rowing injury in her back. A training crash leading up to 2015 U.S. nationals re-aggravated the injury, forcing her to sit out the week.

A week before World Championships, she got back on snow while fighting bronchitis and walking pneumonia.

“World Championships was just more of a mental battle than … just a battle for getting medals, with one setback after another,” Masters said. “I didn’t really have much expectations for myself … so [I was] just basically trying to survive at that point.”

The bronze medal she earned in Cable, her first of World Championships, brought her some serious relief.

“[It] also just brought my focus more towards, OK, I had setbacks, but I still can be within the competition and hang with the field, so just believe in the previous training that I’ve done and what I do know and just do it,” she said.

Masters made the nomination list for IPC athlete of the month in February.

Honorable mentions:

Brittany Hudak

Brittany Hudak (Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team) at 2015 IPC World Cup Finals in Surnadal, Norway. Hudak won the 2014/2015 World Cup Overall Cross-Country title. (Photo: IPC Nordic Skiing/Facebook)

The Canadian Para Nordic Ski Team had a banner season as well, with standing skier Brittany Hudak topping the overall World Cup cross-country podium in her first year on the development team.

“The learning curve has been so huge for me,” Hudak, 21, said in a team press release after winning two consecutive races in Asahikawa.

At the following World Cup Finals, she collected three medals: silver in the 15 k cross-country, silver in the 12.5 k biathlon and bronze in the 6 k biathlon.

“Having the opportunity to attend national training camps … I have noticed a huge improvement in my technique,” she added. “It has been such an advantage for me to be in the same environment with the high-performance athletes, seeing how the train and learning from them.”

Hudak wrapped up 2015 with two World Cup golds, two silvers and a bronze in cross-country, and a silver and a bronze in biathlon.

Chris Klebl

It’s a close call between several Canadian Para-Nordic teammates for the men’s pick for honorable mention, but Klebl tops the list as he placed third overall on the cross-country World Cup and is currently first in the IPC rankings. Standing biathlete Mark Arendz was was fourth overall in biathlon, and longtime team veteran Brian McKeever — a visually impaired distance specialist — won most of the races he jumped into for third overall in cross-country.

Canada’s Chris Klebl racing to gold in the cross-country 10 k sit-ski at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. (Photo: Matthew Murnaghan/Canadian Paralympic Committee)

In Asahikawa, both Klebl and Arendz notched back-to-back bronze medals before Klebl placed second in both the 10 and 15 k cross-country races. Klebl, a 2014 Paralympic gold medalist in the 10 k, went on to win the 15 k at World Cup Finals.

McKeever won the 20 k that same day in Surnadal (he won the same event at 2015 World Championships; it was the lone race he competed in there) and took first in the 10 k classic in Japan as well.

Arendz picked up two bronze medals at World Cup Finals in the biathlon sprint and following pursuit.

Klebl edged American Dan Cnossen by 40 points for third overall on the World Cup, making Cnossen — who won his first World Cup in Japan and achieved multiple podiums later in the season — worthy of mention as well.

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Other 2015 Skiers of the Year (SOTY): Junior | Collegiate | Nordic Combined | Biathlon

May 12, 2015