FasterSkier

Tag: 2015 FS Awards

  • FasterSkier’s Biathlon Performances of 2015: Nathan Smith and Rosanna Crawford

    FasterSkier’s Biathlon Performances of 2015: Nathan Smith and Rosanna Crawford

    Nathan Smith and Rosanna Crawford delivered the FasterSkier biathlon performances of the 2015.
    Nathan Smith and Rosanna Crawford delivered the FasterSkier biathlon performances of 2015.

    Nathan Smith, 1st place, Khanty-Mansiysk World Cup pursuit

    Canadian biathlete Nathan Smith saved his best performance for last, earning the first win of his career in the penultimate race of the World Cup season. After placing fifth in the sprint in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, Smith executed a flawless race in the 12.5-kilomter pursuit to pick up a 24-second victory. Not only was it the first win for him, but the first for both Canada and North America as a whole since December of 2012.

    Nathan Smith of Canada celebrates as he crosses the finish line all alone after the 12.5 k pursuit in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, for his first career World Cup victory. (Photo: Biathlon Canada/NordicFocus.com)
    Nathan Smith of Canada celebrates as he crosses the finish line all alone after the 12.5 k pursuit in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, for his first career World Cup victory. (Photo: Biathlon Canada/NordicFocus.com)

    Smith skied the fourth loop of the race alone in the lead, then came into the range and missed a shot. After his penalty loop, he found himself still in the lead.

    The performance was perhaps all the more impressive since Canada was operating with a skeleton crew for the Siberia season finale: just head coach Matthias Ahrens, head wax tech Tom Zidek, and three athletes were there. That meant that out on course, Smith was all alone.

    “I wasn’t totally relaxed,” Smith said after the race. “We only have one support guy here, Tom, and so I didn’t get that many splits. I just got one leaving the stadium when Tom said those guys were still in the loop. So I knew I had maybe 25 seconds. I kept going hard until the last climb and then I knew I was safe.”

    And once he reached the line?

    “I could enjoy the final finish stretch and have that moment,” he said.

    Rosanna Crawford, 4th place, Pokljuka World Cup sprint

    Canada’s Rosanna Crawford had her moment just before Christmas. Coming off of a fifth-place performance the previous week, she set a new best of fourth place in the 7.5 k sprint in Pokljuka, Slovenia. Coming down with a cold, Crawford hadn’t even been sure she would start – but she did, and doubled down on a course that suited her perfectly.

    Canada's Rosanna Crawford clocked the tenth-fastest course time on Dec. 18 to finish fourth in the 7.5 k sprint in Pokljuka, Slovenia. (Photo: Christian Manzoni/NordicFocus.com)
    Canada’s Rosanna Crawford clocked the tenth-fastest course time on Dec. 18 to finish fourth in the 7.5 k sprint in Pokljuka, Slovenia. (Photo: Christian Manzoni/NordicFocus.com)

    “This course also played really well to my strengths,” she told FasterSkier at the time. “There are 3 dipsy dodalies (as Matthias calls them!) right before the range/finish, I really made sure to push hard over the hills and to be fast on the downhills. Since it’s a downhill finish here you really need to start making your move on that 1st of 3 hills.”

    It was the closest a North American woman came to the podium all year and was fueled by a furious last lap by Crawford. That made up for one penalty on the range, and propelled her past a few clean-shooting opponents.

    “I think a big part of this season has been not having expectations going into my races,” Crawford said. “I think being a bit sick yesterday and not feeling great in my warm up definitely let me relax a bit, not as much pressure since I wasn’t feeling.”

  • FasterSkier’s Nordic Combined Performance of 2015: Taylor Fletcher

    FasterSkier’s Nordic Combined Performance of 2015: Taylor Fletcher

    Taylor Fletcher delivered the 2015 FasterSkier nordic combined performance of the year. (photo: Flyingpointroad)
    Taylor Fletcher delivered the 2015 FasterSkier nordic combined performance of the year. (photo: Flyingpointroad)

    Taylor Fletcher

    The youngest of the two Fletcher brothers is doubling up with his second FS Award of 2015, this time in the performance category for his showing in Sapporo, Japan.

    There in late January, Taylor, 24, rose from 28th on the large hill to third in the 10-kilometer Gundersen start with the fastest cross-country time for his second-career World Cup podium.

    He worked with older brother Bryan, who jumped to 27th and started two seconds ahead of him, as the two tried to pick off the places with a “controlled but quick pace,” according to Taylor.

    While Bryan was battling sinus/head cold symptoms in Japan and planned to settle into the lead group once they caught it, Taylor wasn’t ready to let up.

    “Taylor went right to the front, as soon as he did that the group shattered and guys were coming off the back,” Bryan recalled.

    Taylor continued to push the pace, dwindling the pack of 15 into two remaining groups of three and five. Ultimately, the race came down to an all-out sprint for the final 1 1/2 kilometers.

    “It was a matter of putting yourself in a position at the end,” Taylor wrote in an email. “I decided it was better to ‘Go Ugly, Early’ and not wait for the field sprint. So just into the first hill I made almost a cycling attack and tried to get away from the rest of the skiers.”

    Two men passed him in the stadium before the finish: German winner Eric Frenzel, who topped him by 3.5 seconds and Japan’s Akito Watabe, who was 1.7 seconds ahead of him in second. The bronze medal marked Taylor’s second individual podium since 2013 in Seefeld, Austria.

    “To get another podium feels incredible as I knew it was possible,” Taylor wrote. “My last podium was not a fluke. I have been struggling with my jumping for a year and half now but in the last couple weeks it has been getting better.”

    Honorable mention

    Bryan Fletcher

    While Bryan placed eighth that day in Sapporo and skied the second-fastest 10 k behind his brother, that wasn’t the single performance that earned him honorable mention.

    At 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden, the 28-year-old Bryan notched his season-best individual result (and career best in four World Championships) of fifth in the large-hill/10 k. He skied up from 13th to do so.

    “It was like, ‘Well since these are the Championships, and it’s not really worth being anything but on the podium, I’m just going to go for it as hard as possible and lay it all out there,’ ” he recalled.

    He started 44 seconds behind Austria’s Bernhard Gruber, who led the competition after the jump, and finished 23.4 seconds behind Gruber, who also won outright. Bryan was 8.5 seconds off the podium and 8.3 seconds out of fourth.

    “To be on the podium would have been a dream come true, but to be in the fight was more what I was really looking for,” Bryan said after his career-best World Championships individual result.

    “I really just want to ski a good race, a good race to the best of my ability and the best of my performance,” he added. “I was happy that I was able to do that today.”