You may have heard that the World Cup is returning not only to North America, but also to American soil, within the next few weeks. The world’s best skiers will be contesting sprint races in Québec City on March 14 and 15; a sprint in Minneapolis on March 17; and distance races plus a mixed relay in Canmore on March 20-22.
For all six races, including the five across the border, the U.S. has an expanded nation’s group start quota (thanks, Canada, for letting us count as Canadian for a week), meaning that a remarkable thirty skiers total will toe the line in that distinctive candy-cane uniform. Here is a brief overview of the fifteen women with start rights in the three sprints (some of the sprinters will not be racing in Canmore, where some distance-oriented athletes will have starts instead).
In alphabetical order, with pictures where available (an asterisk by a name denotes an athlete making her first World Cup start in Québec City):
Sadie Maubet Bjornsen
Team and club: U.S. Ski Team (USST) A Team; Alaska Pacific University, or APU
Currently lives in: Alaska
Selected career highlights: Bronze medal, team sprint, 2017 World Championships; 7 individual and 5 team World Cup podiums; only American woman to ever wear the yellow overall World Cup leader’s bib; multiple national titles
Instagram page: @sbjornsen
Age: 30
Sophie Caldwell
Team and club: USST A Team; Stratton Mountain School, or SMS
Currently lives in: Vermont
Selected career highlights: 3rd, Sprint Cup, 2017/2018 World Cup season; 9 individual and 4 team World Cup podiums
Instagram page: @sophiecaldwell
Age: 29
Hannah Cole*
Club: Crosscut Mountain Sports Center
Currently lives in: Montana
Selected career highlights: 9th, 2020 American Birkebeiner; 4th and 8th, SuperTour sprints in 2019/2020 season
Instagram page: @hanncole
Age: 24
Jessie Diggins
Team and club: USST A Team; SMS
Currently lives in: Vermont
Selected career highlights: Gold medal, team sprint, 2018 Olympics; gold medal, team sprint, 2013 World Championships; three additional World Championships medals; 2nd overall and 3rd in distance standings, 2017/2018 World Cup; 26 individual and 7 team World Cup podiums; multiple national titles
Instagram page: @jessiediggins
Age: 28
Katie Feldman*
Club: SVSEF Gold Team
Currently lives in: Idaho
Selected career highlights: 3rd, 2019 American Birkebeiner; 5th and 6th in SuperTour races in 2019/2020 season; 7th in SuperTour sprint in 2018/2019 season
Instagram page: @katfeld
Age: 24
Erika Flowers (Newell)
Club: Bridger Ski Foundation
Currently lives in: Montana
Selected career highlights: 3rd, 2020 American Birkebeiner; dozens of SuperTour podiums; three top-five finishes at U.S. Nationals over the past ten years
Instagram page: @eflowers89
Age: 30
https://www.instagram.com/p/Bgi2XuQBqKj/
Felicia Gesior*
Club: Crosscut Mountain Sports Center
Currently lives in: Montana
Selected career highlights: 10th, 2020 American Birkebeiner; 5th and 10th, 2019/2020 SuperTour races; four top-10 finishes, 2018/2019 SuperTour
Instagram page: @fel.gesior
Age: 26
Caitlin Gregg
Club: TeamGregg/prgFinancial/Madshus
Currently lives in: Minnesota
Selected career highlights: Bronze medal, 10 km skate, 2015 World Championships; five-time champion, American Birkebeiner; multiple national championships
Instagram page: @caitlincgregg
Age: 39
Elizabeth Guiney
Club: Craftsbury Green Racing Project, or Craftsbury
Currently lives in: Vermont
Selected career highlights: 8th, 2020 American Birkebeiner; six top-10 results, 2019/2020 SuperTour; 3rd, 2015 Nationals
Instagram page: @lizzie_guin
Age: 29
Julia Kern
Club: USST B Team; SMS
Currently lives in: Vermont
Selected career highlights: bronze medal, skate sprint, 2020 U23 World Championships; 3rd, Planīca skate sprint, 2019/2020 World Cup season; multiple other World Cup top-30 finishes; bronze medal, relay, 2017 World Juniors
Instagram page: @juliakernski
Age: 22
Kaitlynn Miller
Club: Craftsbury
Currently lives in: Vermont
Selected career highlights: Five national championship podiums, including 2016 classic sprint national championship; 17 SuperTour podiums; 34th in World Cup 10km skate race in 2018/2019 season
Instagram page: @kaitlynnbmiller
Age: 28
Becca Rorabaugh
Club: APU
Currently lives in: Alaska
Selected career highlights: Five national championship podiums, including 2014 10km classic national championship; 14 SuperTour podiums; 24th in sprint in 2012/2013 World Cup season, 39th in World Cup 10km classic last month
Instagram page: @beccarorabaugh
Age: 30
Alayna Sonnesyn
Club: SMS
Currently lives in: Vermont
Selected career highlights: winner, 2019 American Birkebeiner; three podiums at 2020 national championships; three SuperTour podiums; finisher, Ski Tour 2020
Instagram page: @asonnesyn
Age: 23
Hailey Swirbul
Club: USST B Team; APU
Currently lives in: Alaska
Selected career highlights: silver medal, 5km classic, 2018 World Juniors; bronze medal, 10km skiathlon, 2018 World Juniors; 21st, Davos skate sprint, 2019/2020 World Cup season; three other World Cup top-30 finishes this season; bronze medal, relay, 2017 World Juniors
Instagram page: @hai.swirl
Age: 21
Callie Young*
Club: Dartmouth
Currently lives in: Vermont
Selected career highlights: Fourth, FIS Junior Invitational “Rising Stars” Race, Québec City, March 2019; first, 2020 Bates Carnival; 54th, sprint qualification, 2020 World Juniors
Instagram page: @calliey0ung
Age: 19
* The athlete is making her World Cup debut in Québec City.