The women’s 10 k classic mass start podium at 2018 World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden, with Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski (c) in first, Norway’s Marit Bjørgen (l) in second and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (r) in third. (Photo: FIS World Cup Svenska Skidspelen/Facebook)
FIS Cross Country World Cup Finals (Falun, Sweden): 10/15 k classic mass starts
Day 2 of World Cup Finals in Falun entailed 10- and 15-kilometer classic mass starts on Saturday, and in the first race of the day, Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski pulled out a thrilling finishing-sprint victory over Norway’s Marit Bjørgen.
After American Jessie Diggins led early in the first 2.5 k loop, Bjørgen set the tone from the front for most of the race. With less than a kilometer to go, Norwegian powered up the final horseshoe-shaped climb in first, with Pärmäkoski and Bjørgen’s Norwegian teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg just behind her. The three had dropped the field while lapping through the stadium around the 7.5 k.
While Østberg fell off the pace on that final uphill, Bjørgen accelerated as she took a few quick strides over the top, gaining a few meters on Pärmäkoski as they headed into the descent. The finishing stretch is long in Falun, and Pärmäkoski was able to come on strong just before she and Bjørgen entered the final 100 meters before the finish. There, Pärmäkoski’s double-pole speed not only matched Bjørgen, but beat her, as Pärmäkoski passed her with several meters to go and took the win by 0.2 seconds in 26:00.5 minutes. It was Pärmäkoski’s second win of the season and fourth of her career (including time-of-day pursuit stage wins).
Just behind Pärmäkoski and Bjørgen, who congratulated each other immediately at the finish, Østberg finished 5.1 seconds back in third. Five women fought for fourth place, with Sweden’s Ebba Andersson taking it (+14.5) ahead of Japan’s Masako Ishida in fifth (+14.8), Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla in sixth (+15.2), Austria’s Teresa Stadlober in seventh (+15.4), and Diggins in eighth (+15.5).
Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen was the next finisher across the line in ninth (+24.8), then Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen in 10th (+26.2) and American Sadie Bjornsen in 11th (+26.3).
Canada’s Emily Nishikawa was the next North American in 36th (+1:31.1), and she led her teammates Cendrine Browne, who placed 50th (+2:05.7), Dahria Beatty in 61st (+2:46.6) and Zina Kocher in 69th (+6:12).
For the U.S., Sophie Caldwell finished 41st (+1:36.1), Rosie Frankowski 44th (+1:43.7), Caitlin Patterson 47th (+1:54.8), Ida Sargent 52nd (+2:10.2), Liz Stephen 54th (+2:20.0), Kikkan Randall 57th (+2:34.1), and Kaitlynn Miller 64th (+2:50.7). Rosie Brennan did not start.
The men’s 15 k classic mass start podium at 2018 World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden, with Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov (c) in first, Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson (l) in second, and Italy’s Francesco de Fabiani (r) in third. (Photo: : FIS World Cup Svenska Skidspelen/Facebook)
In the men’s 15 k classic mass start on Saturday afternoon, Russia’s 21-year-old Alexander Bolshunov notched his first-career World Cup win after reaching the podium seven other times this season (placing third in six of those seven races).
Bolshunov hung in the pack and took the lead at the start of the final lap at 11.25 k, ahead of four of his Russian teammates, Alexey Chervotkin in second, Evgeniy Belov in third, Andrey Larkov in fourth, and Maxim Vylegzhanin in fifth. Behind them, Switzerland’s Dario Cologna skied just ahead of Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby and Canada’s Alex Harvey, who were among 29 skiers within four seconds of first.
While Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson led the final climb before the stadium, Bolshunov caught him on the downhill and out-double-poled him in the finishing stretch, taking first by 1.3 seconds in 36:59.8. Halfvarsson finished second and Italy’s Francesco de Fabiani scored his second World Cup podium of the season in third (+3.1).
Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin missed the podium by 0.6 seconds in fourth (+3.7), Chervotkin followed in fifth (+5.2), ahead of Cologna in sixth (+5.6) and Italy’s Federico Pellegrino in seventh (+5.6), after they finished together. Sundby and his Norwegian teammate Niklas Dyrhaug also crossed the line at the same time in eighth (+6.3) and ninth (+6.3), respectively, just 0.1 seconds ahead of another one of their teammates, Sjur Røthe, in 10th (+6.4).
Less than five seconds later, Harvey finished 20th (+10.7), ahead of Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in 22nd (+13.6). Klæbo slipped out of contention on the third of four laps, as he dropped from fourth to 22nd in less than two kilometers.
Canada’s Devon Kershaw finished 26th (+14.6) for his fourth-straight race in the top 30 (including his 26th-place finish in the Olympic 50 k classic mass start), Graeme Killick placed 41st (+1:13) and Julien Locke was 81st (+3:29).
Erik Bjornsen was the top American man in 52nd (+1:47.1), Simi Hamilton finished 62nd (+2:06.4), Kevin Bolger was 69th (+2:27.1), David Norris 70th (+2:31.2), Scott Patterson 71st (+2:40.6), Paddy Caldwell 75th (+2:52.7), and Andy Newell 86th (+4:47).
World Cup Finals conclude with 10/15 k freestyle pursuits on Sunday.
France won the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup women’s 4 x 6 k relay to start the day at Holmenkollen, ahead of Germany and Italy, while the Canadian women’s team (Sarah Beaudry, Julia Ransom, Emma Lunder, and Rosanna Crawford) placed 11th and the U.S. (Clare Egan, Susan Dunklee, Joanne Reid, and Emily Dreissigacker) came back from 21st to finish 15th.
In the men’s 12.5 k pursuit that followed, France’s Martin Fourcade won his 10th race at Holmenkollen, putting himself 49 points ahead of Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø with three individual races in Tyumen, Russia, remaining. US Biathlon’s Sean Doherty tied his second-best result this season in 17th and his teammate Lowell Bailey raced up to 28th with the 19th-fastest time of day. Leif Nordgren placed 40th and Tim Burke was 47th, while Canada’s Scott Gow finished 51st and Christian Gow was 54th.
Marit Bjørgen approaches the line for her eighth-career Olympic gold (and 15th medal) with a win in the final race of the 2018 Olympics, the women’s 30 k classic mass start, on Sunday in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Noah Hoffman)
Marit Bjørgen went out with a bang. Skiing in presumably the final Olympics race of her illustrious career, the most-decorated Winter Olympian in history simply skied away from a strong field less than 10 kilometers into Sunday’s 30 kilometer classic mass start, earning the 15th Olympic medal of her career (and eighth gold) in dominant fashion.
From right to left: Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg leading Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen and Krista Pärmäkoski, Sweden’s Stina Nilsson, and Austria’s Teresa Stadlober (r), among others in the women’s 30 k classic mass start on the final day of the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Noah Hoffman)
Behind her, Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski (+1:49.5) and Sweden’s Stina Nilsson (+1:58.9) rounded out the podium, with Nilsson breaking away from Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (+2:00.4) within the stadium to edge her out for third.
Fifth went to Charlotte Kalla of Sweden (+2:57.2), with Kerttu Niskanen of Finland sixth (+3:01.6). Jessie Diggins was seventh (+3:37.2), in an American performance that would have been lauded just a few years ago yet somehow represented her worst placing in all six races at these Olympics.
Heidi Weng of Norway (+4:07.9) in eighth, Teresa Stadlober of Austria (+4:14.1) in ninth, and Masako Ishida of Japan (+4:20.8) rounded out the rest of the top ten. Stadlober’s ninth-place finish was particularly poignant; she was holding steady in silver-medal position through 20 k, before taking a wrong turn at an ill-marked course intersection and losing well over a minute returning to the correct track.
Norway’s Marit Bjørgen (l) leading the pack during the women’s 30 k classic mass start at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Scott Patterson)
But let’s go back to Bjørgen. Given those time gaps by the finish – nearly two minutes clear of second and third – this was clearly Bjørgen’s day. The 37-year-old Norwegian mother started in bib number 8, and was all of 1.1 seconds off the lead by the first checkpoint, less than one kilometer into the race. But after that… Bjørgen led by 2.3 k, midway through the first of four 7.5-k laps. Bjørgen led at 5 k. Bjørgen led at 7.5 k. Bjørgen led at 8.4 k. And so on. It was not literally a wire-to-wire victory, but it was pretty darn close.
The race went from a mass start contest to a solo endeavor at roughly 9.5 kilometers in, midway through the second lap. Bjørgen simply surged ahead, and immediately opened up a small gap. By 9.8 k, the gap was 7 seconds. By 12.5 k, it was already up to 33 seconds. By 15 k, the advantage had swelled to 51 seconds. Bjørgen was putting nearly 10 seconds per kilometer on a chase group composed of Olympic medalists and World Championships podium finishers.
With all due respect to Iivo Niskanen, the hero of Saturday’s courageous breakaway in the men’s 50 k classic, Bjørgen’s performance never felt in doubt the way Niskanen’s did. Bjørgen didn’t have any company, for one, and she had a shorter distance to cover, for another (“only” 20 k of solo skiing off the front). But mostly, well, she is Marit Bjørgen, the most dominant cross-country skier of all time.
Bjørgen’s gap stretched to as great as 2:04 by the 27.5-k mark of the course. Finally, approaching the finish, she slowed slightly over the last few hundred meters, accepting a large Norwegian flag from a Viking helmet-clad fan and beaming as she carried it across the finish line. Her final time was 1:22:17.6. If they were the final 82 minutes of racing of a five-Olympics career, they were an exceptionally dominant 82 minutes.
Behind her, a four-woman chase pack formed: Pärmäkoski, Kalla, Niskanen, and Stadlober. As late as 20 k, Kalla was still in seventh, nearly two minutes back of Bjørgen and roughly 35 seconds back of Stadlober in second.
Soon after this, Stadlober took her wrong turn, skiing for some distance on the wrong course before having her error pointed out to her by a courseside coach or tech. She dropped from second to eighth within a kilometer.
Reportedly, Austrian coach Markus Gandler was out on the course and the first to inform her of her mistake, yelling, “You are wrong!” She realized her mistake and turned around.
“We were preparing the feed and noticed she didn’t come,” Gandler told Austrian broadcaster ORF, according to a translation. “I ran over but she didn’t hear me while skiing up. Only on the downhill I caught her.”
“I don’t know if I should laugh or cry,” Stadlober told ORF after, according to a translation. “I can’t explain it to myself. I have been here for three weeks and if by now I don’t know the loop then I don’t know … I noticed skiing up that something wasn’t right because there was no more staff. When I looked over I just thought: Sh*t!”
She said she had been feeling great up until that point and confident about her skis.
“I would have had the power, but had-I-would-I [what could have been] is too late now,” Stadlober said of missing out on her first Olympic medal. “That’s life. It’s just bitter it happened in such a race and on a day when everything would have fit together.”
Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski celebrates her first individual silver medal which she claimed in the women’s 30 k classic mass start on Sunday at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Noah Hoffman)
By 21 k, Pärmäkoski had a 13-second gap over Niskanen in the race for second, and Kalla had moved up to sixth. By 25 k, it was still Pärmäkoski in second, but now Østberg and Nilsson skiing lockstep in the fight for third.
Pärmäkoski was never seriously threatened over the final lap, and crossed the finish line for silver.
“I think that this 30 k was [the] hardest 30 k race [ever] for me,” Pärmäkoski reflected in a post-race press conference. “Of course I heard that Nilsson and Østberg come behind me and I also heard that now it’s 11 seconds, and then 14 seconds. And after this big downhill I heard that it’s a little bit more, but because I know that they are good in sprint, I just hoped that they can’t catch me. This was a crazy, crazy Olympics for me. Before I came here I wanted to win one individual medal and now I won three medals, so I am really happy.”
In two Olympics, Pärmäkoski, 27, now has four medals — three of which came in PyeongChang (silver in the 30 k and bronze in the 15 k skiathlon and 10 k freestyle races).
Behind her, Østberg and Nilsson dueled for the final podium spot. But while Østberg was aware of it, Nilsson hadn’t heard about Stadlober’s wrong turn ahead of them.
Sweden’s Stina Nilsson (r) outlasts Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (l) for bronze in the women’s 30 k classic mass start at the 2018 Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Noah Hoffman)
At the finish, Nilsson looked surprised when Bjørgen told her she had won the bronze. Bjørgen then went immediately over to console her teammate, Østberg, who finished fourth, 1.5 seconds behind Nilsson in third.
“I was quite sure that it was fourth. That I got the bronze was quite sick,” Nilsson told Norwegian broadcaster NRK, explaining that she thought the team staff was trying to give her false hope that a medal was within reach.
“I did not realize that Stadlober had gone wrong. I thought she had moved away,” Nilsson said.
But Østberg knew the bronze was between her and the Swede. “I definitely knew what I was fighting for. It’s amazing that she did not know, too,” Østberg told NRK.
Diggins would finish roughly 90 seconds later in seventh, 36 seconds behind sixth and 30 seconds ahead of eighth. The result was emblematic of her day, in which she had skied for much of the race entirely by herself.
Sadie Bjornsen was the next American, finishing in 17th (+6:32.6). The mid-teens result continued a trend at these Olympics; she was 14th in the classic sprint and 15th in the 10 k freestyle.
The third American on the day was Rosie Frankowski in 21st (+8:53.8). Forget first Olympic start for the 26-year-old Alaskan and Alaska Pacific University athlete (which it was), Frankowski has zero World Cup starts to her name. She was the second American in the 20 k classic at last month’s U.S. Nationals, though, behind Caitlin Patterson.
On Sunday Patterson was five spots behind in 26th (+10:26), after narrowly losing a sprint finish to Germany’s Victoria Carl.
For Canada, Emily Nishikawa led the way in 30th (+12:14.1). She was followed by Cendrine Brown in 43rd (+19:06.3), as Anne-Marie Comeau did not finish.
Also of note, Jessica Yeaton, who competes internationally for Australia but lives and trains in Anchorage with Alaska Pacific University, was 42nd (+18:37.2). And Petra Hyncicova, who skis in this country for the University of Colorado but races internationally for the Czech Republic, was 39th (+16:57.1).
The women’s 30 k classic mass start medalists at the 2018 Olympics Closing Ceremony, with Norway’s Marit Bjørgen (c) in first, Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski (l) in second, and Sweden’s Stina Nilsson (r) in third in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Screenshot: ARD broadcast)
The women’s freestyle sprint podium on Saturday at the World Cup in Dresden, Germany, with Sweden’s Hanna Falk (c) and Maja Dahlqvist (l) in first and second, and American Sophie Caldwell (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
FIS Cross Country World Cup (Dresden, Germany): Freestyle sprints
For her second-straight World Cup sprint, Sophie Caldwell of the U.S. Ski Team reached the podium in the women’s 1.2-kilometer freestyle sprint on Saturday in Dresden, Germany.
Caldwell placed third in the final behind Sweden’s Hanna Falk, who won it in 2:11.02 minutes, and Maja Dahlqvist, also of Sweden, who placed second (+0.23). Caldwell and Dahlqvist both lunged in a photo finish for second, which Dahlqvist took by 0.07 seconds.
Also in the final, which included four Swedes, Switzerland’s Laurien van der Graaff finished fourth (+0.58), and Sweden’s Anna Dyvik followed in fifth (+0.68) and Stina Nilsson sixth (+7.56) after tripping.
Falk started the day by winning the women’s qualifier in 2:06.34, by just 0.02 seconds over Nilsson in second. Caldwell qualified 11th (+2.02). and another American Ida Sargent made it into the heats in 14th (+2.44). Kikkan Randall missed the top 30 by 0.6 seconds in 34th (+6.57), Julia Kern placed 38th (+7.78), and Caitlin Patterson, of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP), was 40th (+8.56) out of 49 women in the qualifying round.
Sargent finished fourth in her quarterfinal, 043 seconds behind Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter in first, to finish the day in 17th overall.
For Caldwell, who went on to advance in second in her quarterfinal and third in her semifinal, the podium came after she finished second in the last World Cup skate sprint (the first stage of the Tour de Ski) on Dec. 31 in Lenzerheide, Switzerland.
Her boyfriend and fellow U.S. Ski Team member Simi Hamilton came close to reaching the men’s 1.2 k sprint final on Saturday after qualifying in 15th then placing second in his quarterfinal and fifth in the second semifinal, 0.38 seconds behind Sweden’s Emil Jönsson in first.
France’s Lucas Chanavat won the qualifier in 1:50.42, 0.15 seconds ahead of Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in second. Hamilton was 4.32 seconds back in the qualifier, and his U.S. teammate Andy Newell also qualified in 18th (+4.91). Erik Bjornsen missed qualifying by 0.23 seconds in 32nd (+6.15) and Ben Lustgarten (CGRP) finished 49th (+8.64) out of 67 men.
The women’s freestyle sprint podium on Saturday at the World Cup in Dresden, Germany, with Italy’s Federico Pellegrino (c) in first, Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (l) in second, and France’s Lucas Chanavat (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
While Hamilton’s day ended in the semifinals, putting him 10th overall (and Newell finished sixth in his quarterfinal to place 27th overall), Italy’s Federico Pellegrino timed his attack perfectly in the final, challenging Klæbo for the win down the finishing stretch. The Italian took it by 0.18 seconds in 1:52.77, Klæbo placed second and Chanavat third (+0.98).
France and Norway had two men in the final, with France’s Richard Jouve placing fourth (+1.23), Sweden’s Jönsson taking fifth (+2.36) for his best individual World Cup result since December 2016. Norway’s Even Northug finished sixth (+12.04) after breaking his pole out of the start.
Canada’s Julien Locke of the National U25 Team and Black Jack Ski Club had a career-best day, finishing 15th overall. He qualified 16th (+4.61) then placed third in his quarterfinal, crossing the line just 1 second behind Norway’s Fredrik Riseth, who won that heat. Hamilton was second in that quarterfinal, 0.67 seconds back.
Also for Canada, Bob Thompson (NTDC Thunder Bay) finished 50th in the qualifier (+8.67), Dominique Moncion-Groulx (Alberta World Cup Academy) was 59th (+9.99) and Antoine Briand (Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre) 60th (+10.12).
Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier, Franziska Preuss, Denise Herrmann and Franziska Hildebrand (left to right) celebrating their win in the women’s 4×6-kilometer relay at the 2018 IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany. (Photo: IBU/Biathlonworld)
IBU World Cup (Ruhpolding, Germany): Women’s relay
The teams from Germany and Italy dueled for the top position all race in Saturday’s 4 x 6-kilometer women’s relay at the IBU World Cup in Ruhpolding, Germany. Cheered on by some 20,000 home-crowd fans, Germany’s anchor Laura Dahlmeier stayed on the ski tails of Italy’s Federica Sanfilippo after the last shooting stage, then passed her before the last major climb and held a narrow lead around the rest of the course to cross the finish line first in a time of 1:08:47.0 hours, with Italy 2.9 seconds behind. German had a team total of zero penalties and nine spares.
“It’s incredibly fun to win in front of this audience here today,” Dahlmeier told German broadcaster ZDF in an interview right after the race, according to a translation. “I think this will boost our whole team morale. We showed today that we are a team to be reckoned with in relays. It was just a nice race.”
Germany with Franziska Preuss, Denise Herrmann, Franziska Hildebrand, and Dahlmeier was never more than 30 seconds behind the pace, even though Hildebrand temporarily fell back from leading the field to tagging off to Dahlmeier in fourth position.
“My race held all kinds of surprises today,” Hildebrand told ZDF with a laugh. “It started with a fall on an icy patch 100 meters after it began… Then I dropped my pole, also had to exchange the replacement one, and then three spares [in prone] to avoid the penalty. Today everything conspired in my race.”
Italy with Lisa Vittozzi, Dorothea Wierer (coming off a victory in the individual race on Thursday), Nicole Gontier and Sanfilippo had the best shooting performance of the day, with no penalty and just three spares.
“That last loop with Laura was really tough,” Sanfilippo said in the press conference. “I gave my best, I tried all for my team. I knew that I can be strong on the last loop. I tried to attack, but Laura was a little bit stronger. But I am also really happy that we finished in second place, I think that was really important for our team.”
Sweden with Linn Persson, Mona Brorsson, Anna Magnusson and anchor Jenny Öberg was third, 17.2 seconds back, with no penalty and five spares. Brorsson and Öberg managed to move the team up to the podium positions, for the second one in a row following a third place from Oberhof, Germany, a week ago. Before that, the Swedish women’s team had been on a six-year hiatus from those lofty positions.
“It’s cool to be on the podium again,” Persson said in the press conference.
“This is like our second home and there were a lot of Swedes here, so we had big support during the race on the tracks,” Brorsson added.” That was an advantage for us.”
Just a few seconds off the podium, Norway with Synnøve Solemdal, Tiril Eckhoff, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold and Marte Olsbu was fourth (+23.1, with no penalty and nine spares), with Olsbu outsprinting Poland’s anchor Weronika Nowakowska on the finish stretch (+24.5, with no penalty and five spares). For both teams it was their best relay result of the season so far.
Switzerland with the three sisters Elisa, Selina and Aita Gasparin reinforced by Lena Häcki surprisingly led the race at the third exchange after Selina had moved them in front, but her youngest sister Aita could not hold that position, falling back with a penalty lap in the last standing stage to finish eighth (+1:37.1, with one penalty and 11 spares).
Biathlon Canada’s team of Emma Lunder, Julia Ransom, Sarah Beaudry, and Rosanna Crawford started the race with a setback after Lunder incurred a penalty in her prone stage, leaving the range in 23rd position at the end of the field and already almost a minute behind the leader. She managed to limit the gap with a clean standing stage to exchange still in 23rd position and 1:47 back.
Taking over Ransom then remained clean in both stages to move the team up to 17th, tagging off 2:14 behind. Beaudry only required one spare in her prone stage (0+1, 0+0) to improve to the 12th position even making up 3 seconds to the leaders.
Then Crawford, fresh off her first career podium in the individual race on Thursday, managed to also shoot clean in both stages and overtook the teams from Slovakia and Ukraine while further decreasing the gap to finish the race in 10th position, 1:56.7 back, with one penalty and just four spares.
“Things were a bit softer and slushy today compared to the individual, but nothing too bad,” Crawford commented on the conditions in an email to FasterSkier. “There was quite a bit of wind on the range, which I think was tricking people, the wind flags weren’t showing much but I had to make 6 left correction during zero [target practice].”
“Today was a solid showing from our team,” she added regarding their result. “Everyone cleaned standing, I think we can be really happy of this race, and take some real confidence going into the Olympic relay.”
Previously this season Canada had finished the relay in Oberhof, also Germany, in 14th position, and the first one in Hochfilzen, Austria, in ninth.
For US Biathlon with Susan Dunklee, Clare Egan, Emily Dreissigacker, and Joanne Reid, it was the first women’s relay of the year after missing out on the first two races of the season in this discipline.
Thus starting at the very end of the field, veteran Dunklee moved up through the pack and got through the prone stage with one spare. But then she had to fight against a penalty lap in her standing stage requiring all three spare rounds, leaving the range in 12th position. With the fastest course time on the opening leg, she managed to slightly decrease the gap to 21.6 seconds and made up three positions to exchange in ninth place.
Egan missed the first two shots in her prone stage, but hit the targets with her spares leaving the range over a minute back. She followed that up by cleaning her standing stage and left the range 1:29.5 back, then only lost five more seconds on the last loop to exchange in 14th.
Dreissigacker also needed just one spare in her prone shooting, but then incurred two penalties in her standing stage, doubling the gap and falling back to 19th position at the exchange and 3:51 back.
Anchor Reid needed three spares on her leg (0+2, 0+1) and managed to still overtake the teams from China and Finland to finish 17th, 4:57.7 behind Germany, with two penalties and 13 spares overall.
“Finally we had a full team and raced a relay!” Dunklee wrote on Instagram. “Competing on a foreign continent has its challenges.”
Ski Classics (Seefeld, Austria): 60 k Kaiser Maximilian Lauf
The men’s podium at the Kaiser Maximilian Lauf 60 k Ski Classics marathon in Seefeld, Austria, with Norway’s Tord Asle Gjerdalen (c) in first, Sweden’s Andreas Holmberg (l) second, and Russia’s Ilya Chernousov (r) third. (Photo: Visma Ski Classics)
At the third Ski Classics event of the 2017/2018 season, the 60-kilometer Kaiser Maximilian Lauf on Saturday in Seefeld, Sweden’s Britta Johansson Norgren (Lager 157 Ski Team) and Norway’s Tord Asle Gjerdalen (Team Santander) took the women’s and men’s victories, respectively.
Johansson Norgren and Japan’s Masako Ishida (Team Koteng) broke away shortly after the start. The two went back and forth for a while until Johannson Norgren gapped Ishida in the Leutasch valley. While Ishida was caught by a chase pack with Sara Lindborg (Team Serneke), Kari Vikhagen Gjeitnes (Santander) and Lina Korsgren (Åre Ski Team), she reined Johansson Norgren back in on the long climbs after the valley. Ultimately, Johansson Norgren took the win in 2:49:16.0 hours, while Lindborg claimed second, 37.5 seconds back. Ishida finished third (+58.9), Gjeitnes placed fourth (+1:40.7) after injuring her ankle about 2 k before the finish, and Korsgren fifth (+2:05.1).
The women’s podium at the Kaiser Maximilian Lauf 60 k Ski Classics marathon in Seefeld, Austria, with Sweden’s Britta Johansson Norgren (c) in first, Sweden’s Sara Lindborg (l) second, and Japan’s Masako Ishida (r) third. (Photo: Visma Ski Classics)
“It was my plan to go full speed from the beginning,” Johansson Norgren said, according to a Ski Classics press release. “I knew Ishida will go fast in the climbs, but I felt strong from the beginning. It was really hard skiing alone in the valley, and when Ishida caught me up, I wasn’t sure if I could win the race. But the last part of the course was perfect for me and I had no problems securing the victory today.”
The Leutasch valley was the turning point of the men’s race as well, where Vinjar Skogsholm (Team Parkettpartner) and Andreas Holmberg (Team Serneke) broke away from the pack and had built a 90-second gap on the chase group as they left the valley. There on the first climb out of the valley, Holmberg pushed the pace and dropped Skogsholm, while Gjerdalen and Ilya Chernousov (Bauer Ski Team) worked to catch Holmberg up front. They caught him 3 k before the finish and Gjerdalen was first across the finish line in 2:27:49 hours, 14.8 seconds ahead of Holmberg in second.
Chernousov finished third (+32.0), Ermil Vokuev (Russian Marathon Team) was fourth (+1:07.6), and Anton Karlsson (Lager 157) fifth (+1:08.2).
“I didn’t like the fact that we gave too much leeway for Holmberg and Skogsholm,” Gjerdalen said, according to the press release. “I’m happy that Ilya helped me in our attempt to catch up with Holmberg, but I wasn’t really sure if we were going to make it. You never know how the other person is feeling in the front, what kind of skis he has and what goes on in his mind. But I managed to win today and it feels great to be back on the top.”
In the overall “Champion” standings, Nordgren leads with 450 points, 110 ahead of Lindborg in second. Gjerdalen is first in the men’s champion standings with 330 points, 50 points ahead of Morten Eide Pedersen in second.
The Ski Classics tour moves to Zuoz, Switzerland, next weekend for the 65 k La Diagonela.
Soft Scandinavian Cup track as seen last weekend at the Dec. 15-17 Scando Cup in Vuokatti, Finland, “the same conditions for Sundby all the way down to me,” author Maks Zechel writes.
Editor’s Note: The following is part of a series proposed by Maks Zechel, a 20-year-old Canadian cross-country skier embarking on his first season training abroad. In August, he made the big move to Norway, where he’ll be training and racing with Team Asker for the entire winter. Through these updates, Maks hopes to share his personal “observations, stories and lessons learned” to help close the gap between North American and Scandinavian nordic skiing. Previous posts: #1,#2,#3, #4, #5, #6, and #7.
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Part 1: Vuokatti
It’s Thursday morning and I’m in the Oslo airport, waiting to catch a flight to my second Scandinavian Cup race weekend of the winter. I haven’t seen the sun yet and, from what I’ve heard, my destination of Vuokatti, Finland, doesn’t look much like a Caribbean postcard either.
Two flights and an hour on a bus later, we arrive in Vuokatti. There is something about 3 p.m. total darkness that I suspect I will never grow accustomed to; it’s the impending sense of urgency that I need to go to bed soon. Or maybe that’s just coming from the fact that I still have to check into the hotel, ski the race loop, test skis, eat dinner, and then write my final exam for my online university course. By the time I start my exam, and reboot my laptop after it crashes, it’s 8 p.m. … classic.
We wake up before the first race in the dark. The sun allegedly rises into the cloudy, snowy sky at 9:59 a.m. and sets at 2:07 p.m. Despite our noon start time, the trails remain cast in dusky shadows, and the entire race loop, and ski jumps overlooking the stadium, remain lit 24/7. For the record, I spent approximately 72 hours in Finland, and I can’t confirm that the sun actually touches that part of the world; for all I witnessed they might just brighten the streetlights every morning.
We jog a few hundred meters from the hotel to the race site, located by the Vuokatti Olympic training center. All the racers are staying in two large hotels within walking distance of the race site, which creates an exciting “athlete village” atmosphere. Vuokatti is an epic training and racing location with 7.5 k+ of lit world class ski trails, early season snow making, a ski tunnel, and ski jumping and biathlon venues. Nordic countries don’t seem to like hosting races anywhere with a big chalet, or with any chalet at all, so we set up base in the snow. Luckily for us, the infamous Finnish cold weather decided to leave for the weekend. The stadium is tiny, hardly wide enough for a finishing straight, miniscule individual start corral, and a lap lane. It’s easy to feel lost amongst the tall, uniform pines of a snowy Finnish forest, but the Vuokatti course has something for everyone. Each day, 200-250participants are on the senior men’s start line, with Norway, Sweden and Finland well represented; the top 100 doesn’t get more competitive than this anywhere in the world.
As I’m warming up for my 15 k skate race, I have never recognized so many people that I’ve never seen before in real life: “Oh hey random Norwegian skier, congrats on beating your 3000-meter track PB this summer! By the way, say hi to your dog for me.” The potential for a seriously awkward conversation with one of my idols is too high, so I try my best to avoid in-awe-eye-contact…
Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in his debut race of his record-setting 2017/2018 season. In eight World Cup starts so far, he’s won seven of them. Here he’s shown racing at Norway’s FIS season opener in Beitostølen last month. (Photo: Maks Zechel)
At the end of the first day our teammate, Erland, placed 19th, with Ryan and I at 107th and 132nd. After racing in the Beitostølen Scandinavian Cup and Gålå Norwegian Cup race weekends in November, it remains hard to swallow our pride as we race better than we ever have, but still fall far short of our lofty goals.
However, the lessons that we learn in every international race that we compete in are crucial to our development. During the 15 k classic race in Vuokatti, my teammate, Eirik, was caught by the eventual top-two skiers of the day, Ristomatti Hakola (Finland) and Martin Nyenget (Norway). Eirik is a strong double poler, so he was impressively able to stay with them until the set of steep hills in the last 2 k of the course, where they put around 50 seconds into Eirik per lap. What he was unable to match, was the insane power that Hakola and Nyenget were kicking their skis with, giving them big glides on even the steepest pitches where I had to run out of the tracks
Racing with athletes who are able to ski at this level creates an unforgiving racing environment if you are unable to push yourself to new heights. After a poor race, the performance is reflected by a drop of dozens of spots down the results sheet. Scandinavians respect the high level of these races and they know that there are hundreds of skiers working just as hard as them, ready to take their place if they don’t race fast. Poor races by even the best cause them to disappear down the results (Petter Northug finished 17th in a Norwegian Cup race this winter). Although Erland is an incredible skier who is capable of top-20 Scandinavian Cup results, he had placings of 89th and 47th in Beitostølen. This is nothing to be ashamed of, but the results clearly represented that he was not in top form at the time. Good performances are rewarded in the opposite manner. That is the nature of these races, where 1 minute gained or lost can mean 30-50 spots. In the Vuokatti sprint, the top-30 men in qualifying were all within 5.87 seconds, with the top 58 within 10.55 seconds, and top 84 within 15.15 seconds. The reality is harsh, but it feels productive to know exactly where I stand against the best.
World Cup racing is ridiculously hard, and that is a lesson that should be experienced as early as possible. When I was 132nd in the 15 k skate race in Vuokatti, a good race for me, it felt like a smaller reward than I was used to for my efforts. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of competitors, but it helps to look at the time gap when looking for achievable next steps. In this race I was 4:38 minutes behind race winner, Daniel Stock (Norwegian skier with a World Cup podium from last year). It’s a lot over a 38-minute race, but if I can shave off 1 minute by the end of the season, then I’m in the top 100. Wherever I place, at the end of the day I know how far away I am from top World Cup contenders. Doing these races doesn’t make getting fast easier, but it does put into perspective exactly how much my efforts and improvements mean on an elite level.
Every weekend these races feel a little more familiar, a bit more like home. The competition is intimidating, but every race still has the same enthusiastic community of athletes, volunteers, coaches, wax techs, friends, and families that we are used to in Canada. In Beitostølen, a stressed Ryan was enthusiastically interviewed four minutes before his race start and the NRK commentators talked about our goals in Norway and this FasterSkier blog for over a minute on national television. In Vuokatti, the race announcer introduced us as the two Canadians living in Asker, Norway, with their goal of becoming two of Canada’s best World Cup skiers. It’s flattering to be known like this, despite struggling to come even close to the top 100, and it makes us feel like we belong. Soon enough we will make sure we are known for more than just booking a couple of plane tickets to Norway.
Part 2: Getting to the Top
Author Maks Zechel repping the Asker Skiklubb white and blue.
Racing in Scandinavia is like getting on the freeway out of the city at 5 p.m. on the Friday of Thanksgiving weekend; everyone is heading in the same direction, and no matter who you are, you have to be patient and observant in order to seize the opportunities that will bring you to the front of the never-ending queue. In Canadian racing, we often lack this traffic, and this causes skiers to race at their own level, because there aren’t enough skiers of similar abilities to push each other to the top. I believe that it is still possible to become a great skier from racing in North America, but we have to be prepared to take even bigger risks than our Scandinavian counterparts, as we can be sure that they are encountering far more opportunities than us.
From my experiences watching NorAm, SuperTour, Scandinavian Cup, and World Cup results, the best skier of the day will often win a three-lap 15 k with a certain order of lap times: the first lap is the fastest to take advantage of fresh legs, the second lap is the slowest, and the the third lap is the second fastest. These margins are small, but they indicate a skier who has skied a smart and controlled race, riding the edge of blowing up in order to expend energy perfectly and close fast where weaker skiers tire. This is how a winner skis a race. The skiers who don’t win the race ski differently because they are not at the same level. If they ski in the same controlled manner, they fall short of the win because they cannot maintain the same pace/execute the same pace changes. A dark horse who is trying to win, or merely trying to break through the ranks, gives everything in an effort to ski at a level that is higher than they can actually maintain. They may try to go out as hard as possible, risking blowing up early with the hope that they will be able to maintain a “suicide pace”. The skiers who don’t control the race usually ski with positive splits, becoming slower each lap on a good day, because if their splits are negative it means they will lose too much time at the start of the race.
In North America, we get comfortable skiing like winners. The shock comes when we try to make the jump to World Cups, and we suddenly have to relearn how to ski like developing skiers, to ski like we are trying to break through to the top.
Here’s a fact: nobody comes to World Cups from North America and starts winning right away. The jump is too big to make all at once. Scandinavians can sometimes go straight to the top, because they had to grow up skiing like losers, or at least skiing like winners who had to fight against 30 other winners every race. The issue is that North Americans begin to relearn the lessons of devastating time gaps at an important point in their careers, when ideally they would be fighting competitively for coveted World Cup top 30s. We’re not developing as much as we could at home, because we’re not desperately fighting just to come top 50 or top 100 as juniors and U23s. Not to say that you can’t develop hugely between the ages of 25 and 35 (many do), but we rarely see this happen in North America because the attrition rate of skiers in that age range is so high. Many skiers never see their full potential realized.
In North America, we get comfortable skiing like winners. The shock comes when we try to make the jump to World Cups, and we suddenly have to relearn how to ski like developing skiers, to ski like we are trying to break through to the top.
In Vuokatti, numerous small skiing nations were well represented, countries that we North Americans would see as “lesser” skiing nations, when in fact they’re doing things better than us. The Vuokatti Scandinavian Cup saw a large contingent of Chinese national-team skiers compete, and at Beitostølen, Japan was well represented. I even saw a couple of Mongolian skiers in Finland. These national-team skiers are consistently starting Scandinavian Cups in their pursuit of becoming competitive on the World Cup (zero Chinese skiers started the Toblach World Cup, while 10 Chinese men and women started in Vuokatti the same weekend). These small skiing nations recognize that they cannot develop all of their athletes through World Cup starts, so they send their remaining skiers to the next best thing. This mentality has led Japan to produce podium-capable World Cup skiers such as Masako Ishida and top 15 contenders such as Keishin Yoshida.
We need to fill up our quota spots on the World Cup, but for the rest of us, Scandinavian Cups are an equally good opportunity to develop. A month of World Cup racing can cost a Canadian National Team member upwards of $5,000 Canadian dollars (not including flights). Last winter Team Hardwood Elite ran a one-month trip from Canada to Norway for $2,700 CAD (flights included)per athlete, where they raced nine Scandinavian- and Norwegian Cup-level races. We shouldn’t scoff at local-level Norwegian races either, which can be found all over the country every weekend of the winter. Sondre Turvoll Fossli, a World Cup medalist, won a local race, with a senior men’s field of 12, in Lier, the same weekend as Toblach and Vuokatti. At a local race in Konnerud the weekend before, I was bib number 1051 as the last starter of the day. Only 17 senior men raced, but the winner has placed top five in Norwegian Cups.
Many North American skiers want to break through on the World Cup, but there are limited World Cup starts that offer a small and difficult opportunity for us to impress on a stage that we have never experienced before. The chances of breaking through this way have proven nearly impossible for numerous talented North Americans. For the countless incredible skiers who didn’t even receive those World Cup opportunities, the chance of World Cup success is a long-dissolved dream. This builds the impression that only a select few North American skiers can ever be great. This is untrue. The truth is that only a select few will ever break through when offered a handful of World Cup-level racing opportunities. The truth is also that us remaining North Americans have the ability to achieve that same level, but we must do so more patiently and down a less traditional path. If you truly want a chance at becoming competitive on the World Cup, you don’t have to fight for years to qualify for a World Cup development experience that most of us cannot afford. Instead you can race as many Scandinavian/Norwegian Cups as you like, every year, at a far cheaper cost, which will allow you to race against skiers who are already at the World Cup level that many of us dream to achieve. These skiers are no more talented than our skiers, they just have had the time and the countless opportunities to race at a level that most of us never have the chance to see.
This leaves an important question: who is left to race in North America? It is hard to develop our best senior athletes to become World Cup podium contenders, it is harder still to do this in such a way that will allow all of our younger skiers to develop, too. My experience in Norway has been a positive one so far, and I will continue to promote what I am doing. But I should not have to come to Norway to develop. The simplest way for an individual to learn to race like the Scandinavians is to come to a country like Norway, but by individually developing overseas, we put a stop to the widespread development that we could be doing back home.
Norwegians are successful at skiing because they love it; skiing is everywhere in Norway, and for that reason Norwegians never have to go far from home to ski fast. Top Norwegian skiers race in local races because they know that good racing is great development, no matter who you’re racing against. If we want races to be competitive, then it’s up to us to race fast.
Youth and masters alike getting some early season ‘ k’s in on Nakkertok Nordic’s “Nakkertrak” on opening day Nov. 11, 2017. (Photo: Nakkertok Ski Club)
My home club, Nakkertok Nordic, was able to purchase snowmaking equipment last year. Due to the enthusiasm and incredible dedication of the parents and volunteers who are the backbone of Nakkertok, they were able to host two early season race weekends this year, just outside of Ottawa (a city of 900,000 people). Ottawa is in an excellent central location for Eastern Canadians and Americans. The same weekend as the Dec. 15-17 NorAm race weekend in Rossland, over 200 people raced the Candy Cane Cup on the “Nakkertrak” early season snow loop. In the future, I see this becoming a main event in an early season racing series, where athletes race in Craftsbury, Vermont, at their annual early season races, then drive the mere four hours to Ottawa for two back-to-back high level FIS races. Eastern Canada and the U.S.A. are full of the skiing culture that makes Norway so great, our issue is that we fail to coordinate to create the fantastic race opportunities that we could have. Many top Canadian skiers already travel to Craftsbury at the beginning of the winter to be in a race where Patrick Caldwell takes the win and the field is deep with professional, university, high-school, and part-time racers of all levels. There is a fear in Canada of burning young athletes out by letting them race up. I agree, we shouldn’t just allow our “prodigies” to race up; I think that everyone from age 16 and up should race together. Development as a skier is only loosely correlated to age, and I am grateful at every training session with Team Asker for the young junior skiers that kick my butt in workouts. Our egos have to be thrown aside, because the more we segregate our racing categories, the less we can help each other get faster in the way that the Norwegians do.
The simplest way for an individual to learn to race like the Scandinavians is to come to a country like Norway, but by individually developing overseas, we put a stop to the widespread development that we could be doing back home.
Many Norwegian skiers race almost every weekend, all winter long. We have to create these same local racing opportunities, and if we make them accessible, they will soon turn into world-class events. Nakkertok took a race, which has simply been a club time trial in past years, and turned it into a CPL (Canadian Points List) level race with a field of 68 open men and 45 open women in one year (that is a bigger field than the Rossland NorAm). The depth of such events, with their diverse assortment of competitors, creates an environment where both our top racers and our developing racers can grow. An athlete is much less likely to quit skiing if they are regularly racing in a field with dozens of skiers at their level and with similar ambitions of going to university or working full time, all while skiing as fast as they can. Because you know what, racing is really fun, but only if it is a commodity made accessible to every North American skier, not just our Olympic hopefuls.
A local race in Sjusjøen, Norway, with hundreds of racers of all ages. (Photo: Maks Zechel)
About Maks: Maks Zechel is a competitive cross-country skier who secretly wants to become a professional mile runner. He loves hiking and going on canoe trips with his family, as well as peanut butter cups in ice cream. Johan Olsson is his favourite skier and he hopes to race the Cortina-Toblach stage of the Tour de Ski one day. He enjoys writing about his experiences. Follow him on Instagram @makszechel.
Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla.
For the second day in a row, Charlotte Kalla, a name synonymous with the yellow and blue of Sweden, stood atop the podium, placing first in the women’s 10-kilometer classic International Ski Federation (FIS) race on Saturday in Gällivare, Sweden. On Friday, Kalla won another individual-start race, the 5 k freestyle, by a margin of 8.8 seconds. She more than doubled that time gap by the finish of Day 2, winning the 10 k classic in 27:55 minutes, 17.7 seconds ahead of Russia’s Yulia Tchekaleva in second place. Natalia Nepryaeva, also from Russia, skied to third, 40.9 seconds back of Kalla.
“I am feeling good and I think I am where I should be at this moment,” Kalla wrote in an email. “I had a good feeling on the classic race and handle the condition well. On Friday I opened hard and tried to push hard all the way.”
Known as a skate powerhouse, Kalla has improved her classic skiing and is now a double threat. “I have improved my classic technique the last years,” Kalla explained. “When I am in shape it doesn’t matter if it is skating or classic. I am glad I managed to ski well in the condition we had. It was a little bit soft because of the snowfall.”
Although a home FIS event for Sweden, Russia secured six of the top-10 spots with Sweden settling for three. Japan’s Masako Ishida, the only non-Russian or Swede outlier in the top 10, placed fourth (+1:02.4). Russians Anna Zherebyateva raced to fifth (+1:08.8) while teammate Yulia Belorukova was sixth (+1:12.8).
Sweden took the next two spots with Stina Nilsson in seventh (+1:20.9) and Anna Haag in eighth (1:20.9). Russia rounded out the top 10 with Anatasia Sedova placing ninth (+1:24.1) and Mariya Guschina in tenth (+1:25.0).
Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter, a World Cup regular, placed 11th (+1:30.6).
Kikkan Randall was the only U.S. Ski Team member at the race, and a day after finishing eighth in the 5 k skate, she finished 15th (+1:48.1) on Saturday. In an email, Randall explained that snow had fallen continuously for the last 24 hours in Gällivare.
“Conditions were pretty nice, the track was a little soft and a lot of racers here made the pole track a little punchy,” she wrote.
Considering the massive time-zone shift from her home in Anchorage, Alaska, to Central European Time, it appears Randall is adjusting well.
“I felt decent today, not too tired from the jet lag or yesterday’s race. I wanted two back-to-back races to get ready for next weekend’s triple World Cup opener,” she wrote, referring to the first three World Cup races in Kuusamo, Finland, starting Friday, Nov. 23.
Throughout Saturday’s 10 k, Randall steadily improved her overall placing: she was 32nd at 4.2 k, 23rd at 6.8 k and locked into 15th by 9.2 k.
“It was definitely good to race a 10km classic today,” Randall wrote. “I had trouble really digging into my race gear on the first lap today. I think I was skiing a little stiff and not carrying my momentum down the track. Nepryaeva [the third-place finisher] caught me going into the 2nd lap and that was the jumpstart I needed. I was able to match her pace for most of the rest of the race and it helped me find better technique and tempo.
“I wanted to be a little stronger today but I got some really important feedback on where I’m at and what I need to work on as the race season progresses,” she added. “My fitness feels pretty good and now it’s just a matter of fine-tuning.”
Emily Nishikawa was the only Canadian entered on Saturday and finished in 51st (+3:39.3). Sixty-nine women started the race, 38 from Sweden, 17 from Russia, seven from Japan, two from Switzerland and Estonia, and one each from the U.S., Canada, and Poland.
In Friday’s 10 k skate in Gällivare, only Swiss star Dario Cologna kept the Russians from sweeping the top nine by placing third. In that race, Evgeniy Belov and Sergey Ustiugov of the Russian national team finished first and second, respectively.
Saturday was a different race, a 15 k classic, but with a similar thread and no Cologna as a Russian foil.
The Russian men finishing in unison to take first, second and third in the men’s 30 k skiathlon, the final race of 2017 U23 World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Alexander Bolshunov (8) was deemed the winner, Alexey Chervotkin (1) was second, and Denis Spitsov (11) third. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)
It was Russia, Russia, Russia.
Alexander Bolshunov, winner of the 30 k skiathlon at 2017 U23 World Championships, won the race in 37:13, one second ahead of Maxim Vylegzhanin in second. Alexey Chervotkin was third (+5.1).
Classic specialist, Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin finished fourth, 13 seconds off the podium, and Cologna placed fifth (+22.1).
Despite being on Swedish soil, the rest of the top 10 became a mostly Russian affair. Russian teammates Alexey Vitsenko and Artem Maltsev placed sixth (+29.5) and seventh (+37.4), respectively, Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson interrupted the trend by tying Russia’s Evgeniy Belov for eighth (+38.0), and Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh took 10th (+40.1).
There’s a pattern: Russia took 14 of the top-20 places. Twenty-eight of 126 starters were from Russia, with the vast majority of the field being Swedish. Outside of the top 10, Sweden’s Daniel Rickardsson was the next-best Swede in 12th (+49.6).
Devon Kershaw (World Cup Team), who finished 12th on Friday, once again led Canada in 20th (+1:06.7). At 6.8 k, Kershaw was ranked 15th, and at 9.6 k he was down one spot to 16th. By the 11.4 k checkpoint, he began slipping further in the standings.
“Today was a tough one,” Kershaw wrote in an email. “I felt pretty good but conditions were soft, so you had to really feather it (the technique) – especially on the climbs. Pacing wise I think I was doing pretty well, but in the last 2.5km today I was missing any semblance of a kick to the finish and ended up conceding a few seconds to those around me, knocking me from about 15-16 to 20th.”
Although an interval start race, Kershaw never found a strong pacing partner. “I was skiing alone – no help at all today,” Kershaw wrote of his solitary effort. “It would have been so helpful! Especially that last lap when things get tough. But in individual start races, you need to learn to do it alone. So good to try and get used to that “time trial” feeling.”
Three other Canadians competed, with Graeme Killick (World Cup Team) finishing 50th (+2:32.3), Jack Carlyle (Alberta World Cup Academy) 91st (+4:06.1), and Brian McKeever (Para Nordic Team) 110th (+5:16.0).
As of press time, Fasterskier could not confirm if the International Ski Federation (FIS) held an emergency meeting to discuss the involvement of IOC-banned Russian skiers in FIS-sanctioned races. Of the six IOC-sanctioned Russian skiers, four are men: Belov, Vylegzhanin, Alexander Legkov, and Alexey Petukhov. All four skiers raced on Friday, however, Legkov and Petukhov (and Shapovalova, one of the two women sanctioned by the IOC) did not contest Saturday’s race.
Racing continues in Gällivare on Sunday with classic sprints.
Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla racing to a win in her first race of the 2017/2018 season, the women’s 5 k freestyle in Gällivare, Sweden, on Friday. (Photo: Sporteventgallivare/Instagram)
Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla and Hanna Falk went 1-2 in Sweden’s season-opening International Ski Federation (FIS) race on Friday in Gällivare, with Kalla winning the women’s 5-kilometer freestyle by 8.8 seconds in 12:58.1 minutes. Falk, her teammate on the Swedish women’s team, placed second and Russia’s Yulia Belorukova took the third spot on the podium, 10.3 seconds out of first.
The host nation had three in the top four, with Ida Ingemarsdotter in fourth (+16.1). Switzerland’s Nathalie von Siebenthal finished fifth (+17.8), Russia’s Yulia Tchekaleva placed sixth (+23.4), and Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva was seventh (+25.0).
Kikkan Randall of the U.S. Ski Team raced to eighth (+27.2), just ahead of Sweden’s Evelina Settlin in ninth (+32.0) and Russia’s Anna Nechaevskaya in 10th (+33.5). Japan’s Masako Ishida was just 0.3 seconds out of the top 10 in 11th.
In an email, Randall explained that she decided to venture to Europe earlier this year to get some racing in ahead of the World Cup.
“We also wanted a little extra time to let Breck adjust to the 10hr time change!” she wrote of her 1-year-old son, who will be traveling the World Cup circuit with Randall and her husband, Jeff Ellis, this winter.
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Most of the U.S. Ski Team arrived in Rovaniemi, Finland, on Thursday, Nov. 16 (with the exception of Andy Newell, who is racing this weekend in Beitostølen, Norway, with Noah Hoffman). The rest of her teammates planned to train at the Santasport Olympic training center in Rovaniemi until Nov. 21, when the entire team will meet up in Kuusamo (also known as Ruka), Finland — the site of next weekend’s World Cup opener.
“I’m happy with my start today,” Randall wrote of Friday’s race. “It took my a couple km’s to get going today but I felt like I was finding my rhythm in the 2nd half of the course. It’s my first hard session this week after the travel over so today was a good jolt! It was a competitive field and I was satisfied to be in the mix.”
Ninety-two women raced the Gällivare 5 k skate, compared to 56 women on Friday in Beitostølen (Norway’s FIS season-opener). Randall planned to race the 10 k classic on Saturday in Gällivare, then skip Sunday’s classic sprint.
“It’s great to be back around other World Cup skiers again and I’ve always liked Gällivare so it’s nice to be back here,” she wrote. “My former wax tech lives here and has been taking great care of us. … Looking forward to meeting up with the team in Ruka next week.”
With 46 Swedes and 23 Russians accounting for most of the women’s field, Canada’s Emily Nishikawa put herself in the mix in 26th, 54.9 seconds behind Kalla. Nishikawa’s Canadian World Cup teammate Dahria Beatty placed 56th (+1:38.3).
For Nishikawa, who’s known as a distance skier, the top-30 result was notable in that a 5 k falls somewhere between a sprint and a distance race.
“5km is such a hard distance, and it is over so fast, but it is a lot of fun,” Nishikawa wrote in an email. “I have been able to work on my sprinting a bit more this summer as I have been injury free, so I’m looking forward to seeing more speed in my racing this season.”
She planned to race all three days in Gällivare, including Sunday’s sprint.
“With these races, I am just hoping to fine tune my fitness and get some hard intensity in to feel sharp for the upcoming World Cup races,” added Nishikawa, who’s entering her fifth World Cup season as a leading member of the Canadian women’s World Cup Team. “Today’s race was a really hard effort and I am happy with how I skied today.”
In the men’s 10 k freestyle on Friday, another one of the Russians sanctioned by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Evgeniy Belov won in 23:08.5. He was 6.5 seconds faster than his Russian teammate Sergey Ustiugov, who placed second. Ustiugov is the defending Tour de Ski champion and Overall World Cup runner-up.
Switzerland’s Dario Cologna placed third, 7.6 seconds out of first, and Russia swept fourth through ninth, with Sweden’s Marcus Hellner following in 10th (+36.4). Out of the five actively competing skiers the IOC sanctioned earlier this month, all five raced on Friday in Gällivare, which was legal considering FIS had not ruled they can’t.
Four of those skiers are men. In addition to Belov, Maxim Vylegzhanin placed 14th (+43.2), Alexander Legkov followed in 15th (+45.9) and Alexey Petukhov finished 23rd (+56.7) out of 157 finishers on Friday.
Devon Kershaw (front) training with U.S. Ski Team sprinter Andy Newell in Sjusjøen, Norway, last week. (Photo: Noah Hoffman)
Ahead of them, Canada’s Devon Kershaw ended up 12th (+39.9), tying another Russian Artem Maltsev (who is not on the IOC-banned list) with identical times.
“My stance on the whole Russian fiasco is unchanged,” Kershaw wrote in an email, referring to a previous email he wrote to FasterSkier earlier this week when asked how he felt about the IOC-banned Russians competing in FIS events. “I find the entire thing both disturbing and hilarious. The fact that FIS is risking their credibility like this makes no sense to me. Apparently there will be an emergency meeting of sorts tomorrow about it (with FIS I’m assuming but I haven’t heard much about it) – so we’ll have to all wait and see what they come up with.
“As for seeing Belov win – I mean, that’s no surprise,” Kershaw continued. “He’s shown that he’s a force when he’s in form. But yeah, the fact that he and others have been recently banned for life by the IOC are winning races after that news came out just shows the Mickey Mouse club that our sport has become.”
As for his own race, Kershaw wrote that he felt great about it. The course suited him well without too much hard climbing. “… You kind of need to be pushing the whole way around. I really like courses like that,” he wrote.
The conditions, however, with about 10 to 15 centimeters of new snow from the early morning that continued into the race, made the course slower, which Kershaw found to be more challenging.
“But that is another reason why I am so satisfied with the effort today. Individual start skating in soft conditions? Not my favourite, so I’m happy how I was able to execute things,” he wrote. “For me to be in the mix in a 10km skate like that feels great. I had good energy all race and hit my technical goals for the race too, so I have to be satisfied.”
Kershaw and the rest of Canada’s Period 1 World Cup team arrived in Gällivare last Sunday. Over the last week, they’ve been testing equipment and getting into a race routine ahead of the World Cup opener, he explained.
“I changed various things with my training this year so it’s exciting to see how my body feels in the beginning of a new season,” Kershaw wrote. “… My goals are really to just be calm and execute well – which means going into the racing with no expectations other than to ski as technically well as possible while working on the whole pacing thing (which can be challenging at the beginning of the season when you don’t have that many races in the body). I’ll look to have another well executed race tomorrow and the results will be what they will be.”
Canada’s NorAm leader at the end of last season, Russell Kennedy (Team R.A.D.) was the next-best Canadian in 48th (+1:35.7), followed by Len Valjas (World Cup Team) in 49th (+1:37.0). Jack Carlyle (Alberta World Cup Academy) placed 67th (+2:07.2), Julien Locke (National U25 Team) was 72nd (+2:10.9), Graeme Killick (World Cup Team) 90th (+2:32.2), Brian McKeever (Para Nordic Team) 97th (+2:39.0), and Jess Cockney (World Cup Team) 119th (+3:10.7). Knute Johnsgaard (World Cup Team) did not start.
Racing continues in Gällivare this weekend with 10/15 k classic individual starts on Saturday followed by classic sprints on Sunday.
The men’s 15 k classic mass start podium on Saturday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City, with Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (c) in first and Niklas Dyrhaug (l) in second, and Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
FIS Cross-Country World Cup Finals (Quebec City): 10/15 k classic mass starts
During Saturday’s 15-kilometer classic mass start at World Cup Finals, Canada’s Alex Harvey was in it until the end. But so were Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Niklas Dyrhaug, and Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh, to name a few.
Sitting in second with a few hundred meters to go, Harvey was primed to make his move on Dyrhaug, who was leading at the time. But then came 20-year-old Klæbo, the season-long Sprint World Cup champion, who proved to have more left in the tank than anyone else and passed them both to lead into the finishing straight.
Klæbo took the victory — his first in a World Cup distance race — on a bluebird day under a beating sun in 35:23.7 minutes, 0.6 seconds ahead of Dyrhaug. Bessmertnykh followed another 0.2 seconds back in third (+0.8) just ahead of Harvey in fourth (+1.2).
Norway’s Sjur Røthe took fifth (+1.7), Switzerland’s Dario Cologna placed sixth (+1.9), and Norway’s Pål Golberg was seventh (+2.5), half a second ahead of another Norwegian Didrik Tønseth in eighth (+3.0). The top nine were within 3.7 seconds of first, with Russia’s Andrey Larkov in ninth.
Devon Kershaw was the second Canadian in the points on Saturday in 28th (+1:08.4), after breaking a pole and working his way back up from outside the top 60.
Erik Bjornsen led the U.S. men in 31st (+1:16.8), about a second ahead of Canada’s Graeme Killick in 32nd (+1:17.7).
Also for the U.S., Matt Gelso finished 37th, Andy Newell 45th, Scott Patterson 46th, Noah Hoffman 48th, Ben Lustgarten 49th, David Norris 50th, Simi Hamilton 54th, Paddy Caldwell 59th, Jack Hegman 62nd, Cole Morgan 64th, and Brian Gregg 69th.
For Canada, Bob Thompson finished 55th, Knute Johnsgaard 57th, Len Valjas 61st, Russell Kennedy 63rd, Evan Palmer-Charrette 65th, Andy Shields 66th, Jess Cockney 67th, Brian McKeever 68th, Joey Foster 70th, Gareth Williams 72nd, Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier 74th, and Julien Locke 75th.
The women’s 10 k classic mass start podium on Saturday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City, with Norway’s Marit Bjørgen (c) in first, Norway’s Heidi Weng (l) in second and Finland’s Krista Parmakoski (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
In the women’s 10 k classic mass start earlier in the day, Norway’s Marit Bjørgen racked up her seventh victory of the season after leading a pack of two other Norwegians and Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski and holding them off to the finish.
Bjørgen put a few meters into the foursome as she entered the finishing stretch and held her lead across the line in 24:23.6 minutes. Norway’s Heidi Weng finished 0.6 seconds back in second to lock up the Distance World Cup title, in addition to the Overall World Cup title she secured on Friday.
Pärmäkoski finished 2.9 seconds after Bjørgen in third, and Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg missed the podium in fourth (+7.8).
Behind them, Germany’s Nicole Fessel outlasted a large chase pack to place fifth (+18.6), just ahead of Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla in sixth (+19.9) and Anna Haag in seventh (+19.1).
Sadie Bjornsen of the U.S. Ski Team led the North American women in 15th (+29.9) after skiing at the back of that chase pack in the final stretches of the race. Also for the U.S., Jessie Diggins placed 27th (+1:06.9) and Sophie Caldwell 38th (+1:56.0).
Canada was led by Emily Nishikawa in 37th (+1:51.7). Behind her, Cendrine Browne finished 41st (+2:28.2), Dahria Beatty was 53rd, Annika Richardson 54th, Katherine Stewart-Jones 56th, Frederique Vezina 59th, Annika Hicks 60th, Sophie Carrier-Laforte 61st, Andrea Dupont 62nd, Katherine Weaver 63rd, Alannah MacLean 64th, Sadie White 66th, Lisle Compton 67th, Mia Serratore 68th, and Laura Leclair 69th.
For the U.S. Caitlin Patterson finished 44th, Liz Guiney 45th, Kaitlynn Miller 47th, Chelsea Holmes 48th, Rosie Brennan 50th, Julia Kern 52nd, Erika Flowers 55th, Becca Rorabaugh 57th, and Jennie Bender 58th.
One day left in the 2016/2017 World Cup season remains, with the women’s and men’s 10/15 k freestyle pursuits on Sunday in Quebec City.
World Cup Finals standings (Day 2 of 3): Men | Women
***
Finland’s Mari Laukkanen pointing to the sky in honor of her late shooting coach, after she won the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit on Saturday at the 2017 IBU World Cup in Oslo, Norway. (Photo: IBU)
IBU World Cup (Oslo, Norway): Women’s and men’s pursuits
Less than 24 hours after winning her first IBU World Cup on Friday in the women’s 7.5 k sprint, Finland’s Mari Laukkanen immediately capitalized on her ideal position with a start-to-finish victory in Saturday’s 10 k pursuit that was never in doubt, cleaning the first three shooting stages before incurring one penalty in her final standing shooting (0+0+0+1) to cross the line in a time of 29:33.3 minutes.
In addition to experiencing the most successful weekend of her biathlon career by far, it was an emotional day for the 29-year-old Finn due to a personal reason. Laukkanen spread her arms like wings skiing down the homestretch with a commanding lead, pointing repeatedly to the sky and a black ribbon she wore around her right upper arm, before kneeling in the snow in the finish for a few seconds. With those gestures, she reportedly wanted to commemorate her shooting coach Asko Nuutinen, who passed away Friday after suffering a heart attack during the World Cup in Kontiolahti, Finland, a week ago. He was 60 years old.
“It’s been a really emotional day for me. We have heard really really sad news that last night we lost our longtime shooting coach,” Laukkanen told reporters with a trembling voice in the press conference. “After this it was more or less only about working for him. Working as he has asked me to do for years and years. So I wasn’t thinking about losing or winning today, I was only thinking about him. And I feel really big pleasure that I was able to come to the finish like this, that I can own the victory for him.”
“I knew it will be difficult after the first victory in my career took me so long,” she added. “And to do it again immediately with good shooting. But as I said I didn’t think about winning or losing today, just doing my work.”
Finishing 26.5 seconds after her, the Czech Republic’s Gabriela Koukalová reached the finish, moving up from her fourth place starting position with a clean shooting performance (0+0+0+0).
“I wanted to miss all targets yesterday because I was so tired I didn’t even want to race,” Koukalová confided in the press conference. “It’s difficult to concentrate, three World Cups after the main goal of the season [the World Championships] is too much. Last year it was many times easier… I tried to catch her, but about one kilometer before the finish I saw her far away so I was happy I didn’t have to fight with anyone and was just enjoying the last meters.”
Despite four penalties (1+1+0+2), France’s Justine Braisaz defended the third place on the podium against a three-person chase group on the last loop (+1:01.4), falling back only one position after having finished the sprint in second.
“I did not expect such a good place today during the race,” Braisaz commented in the press conference. “Because in the last shooting I completely [failed]. I really wanted to have a clean shooting today, and I did not succeed. So I am happy and surprised, too.”
Her teammate Anais Bescond who had started the pursuit in third place fell back to 22nd position (+2:53.5) with seven penalties.
Slovenia’s Teja Gregorin finished fourth with one penalty (+1:08.2), Austria’s Lisa Theresa Hauser shot clean as the only athlete aside from Koukalova on her way to move up from 22nd to fifth place (+1:12.5), while Norway’s Marte Olsbu finished sixth like in the sprint despite three penalties (+1:15.9).
Unlike in Friday’s sprint race where Germany’s Laura Dahlmeier had still given up a seemingly commanding lead in the sprint World Cup discipline standings to Koukalova, she held onto her lead in the pursuit standings on Saturday, moving up from the 31st starting position to ninth place with a penalty in each of her standing shootings (0+0+1+1, +1:53.8). A 22nd place would have been sufficient to win the “small crystal globe” award in the pursuit. Laukkanen’s teammate Kaisa Mäkäräinen finished 8th with two penalties in the standing stages (+1:51.2), and thereby claimed the third place in the World Cup pursuit ranking.
“I knew that I didn’t need to have a perfect race today, just a good one, but that’s always easier said than done,” Dahlmeier told broadcaster ARD after the race. “I am incredibly happy that it worked out and that I could secure myself another small globe… It’s a bit of a weird feeling, standing at the start gate in the middle of the field and the clock ticks and ticks as one athlete after another skis out on the course. And you can only observe how far they have gone and have to wait and be patient, and not make a false start. But then the snow burns, then the chase begins!”
US Biathlon’s Susan Dunklee experienced an uncharacteristically problematic day on the shooting range and fell back to 37th place (+4:00.2), after starting seventh and less than a minute behind Laukkanen. Dunklee had three misses between two prone stages and seven more in her standing shootings (2+1+4+3) therefore having to ski more than an additional kilometer in the penalty lap.
“It is a testament to her fighting spirit that she notched the fourth-fastest ski time — one of her best ranks of the season — and never gave up despite suffering a biathlon blowout on the range,” teammate Clare Egan said of Dunklee, according to a US Biathlon press release. “Bad races happen to the best and Susan is no exception, but not everyone fights through till the end no matter what.”
Egan herself started the pursuit in 34th position and initally was able to make up ground, but then fell back slightly to 41st place (+4:13.9) with four penalties (0+2+0+2).
“I am satisfied with my race even though the result was not what I was hoping for, and that’s how I would summarize my entire season as well,” Egan said after the final race of her season. “I’ve made a good step forward but my competitors also work hard all summer and we seem to improve at a similar rate.”
Canada Biathlon’s Julia Ransom moved up to 47th place (+5:04.8) with three penalties (1+0+1+1), after starting in 52nd position.
[UPDATED] Later on Saturday in the last men’s 12.5 k pursuit of the season, the three best athletes of the season fought throughout the race exchanging in the lead, before they stood next to each other on the range for the final shooting to decide the winner.
Russia’s Anton Shipulin managed to shoot clean with his elaborate rifle stock in the design of a red dragon, proudly waving to the cameras as he left the arena while his two competitors had to ski into the penalty lap. France’s Martin Fourcade – who had already secured himself the overall World Cup Total Score title as well as the award for the pursuit discipline – was left to duke it out against Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bø, the winner of Friday’s sprint.
On the last big climb before the Holmenkollen arena, Fourcade accelerated with a series of explosive jump-skate steps to decisively gap Bø. He even got fairly close to Shipulin on the finish stretch, who had slowed down a bit to grab a Russian flag before skiing over the line in a time of 32:11.9 minutes with one penalty (0+0+1+0), 5.7 seconds ahead of Fourcade who had incurred two penalties (1+0+0+1). While Fourcade shook hands with Shipulin, Bø came into the finish in third place, 21.6 seconds back and also with two penalties (1+0+0+1).
“It was a crazy race, but I am happy that I managed to finish first,” Shipulin said in the press conference through a translator. “Tough conditions on the shooting range, I had to really work to concentrate on my shooting. On the last loop I was all alone until I saw Martin chasing me, then I got a little bit scared but I managed to [keep him behind].”
It was Shipulin’s second win of the season, for which he credited his recently improved shooting performance.
“It was a really exciting competition with Johannes and Anton,” Fourcade agreed with his rival. “I expected to fight with them for the victory on the last loop, but then Anton was simply stronger in the last shooting. My strategy was to be focused on my technique and skills and not on the results, like I did too often in the past few weeks focusing on records and not the victory.”
Asked about his blazing attack on the final climb, Fourcade added: “Of course I train for that, but I think a lot of athletes do. I talked to Johannes, it was my revenge for the [2016] World Champs where he did exactly the same to me on the last uphill. But I know how it is, it can be different already tomorrow.”
“I am happy with a new podium of course,” Bø said in the press conference. “I was not at my best in the skiing today. But I still managed to shoot 18 out of 20. As Martin said it was [annoying] that we did not shoot zero [misses] and could not fight with Anton in the finish, but it was quite interesting and fun to stand there in the last shooting … I expected Martin’s attack the second he did it, but I had no energy to fight with him. That was quite strong.”
Sweden’s Fredrik Lindström placed fourth with no penalties (+44.7), and was the only man in the field who managed to shoot clean in all four stages.
“For the podium, I was never really close“, Lindström told the IBU in a post-race interview. “But it was a great day anyway. Four times zero [misses], and especially in the standing stages that makes you climb a lot in the standings. Super happy with my performance.”
US Biathlon’s Lowell Bailey, who had to start closer to the back of the field in 44th position, almost two minutes behind the leaders based on his sprint result, managed to move up 21 spots in the race despite three penalties (2+0+1+0).
“I’m happy with the race, considering it started out pretty rough with the first two misses,” Bailey told US Biathlon after placing 23rd (+2:23.3). “I just read the wind wrong and didn’t correct enough. After that, I tried to keep my head in the race and make the best of it. I was happy with my skiing and glad to clean the last stage; this brought me up nine spots and I was able to gain another in the last loop. Now, it’s just one race to go. I’m looking forward to tomorrow.”
Shooting quickly, Bailey recorded the ninth-ranked range time of the day and the ninth-fastest last loop.
His teammate Sean Doherty started 35th but fell back after having to ski six times through the penalty lap (1+3+1+1) to finish 46th (+4:05.6).
For Sunday’s mass starts as the final races of the 2016/2017 IBU World Cup season, the only qualified North American starters will be Dunklee (currently in 10th position in the World Cup Total Score standings) and Bailey (currently in eighth).
The women’s season award in the mass start discipline once more will be decided between Germany’s Dahlmeier and Czech Republic’s Koukalova, while Germany’s Simon Schempp will try to defend his narrow lead on Fourcade. But during Saturday’s final loop, the French star did consider saving energy for the final competition.
“No,” he simply quipped when asked about this in the press conference. “Of course the mass start is important tomorrow because it will decide about the [mass start] crystal globe. But I think today the pursuit was also really important, and you fight for victory and being one of the best athletes. You can’t be satisfied with only a third place when you can claim a second, and I think all athletes in my position would do the same.”
Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby after winning the Norwegian 54 k classic Birkebeinerrennet, part of the Ski Classics series, on Saturday in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: Ski Classics)
54 k Birkebeinerrennet (Rena to Lillehammer, Norway): Part of the Ski Classics series
[UPDATED] Not even a snowmobile clipping him and sending him tumbling 20 k before the finish could keep Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby from winning the Birkebeinerrennet on Saturday in Norway. Representing Team United Bakeries, Sundby set a high pace from the start and broke the group down to three by 9 k, with Petter Eliassen of Team LeasePlan and Simen Østensen of Team BN Bank sticking with him until about 30 k in the 54 k marathon.
With about 20 k to go, Sundby collided with a Ski Classics TV production crew snowmobile while trying to double pole in the snowmobile’s tracks. He was OK and went on to win by 48 seconds over Eliassen in second, and smiled about the incident after the finish.
“It came in with tremendous speed and mowed me down,” Sundby told NRK, according to a loose translation.
Ski Classics CEO David Nilsson told NRK he didn’t know exactly how that happened and emphasized that it was unacceptable.
“We always put safety first, but it is a difficult balancing act with the snowmobile at high speed to get TV pictures,” he said, according to a loose translation. “The skiers often ski in the [snowmobile] track and here it happened and somehow the driver missed it.”
While Sundby pulled out the win in 2:20:53.5 hours, Eliassen took second and Østensen followed another 3.5 seconds later for third place.
In the women’s race, Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk (Team Santander) pulled out a 4 minute and 15 second win over Sweden’s Britta Johansson Norgren (Lager 157 Ski Team). Japan’s Masako Ishida (Team United Bakeries) was another 48.6 seconds back in third.
“I’m really happy to win this race,” Kowalczyk said, according to a Ski Classics press release. “Everything went well and the cheering on the course was amazing. I will do the rest of the races in Visma Ski Classics, but this victory was the most important for me. Of course, I want to win again in Årefjällsloppet like I did last year, but to win here in front of this audience means so much to me.”
Tord Asle Gjerdalen, who finished fourth in the men’s race, and Johansson Norgren continue to lead the overall Ski Classics standings with three races to go. The next stop is the Årefjällsloppet in Sweden on March 25.
“It was a great race and we kept a high tempo up all the way,” Sundby said, according to the press release. “I was able to use uphills for my advantage and get a gap. I had good skis, the conditions were perfect, and to win here was one of my goals for the season. I have the Norwegian Championships in two weeks, and I haven’t counted out the option of going to Finland for the Visma Ski Classics finale.”
The women’s 15 k skiathlon podium at 2017 Nordic World Championships, with Norway’s Marit Bjørgen (c) in first, Finland’s Krista Parmakoski (l) in second, and Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla (r) in third on Saturday in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
FIS Nordic World Championships (Lahti, Finland): 15/30 k skiathlons
This one’s for you, kid.
Marit Bjørgen became the second relatively new mom to medal in the second race of 2017 Nordic World Championships on Saturday (after American Kikkan Randall earned bronze in Thursday’s freestyle sprint), racking up her 15th World Championships gold in women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon in Lahti, Finland. Bjørgen, a 36-year-old Norwegian team veteran, had her first child a little over a year ago.
In her first full season back, she led Saturday’s 7.5 k classic + 7.5 k freestyle race at the halfway point, where she clicked into her skate skis half a second ahead of Finland’s Krista Parmakoski in second. Parmakoski followed her across the finish for silver, finishing 4.8 seconds off Bjørgen’s winning time of 37:57.5 minutes. For Parmakoski, it was her first individual medal at World Championships after having previously earned four in team events.
Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla picked up her fourth-career World Championships medal in third place (+32.0), and Nathalie von Siebenthal placed fourth (+1:05) for the best result for a Swiss female cross-country skier since since Evi Kratzer earned bronze in 1987 in Oberstdorf, Germany.
Von Siebenthal edged Norway’s Heidi Weng in a photo finish, with Weng finishing another tenth of a second back in fifth (+1:05.1). Right behind them, Austria’s Teresa Stadlober notched sixth (+1:05.4), Russia’s Yulia Tchekaleva seventh (+1:05.7), Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen eighth (+1:11.1), Russia’s Anastasia Sedova ninth (+1:15.3), and Japan’s Masako Ishida 10th (+1:21.8).
Two Americans finished in the top 20 with Randall leading them in 17th (+2:09.2) and Liz Stephen placing 20th (+2:12.4). Rosie Brennan cracked the top 30 in 28th (+3:03.2) and Jessie Diggins did not finish.
A World Championships rookie, Cendrine Browne led Canada in 35th (+4:15.5), followed by Emily Nishikawa in 38th (+4:29.3) and Katherine Stewart-Jones in 40th (+4:38.1).
Annika Taylor, a 23-year-old California native who races for Great Britain, finished 41st (+4:49.7). She previously placed 38th in the freestyle sprint qualifier for her best result at her first World Championships.
The men’s Nordic World Championships 30 k skiathlon podium, with Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov (c) in first, Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (l) in second and Finn Hågen Krogh (r) in third on Saturday in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
The men’s 30 k skiathlon that followed boiled down to a two-way battle for first between none other than Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov and Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby. The two traded off leading throughout much of the race and together gapped the field around the 20 k mark.
Over the next 10 k, Ustiugov continued to drive the pace. On a pivotal climb less than two minutes before the finish, Sundby attacked, jump skating and seeming to put the hurt on Ustiugov. But that moment was over before it started when Sundby broke his pole against his ski tip and had to stop for a replacement.
The 24-year-old Ustiugov skied away to the win, uncontested yet powering down the finishing stretch to claim his first World Championships gold in 1:09:16.7 hours. He had previously earned bronze with the Russian men’s relay in 2013.
Sundby finished 6.7 seconds later, dropping his arms and head toward the ground as he did so. Norway’s Finn Hågen Krogh came out on top of a five-way fight for third, finishing fourth (+33.1), 31.8 seconds behind Ustiugov and 1.3 seconds ahead of his teammate Sjur Røthe. Krogh put himself in front and proved to have the most finishing kick, ahead of Røthe, Canada’s Alex Harvey (fifth, +33.3), Norway’s Didrik Tønseth (sixth, +33.5), and Sweden’s Marcus Hellner (seventh, +33.7). Russia’s Andrey Larkov fell off the group’s pace and placed eighth (+36.1), Finland’s Lari Lehtonen was ninth (+37.2), and Italy’s 24-year-old World Championships rookie Giandomenico Salvadori broke through in 10th (+37.3).
Three Canadians started the race, with Graeme Killick finishing 47th (+6:23.5) and Knute Johnsgaard 55th (+8:40.2) out of 63.
Tad Elliott was the top American man in 48th (+7:11.2), Kyle Bratrud (+7:16.5) placed 49th and Noah Hoffman 57th (+9:33.6). Ben Lustgarten did not start.
IBU Youth/Junior World Championships (Osrblie, Slovakia): Junior sprints
[UPDATED] Canada’s Megan Bankes and American Siena Ellingson landed in the top 20 of the junior women’s 7.5-kilometer sprint on Saturday at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Junior World Championships in Osrblie, Slovakia. Coming off a victory in Thursday’s 12.5 k individual, Bankes placed 13th and Ellingson achieved her best non-relay result in 18th at her fourth Youth/Junior Worlds.
Italy’s Michela Carrara won the sprint in 20:57.8 minutes with clean shooting (0+0) and the second-fastest course time. Norway’s Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold skied the fastest but came up 15.2 seconds short of gold with one prone penalty (1+0), which put her in second place. France’s Myrtille Bègue reached the podium in third (+31.5) with perfect shooting (0+0), and Austria’s Simone Kupfner shot clean as well for fourth place (+40.8), 9.3 seconds out of third.
Bankes was one of the first out of the gate in bib 4 and missed one on each stage (1+1) and skied the 14th-ranked course time. She ultimately finished 13th (+1:25.3) for her second-best result at her fourth Youth/Junior World Championships.
Ellingson started 19th and cleaned prone before missing one in standing (0+1), to finish 18th (+1:38.7) with the 20th-ranked course time.
Canada’s Nadia Moser scored her first top 40 of these championships in 31st (+2:16.4) with two misses (1+1), her teammate Emily Dickson finished 47th (+3:15.8) with one prone miss (1+0), and the second American racing, Nina Armstrong finished 65th (+6:11.5) with five penalties (2+3).
Russia had two on the podium in Saturday’s junior men’s 10 k sprint at IBU Junior World Championships with Igor Malinovskii (c) in first and Kirill Streltsov (l) in second, sharing the podium with Kazakhstan’s Roman Yeremin (r) in third in Osrblie, Slovakia. (Photo: IBU)
In the junior men’s 10 k sprint, Russia took the two top steps of the podium with Igor Malinovskii in first and Kirill Streltsov in second, after both cleaned the two-stage race.
Malinovskii started later in the field in bib 60 (out of 86) and bested his teammate’s time by 12.2 seconds, finishing in 24:32.2 minutes. Streltsov, who had started 51st and led until that point, took silver and Kazakhstan’s Roman Yeremin notched bronze (+24.9). Despite two misses on his first prone stage (2+0), Yeremin was an early race leader after starting 10th. He bested the time of Belarus’s Anton Smolski, who started fifth, by just 0.2 seconds for third. Smolski settled for fourth, ahead of Germany’s David Zobel (who previously took silver in Thursday’s 15 k individual) in fifth (+38.2).
Cody Johnson was the top American in 46th (+3:02.9), followed by Travis Cooper in 49th (+3:10.7), Cameron Christiansen in 80th (+5:32.4), and Peter Carroll in 82nd (+5:51.6).
Pearce Hanna led the Canadian men in 47th (+3:04.1), ahead of Trevor Kiers in 48th (+3:06.6), Zachari Bolduc in 54th (+3:25.4), and Jules Burnotte in 55th (+3:31.2).
Youth/Junior World Championships continue Sunday with the youth men’s and women’s pursuits.
The women’s World Cup 15 k skiathlon podium on Saturday in PyeongChang, South Korea, with Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk (c) in first, American Liz Stephen (l) in second, and Japan’s Masako Ishida (r) in third. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
Multiple race warmup and cool downs, managing hydration and caloric intake, moving at her max sprinting speed — more than once. It’s not often that American Liz Stephen feels the lingering effects of a World Cup sprint day. Her most recent memory was three years ago, when she qualified 22nd in Szklarska Poreba, Poland.
But this weekend’s three-day competition series in PyeongChang, South Korea, challenged the distance specialist once again. With a smaller World Cup field than usual, Stephen qualified 29th in Friday’s classic sprint and advanced quarterfinals, where she raced in the first heat of the day.
In what ended up being the fastest women’s quarterfinal, Stephen pushed through Friday’s hill-dominant sprint course and crossed fifth for 25th overall. The back-to-back sprint experience, however, left the 30-year-old Stephen with a little less energy than she would have liked as she entered Saturday’s 15-kilometer skiathlon.
American Liz Stephen (2) skiing at the front of the women’s 15 k skiathlon on Saturday, alongside Norway’s Silje Øyre Slind (1) and Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk (3), at the World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
“I think I was feeling yesterday’s sprint race a bit, as I did twice as many rounds as I usually do!” Stephen joked in an email.
Yet, standing at the start in bib 2, behind Norway’s Silje Øyre Slind in bib 1, Stephen wasn’t going to let a little soreness stop her from racing to Saturday’s skiathlon podium.
After Poland’s Justyna Kowalczykgapped the front by close to 20 seconds in the first two kilometers of the classic leg, the American held on tight to the lead chase group, striding even with a medley of skiers, including Slind, Japan’s Masako Ishida, Norway’s Anna Svendsen, Sweden’s Maria Nordström, and Germany’s Elisabeth Schicho.
Stephen came through the exchange in fifth position, a little over a minute behind the race leader Kowalczyk and 12 seconds back from the second place skier, Ishida.
“I was afraid I skied little too hard in the classic portion,” Stephen said, according to an International Ski Federation (FIS) press release. “I wanted to stay with the leading group in the classical part not to fall back.”
Skate skis on, Stephen quickly caught and surpassed Svendsen and Schicho by the 8.4 k mark, rejoining Ishida. With over a minute separating her and Ishida from Kowalczyk, the battle for second began. Around the 10 k mark, Stephen made her move. Powering past Masako, Stephen started her second hunt, this time for the Polish skier.
But Kowalczyk’s early classic-leg surge and strong skating staved off any attempts from Stephen.
“Liz was able to take some time out of her, but not significant time,” USST Head Coach Chris Grover said on the phone. “So that was impressive racing by Kowalczyk.”
Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk winning her first World Cup in three years on Saturday, the women’s 15 k skiathlon at in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)
“It has been a long time since I have been on the World Cup podium,” Kowalczyk said, according to FIS. “I was quite surprised to see how well I skated.”
Finishing exactly 56 seconds behind Kowalczyk was Stephen in second place. The result was Stephen’s best individual result since 2015, when she placed second in the 10 k freestyle race in Rybinsk, Russia.
“It’s hard not to feel happy when you get a podium finish!” she said, according to a U.S. Ski Team press release. “However, I didn’t feel like I had as much energy as I wanted to have today, but it was enough to hold onto second.”
In her first podium appearance since 2009, Ishida finished 18.8 seconds after Stephen in third (+1:14.8).
Just missing the podium by 6.6 seconds was American Caitlin Patterson in fourth (+1:21.4). Though a tangle on the first hill of her classic leg pushed Patterson back to 13th, the 27-year-old Craftsbury Green Racing Project skier was able to reconnect with the top 1o by the 2 k mark.
Unconcerned with Kowalczyk’s blistering pace, Patterson focused on the chase pack. By the time she reached the ski change, she was positioned in seventh. Her transition to skate skis smooth and energy still strong, Patterson began to pick people off.
She caught Nordström, who had been 10 seconds ahead of her at the exchange, as well as Schicho and Svendsen, both of whom were close to 30 seconds ahead of her when they switched to skate skis.
Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) en route to a career-best World Cup result of fourth in the women’s 15 k skiathlon in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
“Caitlin Patterson was really impressive,” Grover said. “She was kind of hovering around seventh or eighth for most of the race, and then really in the last lap, really started to pick people off, including right at the very end to get all the way up to fourth.”
Feeling fairly well adjusted to the time difference, and appreciative of the low-altitude racing, Patterson was proud of her race effort. Her only issue being the seconds that separated her from the podium.
“When I look at the results and see how close third place was ahead of me, I can’t help but wish I could have somehow gone faster sooner!” Patterson wrote in an email. “A true sign of how much this makes me hungry for more, though I know I gave it everything I had out there today.”
The third American woman on Saturday was Liz Guiney in 13th (+2:21.7). The PyeongChang World Cup marks Guiney’s third week of World Cup racing and, while this weekend’s field is not as strong as the ones she recently raced against in Sweden, the result was still a little unexpected for Guiney.
“I’m very happy with my race today!” Guiney, 25, wrote in an email. “With the weaker World Cup field, it was a good opportunity to score some points, but I think I surprised myself by being within reach of the top 10.”
The last two races mark Guiney’s first World Cup points, with her best individual finish prior to this weekend 49th in the Falun 15 k classic mass start.
“Last weekend in the Falun 15k, I got a little too excited out of the start and paid for it later in the race, so my goal today was to ski my own race,” Guiney wrote. “I was really psyched to cross the line and find out that Liz Stephen placed 2nd and Caitlin (my GRP teammate) was 4th, which is a big breakout result for her!”
Two Canadian women also earned their first World Cup top 30’s on Saturday, with Annika Hicks (Alberta World Cup Academy) placing 26th (+5:17.8) followed by Sadie White (NTDC Thunder Bay)in 29th (+6:54.7).
Racers return to the race venue tomorrow for Sunday’s freestyle team sprint.
The Russian men finishing in unison to take first, second and third in the men’s 30 k skiathlon, the final race of 2017 U23 World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Alexander Bolshunov (8) was deemed the winner, Alexey Chervotkin (1) was second, and Denis Spitsov (11) third. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)
FIS Nordic Combined Junior World Championships (Park City and Midway, Utah): Normal hill/5 k
American Ben Loomis (6) leads Norway’s Lars Ivar Skaarset (7) during the third leg of the nordic-combined 4 x 5 k team event on Thursday at 2017 Nordic Junior Worlds at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Loomis brought the U.S. from ninth to seventh, and his team ultimately finished seventh. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)
[UPDATED] In the individual normal hill/5-kilometer Gundersen on Saturday, the last nordic-combined competition of 2017 Nordic Junior World Championships, American Ben Loomis captured his first top 10 in his third Junior Worlds in ninth place.
Eighteen-year-old Loomis jumped to 10th then picked off one place in the 5 k to finish ninth, 1:22.3 minutes behind the winner, Germany’s Vinzenz Geiger.
Geiger led after the jump and started the ski race 4 seconds ahead of Japan’s Yuto Nakamura in second. Geiger was able to hold off Finland’s hard-charging Arttu Mäkiaho, who raced from ninth to second, by 22.6 seconds. France’s Laurent Muhlethaler raced from fifth to third (+23.9) for the final spot on the podium, while Nakamura slipped to fourth (+42.8).
The U.S. had two in the top 15 with Stephen Schumann in 15th (+1:44.3), up from 20th after the jump. Grant Andrews placed 33rd (+2:40.0) and Tucker Hoefler finished 46th (+3:56.9).
FIS Nordic U23 World Championships (Midway, Utah): 15/30 k skiathlon
It was a Russian affair and a head scratcher for the photo-finish crew at U23 World Championships on Saturday, with three Russians putting enough time on the rest of the field in the men’s 30-kilometer skiathlon that they had time to slow to a stop and inch across the line in unison.
The jury ultimately had to decide who won, awarding it to Alexander Bolshunov in 1:15:31.5 hours, 0.2 seconds ahead of Alexey Chervotkin in second. Denis Spitsov was listed as third (+0.5). France’s Jules Lapierre came closest to the Russians in fourth, finishing 11 seconds later.
The field was considerably strung out by the end of the race, with Switzerland’s Jason Rueesh finishing 14.3 seconds out of first in fifth and Norway’s Gaute Kvaale crossing the line in sixth (+33.0), ahead of France’s Valentin Chauvin in seventh (+49.1), and Andorra’s Irineu Esteve Altimiras in eighth (+56.8).
American Paddy Caldwell (SMS/USST) placed ninth for the second-straight race at U23s, finishing 1:24.4 behind the winner.
The U.S. men had three in the top 15 for their best day of the championships, with John Hegman (SVSEF) placing a 11th (+1:53.5) and Adam Martin (NMU) 15th (+2:23.3) for their best results at U23 Worlds.
Evan Palmer-Charrette (NTDC Thunder Bay) led the Canadian men in 26th (+5:44.6). Alexis Dumas (CNEPH) finished 33rd (+9:02.7) out of 36 finishers. Several North Americans did not finish, including Canada’s Julien Lamoureux and Julien Smith, and American Cal Deline.
In the women’s 15 k skiathlon, Lotta Udnes Weng achieved her first gold of U23 Worlds, holding off Finland’s Johanna Matintalo by 3.8 seconds and crossing the line in 40:50.9 minutes. Russia’s Yana Kirpichenko reached the podium in third (+13.9), fewer than two seconds ahead of Weng’s twin sister, Tiril Udnes Weng in fourth (+15.6).
Dahria Beatty, of the Alberta World Cup Academy and Canadian National U25 Team, led the North Americans in 19th (+2:18.1), and teammate Katherine Stewart-Jones (NTDC Thunder Bay/NST U25 Team) was 21st (+2:29.3) for her best U23 Worlds result.
The Czech Republic’s Petra Hyncicova (University of Colorado-Boulder) followed in 22nd (+2:30.7), and three Canadian women finished in the top 30 with Frederique Vezina (CNEPH) in 29th (+3:36.2). Jenn Jackson did not finish.
Jesse Knori (University of Colorado-Boulder) was the top American in 30th (+3:40.1), Alayna Sonnesyn followed in 31st (+3:42.5), Nichole Bathe (University of Alaska Fairbanks) in 33rd (+4:36.9), and Corey Stock (Bridger Ski Foundation) in 36th (+5:42.1).
Mathilde Petitjean, who races for her native Togo but trains with the Quebec-based CNEPH, finished 38th (+6:04.8) of 38 finishers.
FIS Cross-Country World Cup (PyeongChang, South Korea): 15/30 k skiathlon
The women’s 15 k skiathlon podium at the PyeongChang World Cup in South Korea, with Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk (c) in first, American Liz Stephen (l) in second, and Japan’s Masako Ishida in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
The second day of World Cup racing in PyeongChang, South Korea, took place this Saturday, with a skiathlon event for both genders. The women raced a total of 15 kilometers, the first 7.5 k leg classic and the second 7.5 k leg freestyle. Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk came away with the women’s win (her first in three years), getting back to her old ways of breaking away from the pack to finish first in 43:54.7 minutes. Liz Stephen of the U.S. Ski Team (USST) claimed second place (+56.0), while Japan’s Masako Ishida took third (+1:14.8).
For Stephen, second matched her best individual result in a from two years ago, when she placed second in a 10 k freestyle in Rybinsk, Russia. This year at the Tour de Ski, Stephen posted the second-fastest time up the final climb in Val di Fiemme, Italy. For Ishida, it was her first podium since 2009.
Caitlin Patterson, racing for the U.S., finished just off the podium with a career-best fourth (+1:21.4) for her first top 20 on the World Cup, and American Liz Guiney placed 13th (2:21.7) for her first top 20 as well. Jessica Yeaton, who trains with Alaska Pacific University and races for Australia, came in 24th (4:58.6).
Two Canadian women competed with Annika Hicks leading the team in 26th (+5:17.8) followed by Sadie White in 29th (+6:54.7) for their first World Cup top 30s.
In the men’s 30 k skiathlon that followed, Russia’s Petr Sedov broke away during the skate leg to take a decisive victory over Norway’s Daniel Stock and Mathias Rundgreen, finishing in 1:18:49.6 hours, 22.5 seconds clear of second place. It was Sedov’s first World Cup win and podium, and the first individual podiums for Stock and Rundgreen as well.
Rundgreen edged Russia’s Konstantin Glavatskikh for the final spot on the podium, with both being listed as 42.1 seconds behind Sedov.
While Rundgreen held off three others for third place, including Sweden’s Gustav Eriksson in fifth (+46.8), Japan’s Keishin Yoshida in sixth (+47.1), and Russia’s Alexander Utkin in seventh (+49.0), American Noah Hoffman kept his distance ahead of the second chase group to finish eighth (+1:06.2) for his best result in a non-World Cup stage since placing eighth in a 2012 skiathlon in Canmore, Alberta. (Hoffman won the time of day in the 15 k pursuit four years ago in Kuusamo, Finland.)
Also for the U.S., Scott Patterson was next across the line in ninth (+1:28.4) for his first World Cup points, and Matt Gelso finished 19th (+5:00.8) for his first top 20.
Brian McKeever of Canada’s Para-Nordic Ski Team was the lone Canadian finisher in 29th (+8:48.9). Bob Thompson was listed as placing 32nd of 37 after being lapped, and Simon Lapointe did not finish.
NorAm Eastern Canadian Championships (Cantley, Quebec): Classic interval start
The NorAm mini tour at the Nakkertok Nordic Centre continued on Saturday with Eastern Canadian Championships with classic individual start races.
In the men’s 15 kilometre, Lappe Nordic’s Andy Shields took a lead in the first lap and held on to win in 39:14.7, just 0.7 seconds ahead of CNEPH’s Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier. Team R.A.D.’s Russell Kennedy collected his second bronze of the weekend, 24.7 seconds back.
SMS Elite’s Anne Hart won the women’s 10 k in a reversal of Friday’s sprint podium. Hart’s 30:03.3 finish gave her a 9.3 second edge on CNEPH’s Sophie Carrier-Laforte and 20.0 seconds on AWCA’s Maya MacIsaac-Jones.
For the 123 men and 77 women doing the full distance, the weekend is a mini tour. For the younger categories, it is three separate events allowing the kids who couldn’t skip school on Friday to race Saturday and Sunday.
There should be over 700 finishers today with 768 on the start list. The volunteers will have more hours of work even after the open categories have finished.
Results will update continuously as more categories start.
Jenn Jackson (Team Hardwood/Lappe Nordic) racing at 2016 Canadian nationals in Whitehorse, Yukon. (Photo: Bob Nishikawa)
In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at next week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2017 USANA Nordic Junior World Championships and U23 Cross Country World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 21-year-old Jenn Jackson, of Team Hardwood and Lappe Nordic, who’s representing Canada at her second U23 World Championships.
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“My full name is Jennifer Jackson, but you can call me Jenn. I was born in Toronto, raised in Midhurst, [Ontario], and one thing you should know about my hometown is I don’t live there anymore.
Jenn Jackson (r) and her brother Ryan Jackson at 2016 Junior/U23 World Championships in Rasnov, Romania. Both qualified to represent Canada again at this year’s Junior/U23 World Championships in Midway, Utah. (Courtesy photo)
I started cross-country skiing when I was pretty young, thanks to my parents. I currently train in Oro Medonte, [Ontario], over the summer and Thunder Bay during the school year, primarily on my own, but I race for Team Hardwood and Lappe Nordic.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me at school. If I had to pick a favourite book, it would be: I couldn’t pick a favourite book, but I am currently reading ‘Antifragile: Things That Gain From Disorder’ and Jens Voigt’s book ‘Shut Up, Legs!’
One of the things I’m most excited about for U23/Junior Worlds at Soldier Hollow is the tacos. One race I’m especially targeting there is probably the sprint.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was that sometimes you just need to put your head down, close your eyes, hold your breath, and hammer. Maybe not the best advice in a practical sense… but the essence of it is gold.
Some of the best race memories I have are probably the string of comeback races at the end of 2015 after breaking my leg early season.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Masako Ishida.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be an amateur skier with a regular job.
I’m missing too many days of school to be here, and my professors are probably thinking, ‘Engineering is hard even when you attend lectures, why are you doing this to yourself.’
Tord Asle Gjerdalen (l) and Britta Johansson Norgren (r) after winning the 2016 Marcialonga 70 k classic. In July, Johansson Norgren won the Blink Classics 60 k rollerski race — but received only 20 percent as much prize money as Petter Northug got for winning the men’s race. (Photo: Visma Ski Classics)
At the end of July, Norwegian professional cross-country skier Astrid Øyre Slind hit the podium in the new 60-kilometer classic race at her country’s Blink ski festival. She faced a payout that seemed unusual: a big discrepancy between men’s and women’s prize money.
The American Birkebeiner pays $7,500 to both the men’s and women’s winners.
But Blink Classics is not one of these established marathons: it is a rollerski competition in its very first year of existence. It did, however, attract the attention of the Norwegian government, which was concerned that the festival was violating the country’s equal pay act.
“For us it has not been easy to have this situation with the girls,” Blink Festival press secretary Arne Idland told FasterSkier. “And then when they are not satisfied with the money it is really difficult. We will try as hard as we can to find a solution.”
Seraina Boner (l) of Switzerland and Team Coop and Petter Eliassen of Norway and Team LeasePlan Go won the 2015 Årefjällsloppet, receiving equal payouts. (Photo: Ski Classics)
New Race for a Booming Festival
The Blink ski festival is now a giant on the summer racing circuit, with athletes from all over Europe and even North America coming to compete on rollerskis in cross-country skiing, biathlon, and the famous Lysebotn Opp hill climb. Recreational and junior classes are also a big focus, making it accessible to fans and professionals alike.
But adding a long-distance race to the mix was not easy for organizers, who still have to make sure that the festival breaks even financially. Idland explained that Blink Classics had been in the works for three years.
“The main challenge this year is that we, for the first time, were going into car traffic — this race was on ordinary roads with traffic [rather than the city square], and we had to close it to traffic just like they do in cycling races,” he explained.
That entailed paying for policemen, for one thing. Having a fourth day of racing (previously there had been three, the Lysebotn Opp and two more days in the Sandnes city center) also meant more production by NRK, Norwegian national television, as it followed a long-distance race rather than staying in a set location downtown.
“If you have live production it has to be in high definition,” Idland said. “Then it’s really expensive.”
Then last autumn came the news from the Norwegian Ski Federation: none of the national team “A” or “B” team women would compete in the 60 k. The women usually focus on doing all three of the other days of racing, and adding a 60 k at the beginning of consecutive days of racing would be too much volume and intensity during the summer training season. Some of the men, like Eirik Brandsdal and Sjur Rothe, would do the longer race; Martin Johnsrud Sundby was interested but later pulled out.
Concurrently, Idland said, NRK was telling the Blink organizers that it wouldn’t be possible to broadcast the men’s and women’s 60 k competitions together. It would have meant following two races at the same time — double the filming budget and staffing — and deciding all the time which feed to broadcast and commentate. NRK didn’t have expertise in doing this and said that they needed to develop it. So they would only broadcast one, and with the national team women out of the competition but the national team men in it, organizers agreed it should be the men’s race.
“When I contacted the teams from other nations, I was open and said that this [women’s] long distance race will not be broadcast on TV and no women from the national team would start there,” Idland said of his communication with other countries’ teams last winter, before registration began. “So I advised them all not to start in this race, but to come do the three other races.”
Johansson Norgren, the winner, is a mainstay on the Visma Ski Classics circuit and won the 2016 season title as well as numerous individual marathons. Masako Ishida, who finished third at Blink Classics, was the winter series’ fourth-ranked woman. So the podium at Blink was not so different than a podium one might see at a top winter event.
But the decision about prize money had been made long before.
“We said that we need good prize money on the men’s side, because the other competitions that we compare with have good prize money,” Idland said. “We also need some sprint primes. We had a total of 190,000 kroner, or about 20,000 Euros, for the men. And we had just over 5,000 [Euros] for the women. That was decided before we opened entry.”
Even for the women, it was more prize money than was available at the other competitions in the Blink festival, Idland said. In those other races, prize money is equal for men and women and each total prize-money purse is roughly 2,000 Euros.
“So it is double amount of money in this women’s class in any of the other races, including Lysebotn Opp,” he said. “We thought we were really doing well for the women. And it’s not every rollerski race having prize money, either.”
Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen climbs to victory in the Lysebotn hill climb at the 2013 Blink festival as a cameraman captures the action. The women’s hill climb is televised, unlike the Blink Classics. (Photo: blinkfestivalen.no)
Building Women’s Pro Fields Takes Time
But the discrepancy still felt unusual to some of the women, who are used to getting paid the same amount as their male counterparts for a win.
The gulf between men’s and women’s participation is greater in long-distance racing than on the World Cup. As a result, marathon organizers have to grapple with a somewhat different set of considerations as they develop the payout structure for their competitions.
Most of the biggest ski marathons in Europe — including the Birkebeiner, Vasaloppet, and Marcialonga — are part of the Visma Ski Classics series, where organizers have come up with compromise solution when it comes to year-end rankings.
Prize money is equal for the top three overall series finishers, but the men’s field also pays out to the fourth- and fifth-place athletes while the women’s field does not.
“For me it sounds very strange,” Visma Ski Classics CEO David Nilsson told FasterSkier in an interview last week referring to the Blink prizes. “We have in our rules that they must have the same first prize to men and women. It is also important to reflect on the percentage [of field size], and it shouldn’t be so much more difficult for the men to get [prize money] than for the women — but you can never do more than win, so of course that has to be equal for first place.”
In the winter, far fewer women than men are on Visma Ski Classics professional teams. But women’s races are hotly contested and often extremely dramatic, like Seraina Boner’s come-from-behind win at the 2016 Birkebeiner after passing Ishida and Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk in the final kilometers.
In the 2016 season, 39 different women scored points toward the overall titles. There is even an all-women’s pro team, Sweden’s Team SkiProAm, whose top athlete finished eighth in the season rankings.
According to Nilsson, Visma Ski Classics has carefully tried to promote women’s participation, with equal prize money for first place being one component.
“We worked very hard on this,” he said. “When I started 6-7 years ago, we had 4-5 women that were competing [professionally] in long distance skiing because it was a bigger step for them from shorter distance [World Cup] skiing than for the men.”
While they left the women’s competition out of the spotlight this year, the Blink Classics organizers don’t think that should always be the case. Like the Visma Ski Classics, they want more women on the start line.
“Our aim and our goal is also to have the world’s best women at the start in future,” Idland said.
One reason for low numbers at Blink might be that long-distance racing just isn’t as popular among women in Norway as it is in neighboring Sweden, home of the Visma Ski Classics brand, said Nilsson.
“In Norway, which we all know is very strong in cross-country skiing, we don’t see so many female participants in long-distance skiing,” he mused. “They are more from Sweden. We don’t know why the Norwegian women are not coming more.”
The Blink 60 k is part of a three-race series of long-distance rollerski competitions called the World Classic Tour. Indeed, the second leg of the Tour was held in Sweden. Called the Alliansloppet, it is also a more established event.
Twenty-five women finished that 48 k race, including several past Visma Ski Classics champions and members of the Swedish national team (Hanna Falk, a three-time World Cup podium finisher, won the race). Prize money was equal for men and women, including a 10,000 Swedish kroner sprint prize ($1,000) for both men and women.
The World Classic Tour overall awards use a similar idea to the Visma Ski Classics, in that the men’s and women’s title winners earn equal paychecks but the men’s field will pay out to six places and the women’s to just three.
Yet the series does not appear to have a policy for its constituent races in how to organize prize money at individual competitions.
If organizers like those at the Blink festival want to develop a strong women’s competition, Nilsson suggested that they need to actually promote the women’s races.
“We also made sure that there was much more focus on the women [than there had been before],” he said of the Visma Ski Classics efforts. “The women should have be starting [wave] before the men to have their own competition… and have [television] production of the race and their own media. When we created the system, all the attention was on the men. Then we made it so the pro teams had to get points from both the men’s and the women’s classes. This together has made the increase of the women.”
Idland conceded that with more prize money, they might have drawn a slightly larger women’s field. But he believed the circumstances of the festival, with the three subsequent days of racing, were the bigger reason for low participation.
On the Blink Festival website, the news story about the 60 k Classics race features five paragraphs and three photos about the men’s race, but only one paragraph and one photo of the women.
Nilsson believed that some changes could be made without disrespecting the male athletes.
“When you have 100 men and not so many women registered, it wouldn’t be fair to get the same [prizes],” Nilsson said. “It would be easier for the women. So it has been for us to push the development [of women’s skiing] but not to be unfair to the men’s skiers. That’s the reason we have in the prize money, five men and three women. And that reflects a little bit to the female factor, to be honest, in terms of the number of participants and the amount of professional skiers. It has to be the same difficulty to win a prize in both categories.”
What Does Equality Mean?
Race organizers are continuously trying to come to a more perfect solution, and one common thread seems to be that prize money must be earned by quality racing and exciting performances. Until the women’s fields are deemed to have provided that, they might not see as much compensation.
Visa Ski Classics, for example, continues to make changes. For the 2016/2017 season, women will for the first time be able to vie for a sprint title, worth five percent of the total prize money, just as the men have done for years.
“The reason it wasn’t the case [previously] is that there weren’t so many women — last year was the first time that there was really a group at the front,” Nilsson said. “Before it was just one or two who went away, so it wouldn’t have been interesting. The same people would have won the race as the sprint bibs. Now both men and women get a sprint bib, which is a step forward. Our goal is to make it equal the number of participants and who gets prizes.”
Nilsson guessed that the availability of intermediate prize money may also change the tactics of the women’s races and contribute to an exciting spectacle on television.
For his part, Idland insisted that the Blink organizers’ decision about prize money was not sexism. It could have gone the other way, he wrote in a letter to the Norwegian government explaining the discrepancy in pay.
“I was trying to give an example with the opposite situation,” Idland said. “If Marit [Bjørgen], Therese [Johaug], Heidi [Weng], Charlotte [Kalla], and maybe some of the Americans said to us that this race we would very much like to do, and the men said they didn’t want to do it and just let the [marathon] specialists do it, then I am quite sure we would have done the opposite thing. We would have led the coverage with the women, if the level was higher.”
After being contacted by the authorities, the Blink Festival is trying to work together with the government to achieve equality.
“Our answer was that they would really much like to come in dialogue with us to try to make a plan for the future,” Idland said. “And that we try to build up this competition with a clear aim to have everything on an equal basis in some number of years.”
Start of the Jizerská Padesatka, a 50 k classic race near Liberec Czech, Republic. (Photo: Swix Ski Classics)
Sunday’s 50-kilometer classic race Jizerská Padesatka near Liberec, Czech Republic, is the next event in the 2015 Swix Ski Classics long-distance circuit and racers are eager to hit the tracks after a long break since the first races in Italy in mid-December.
Going into the third event in the Ski Classics (after the opening Pro Team Prologue and La Sgambeda), Norway’s Anders Aukland of Team Santander tops the overall ranking. Johan Kjølstad, who won the overall Ski Classics title last season, is second overall.
In the Ski Classics athlete ranking, 42-year-old Aukland tops the list in front of his younger brother Jørgen Aukland. Kjølstad, who races with Team United Bakeries, is in third place, three points ahead of Czech veteran Stanislav Rezac of Team Silvani Madshus, while Sweden’s Jörgen Brink of Team Lager 157 is fifth overall going into the Jizerská 50 k on Sunday.
In the overall sprint competition, Andreas Nygaard (Team Santander) is currently wearing the green points bib, while Team United Bakeries’ Øystein Pettersen is in second place, 10 points behind Nygaard.
Holly Brooks at the Pro Team Tempo, which opened the Swix Ski Classics season in mid-December in Livigno, Italy. (Photo: Swix Ski Classics)
Brooks Skips the Jizerská
American Holly Brooks, who was picked up by the Aukland brothers’ Team Santander just a day prior to the start of the Ski Classics season, is in sixth place in the women’s overall competition. Seraina Boner of Switzerland, who races for Team Coop, tops both the overall standing as well as the athlete ranking.
However, Brooks is sitting out the Jizerská, returning to Europe for the Dolomitenlauf on Jan. 18, and joining her team for the Marcialonga a week later.
“I’m just trying to balance the FIS Marathon Cup, the Swix Ski Classics, and travel,” Brooks wrote in an email. “In years past I’ve done maybe three races 30K and longer spread out over a season, so I don’t know how my body is going to react and/or how the fatigue will build.
“My goal is to race as much as possible without a downgrade in performance,” she added. “I have a feeling I will be very, very tired by the end of the season.”
New Women Join Circuit
Prior to the Jizerská, the competition for the women’s overall Ski Classics title gets tougher. Three different Pro Teams have entered new female skiers into the long-distance series: Norway’s Hilde Landheim will race for Team Coop, Viktoria Melina joins the Russian Marathon Team, and Masako Ishida of Japan will race for Team United Bakeries.
In the Ski Classics, each professional team may enter a total of 10 skiers per season, male and female skiers included. Once entered, the teams may not unregister athletes, but they can enter additional athletes until they reach the maximum of 10 skiers.
Stellar Conditions
Czech Republich, home of the Jizerská 50, which will be held on Sunday, as pictured on Jan. 6.
Last year, the Jizerská races were canceled due to lack of snow, so event organizers are especially excited to put on the races this year and are proud to present stellar conditions on the race course. Promising weather forecasts, decent snowfall in the past week and cold weather have made it possible to produce enough artificial snow to cover the whole course, and the organizers are confident that they will be able to run the race as planned given the weather forecast, which predicted snow at the start and temperatures around freezing.
“We are happy to see that the weather has turned fine and the winter conditions have finally arrived,” Martin Koucky, a member of the Jizerská 50 Organizing Committee, said in a press release. “The whole Jizerská 50 track is now covered with snow while the race preparations continue to run along at full speed. There are some thirty centimeters of artificial and natural snow at potential critical points: at the Bedrichov stadium as
In addition to the 50 k Ski Classic on Sunday, the Jizerská race weekend opens with a 30 k skate race and a children’s race on Friday, and also offers a 25 k classic race as well as a corporate relay race on Saturday. New this year is a 1.5-kilometer double-pole sprint on Friday.
Six More Marathons on Tap
Team United Bakeries’ Pettersen (14), Berdal (11), and Kjølstad (13) at last month’s La Sgambeda in Livigno, Italy. (Photo Swix Ski Classics)
After the Jizerská 50 on Sunday, the Ski Classics moves to Switzerland for the brand-new La Diagonela on Jan. 17.
La Diagonela was introduced to the race series last winter as a replacement for the Jizerská 50, which was be canceled, but was such a success that the circuit included the race as a new, permanent installment on the Ski Classics calendar for the 2014/2015 season. This year, the 65-kilometer La Diagonela will be held on a picturesque new course through the villages of St. Moritz, Zuoz and Pontresina in the Engadin Valley.
After the stop in Switzerland, the Ski Classics moves to Italy for the Marcialonga in the valleys of Val di Fassa and Val di Fiemme on Jan. 25. The 70 k race is famous for its notorious final uphill climb, the Cascata, to the finish in Cavalese town square.
From Italy, the Pro Teams travel to Germany for the 50 k König Ludwig Lauf in Oberammergau, Bavaria, on Feb. 1.
After the König Ludwig Lauf, the athletes get a well-deserved break from competing until the legendary 90 k Vasaloppet from Saelen to Mora, Sweden, on March 8.
After Vasaloppet, the circuit moves on to Norway’s Birkebeinerrennet on March 21. The 54 k classic race starts in Rena, crosses to mountains to the finish line in Lillehammer, the host of the 1994 Winter Olympics.
The series once again ends with the season finale Årefjällsloppet in Sweden on March 28. The 75 k race offers stunning views from the in Vallbo to the finish line in Åre.
Therese Johaug, second overall in the Tour de Ski, skied a dominating race that was far and away faster than any of her competitors. Johaug’s performance went a long way toward her goal of being the first to the summit of the Alpe Cermis on Sunday.
Saturday’s event was a 5 k classic individual start race, held in Val di Fiemme, Italy, under drizzling skies that hovered around freezing.
Japan’s Masako Ishida was the early pace setter, recording fast splits through all the interval timing stations. Starting fifth, she passed through the first timing station at 1.3 k in 4:14.3.
USA’s Jessie Diggins, starting thirteenth, was just over Ishida’s time at 1.3 k, trailing the early leader’s time by 1.4 seconds. Liz Stephen of the US, who started fifteenth, trailed Diggins’ time through the first interval by 7 seconds.
Finland’s Aino-Kaisa Saarinen started in bib 21, and set the new pace to beat at 1.3 k at 4:12. Her teammate, Kerttu Niskanen, then came through the first interval a second behind Saarinen. Saarinen’s time would be beaten shortly thereafter by yet another Finn, Anne Kyllönen, who skied past the first timing point 3.3 seconds ahead of Saarinen. The Finns now held the top three positions.
Photo: Fischer / Nordic Focus.
Johaug, wearing the black sprint leader’s bib, started in 36th, two places ahead of the final red group skier, and Tour leader Astrid Jacobsen of Norway.
Johaug wasted no time in setting a fast pace on a slow day. Using her quick tempo and fast skis to her advantage on the hills of Val di Fiemme, she undercut Kyllönen’s time at 1.3 k by 3.2 seconds to set the leading pace.
If Jacobsen had hopes of winning the day, she knew she was in trouble early on. Placing third at 1.3 k, she was 5.1 seconds off of Johaug’s pace and did not appear to be climbing as well as her teammate.
The second timing interval, at 3.3 k, was held early by Ishida. Diggins, 8.1 seconds behind, was unable to break it. The Finnish women again took over the race as they passed the station, with Kyllönen, Saarinen, and Niskanen separated by just 1.6 seconds.
The Finnish times looked favorable until Johaug skied through, slashing Kyllönen’s time by 11.1 seconds. All eyes awaited Jacobsen’s arrival at the interval station, which confirmed that she was losing a lot of time to her compatriot. At 3.3 k, Jacobsen was 13.7 seconds behind her teammate, sitting in 5th place behind Johaug and the three Finns. Cameras showed a Norwegian coach instructing Jacobsen extensively as she labored up a climb.
Whatever was said must have a had an effect. Jacobsen, knowing that she was at risk of losing her entire 43 second advantage to Johaug through lost time and the fifteen bonus seconds Johaug would surely collect for winning, began to really battle through the final kilometer and half.
Johaug, meanwhile, tracked a skier at the edge of the finishing lanes, and tore through the finish line to set the winning time of 13:58.4, some 19.2 seconds ahead of then second place Kyllönen.
Johaug’s finish. Photo: Fischer / Nordic Focus.
Jacobsen arrived at the finish not long after, powerfully double poling her way across the line. Her late effort had paid off—she had stanched her time hemorrhage to just 1.2 seconds to Johaug over the last 1.2 k of the race, and most importantly, finished second, outskiing the Finnish contingent that had tired. Jacobsen seemed pleased with her result as she crossed the finish line and looked at the timing board, she raised her arm happily before succumbing to exhaustion. Her rally at the end was key to her chances tomorrow as she won a further 10 second bonus that preserved some distance between her and Johaug.
Jacobsen had another reason to celebrate: she won back the black sprint leader’s jersey, and no matter where she ends up on the Alpe Cermis, she is guaranteed to keep it.
Diggins had another great day of skiing, finishing in 10th, her best classic race ever in the World Cup, 30.3 seconds out of first. Liz Stephen was 21st, 52.4 seconds back. Holly Brooks left the Tour and did not start.
Johaug’s victory, her first of this year’s Tour de Ski, puts her in a good position heading into Sunday’s final stage up the Alpe Cermis. Still in second overall behind Jacobsen, Johaug’s effort shaved 14.9 seconds off of her teammate’s advantage. Johaug will start Sunday’s race just 23.8 seconds behind her teammate.
Speaking to FIS after the race, Johaug said, “It was a great day for me. I have been in a very good shape. My skis were just flying, I had the best skis I can ever remember. My plan was to go full speed from the beginning. I like competing in difficult weather conditions. I will try to recover well to be ready for tomorrow’s Final Climb.”
Jacobsen, for her part, said to Dagbladet, “I fought myself to the second place on sheer will. I did it because I wanted this more than the others.”
Kyllönen. Photo: Fischer / Nordic Focus.
Kyllönen was once again third, the same position she holds overall. She will start Sunday’s stage 1:31 behind Jacobsen. It was another fantastic day for the Finnish women who went 3, 4, 5 and 7. Finnish newspaper Helsingen Sanomat reported that Kyllönen has told her teammates that she hopes they will, “stream by to do some work.” Krista Lähteenmäki, who has twice in the past finished fourth in the Tour, told the newspaper that she dreads the final climb. “Every time, I have been really tired and thought in the morning that I can not go skiing. I have no idea what is coming tomorrow.”
The Alpe Cermis will now be especially difficult for Jacobsen as Johaug will be starting close enough to her to keep her in eye contact on the climb, if she doesn’t catch Jacobsen before then. “It was important to take the second today” Jacobsen said to Dagbladet, “Now I have her back from the start. I just have to go steadily throughout the race.”
Jacobsen has downplayed her chances of winning the Tour since she took possession of the leader’s bib. “Last year I lost 1:30 up the last hill, so any logical sense tells me that 24 seconds is not enough,” she conceded after the race. But she added to FIS, “I feel I am in very good shape and I can compete with almost everybody. I do not think much about the overall result in the Tour de Ski. It’s already a great achievement for me to be in the leading position before the final stage.”
Johaug, for her part, isn’t willing to take a victory for granted yet. “Astrid has shown that she is in great shape so far, so nothing is settled,” Johaug said. “But all indications are that it will be a Norwegian victory for the first time tomorrow, and we on the girls team are very happy,” she reported, smiling.
With Norway in an advantageous position to go 1st and 2nd tomorrow, Norwegian National Team Coach Egil Kristiansen is also hungrily looking at the possibilities of Heidi Weng, currently in 6th and just over half a minute behind Kyllönen, to move up to third and make the Tour a Norwegian treble.
“We have to work for it, but it should be our goose,” he said.
The Tour continues Sunday with the final stage, a 9 k freestyle pursuit race that finishes at the summit of the Alpe Cermis.
Norway’s Marit Bjorgen celebrates her fourth gold and fifth medal of the 2013 World Championships after winning Saturday’s 30 k classic mass start in Val di Fiemme, Italy. She hadn’t won the ultimate distance event at a World Championships since 2005.
FasterSkier’s coverage of the 2013 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy, is brought to you by the generous support of Fischer Sports.
VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – When you’ve already got 11 World Championship golds, it takes something really special to bring you to tears for the 12th one.
For Norway’s Marit Bjørgen, who’s been on the Nordic World Ski Championships podium more than any other woman, it wasn’t the 19 medals or number of victories that moved her. The 32-year-old was focused on her achievement in the one race that mattered most to her this season: the 30-kilometer classic mass start.
One of the sport’s most unrivaled competitors, Bjørgen had some losses over the years that haunted her. Placing second to Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk in the 2010 Olympics and again at the 2011 World Championships to teammate Therese Johaug topped the list. Both were in 30 k mass starts, and while she viewed the latter as “winning a silver,” it still wasn’t the gold she had hoped for.
Norway’s bronze medalist in Saturday’s 30 k classic mass start, Therese Johaug (l) and fourth-place finisher Heidi Weng congratulate teammate Marit Bjørgen on her fourth victory at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. (Photo: Fiemme2013)
And so she tailored her focus and training this season specifically for that race. That’s why Bjørgen, who will turn 33 in 19 days, took nearly a month off of World Cup racing from late-January to mid-February. That’s why she collapsed at the finish on Saturday and held her head in her hands as two of her teammates, Johaug and Kristin Størmer Steira, kneeled to hug her.
Her fourth gold medal of the week, and fifth in five races, meant everything to her. And she had worked for 30 k to get it.
“I think the other girls on the team knew that this was one of my biggest goals this season,” Bjørgen said at a post-race press conference. In the last 300 meters, she outsprinted Kowalczyk to claim her first 30 k gold since the 2005 World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany.
“They were really happy for me and we are really happy for the whole team that we have been so good in this World Championships,” she added. “We have taken many golds, many medals, but we haven’t celebrated yet.”
Bjørgen contributed to Norway’s total of 16, between the men and the women, with four golds – one of which was in Thursday’s relay – and a silver. Johaug added another gold and a bronze, which she took 5 seconds behind Kowalczyk on Saturday.
Easily a race favorite, Bjørgen had her work cut out for her in taking on Johaug, the defending world champ and this week’s 10 k winner, and Kowalczyk, the classic distance specialist. Of course there were other contenders, too, like Norway’s Heidi Weng, Germany’s Nicole Fessel, Sweden’s Anna Haag and Charlotte Kalla. Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen and Anne Kyllönen were also in the mix, along with Masako Ishida of Japan, but none came close to the podium.
A sea of red: Three Norwegians and Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk (second from l) lead early in Saturday’s 30 k classic mass start at the 2013 World Championships. Therese Johaug (l) and eventual-winner Marit Bjørgen work up fron, followed by Heidi Weng (r) and Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla (8).
The Kowalczyk-Bjørgen-Johaug trio wouldn’t let them.
On the third of six laps, the three frontrunners – who led from the start – began to drop the 42 other starters. Weng held onto the back, and Steira and Haag managed to stay within a few seconds behind. By the halfway point, six women remained in contention, with Bjørgen up front then Johaug, Kowalczyk, Weng, Fessel and Haag, respectively.
Lap four was a different story.
With temperatures soaring above 10 degrees Celsius (50 Fahrenheit) and the snow softening accordingly, several of the top skiers had already changed their skis.
Ishida was the only one besides Kowalczyk, Bjørgen and Johaug to catch a glimpse up front, albeit briefly, at the start of lap three after they did so. She chose to go another round on the same boards and paid the price, slipping up the final climbs.
Japan’s Masako Ishida briefly took the lead, ahead of eventual-winner Marit Bjørgen (7), on the start of the third of six laps in Saturday’s 30 k classic mass start at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. She finished 10th.
“I can’t make diagonal up so I was losing power,” Ishida said after falling back to 10th and fighting to keep that position to the finish. “It was difficult. I am not so strong like Marit Bjørgen and Justyna. … I made a mistake today.”
Still going strong up front halfway through the fourth lap, Kowalczyk, Johaug and Bjørgen steadily distanced themselves from the rest. Coming through the stadium at 20 k, Weng skied in fourth, 11 seconds back, and Fessel another 8.3 behind in fifth.
All the top women used their second opportunity to change skis, and Kowalczyk, Johaug and Bjørgen left the stadium with a sizable gap. Less than two kilometers later at the high point of the course, they were 34 seconds up on Weng.
Over the top of one of the last hills, Johaug looked over her shoulder to make sure no one was close. Comforted by the empty expanse behind her, she proceeded to switch leads with Kowalczyk and her teammate for the rest of the penultimate lap.
Heading into the stadium with 5 k to go, Bjørgen, Kowalczyk and Johaug had 42.5 seconds between them and Weng. Fessel was 57.4 seconds back in fifth, and Ishida was sixth, nearly a minute and 30 seconds behind, leading a chase group with Steira, Haag and Niskanen. Kyllönen was another nine seconds back in 10th.
A Norwegian coach shouts to Marit Bjørgen (l) and Therese Johaug (c) as they set out on the last of six laps in Saturday’s 30 k classic mass start with Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk. Bjørgen went on beat Kowalczyk by 3.7 seconds.
The front three remained relatively quiet on the last lap, saving their energy for the final two kilometers. Bjørgen and Johaug strategically hung in second and third throughout the loop while Kowalczyk worked to stay ahead, picking up the pace on second-to-last hill.
Her Norwegian contenders answered, and they kept their order — Kowalczyk, Johaug, Bjørgen – over the top. As Kowaczyk double poled into the ensuing downhill, the other two stood up, conserving.
At the bottom, Bjørgen carried her momentum and pulled alongside Kowalczyk. With less than a kilometer left, this was the moment everyone had been waiting for. Bjørgen challenged Kowalczyk to the top, and Johaug slipped back while struggling with her kick. Before the descent, Bjørgen let Kowalczyk lead into the stadium.
“I attacked on the last climb and Justyna answered on that, and I thought, ‘I have to be in second [on the] downhill and use my power,’ ” Bjørgen told reporters.
The tactic worked as Bjørgen slingshot past Kowalczyk over the final bump before the long stretch to the finish. There, she extended her gap by several hundred meters, leaving no question who was the 30 k world champion. Bjørgen beat Kowaczyk by 3.7 seconds in 1:27:19.9, and Johaug finished third, 8.7 seconds back.
“I am proud of myself,” Bjørgen told NRK. “This here was my goal in this championship. I have an incredibly good feeling right now.”
Sitting on the ground with her head tucked into her knees, Kowaczyk absorbed the loss. She later told reporters she was disappointed, but pleased with the effort. Asked why she didn’t attack first, she said she tried, but without much luck.
“Today, Norway skied really good,” Kowalczyk said. “After 30 k, you don’t think nothing, you try to ski fast and fast and nothing more.”
The race’s 2011 freestyle champion, Johaug immediately congratulated her teammate at the finish, hovering over Bjørgen as she recovered on the ground.
“Justyna was much stronger than me to the last hill,” Johaug said at the press conference. “I won the bronze medal today. It was a special race; it was a lot of tactics and nobody wants to go first. This World Championships has been a dream for me. I leave here with one gold and one silver and one bronze medal, and of course, the gold in the relay so I could never dream about that before.”
Nearly a minute and 30 seconds off the podium, Weng was the third Norwegian across in fourth, 1:38.3 behind Bjørgen. Fessel notched her best individual result at World Championships in fifth (+1:49.0) and Haag was sixth (+2:05.7). Finland took seventh and eighth with Niskanen and Kyllönen, respectively, and Steira placed ninth. Ishida made it into the top 10, and Kalla, who competed in all six races at this year’s World Championships was 11th.
Norway’s Marit Bjørgen Norway nabs a clear-cut victory over Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland in Saturday’s 30 k classic mass start at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
Of note:
While it had nothing to do with the race, one of the most comical moments of the day came at the post-race press conference. Just when it seemed like the question-and-answer session with Bjørgen had come to an end, an Italian reporter asked her what she thinks about being a “sexy icon” – “sexikon” in Euro-speak.
Bjørgen laughed.
“I’m not thinking about that,” she said. “I’m getting [to be] an old women and I think the younger women on the team like Therese and Heidi are much more sexy.”
Japan’s Masako Ishida competing in the 2.5 k freestyle prologue at last year’s World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden.
In August, Japan’s Masako Ishida told FIS Cross-Country News she had some very specific goals in mind for the coming season. Among them, she wanted a World Cup podium and some top-five results.
Fair enough. Ishida, now 32, had been there before. Back in 2009, she scored third in a World Cup 30-kilometer classic mass start in Trondheim, Norway. Since she started racing at the sport’s highest level in 2001, Ishida has notched nearly two-dozen top 10s on the World Cup. Six of them came this season, including her seventh-place finish in the 15 k skiathlon at last weekend’s pre-Olympic Sochi World Cup in Russia.
A two-time Olympian, Ishida was fifth in the 30 k classic mass start in Vancouver three years ago. She’s been to five World Championships and placed as high as fourth in the 2009 classic-team sprint in Liberec, Czech Republic.
Ishida racing in the women’s 10km classic in Canmore earlier this season.
More than still kicking, she’s been known to push the pace in a number of distance races. And with her sights set on the 2014 Sochi Olympics, Ishida told FasterSkier in an email interview (translated by her coach Hisashi Yamaguchi) last week that she might retire after next season, but she’s not positive. She’s also not sure she can beat Justyna Kowalczyk in a classic race, but she’s not worried about her, either.
FasterSkier:It seems like you’ve been selective with World Cups (after taking nearly a month off the World Cup after Canmore, Alberta, and resuming the circuit in La Clusaz, France). Why did you decide to race in Sochi?
Masako Ishida: Just because there’s a World Cup. If we have chance to get a good result we can go there! Of course next year, the Olympics are there. It would be nice if we can investigate the course, environment and also food.
FS:How do you decide which World Cup races to do? Does it have to do with the team’s budget or finances?
MI: Yes exactly. We don’t have so much budget to participate in of all the World Cups. So we have to choose which race is more priority for us. It is very easy reason.
FS:Would you like to do more World Cups?
MI: Yes, especially this year I had to miss Tour de Ski. This made me very pity. But we don’t have budget. I hope we can get some serious sponsors as soon as possible.
FS:What do you think of your season so far?
Masako Ishida (r) after placing second in the 8 k freestyle hill climb last February in Szklarska Poreba, Poland, behind Kazakhstan’s Anastasia Slonova (c). Liz Stephen (l) was third. (Photo: Marcin Soto)
MI: It is well done so far. Because I didn’t think I could get 8th place in Kuusamo. Before I never got top 10 in a mini tour or Tour de Ski. Also in the La Clusaz 10km classic, I didn’t think I can follow the leading group such a long time. It was really good experience.
FS:What have you done in training to help you achieve some of your best World Cup results?
MI: This summer I stayed in Jura, France, about 1100 m above sea level … [which is] no effect to training volume. I had a long stay to keep good training volume at good altitude.
[Before] La Clusaz, I did a 30 km classic race in Bessan, France. That was 1750m elevation. After Bessan, I felt La Clusaz at 1400m was not so hard. I guess it was working good.
FS:What are your goals for World Championships? What events will you do? Any chance for a team event?
MI: I try to get podium in 30 km classic. I don’t know what kind of [other] events I will do. Probably I can also try the skiathlon. Team event, the coach will decide.
(Note: When asked what team events Japan will compete in, Yamaguchi said the women will not field a team sprint or relay. With a total of three women and five men, Ishida leads the group as its only B-team skier.
Two other women, Yuki Kobayashi and Michiko Kashiwabara, are on Japan’s C-team along with the men (Keishin Yoshida, Nobu Naruse, Hiroyuki Miyazawa, Akira Lenting, and Yuichi Onda).
“This season our federation made strict rules for the national team,” Yamaguchi wrote. “So we have no one in the A-team. … We have many talented skiers in Japan. That is more often men than women.”
With all five men at World Championships, Japan will likely use some combination of them for team events.)
FS:What is the status of your women’s team? Are there younger women with potential?
MI: It’s a bit difficult to answer because I’m not coach. … Just I really hope young members will get stronger and stronger.
(Note: Asked about his team vision and long-term goals, Yamaguchi wrote, “We try to get first medal in the history of Japan Cross Country in Olympic Games.”)
FS:What do you think of Justyna Kowalczyk? Can you beat her in a classic race?
MI: Justyna is kind with me! And she has very strong mind. I guess this is very good point to be strong race and for life.
I don’t now if I can beat her or not. Anyways, it’s not only Justyna there. And I just go my pace. I can get fans by competing with other strong people. This is basically the reason to compete for me.
Ishida (l) signing autographs.
FS:How long do you think you’ll continue racing? What would you like to do after?
MI: Probably I will stop after next season, but I [haven’t] decided 100%. I want to study and help young athletes to be strong. But now I have to concentrate to get good results otherwise, there’s no chance to get it. I’m not so [good at multitasking.]
FS:What have you been up to recently?
MI: Nothing special at all. I’m just training and relax and training cycle. I have to do things [and] I do it.
Norway’s Marit Bjørgen celebrating her 10 k freestyle pursuit victory at last year’s World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden. Bjørgen came back from more than a month off racing to win Saturday’s 10 k classic mass start in La Clusaz, France, and keep her 2012/2013 win streak alive.
Neither heart arrhythmia nor iced-over skis could bring Marit Bjørgen down on Saturday. It had been more than a month and the Norwegian queen of nordic skiing had missed four straight weekends of World Cup racing, including the Tour de Ski.
It wasn’t part of her plan; an irregular heartbeat in December sent her to the hospital for an overnight observation just a week before the Tour de Ski. Bjørgen, 32, had intended to challenged the Tour’s defending champion, Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland, but never got her chance.
Keeping her head high, she resolved to return to racing for the La Clusaz World Cup, in a French alpine village nestled near the Swiss border. Saturday’s 10-kilometer classic mass start would be her first race since she won the Dec. 2 mini tour in Kuusamo, Finland. Up to that point, she was unbeaten – winning every World Cup race to date this season.
In Bjørgen’s absence, Kowalczyk seized every opportunity she could to top the podium and tallied eight total victories, including her fourth consecutive Tour de Ski title. In just one race – the skate sprint in Canmore – Kowalczyk didn’t make the top three. On her 30th birthday on Saturday, that uncharacteristic result of 21st wasn’t on Kowalczyk’s agenda.
With two rivals gunning for the top spot, Norway’s Therese Johaug (back in her first race since placing second in the Tour) also made a point to stay ahead of nearly 60 others in the mass start.
After a mostly cold and dry week in La Clusaz, waxing turned out to be a challenge with some new snow and a little rain varying conditions throughout the three-lap course. It didn’t help that temperatures were well above freezing at the start and reached 7 degrees Celsius (45 Fahrenheit).
Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) stops to scrape ice off her skis in the last few hundred meters of Saturday’s 10 k classic mass start in La Clusaz, France. In the hunt for first, she was third.
US Ski Team women’s coach Matt Whitcomb said several skiers had to stop during the race to scrape the ice off their skis. A few hundred meters before the finish, Kowalczyk, who led the second half of the race, was one of them.
“It’s the kind of day where if you try to hit it out of the park, you can end up having really slippery or really icy skis,” Whitcomb said. “In general, the entire field was kind of icing over the tops of the course.”
Kowalczyk’s tough break took some suspense out of what was shaping up into three-way fight to the finish, leaving Bjørgen and Johaug pushing for the victory. Bjørgen took it by 2.7 seconds over her teammate in 27:04.6. Kowalczyk came through in third, 18 seconds later, holding off Japan’s Masako Ishida by two-tenths of a second.
After Johaug took the lead two kilometers in, Ishida worked her way up to fourth and stayed there for a majority of the race. The 32-year-old from Japan led the chase group initially then pulled farther ahead at 4.5 k to ski alone for the next two kilometers. By 6.6 k, Ishida nearly caught the lead three: Kowalczyk, Johaug and Bjørgen, in that order.
Ishida finished more than 25 seconds ahead of Norway’s Heidi Weng, who was fifth (+43.6). Led by Anne Kylloenen in sixth, Finland landed three in the top 10, including Aino-Kaisa Saarinen in seventh (tying Norway’s Kristin Størmer Steira) and Kerttu Niskanen in ninth. Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen was the fourth Norwegian in 10th (+1:01.2).
A happy Bjørgen told NRK that she was lucky to pick the track she did near the finish.
“I saw [Kowalczyk] run, and thought, ‘Now you must glide on skis,’ ” she said, according to a translation. “I’m glad I did not go in the same track, it started [tugging] on her shortly after.”
As for Bjørgen’s heart, which has been closely monitored by her personal doctor, she told reporters before the race she wasn’t worried about it. “The heart pump fine and good,” she said after.
Mostly she was thinking about her form after such a long stint off.
“I was wondering if I had that little extra that it takes to win,” Bjørgen said, adding that she knew how fit her competitors were. “It was so fun to win.”
Coming off a fatiguing Tour, Johaug said she was a little nervous about where she’d end up. All things considered, she was pleased with second.
“It’s a little surprising that the body works so well,” Johaug said.
From the start, Johaug and teammate Heidi Weng positioned themselves up front and were tied for the lead by 1.2 k. At 4.5 k, Weng was still in the mix in fourth behind Kowalczyk.
“Therese did a fantastic job today,” Bjørgen said. “It’s especially fun to win when she is number two.”
Kowalczyk remained humble, saying at a press conference that she felt “really good” during the race.
“Today after the men’s race I will celebrate my 30th birthday,” Kowalczyk said. “It will be a perfect day I think.”
After that, Kowalczyk plans to compete in Sochi, Russia, in two weekends. Bjørgen and Johaug said they’ll forgo the next World Cup from Feb. 1-3 to rest up for World Championships. Instead, they plan to race at Norwegian Championships next week.
CANMORE, Alberta – Justyna Kowalczyk knows a thing or two about racing in Canmore. Among them, hard tracks, big hills and cold snow. Perfect, she thought before Sunday’s World Cup 15-kilometer skiathlon.
Every single distance race Poland’s pride and joy has done at the Canmore Nordic Centre, some 1,400 meters (4,600 feet) above sea level, she’s made the podium. Last year’s overall World Cup runner-up, Kowalczyk has won four races in Canmore since 2008, and two of them came this week.
After a victory in Thursday’s 10 k classic mass start, the 29-year-old rebounded from a less-then-stellar skate sprint on Saturday (in which she was 21st) to win the skiathlon. Doing so didn’t seem to be much of a problem; she created a gap of nearly a minute and ended up finishing in 42:51.5 minutes, 34.9 seconds ahead of Finland’s Anne Kylloenen in second.
Just one-tenth of a second behind, Vibeke Skofterud of Norway took third after Kylloenen outsprinted her to the finish. Kristin Størmer Steira (NOR) was fourth (+35.8) after initially trying to hang on to Kowalczyk with Skofterud for the first half of the race. Skofterud dropped off the pace on the second of four laps, but Steira held on.
Kowalczyk opened up an 11-second gap by the transition, and over the next kilometer, Steira fell off the pace. Skofterud picked up the slack and led a six-person chase group, but the 30-second deficit progressively increased. With one lap to go, Kowalczyk was nearly 50 seconds ahead.
“My plan was not so fast the first lap and then … ,” Kowalczyk said with a laugh.
The rest was self explanatory. She created a gap that made her essentially untouchable, even as the group worked together to catch up – albeit slightly – with three kilometers to go. Kowalczyk’s lead went from 52 seconds to about 35 at the finish.
“This was good plan I think,” she added.
Steira tailing Kowalczyk in the classic portion of the race.
Kowalczyk said she expected Steira and Skofterud to stick with her, and was surprised to drop Skofterud relatively early. Meanwhile, Kowalczyk tried to maintain a steady pace in the classic leg and accelerate when she put on her skate skis, and was pleased to find she wasn’t tired at the transition.
“My ski was working better today [and] I feel good,” she said. “It was really nice, not-so-fast snow, perfect for me.
Her win put her atop the World Cup standings ahead of American Kikkan Randall (who was eighth on Sunday) and Norway’s Marit Bjørgen, respectively.
“I have good feelings here, great memories,” she added, acknowledging a crowd with dozens of Canmore-based Polish supporters. “Sprint skating is not perfect for me, but all races, number one or number two is perfect.”
First place was probably preferable on Sunday. Kylloenen, 25, was more than happy with her silver, which matched the previous personal best she set Thursday. Kylloenen hadn’t been on a World Cup podium before this week, and on Sunday, she climbed from skiing outside the top 10 early to do so.
“I know that I’m in very good shape now,” Kylloenen said in a press conference. “I also tried to stay in the group and I know that I’m very strong that last part.”
Skofterud early in the race.
She edged Skofterud as well as Steira, Masako Ishida (JPN), Valentina Shevchenko (UKR) and Alija Iksanova (RUS), respectively, by less than two seconds at the finish. Kikkan Randall was next across the line in eighth, 1:18.4 minutes back, Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg (NOR) was ninth (+1:18.5) and Anna Haag (SWE) was 10th (+1:19.2).
Skofterud said she didn’t feel well during the classic portion, but hung in and found the 7.5 k skate leg was an entirely different race. About 10 seconds back on Steira at the transition, she led the chase group out on the next lap while Steira fell off the pace.
“I had to fight hard to stay in the group and when I get my skating skis I felt better and
better,” Skofterud said. “In the end I was looking forward to the sprint and I was looking for where Kylloenen was because I know she has a good last hundred meters, but I’m happy.”
After placing fourth in Thursday’s 10 k, she was pleased to capture her first individual World Cup podium of the season. The 32-year-old said she’s been having problems with her lungs in Canmore.
“This year I have not been feeling that good so I have been fighting hard to get in shape,” Skofterud said. “Today I felt better than I did Thursday, but still not 100 percent, but it’s going the right way and it’s good to go home to Christmas with better feeling.”
From here, she’ll prepare for the second World Cup period, minus the Tour de Ski. She made the decision to skip the Tour in order to maintain her form and training through the holidays and peak at World Championships. Without the conflict, it was an easy decision to race in Canmore.
Skofterud (l) and Kylloenen (r) battle to the line.
“I wanted to race every race before Christmas except for the sprint,” she said. “I think it was positive.”
Narrowly missing the podium in fifth and sixth, Ishida and Schevchenko took turns leading the chase pack, but ultimately, Skofterud drove the pace. Steira also got in the mix after climbing back from seventh place.
“I was surprised [with] myself with this day and that made me feeling even better than I did,” Skofterud said. “When I saw that I had possibilities to take part in the sprint, it was a good feeling and that made me stronger. It was cool to ski down into the stadium in front.”
I was reading FIS’s interview with Japan’s Masako Ishida with interest, because I’ve really been rooting for her to pull off some strong results. In the interview, she mentions that some of her goals for next season include increasing her presence in the top 5, and in particular making the jump up to some podium finishes.
It’s not like she hasn’t been there before. She managed a 3rd place back in 2008-2009 in a 30k classic mass start. And last season she finished 5th twice (15k and 30k classic mass starts) and also finished 6th once (15k classic interval start).
You may have noticed a slight pattern there, which she also touches on in the interview:
So, like many Japanese skiers, Ishida performs dramatically better in classic races. If we look at only classic races, measured by finishing place (since that’s the metric she mentioned herself), we see the following:
(That reminds me that I need to tweak that function so that it always runs from a minimum value of 1 when plotting by rank…0th place, indeed!)
The red line corresponds to 3rd. As you can see, Ishida improved steadily for several seasons, and then had a bit of a break though in 2008-2009. But even in classic races, her specialty, I’d not that she has a pretty high level of variability. A bit under 1/3 of her classic results over the past three seasons have been outside the top 30, so she can be a bit inconsistent.
Last season did see a bit of an increase in top ten classic results, though it’s still accompanied by a range of results back into the 30s. What I really like to look for in an athlete making a jump is for their bad races to improve as much as their good races do, which hasn’t really been the case here.
That said, Ishida has consistently been able to crank out multiple top ten classic results each year for several seasons running, and I doubt that will change next year. The tricky part is figuring out how she’ll find a way to sneak onto the podium.
A podium result in a women’s World Cup distance event is hard. That sounds pretty dumb when you say it out loud, but I actually have something specific in mind. Think for a moment who you’re going to have to displace to get on the podium. The vast majority of the women’s distance podium results recently have gone to Björgen, Kowalczyk or Johaug. I think it’s fair to say that those three have to a certain extent “gapped the field” in distance events recently. Certainly other folks sneak in there, but when those three are racing well they just seem to be on a slightly different level then the rest of the women’s field.
What’s worse for Ishida is that all three of them are fairly excellent classic skiers, and they each have pretty much owned Ishida head-to-head. Indeed, if we compare Ishida’s results to each of the women who reached the podium last season in a distance race, things look a bit bleak:
(Negative values here are bad for Ishida, positive values are good for Ishida.) Jacobsen, Weng and Brodin are the only three who Ishida compares relatively favorably to in classic events.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m a huge fan of Ishida and I would be thrilled if she popped a great podium result. But at the moment, I feel like the most likely route for her to get there is to find a classic race next season that might be poorly attended. The 30k classic mass start at World Championships would be ideal, except that, of course, everyone else will surely be there. Possibly the 10k classic in Canmore would be a better bet, as possibly a bunch of Europeans won’t want to do all that travelling. The only other possibility I can see on the schedule is the 10k classic in Lahti immediately following WSCs, figuring that some women will take the weekend off to rest after World Champs.
Marit Bjoergen (NOR) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) during classical mass start in Nove Mesto (CZE). Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus.
The Marit Bjørgen (NOR), Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), and Therese Johaug (NOR) show continued in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic, as the three packed the podium once again, this time in the 15km classic mass start.
The recipe is simple, and easily repeatable. Take the three women listed above, mix together well in any type of distance race format, add in a hearty shake of snow, and bake for 15 to 45 minutes.
The result will be a lovely podium tinged in red and black, though some variation should be expected in the exact pattern.
There seemed to be some hope for a little variety in women’s distance racing last week when Charlotte Kalla (SWE) battled with Bjørgen in the 10km skate mass start in Rybinsk, Russia.
Kalla placed second in that race, and Marthe Kristoffersen (NOR) outsprinted Johaug for third. With Kowalczyk struggling to seventh, only one of the big three was on the podium.
But it was business as usual the following day in the skiathlon. This time it was Bjørgen who was not in top form, but Johaug skied away from Kowalczyk for the win, and Bjørgen took third.
Today was even more within the norm. By the 5k mark, the trio had opened a small gap that predictably continued to grow.
The three skied in lockstep through 12 kilometers before Johaug began to struggle with her kick and fell off the pace.
Kowalczyk pushed at the front, with Bjørgen dialed in on her tails. The Norwegian looked relaxed, and in no danger of succumbing to any attack that Kowalczyk might throw down.
Headed into the stadium the final time, Bjørgen moved into the lead, riding faster skis to a 5 meter gap. Stronger over the rise in front of the crowds, she ended any last hope for Kowalczyk and double poled home for the win.
Johaug easily held position for third, and Vibeke Skofterud, back in form after missing the Tour de Ski due to illness, was fourth, besting an impressive Masako Ishida (JPN) in the homestretch.
The win moved Bjørgen back into the overall World Cup lead by a mere 12 points. Kowalczyk won both intermediate bonus sprints, but with Bjørgen second each time, the Pole only gained an additional six points.
Of course, with the narrow margin separating the women, those points could be the difference come March.
Johaug solidified her third spot in the overall, and Kalla, who was sixth behind Ishida, jumped past an idle Kikkan Randall (USA) into fourth.
Kalla’s performance, if not the most impressive, was at least exciting. She spent most of the race further back in a small chase group, before attacking hard in the last lap to finish at the front of the group.
As is common in women’s World Cup racing, the pack quickly broke into numerous smaller clusters due to the high pace set by the leaders out of the start.
While there may not be much drama at the front, there is plenty of moving around back in the field, with attacks, responses, and attempts to bridge up.
And while the predictability of the podium composition may get old, the fight between Bjørgen and Kowalczyk will be one for the ages, bringing to mind 2000 when Bente Skari (NOR) overtook Kristina Smigun (EST) on the final day to win the title by ten points. Smigun had the overall wrapped up with less than two k to go in the last race when she crashed, losing several places and the crystal globe.
Bjørgen, in a previous incarnation as the world’s best skier, experienced such a battle for the overall back in 2006.
She held off a hard charging Beckie Scott (CAN) to win by just 16 points. On the final day of the season, Scott won the 15k skiathlon and Bjoergen was 4th,11 seconds ahead of Valentina Schevchenko (UKR) in 6th.
Had Shevchenko and Katerina Neumannova (CZE) in 5th, gotten the upper hand, Scott would have been champion.
Back in the present, Bjørgen pulled of something of an upset. The 15k classic is Kowalczyk’s best event, so the Norwegian was especially pleased to take the win.
She pointed to her fast skis, which gave her an edge on the final descent as the key, but said that prior to the race she was not sure she would be able to defeat Kowalczyk in the finish straight.
Early in the race, Kowalczyk noted the superiority of Bjørgen’s glide, and did her best to get away on the climbs. With a skate sprint next weekend in Poland, Kowalczyk does not believe she will take back the top spot immediately, but with plenty of classic races yet to come, her chances are still good.
While Johaug remained within 14 seconds of the leaders, her last lap was not so good.
“I was little bit tired in the last lap and I also lost grip in the uphills, and my skis were not the fastest in thee downhills,” Johaug said, describing a perfect storm of slowness.
She was plenty happy with third place however, and enjoyed the fine weather—moderate temperatures below freezing, firm tracks and sunny skies—a rare combination this season.
Johaug might not be in contention for the overall, but she is a big piece of the desert that is women’s World Cup ski racing. And for the moment at least, Bjørgen is the biggest slice of that pie. In just over a month however, all that matters is who ends up as the whipped cream on top.
Of Note:
– Norway placed three in the top four, and five in the top eight with Astrid Jacobsen and Heidi Weng in seventh and eighth respectively.
– Three teams, Norway, Sweden, and Russia, combined for 17 of the top-30 spots.
– Russia had just one skier in the top-18, Alija Iksanova in 10th, but then packed five women into 19 through 24.
– The result was the second-best of Iksanova’s career, behind only a 6th in Rogla this season. The 28-year-old has just 17 World Cup starts, all but two coming this year.
– Ishida’s 5th was her best since placing 3rd in the 30km classic in Trondheim in 2009.
– In three out of the last four World Cup distance races, Germans Nicole Fessel and Katrin Zeller have finished within two places of each other. In two of those races they finished in consecutive places. Today they sprinted to a photo finish, with Fessel gaining the upper hand to place 13th.
– Sofia Bleckur (SWE), only an occasional World Cup presence for Sweden was 17th, her second-best career result. The 28-year-old will race the relay tomorrow.
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![The women's World Cup 15 k skiathlon podium on Saturday in PyeongChang, South Korea, with Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk (c) in first, American Liz Stephen (l) in second, and Japan's Masako Ishida (r) in third. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/Podium04022017vt0038.jpg")
![American Liz Stephen (2) skiing at the front of the women's 15 k skiathlon on Saturday, alongside Norway's Silje Øyre Slind (1) and Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk (3), at the World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/Soboleva04022017vt0039.jpg")
![Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk winning her first World Cup in three years on Saturday, the women's 15 k skiathlon at in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/Kowalczyk04022017vt0027.jpg")
![Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) en route to a career-best World Cup result of fourth in the women's 15 k skiathlon in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/Patterson04022017vt0067.jpg")
![American Ben Loomis (6) leads Norway's Lars Ivar Skaarset (7) during the third leg of the nordic-combined 4 x 5 k team event on Thursday at 2017 Nordic Junior Worlds at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Loomis brought the U.S. from ninth to seventh, and his team ultimately finished seventh. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/ben-loomis-relay.jpg")
![The women's 15 k skiathlon podium at the PyeongChang World Cup in South Korea, with Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk (c) in first, American Liz Stephen (l) in second, and Japan's Masako Ishida in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/C3zPZkaUcAADYaB.jpg-large.jpeg")
![Jenn Jackson (Team Hardwood/Lappe Nordic) racing at 2016 Canadian nationals in Whitehorse, Yukon. (Photo: Bob Nishikawa)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/25367381004_815c7d9545_b.jpg")
![Jenn Jackson (r) and her brother Ryan Jackson at 2016 Junior/U23 World Championships in Rasnov, Romania. Both qualified to represent Canada again at this year's Junior/U23 World Championships in Midway, Utah. (Courtesy photo)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/01/DSC_0317.jpeg")
![Tord Asle Gjerdalen (l) and Britta Johansson-Norgren (r) after winning the 2016 Marcialonga 70 k classic. In July, Johansson Norgren won the Blink Classics 60 k rollerski race - but received only 20% as much prize money as Petter Northug got for winning the men's race. (Photo: Visma Ski Classics)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/08/unnamed-9.jpg")
![Seraina Boner (l) of Switzerland and Team Coop and Petter Eliassen of Norway and Team LeasePlan Go won the 2015 Årefjällsloppet, receiving equal paydays. (Photo: Ski Classics)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/04/Seraina-Boner-Petter-Eliassen-Årefjallsloppet-2015-Foto-Ski-Classics.jpg")
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![Norway's Marit Bjorgen celebrates her fourth gold and fifth medal of the 2013 World Championships after winning Saturday's 30 k classic mass start in Val di Fiemme, Italy. She hadn't won the ultimate distance event at a World Championships since 2005.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/IMG_1530.jpg")
![Norway's bronze medalist in Saturday's 30 k classic mass start, Therese Johaug (l) and fourth-place finisher Heidi Weng congratulate teammate Marit Bjørgen on her fourth victory at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. (Photo: Fiemme2013)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/EC179FEE0F8E42ED9E93155D36FAFBD3.jpg")
![A sea of red: Three Norwegians and Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk (second from l) lead early in Saturday's 30 k classic mass start at the 2013 World Championships. Therese Johaug (l) and eventual-winner Marit Bjørgen work up fron, followed by Heidi Weng (r) and Sweden's Charlotte Kalla (8).](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/IMG_1201.jpg")
![Japan's Masako Ishida briefly took the lead on the start of the third of six laps in Saturday's 30 k classic mass start at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. She finished 10th.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/IMG_1294.jpg")
![A Norwegian coach shouts to Marit Bjørgen (l) and Therese Johaug (c) as they set out on the last of six laps in Saturday's 30 k classic mass start with Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk. Bjørgen went on beat Kowalczyk by 3.7 seconds.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/IMG_1477.jpg")
![Norway's Marit Bjørgen Norway nabs a clear-cut victory over Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland in Saturday's 30 k classic mass start at the 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/03/IMG_1520.jpg")
![Ishida racing in the women's 10km classic in Canmore earlier this season.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2013/02/ishida-1-web.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/12/women-15-start-web.jpg" "Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) leads the women's 15km skiathlon out of the start.")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/12/women-15-stride-web.jpg" "Steira tailing Kowalczyk in the classic portion of the race.")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/12/women-15-skof-web.jpg" "Skofterud early in the race.")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/12/women-15-finish-2-web.jpg" "Skofterud (l) and Kylloenen (r) battle to the line.")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/12/women-15-finish-web.jpg" "It isn't pretty but Kylloenen's lunge gets the job done.")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/12/women-15-celebrate-web.jpg" "Kowalczyk celebrated across the line.")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2012/12/women-15-dwonhill-web.jpg" "Downhill.")
![](http://www.statisticalskier.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/plot1.png" "plot1")
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![](http://www.statisticalskier.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/08/plot3.png" "plot3")
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/2012/02/Group110212ah003.jpg" "Marit Bjoergen (NOR) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) during classical mass start in Nove Mesto (CZE). Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus.")