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

Tag: Ramsau World Cup

  • Notes and Quotes: The Good and Bad from Davos, Ramsau and Annecy

    Notes and Quotes: The Good and Bad from Davos, Ramsau and Annecy

    The women's podium at Sunday's World Cup skate sprint in Davos, Switzerland: (from l to r) Kikkan Randall (USST) in second, Marit Bjørgen (NOR) in first, and Denise Herrmann (GER) in third. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)
    The women’s podium at Sunday’s World Cup skate sprint in Davos, Switzerland: (from l to r) Kikkan Randall (USST) in second, Marit Bjørgen (NOR) in first, and Denise Herrmann (GER) in third. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)

    From the cross-country World Cup in Davos, Switzerland, to U.S. Nordic Combined’s best team-sprint result in Ramsau, Austria, to five straight days of biathlon races in Annecy, France: here’s everything you didn’t get to read about over the weekend in simple thumbs-up-thumbs-down fashion. And if you missed the recaps, check out our digest.

    Likes:

    Skiing fast:

    “Skiing super fast [feels] awesome. This is definitely the strongest I’ve skied in a  little while and definitely very appreciative of it. It’s a great feeling to be able to move up through the ranks like that and just builds to your confidence.” – Bryan Fletcher (U.S. Nordic Combined), on placing fourth with Todd Lodwick in Saturday’s World Cup 2 x 7.5 k team sprint in Ramsau, Austria

    “The energy was good, and our skis were so fast. We were working hard on pushing over the top of the hills because if you just add one more skate, you’re flying down the hill.” – Jessie Diggins, 12th in Sunday’s World Cup skate sprint in Davos, Switzerland

    “I tried to go out really hard right from the start and just hold on. It worked out well for me and I ended up feeling better today than in any of my previous races this season.  I ended with the 3rd fastest ski time, so I am very happy with the direction my skiing is headed.” – Tim Burke (US Biathlon), 16th in Sunday’s IBU World Cup 12.5 k pursuit in Annecy, France

    Qualifying for the 2014 Sochi Olympics:

    In an email, Megan Heinicke explained that, in placing fourth with Canada’s relay at the IBU World Cup last Thursday, she completed her Olympic qualification (with teammates Megan Imrie, Rosanna Crawford and Zina Kocher):

    “I am incredibly relieved to have that finalized and just so happy to have Sochi in my plans. This girls on this relay team will be our Olympic team and I think this result gives us a lot of confidence and motivation, which is awesome!” – Heinicke (Biathlon Canada)

    Fourth place:

    “I knew it was likely to be painful so I was mentally prepared for a hard fight and as motivated as ever to give it my all.  The result altogether was amazing…I couldn’t stop smiling. We saw that we had this kind of potential in our relay last weekend and we all knew that a relay without penalty loops would be enough to fight for a top 6 finish. I am so proud of all of us!  I think the coolest thing for our relay is that this wasn’t a miracle race – it was just 4 good to normal races which means that this is a result we can realistically repeat and even improve on.” – Heinicke

    “I could have played my cards a little bit different to give us another chance to be up there on the podium, but nevertheless fourth place is awesome and we had the fastest time out there.” – Todd Lodwick (U.S. Nordic Combined), on Saturday’s team sprint

    Team sprints:

    “Nordic combined was actually the one who invented the team sprint. It actually began in 1993, and then it kind of went away from the program in the ’90s until it came back in 2011. I think they brought it back as a World Cup event after cross-country took it on and did it as an event and showed it’s a good spectator event.” – U.S. Nordic Combined Head Coach Dave Jarrett 

    “It’s a strength, and [it was] a medal event in the World Championships last year. It was the first time it was a medal event, but it won’t be a medal event in the Olympics. We tend to rally around each other when it comes to team events and certainly Todd and Bryan were clearly in a  good place and they did a good job.” – Jarrett

    Women’s 15 k races:

    The women’s 15 k individual race on Saturday in Davos, Switzerland, was only the second one on the World Cup in the last 10 years, with the other in Davos two years ago. What gives? Bring on the distance!

    Note: Bjørgen won that race, too, but Norway swept the 2011 edition’s top four. On Saturday, they took three of the top four, with Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla placing third.

    Davos

    “Davos is really nice and the cheering was great.  There were lots of fans out there with big bells which is fun.” – Ida Sargent (US Ski Team), 41st in Sunday’s Davos World Cup sprint

    Personal bests

    “[Sunday] was the second best qualifying result I have ever had in a WC sprint, classic or skate, in terms of both FIS points and total time back from the leaders but it was just super tight today.  There are just a lot of fast women out there.” – Sargent

    Note: The top 30 women were separated by 3.6 seconds in Sunday’s 1.5 k freestyle sprint qualifier. The men’s top 30 on the same course was separated by nearly six seconds.

    Teammates tearing it up:

    “It was awesome to watch the heats in the sun and see all of those girls ski so well. Kikkan is obviously so strong and Jess and Soph skied awesome quarterfinals.  It was fun to see.” – Sargent, on Sunday’s World Cup skate sprint

    “I was really hoping we’d actually see a couple of Americans in the final, and it was close. So it was really cool to see those girls just coming on and coming on, and it’s really fun to have a team component.  I think everyone should be pretty psyched.” – Kikkan Randall (US Ski Team), second in sprint

    Last Thursday, the U.S. women tied a team-best eighth in the IBU World Cup relay: 

    “Getting 8th again shows that our result last week wasn’t a fluke – 8th can be our new norm, and in the next relay we can do even better! I think that we had a really really good year of training this year, and the fact that we mostly had poor results in the first few races doesn’t mean anything.  We’re just starting to hit our stride, and I think that we will all continue on an upward trajectory into the second trimester of the season.” – Hannah Dreissigacker (US Biathlon)

    Feeling young:

    “I still feel like I am in my youth in the way I’m skiing and competing. I have so much fun doing it. It’s a blast. I love the sport and [Saturday’s team sprint] was just a  culmination of really, really good teamwork. ” – Lodwick, 37

    Fast skis:

    “The wax techs did an awesome job … providing us with really, really fast skis. They did a heck of a job and allowed us to ski our own race.” – Lodwick 

    Perfect conditions:

    “The range conditions were excellent. There was almost no wind. It was totally calm with stable light. I would say it was perfect.” – Heinicke, 50th in Saturday’s 7.5 k sprint 

    Annecy’s course:

    “The course here is really fun and it suits me well. Shooting has also been quite easy here.” – Annelies Cook (US Biathlon), after anchoring U.S. women’s relay to team-best eighth

     

    Dislikes:

    Missing a relay:

    With just three guys on the IBU World Cup, the Canadians had to sit out the men’s relay on Friday in Annecy, France:

    “Unfortunately we didn’t start enough WC’s last year and subsequently didn’t rank high enough in Nation Cup points to have 4 start spots this WC season. There are selection trials next week in Canmore, Dec 20-21 and they will be used to selected the final Men’s Olympic spot and the next IBU Cup tour which will see those athletes compete in Oberhof and then continue onto the IBU Cup.  Anyone who is not qualified is at home getting ready for those races.” – Scott Perras (Biathlon Canada)

    “Having not raced the relay is kind of bitter sweet. Sure it’s great to get a whole week to rest up (mentally) but I think things would have gone better had I raced [Friday]… I guess it is also a plus to have rested a week physically, but maybe not so great to maintain that race shape and speed.” – JP Le Guellec (Biathlon Canada), 49th in Saturday’s IBU World Cup 10 k sprint

    Davos sprint course

    “I don’t really like this course just because I’m not a huge fan of two lap courses. I’ve never figured out how to pace them and I don’t think I have ever qualified in a two lap skate sprint.” – Sargent

    Annecy’s course:

    “Flat courses with bumps like here or Antholz [Italy] give me grief with my back. I think it’s all the one skate followed by tucking and opening again for more one skate that takes its toll. So I could feel my back being pretty tight in standing, which definitely is an issue.” – Le Guellec, on Saturday’s sprint

    The unavoidable

    “… Little things like hitting a patch of ice on the final corner and almost going down and then skiing a horrible transition into the hill on one the laps really adds up.” — Sargent 

    DQs:

    “I’ve taken a very hard look at my suits and measured myself neck to ankles in 5 cm increments as well as spent a good deal of time sewing and trying to understand how it all comes together. As far as the bib fiasco part II well? Sh*t happens;)” – Billy Demong (U.S. Nordic Combined), ninth in Sunday’s individual competition, a week after being disqualified for forgetting his bib in Lillehammer, Norway

  • Just Shy of Podium, Bryan Fletcher, Lodwick Combine for U.S. NoCo’s Best Team Sprint in Fourth

    Just Shy of Podium, Bryan Fletcher, Lodwick Combine for U.S. NoCo’s Best Team Sprint in Fourth

    Norwegians lead the pack in Saturday's Nordic Combined World Cup 2 x 7.5 k in Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria. Norway placed first and second, Italy was third, and the U.S. was just 1.2 seconds off the podium in fourth. (Credit: Tim Hug)
    Norwegians lead the pack in Saturday’s Nordic Combined World Cup 2 x 7.5 k in Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria. Norway placed first and second, Italy was third, and the U.S. was just 1.2 seconds off the podium in fourth. (Photo: Tim Hug)

    Americans Bryan Fletcher and Todd Lodwick narrowly missed the podium in the 2 x 7.5-kilometer sprint in Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria, finishing fourth for U.S. Nordic Combined’s best result in a team sprint.

    A little off in the jumping portion of Saturday’s competition, Fletcher and Lodwick ended up starting 14th of 20 teams, 44 seconds behind the Estonian leaders, Kristian Ilves and Karl-August Tiirmaa.

    While the Estonians clocked the second-slowest race time, getting passed by all but two teams to finish 18th, Fletcher and Lodwick rose to the challenge and notched the fastest-combined time to finish 10 seconds behind the winners, Norway’s Mikko Kokslein and Jørgen Graabak, who rose from 11th to first in 33:59.3. Norway’s Haavard Klemetsen and Magnus Krog took second (+8.2) after jumping to sixth, and Italy’s Samuel Costa and Alessandro Pittin captured third just 1.2 seconds ahead of the Americans.

    According to U.S. Head Coach Dave Jarrett, skiing fast was their plan all along.

    “It was a really tight jumping competition, so we knew after that result, they were in a position to fight for a podium,” he said in a phone interview. “That’s what we’ve been saying all along, that we need to just put ourselves in that position and then we should hopefully be able to take advantage of that.”

    Most teams wouldn’t consider starting 14th ideal, but it was time back that mattered to Fletcher and Lodwick. And fourth place was nothing to scoff about — it was the best U.S. finish in the relatively new event.

    “It’s definitely a solid day,” said Fletcher, who’s notched a World Cup top 10 five other times in the last three years. “We turned some tough jumping into a great cross-country race, so it was a positive performance all around.”

    “We’re really, really proud to put Norway in its place and to know that we are the fastest team out there, whether it’s by a second or ten seconds, it doesn’t matter. We are the fastest team and it shows on the results.” — Todd Lodwick

    According to Jarrett, there were 12 teams bunched together at one point, making the exchanges “pretty interesting.”

    “Some people had more luck than others in the exchange zone,” he said. “Todd and Bryan were smart and they did a good job tagging off and kind of pacing themselves and placing themselves among the lead group. When the last two laps came around, the Norwegians were in a good spot and they got a gap on the field.”

    While jumping hasn’t been a strong point for the Americans in the first World Cups of the season, Fletcher said Saturday was a confidence booster.

    It was a crowded and fast at the front of the pack in the men's Nordic Combined 2 x 7.5 k in Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria. credit Tim Hug
    It was a crowded and fast at the front of the pack in the Nordic Combined World Cup 2 x 7.5 k in Ramsau am Dachstein, Austria. (Photo: Tim Hug)

    “I haven’t had quite my best performances on the jump hill, but I’ve kind of nailed my problems and working to fix them and I thing that’s a positive take away from it,” he said. “Today I had a really good jump in the trial round and then the competition jump was close. It definitely wasn’t what I’m capable of, but it was in the hunt and that’s all we needed.”

    Lodwick added a solid jump to the mix, which Fletcher said brought them closer to the front of the pack. “Overall it wasn’t our best day on the jump hill, but we weren’t out either,” Fletcher said.

    “I didn’t jump horrible,” Lodwick said. “It’s just missing just a little bit and that’s going to come. The more we compete, the better off we get and we’re going to be in really, really top shape.”

    For the 37-year-old Lodwick, it wasn’t his best overall performance in nearly two decades on the World Cup, but he said it was up there with those he’s proud of. Last Sunday in Lillehammer, Norway, he placed 11th for his best result in nearly three years. In the same race, Fletcher placed 10th.

    “I know that we’re on the right track,” he said. “We’re on the verge of just making the season. It’s been a slow [start], but results like that give us a lot of confidence so we’re excited.”

    Last year, the U.S. broke through in a World Cup 4 x 5 k team event in Schonach, Germany, with their first third-place finish. Both Fletcher and Lodwick were on that team with Billy Demong and Taylor Fletcher, and those four went on to notch a historic bronze at 2013 World Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Lodwick also has also helped the team to a few fourth-place results in previous relays.

    A tight-knit race at the Nordic Combined World Cup 2 x 7.5 k team sprint on Saturday in Ramsau, Austria. (Photo: Tim Hug)
    A tight-knit race at the Nordic Combined World Cup 2 x 7.5 k team sprint on Saturday in Ramsau, Austria. (Photo: Tim Hug)

    A World Cup competitor since 1995, Lodwick laughed and said, “I am the oldest guy on the circuit.”

    But his past experiences helped him post one of the fastest individual times in Saturday’s race.

    “I don’t feel [old] in my body or my heart and I went out there and knew that staying in the front pack and positioning and taking corners the right way and pushing people out and not letting people in,” he said. “That’s just what it takes to be aggressive and to be in that pack. Within this packed kind-of race, it definitely takes a little bit of skill and knowledge. I guess I relied on that.”

    Although the team sprint will not be a medal event at the Olympics in February, Lodwick said their cross-country times should come as a warning to the competition they’ll meet at the 2014 Games.

    “We train all summer and to have a result like [this] is humbling,” he said. “We’re really, really proud to put Norway in its place and to know that we are the fastest team out there, whether it’s by a second or ten seconds, it doesn’t matter. We are the fastest team and it shows on the results and we can chock that up for a win.”

    The second U.S. team, with Brett Denney and Taylor Fletcher, placed 15th, 1:36 back from the winners. Taylor clocked the fastest individual time of 16:50.7. Teammate Billy Demong is resting this weekend in anticipation of next week’s Continental Cup in Park City, Utah.

    Had Demong been on skis Saturday, Jarrett said it’s likely the U.S. could have had an even-stronger showing.

    “Bill would have been a really useful addition into one of the teams today and could have been more like the Norwegians or Japanese or Germans that have two teams fighting in that top 12 for sure,” he said.

    He added that there’s still plenty of jumping and racing left in the season before the team heads for Russia.

    “Our sights are set and we’re measured against our results in the [Vancouver] Olympics,” he said of their unprecedented medal haul at the 2010 Games. “USSA has made it no secret that [the 2014] Olympics are what they’re measuring everything against, and our plan is to do well in [Sochi].

    “It’s a tall order because the Olympics only come around once every four years and it’s only one day for that competition and there’s a lot of variables that can take place,” he explained. “But we’re going to continue to work in each competition and just live up to our potential.”

    He said his team is nowhere near its February peak. “It’s always good mentally to have good results every time you do a competition,” he said. “I think these guys are focused and ready to continue competing. We have another individual competition [Sunday], and then two more next weekends and then Olympic tryouts in Park City, and then three more weekends in January. There’s plenty more.”

    Bryan said he was looking forward to what’s to come, especially given the season’s slow start.

    “We know that this time of year can either go one of two ways,” he said. “You can either come into the World Cup season and start off doing great and sometimes you come in with a little bit of a rough start like we had this year.”

    Each week, it’s a matter of building on the previous week, he explained. “These last two weekends especially, we’ve really taken some positive steps forward to show we’re not out of the game. We are here to contend. We just narrowly missed the podium but given the circumstances, we’re pretty happy about the fourth place and I think these narrow misses just make us hungry for more.”

    — Alex Matthews contributed reporting