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.
Katherine Stewart-Jones leads the mass start on the way to a Canadian 1-2 at the OPA Cup in Pragelato, Italy. (Photo: Athlete Instagram, credited to @damianobenedettophoto)
Canada took a step back from the World Cup circuit this weekend and focussed attention into development series. As the country tries to build momentum in a post Alex Harvey world, the focus has moved away from World Cup podiums and towards a consistent presence in the top 30. The road to the World Cup goes through local and regional races on the way to national/continental races.
One of the development challenges in Canada is size. The second largest country has roughly the same population as California. Skiers from Newfoundland live closer to Holmenkollen than Whistler Olympic Park.
The Continental Cup series in each FIS ‘continent’ is the top level race series below the World Cup. Canada has the NorAm series. The USA has the SuperTour series. France, Germany, Italy, Slovenia, Switzerland, and Austria share the OPA Cup series. This distribution of ‘continents’ may seem odd, but remember that the combined land area of the OPA countries is equal to British Columbia and Nova Scotia. Canada has three more time zones separating those two provinces.
As part of an effort to reduce travel demands on developing skiers in Canada, Nordiq Canada has been making changes. For the second year in a row, Westerns is not a NorAm event, but a regional event (albeit for a region larger than continental Europe). While this eliminates one east/west flight for eastern-based skiers, western athletes from Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Nunavut, North West Territories, and the Yukon still have a flight to pay for.
8 young Canadians are in Lausanne, Switzerland, for the Youth Olympic Games. Another 8 were in Pragelato, Italy, for an OPA Cup event, where two Canadians won. If you know someone who doesn’t think winning an OPA Cup is a big deal, listen to what Devon Kershaw and Jess Cockney think in the latest podcast. Cockney may ‘only’ have four top 10 results on the World Cup before he ‘retired’, but he did win a combined NorAm/SuperTour earlier this season.
As Cockney reminded us in the podcast, development comes in cycles. It is hard to remember that ten years ago Norway needed to borrow a biathlete to make a mens relay team for the Olympics, the same Olympics when Canada had four different men with top 10 individual finishes. The glory of being at the top of the roller coaster comes with an unseen cost of getting a big machine up a steep hill. This weekend was part of that climb.
Western Canada Cup, Whistler Olympic Park
Russell Kennedy leads the A final out of a corner that Petra Majdič remembers well from the 2010 Olympics. (Photo: Weisheng Wang)
Western Canadians was held at Whistler Olympic Park, with over 250 athletes competing for titles under a slightly changed name: Western Canada Cup. Record-setting snow storms and very challenging driving conditions should make for some good stories from the athletes who completed the trip.
The embedded videos are the full-length interviews by Nordiq Canada’s Jeff Ellis. Social media has edited versions.
On a spectacularly sunny Friday, AWCA’s Annika Richardson won the 1.3km classic sprint on a course that will bring back Olympic memories for older fans. Richardson’s 3:16.95 put her 1.45 seconds ahead of Benita Peiffer and 2.11 seconds clear of Elizabeth Elliott which made an all-AWCA podium. Peiffer and Elliot are in their final season of U20.
Bragg Creek’s Sebastien Boehmler-Dandurand edged out Canmore’s Russell Kennedy by 0.28 seconds to win the men’s 1.3km in 2:41.37. Telemark’s Gareth Williams grabbed third at 1.90 seconds, well ahead of his brother Ian in 4th who claimed the top U20 finish.
On Saturday, WOP showed the changeable weather with falling snow and soft tracks after a heavy overnight snowfall. In the men’s 15km classic interval start, Kennedy confirmed his favourite status with a win in 46:57.6, 45.3 seconds clear of Gareth Williams. AWCA’s Jack Carlyle grabbed the bronze at 1:20.3 back. Ian Williams was again 4th overall to take the U20 win.
In the women’s 10km, Emily Nishikawa showed why she was Canada’s top distance skier on the World Cup last season with a 35:42.4 time. Sprint winner Richardson claimed second, 2:51.4 back followed by AWCA teammate Sadie White at 3:09.0 Whitehorse’s Amanda Thomson was 5th at 3:45.5 to take the U20 title.
Sunday continued the domination by the favourites. Nishikawa won the 15km free mass start in 43:06, 2:07.6 ahead of Elliott and 2:13.8 ahead of Revelstoke’s Gina Cinelli.
In the men’s 15km, Kennedy snatched a second win in 37:29.4, 1.6 seconds ahead of Gareth Williams and 19.4 seconds ahead of Carlyle.
“It is fun to be back in Canada and see how well people are skiing here!,” Kennedy wrote to FasterSkier. “Whistler is so pretty but it is super tricky with weather. Always unpredictable but really good for testing skis I don’t use that much.”
While the regional field may not have been as deep as MSA will be, the return of Nishikawa and Kennedy from World Cup period 1 gave nearly 300 athletes a good vision into what the next level of competition looks like.
Dahria Beatty wins the OPA Cup ahead of Katherine Stewart-Jones. (Photo: Beatty’s Instagram)
While the western athletes were at the 2010 Olympic venue, eight Canadians made the trek to the 2006 Olympic venue to compete in the OPA cup. Dahria Beatty won the Saturday’s mass start 15km classic in 49:09.0, 8.1 seconds ahead of teammate Katherine Stewart-Jones. Italy’s Sara Pellegrini was third at 38.7.
In the men’s 30km, Antoine Cyr edged out Bob Thompson for 22nd place at 5:56.1 back from winner Paolo Ventura who won in 1:26.36.3.
On Sunday, Stewart-Jones moved up, taking first in the 5km free in 14:03.5, 5.2 seconds ahead of Italy’s Elisa Brocard and 10.4 seconds ahead of Beatty in third.
“Being on the podium for both races is a huge confidence booster going into next weekend’s World Cup races, especially because the courses in Pragelato are World Cup level,” Stewart-Jones wrote in an email. “With Dahria also on the podium the last two days I couldn’t be more excited with how well our Canadian Women’s team is performing.”
Stewart-Jones is targeting the Scando Tour, starting in Åre, Sweden, on February 18th and ending in Trondheim, Norway, on the 23rd.
“The courses here in Pragelato are awesome which made for some good hard racing this weekend,” Beatty wrote after her third OPA podium of the season.
“I had only done one distance race this season before this weekend so it was really good for me to get some high caliber race kilometres in. My distance skiing is feeling strong right now so I am excited to do a few distance World Cups in the next month and do some classic skiing since Saturday was also my first classic race of the year.”
Canadian men recovering from the 30km classic in Pragelato’s OPA Cup. (Photo: Erik Bråten)
In the men’s 10km, Cyr was again top Canadian, finishing 23rd, 1:38.2 behind France’s Jean Tiberghien who won in 24:05.1.
Thompson is a sprinter by preference and was in Pragelato with Oberstdorf’s sprint in mind.
“The main focus for me this weekend was to get some longer really hard work in, which a 1.5 hour 30k definitely accomplished,” Thompson wrote. “I think the OPA’s are a great chance to find near World Cup level racing and for those who are looking to get a bit more experience at that level they are a great challenge for those looking to make a jump in their racing.”
The OPA cup is a continental cup series (like the NorAm and SuperTour) and the field is studded with athletes who move up and down between the World Cup and this series. The athletes best known to North Americans would probably be France’s Richard Jouve (8th here) and Italy’s Elisa Brocard (12th and 2nd).
Head coach Erik Bråten is with the team until Oberstdorf and back to Canada briefly for MSA Trials. He is excited with the progress this season and happy with the visit to Pragelato.
“What I take away is that we have some young athletes that is getting great race experience outside of North America, and a couple of girls that really showed a high level even in a tough training week.”
The YOG started off with a ‘cross country cross’ event including obstacles on Saturday, followed by the more traditional events: Sprints Saturday, classic mass starts Tuesday, and a mixed relay on Wednesday. The American athletes outshone the Canadians over the obstacles on the first day, taking 4th in each gender before working up to podiums on Tuesday. Full results for the event are here.
While this is an important event in young athlete’s lives’ and there have been some great individual results, fans and media alike have to be careful not to apply expectations and pressure to the developing minds in those developing bodies.
Dahria Beatty (left) and Katherine Stewart-Jones chasing hard in the pursuit. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
This article has been updated to correct an interpretation of the selection criteria.
Day two of nationals was day two of the pursuit at Nakkertok trails in Gatineau, Québec. The two-day pursuit format (classic interval start on day one, free technique pursuit start day two) was held for the second time at nationals. With both national titles and starts at World Cup Finals in Québec City up for grabs, it was always going to be an exciting day.
Lenny Valjas (CNST) justified his decision to come back to race in Canada with a second national title, out-sprinting the pack to finish the 10km+15km pursuit in 1:08.18.6. Philippe Boucher (CNEPH) turned in the fastest time of the day to take second, 0.7 seconds behind, and 0.3 seconds ahead of teammate Alexis Dumas.
Lenny Valjas wins the pursuit, ahead of Phillipe Boucher, Alexis Dumas, and Rémi Drolet. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
Rémi Drolet (Black Jack) was top junior in 4th place, 4.4 seconds back.
“On the last little bit of the 7.5k loop, on the flats, I decided to attack early before the final sprint hill,” Valjas told the LOC after the race, “because some of those young guys are so quick. I couldn’t trust myself on just the last hill, so I made them hurt with a couple km to go. It worked out, we all had a fun sprint up the last sprint hill into the finish.”
“No tactics for me today,” Boucher wrote. “I pushed hard from the start to the finish. I was targeting the best time of the day so I would qualify for World cups finals and become the national champion.”
The early group of eight shrank as Boucher pushed the pace and Valjas struggled to cling on. Dumas described it best: “They was not a lot of tactic today, Philippe Boucher was just too strong. The only thing I could do was following him and hope for the best in the sprint finish at the end.”
Skiing with the final four until the very end, Drolet battled cramps on the second lap.
“On the final hill, I had a lot of trouble moving, but I still managed to stay pretty close to the front and finished in 4th,” Drolet said after the race. “I was really happy about how I fought, considering everything else.”
Neither Boucher nor Dumas were fans of the pursuit format when it was brought back earlier in the season. As both have been on the podium at both editions, maybe they will grow to like it more.
“After the results I’ve got in the pursuit this year, I can only enjoy them,” Boucher wrote when asked if he still prefers mini-tours to pursuits.
Wednesday’s race featured two 5km classic loops in great conditions. Valjas was happy to get his win with nearly even lap times.
“Today was great,” Valjas told the LOC after the race. “I’m excited to be out here, and seeing all the kids. It’s a little bit of inspiration for me to be leading into the last World Cup in my career.”
Asked about edging out the 18 year old Drolet in the interval start, Valjas said “You’ve got to be on your A game to beat him, and I’m happy I got him, but he’s the future. I’m happy to see the young guys nipping at my heels.”
Drolet was happy with his classic race, finishing 9.9 seconds behind Valjas despite skiing his second lap 21 seconds slower than the first.
“Perhaps if I had paced the race better, I could have had a slightly better performance,” Drolet wrote in an email. “The course profile, however, does allow you to go really hard a lot of the time since there are usually long downhills after the climbs.”
Bob Thompson was third in the classic, which qualified him for World Cup Finals.
“I feel I am in a good place to have some great results this week,” Thompson wrote. “This was my first medal as a senior man so I’m really happy to finally be in top form again to finish the year. Very excited about World Cup finals!”
***
Dahria Beatty leads Emily Nishikawa towards the finish. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
Dahria Beatty (CNST) put in the fastest time of the day to win the women’s 5km+10km pursuit in 40:50.8, completing Thursday’s two 5km skate laps in 26:45.8. Beatty and Katherine Stewart-Jones (CNST) worked together to catch Emily Nishikawa (CNST) just before the finish, with Beatty pulling clear for the win ahead of Nishikawa (7.3 seconds) and Stewart-Jones (9.8 seconds).
“Emily skied a really strong race and we were trailing her by between 7 and 15 seconds almost the entire race,” Beatty wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “Working together gave Katherine and I a slight advantage and I was able to finally close the gap on the second last downhill. After that we were on the sprint course and my mind went into sprint mode and I was able to open up a small gap.”
Beatty shared her tactical plan after her second place in the pursuit’s day one classic race. “Tomorrow the goal will be to try to catch those 8 seconds off the start and race with Emily.”
Stewart-Jones had a similar tactical plan, but executed it better. “I wanted to catch Dahria as fast as possible because I knew it would be much easier if we worked together. I was able to do that and we skied together most of the race,” Stewart-Jones wrote. “Dahria broke away with one hill to go and I caught Emily but she had me at the finish line!”
Emily Nishikawa winning the 5km classic at nationals. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
CNST’s Cendrine Browne was unable to close the gap and had a lonely ski in 4th, finishing 1:17.7 back. Sadie White (NTDC TBay) delivered the 5th fastest time of the day to move from 12th to 5th at 2:45.6 back.
Nishikawa earned her lead by winning the classic race Wednesday.
“I am really happy with my race today,” she wrote about her win. “It is always an honour to win a national title. Racing here at Nakkertok is so awesome and seeing so many young skiers out is really inspiring.”
Stewart-Jones was happy with her 3rd in the classic race on her home trails, but not as happy with her pacing.
“I started off hard because I knew it would be a quick race,” she wrote, “but I think that I probably could have paced it better.”
There were a lot of athletes enjoying the atmosphere at Nakkertok. There were 215 junior boys and juvenile boys, 185 junior girls and juvenile girls, 107 junior men and senior men, 76 junior women and senior women who finished the pursuit.
Qualifying for World Cup Finals
Twelve athletes have already qualified, leaving seventeen spots to be decided at nationals: 8 men and 9 women.
The criteria says that the top Canadian in each of the freestyle sprint, then individual start classic, then pursuit, then time-of-day from the pursuit will be selected in that order. As there are more spots, the sequence will be repeated for 2nd place, 3rd place, until all spots are allocated. Athletes who have already qualified are skipped over. Clear and simple? Not exactly, but it became clearer with results from three of the four events.
On the women’s side, the first four places were filled by pre-qualified athletes in all three events. The selection order becomes the first five women in Saturday’s A final, then not Anne-Marie Petitclerc (5th in classic and top junior, but not eligible according to CCC), then White (5th in pursuit), the sixth placed sprinter, then Hannah Mehain (6th in classic). These respective athletes have earned their WCF start, assuming CCC’s interpretation is the same.
If anyone in the top six on Saturday has already qualified, the seventh place sprinter is selected, followed by Annika Richardson (8th in time-of-day counts as 7th because Germany’s Julie Richter isn’t eligible). Having fun yet? CCC will announce the final selection on Sunday.
For the men, we have seven pre-selected and eight spots to go. The first five sprinters on Saturday, along with Philippe Boucher (1st in time-of-day), Alexis Dumas (3rd in pursuit), and Bob Thompson (3rd in classic) are locked in. The sixth place sprinter and Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier (6th in time-of-day) are waiting on someone higher in the list making the A final.
Of the four Russian athletes starting the 15-kilometer classic mass start in Lahti, Finland three placed in the top four. Anna Zherebyateva won in 40:31.4 minutes as she was able to stretch her nine-second gap at 10 k to 23.5 seconds by the finish. Also from Russia, Lidia Durkina placed second (+23.5), Germany’s Katharina Hennig skied to third (+37.5).
“My tactic was to make a gap in the second loop,” Zherebyateva said during the post-race press conference. “So I did exactly what I wanted. It went really well. Tracks were exactly right for me. This gold medal is an important step for my sport career.”
Yana Kirpichenko was the third Russia in the top-five as she placed fourth (+41.6).
The best North American finisher was U.S. skier Hailey Swirbul who raced to 10th (+1:27.8). Swirbul was positioned 29th at the 5 k time check but steadily moved up in the field as the race progressed. By 10 k she had positioned herself in the top-15.
For the twenty-year-old Swirbul, this is her first go at U23 Worlds after participating in three Junior Worlds as an U20. Last season in Goms, Switzerland she placed second in the 5 k classic and third in the 10 k skiathlon.
Two other U.S. skiers raced into the top-30. Julia Kern placed 16th (+1:43.4), while Alayna Sonnesyn was 23rd (+2:24.9). Hannah Halvorsen, the fourth U.S. starter, placed 54th (+6:58.6).
Hannah Mehain was the top Canadian in 31st (+3:16.8), Sadie White placed 33rd (+3:18.6), and Natalia Hynes 51st (+3:40.9). Marie Corriveau did not start.
Similar to the U23 women’s race, Russian skiers dictated the pacing at the front of the pack — the four Russian starters swept first through fourth place.
Andrey Sobakarev won in 1:17:19.1 hours, Ivan Kirillov placed second (+3.5), Ivan Yakimushkin third (+4.9), and Anton Timashov fourth (+11.4).
Canada’s Antoine Cyr was the top North American in 27th (+2:26.8), while teammate Gareth Williams toed the line a fraction behind in 28th (+2:26.9). Also for Canada, Ritchie Graham was 41st (4:44.1), and Julian Smith 45th (+5:14.3).
Peter Holmes was the top U.S. finisher in 33rd (+3:15.7). Hunter Wonders placed 40th (+4:43.0), Braden Becker 53rd (+6:59.0), and Daniel Streinz 66th (+15:53.9).
Johannes Thingnes Bø scored his 10th IBU World Cup win of the season today in the 10 k sprint in Antholz, Italy. (Photo: biathlon world.com screenshot)
IBU World Cup Antholz, Italy 10 k sprint
In the groove is in the groove. Norway’s twenty-five-year-old Johannes Thingnes Bø scored his 10th IBU World Cup win of the season today in the 10 k sprint in Antholz, Italy. Bø won the race in 23:53.9 minutes with a single penalty in standing. The Norwegian leads the IBU World Cup overall and padded his lead with his fifth sprint win this year.
“It was quite difficult; the altitude here is quite heavy and with the new tracks, I felt dead from 5K so the last 5K was really tough,” Bø said to the IBU after the race. “I managed to have a good plan for the race. When I shoot nine targets, I was quite happy and then it was just to fight hard for the finish line. I like this year’s track; I liked last year’s too because it was not so painful.”
Bø’s season thus far has been a study in speedy skiing. His shooting stands at 87% for accuracy (82% standing, 91% prone) with his superior skiing speed carrying him to the World Cup overall lead. In Antholz today, his course time for each of his two 5 k laps were ranked first.
Norwegian teammate Erlend Bjøntegaard shot clean in both his shooting bouts to take second place, 17.5 seconds behind. France’s Antonin Guigonnat placed third (+20.2, 0+1).
Scott Gow of Canada was the top North American in 20th (+1:06.6, 0+0). Teammates Jules Burnotte raced to 48th (1:55.9, 1+1), Christian Gow 61st (+2:13.4), and Aidan Millar (+3:46.7, 2+2).
Jake Brown was the top American in 40th (1:42.4, 1+0). Sean Doherty finished in 55th (+2:06.2, 2+1), Max Durtschi 62nd (+2:13.8, 0+1), and Leif Nordgren 73rd (+2:43.1).
Racing continues tomorrow in Antholz for both the men and women with the 12.5k and 10 k pursuits.
Lake Placid SuperTour 5 k/10k Skate Individual Start
In the 5 k-freestyle individual start Jessica Yeaton (APU/Australian National Team) placed first with a winning time of 15:01.9 minutes. She was in a tight race for the top spot with U.S. Ski Team/SMS T2 athlete Sophie Caldwell who finished 3.0 seconds back. Caldwell is back home in Vermont training and preparing for the 2019 World Championships.
Katherine Ogden (Dartmouth Ski Team) placed third in a time of 15:17.8. Kelsey Phinney (SMS T2) placed fourth in 15:37.7.
“Today’s race went super well for me; I had awesome skis despite tricky conditions/weather leading into the race – our wax tech did a phenomenal job,” Yeaton wrote to FasterSkier. “The course here is really good for me with all the steady climbing in the first part- I just tried to push hard to the top of the course and then survive and carry my speed on the downhill, which turned out to be a good tactic.
“Between US Nationals and now I definitely feel like I am in a good place leading into Seefeld. I struggled with some injuries in the fall and was forced to do a lot of cross-training (especially on the bike) and skip the early season races in Nov/Dec. In retrospect I think this actually was a blessing in disguise, as I ended up putting in a super hard training block and gaining a lot of fitness. Looking ahead to Seefeld, my goal is to top 30 in one of the races, with my main focus being on the skate events (30k and sprint), and the 15km skiathlon. I am really excited for the rest of the races this weekend; they are my final prep before heading over to Europe to race on World Cup and in Seefeld.”
Kyle Bratrud (SMS T2) won the men’s 15 k skate in 25:27.1 minutes. Bratrud, who was recently selected to the 2019 U.S. World Championship Team, has been a top-performing distance skier this season on the SuperTour.
“Today went well,” Bratrud emailed. “After Nationals, I made the tough decision of turning down World Cup starts in Otepaa and Ulricehamn in order to get some quality training in for the World Champs. Today reflected that as I felt a little tired and pretty flat from not racing since Nationals. That being said, I expect to keep feeling better each race and I should be in a great place when I fly to Europe on the 4th!”
Bratrud recently won the NorAm/SuperTour 15 k classic in Sovereign Lake and the 15 k classic at U.S. Nationals. Bratrud placed second in West Yellowstone’s SuperTour 15 k skate, and the 30 k skate mass start at U.S. Nationals.
Akeo Maifeld-Carucci (CGRP) placed second in a time of 26:18.9. It was Carucci’s second SuperTour podium of the season and his best career SuperTour result. In West Yellowstone, he was third in the 15 k skate behind Ben Lustgarten (CGRP) and Bratrud.
Alexis Dumas (CNEPH) of Canada was third in 26:32.2. U.S. skier Adam Martin was fourth, 3.1 seconds behind Dumas.
The big screen in Lahti, Finland’s main stadium. Site of the 2019 Junior World Ski Championships. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
Four U.S. skiers began the U23 women’s 10 k skate individual start at the 2019 U23 World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland on Wednesday, all four finished in the top-30 after Russia’s Mariya Istomina claimed the win in 25:57.3 minutes.
Fnland’s Evelina Pippo was second (+2.0), and Norway’s Tiril Udnes Weng third (+29.6). Istomina and Pippo are scheduled to compete at this weekend’s Ulricehamn, Sweden World Cup and have concluded their competition schedules at U23 Worlds.
The best placed North American was U.S. athlete Julia Kern who placed 12th (+1:21.9). In Kern’s fifth trip to World Juniors and her second as a U23, Wednesday’s 12th place was a career best individual Junior/U23 World’s distance result.
“The 5km course is pretty tough here, with some steep climbs and longer climbs,” Kern emailed about her 10 k skate experience. “It was constant work out there with little rest. I went out hard because the only way to do well at this competitive level is racing is start hot and keep that pace. I was happy to lay down a better performance than Monday and achieve my goal of a top 12 result today. I am really stoked for Lina for having such an awesome race today, it was so fun to watch her on the big screen before I started!”
The next scheduled race for the U23 women is a 15 k classic mass start race on Jan. 25.
“I am really excited for the 15km classic mass start on Friday, I love mass starts, especially when they are classic. I think our team has a good shot of putting down strong races!”
Evelina Sutro in her first Worlds finished in 18th, stopping the clock 1:47.6 minutes behind Istomina’s winning time.
“The race was fun, it was a lot warmer today than it has been the past couple race days which was nice,” Sutro emailed. “It was a tough race with a lot of short and steep hills. The course wasn’t very technical but you really had to work over the top and ski the downhills efficiently. The legs were definitely feeling it the most for me. It was super inspiring to be racing with all these fast ladies!”
Also for the U.S., Hailey Swirbul raced to 26th (+2:90.5), Alayna Sonnesyn 27th (+2:12.6).
Canada’s Sadie White placed 43rd (+3:15.4), Hannah Mehain 44th (+3:19.8), Natalia Hynes 49th (+3:42.8), and Marie Corriveau 54th (+4:58.9).
The U23 men raced a 15 k skate on Tuesday with France’s Jules Lapierre taking the win in 34:02.8 minutes. The Czech Republic’s Michal Novak placed second (+29.0), and Ivan Yakimushkin third (+30.0).
Canada’s Antoine Cyr was the highest placed North American in 38th (+2:56.6). Teammates Gareth Williams skied to 39th (+3:04.0), Graham Ritchie 52nd (+4:02.1), and Julian Smith 57th (+4:20.2).
For the U.S., Hunter Wonders finished in 43rd (+3:20.8), Peter Holmes 48th (+3:43.8), and Braden Becker 53rd (+4:03.1).
Moa Lundgren of Sweden out lunges Norway’s Tiril Udnes Weng for the win during the U23 World championship 1.4 k classic sprint in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
FIS Junior World Ski Championhips U23 1.4 k/1.6 k Classic Sprint
Monday, the second day of racing at the 2019 Junior World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland the U23 women raced a 1.4-kilometer classic sprint.
Norway’s Tiril Udnes Weng set the standard in qualification. Her 3:26.52 minute time placed her in bib 1 for the heats.
Three U.S. skiers qualified for the heats. Julia Kern qualified in 16th (+9.09), Hannah Halvorsen 24th (+11.89), and Hailey Swirbul 25th (+12.31). The fourth U.S. entrant, Evelina Sutro placed 37th overall.
“Though it wasn’t a perfect day for the U23s, it was exciting to establish a baseline from which we can improve,” Swirbul emailed. “We were in the mix during the quarterfinals, and I think our team gave a good effort today but is left wanting more. Personally, I thought I had a good day. I felt good, had good skis, and raced to my strengths the best I could. I’m excited to see how this team and I progress over the next few years to keep moving up and up in the U23 division!”
Halvorsen skied in the second heat where she placed fifth (+2.39) behind heat winner Moa Lundgren. Lundgren posted a 3:24.60 finishing time in the heat and ultimately placed first overall. Halvorsen ranked 23rd in the final standings.
Swirbul and Kern were grouped in the third heat where they finished fifth and sixth respectively. France’s Delphine Claudel won the heat in 3:27.16, Swirbul was 1.31 seconds back, Kern 3.24.
Swirbul placed 24th overall, Kern 27th.
“It was a really cold day out there racing at the legal limit of -4F,” Kern emailed. “It was not the day I dreamed of, but I am looking forward to more races to come this week. I caught the tip of my ski on someone’s pole cornering the first 180 and took a fall. I was able to jump back up on my feet and hammer to catch up, but that energy cost me early on that I did not have cresting the last hill. It was really fun to get to race side by side with Hailey in the heat!”
For Canada, Sadie White finished 35th, Marie Corriveau 38th, Hannah Mehain 49th, and Natalie Hynes 55th.
Lundgren, who was the fourth fastest qualifier, won the women’s final in 3:18.33, only 0.05 seconds ahead of Weng in second. Russia’s Aida Bayazitova took third (+3.78). Anastasia Kirillova of Belarus was fourth (+4.12), Norway’s Amalie Haakonsen fifth (+7.75), and Johanna Hagstroem sixth (+37.54).
After racing on a slightly bigger World Cup stage, Valnes showed no nerves as he clean-sweeped the heats and the final which he won in 3:21.14 minutes. Russia’s Sergey Ardashev placed second (+1.38) and Norway’s Joachim Aurland third (+2.00).
In fourth place was Russia’s Ivan Yakimushkin (+2.59), Norway’s Sivert Wiig in fifth (+7.31), and Sweden’s Marcus Grate sixth (+15.53).
Canada placed three athletes in the heats after Ritchie Graham qualified in 19th (+12.32), Julian Smith 22nd (+13.39), and Antoine Cyr 24th (+13.84). Teammate Gareth Williams finished 52nd overall.
For the U.S., Peter Holmes advanced to the heats after qualifying in 20th (+13.05). Daniel Streinz placed 41st overall, Hunter Wonders 56th, and Braden Becker 63rd.
“It was a good day out in Lahti, sunny skies but brutally cold,” emailed Holmes. “The Junior’s performance the previous day amped me up and made me excited to race. I had a solid qualifier and was feeling very good in the quarter final. I was positioned well throughout the race, but unfortunately got tangled up with another skier in my heat on the last downhill and went down. It’s a bummer, especially at U23s, but that’s racing.”
No North Americans advanced beyond the quarterfinals. Holmes placed sixth in the first quarterfinal to conclude his day ranked 27th in the final standings.
Cyr was fourth in the second heat and placed 20th overall.
Smith and Graham were fourth and sixth respectively in heat four. Smith ranked 19th overall, Graham 26th.
Bob Thompson outsprinted Jack Carlyle in the men’s 30km. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
Canmore hosted the second NorAm of the 2018/2019 season on December 13th, 15th, and 16th. The event also served as U23 and Junior World trials.
By the end of the weekend, starts at the U23/Junior World Championships and the World Cup’s Tour de Ski would be earned.
This event was originally scheduled for Whistler Olympic Park but had to be moved as a result of heavy rain and inclement weather forecasted into the immediate future. The Callaghan Valley Cross Country organization, the original bid-winner for this season’s trials, made the difficult decision to cancel on December 1st. The weather gods added one final insult on December 13th, when a major snowstorm ensued in the Callaghan Valley that would have made racing possible on the 14th.
Canmore’s cross-country community stepped in on December 2nd and was able to organize a successful race weekend with a few weeks notice.
The International Ski Federation (FIS) mandates that Continental Cup leaders for each period earn automatic start rights for the next World Cup period, including financial support from the event hosts. This season, Period 1 leaders get starts for Period 2 (Tour de Ski) and period 3 (Dresden, Otepää, and Ulricehamm) along with race support.
For the first time since Perianne Jones and Dasha Gaizova started in the 2014 edition, Canada will enter a woman in the Tour de Ski (TdS). The last female finisher was Sara Renner, who placed 16th overall in 2010.
This past weekend, Dahria Beatty won all three races in Canmore. Combined with her second place (and top Canadian result) in Sovereign Lake the previous weekend, Beatty is the COC leader and will leave for Europe on the 21st.
In an email to FasterSkier after Thursday’s sprint, Beatty wrote: “I think the first 3 stages of the Tour this year are my dream come true, 2 sprints and a 10km skate.” The day after sending the email, Beatty received the official news that her TdS dream would be a reality.
On the men’s side, Bob Thompson won twice in Canmore to lock down the male COC leader position.
As this event was also the selection trials for U23 and Junior World Championships, up to 12 athletes would automatically qualify for the Lahti, Finland championship races. The High Performance Committee met Sunday afternoon and will announce the final choices soon.
Weekend Results Summary:
Names in green earned automatic selection for Lahti.
Classic Sprint, Thursday:
Open Women: Dahria Beatty, Katherine Stewart-Jones, Maya Macisaac-Jones; Marie Corriveau (6th, U23)
Junior women: Anne-Marie Petitclerc, Molly Miller, Anna Pryce
Open Men: Bob Thompson, Angus Foster, Julien Locke; Graham Ritchie (4th, U23)
Junior Men: Remi Drolet, Tom Stephen, Xavier McKeever
Interval start freestyle, Saturday:
Open Women 10km: Dahria Beatty, Katherine Stewart-Jones, Frédérique Vézina; Sadie White (4th, U23)
Junior Women 5km: Molly Miller, Isobel Hendry, Elizabeth Elliot
Open Men 15km: Russell Kennedy, Evan Palmer-Charrette, Alexis Dumas; Gareth Williams (6th, U23)
Junior Men 10km: Sam Hendry, Remi Drolet, Tom Stephen.
Mass start classis, Sunday:
Men 30km: Bob Thompson, Jack Carlyle, Russell Kennedy; Sam Hendry (4th, top junior), Antoine Cyr (5th, U23)
Dahria Beatty leads Katherine Stewart-Jones. They would finish 1-2 all three races. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
“My tactics for every heat was to ski smooth and relaxed the first half and attack off the final two climbs into the finish. That worked out well for me today. I skied from the front and had control of the heats. The sprints were staged out of the biathlon stadium (hence why you couldn’t find them on the webcam) so it was an uphill finish, making for very fair racing.” — Beatty (1st)
“I was not happy with my qualifier but am really happy with how I skied the heats. Our staff did an awesome job with the skis today! The course was a lot of fun. Tactics essentially involved staying relaxed off the start, positioning well for the final climb and then hammering to the finish.” — Maya MacIsaac-Jones (CNST, 3rd)
“I feel pretty amazing about today’s race. 4th senior at a NorAm sprint is by far my best sprint result ever! My tactic was to have fun and just go like hell; I had a blast and I never went this fast before!” — Frédérique Vézina (CNEPH, 4th)
“I didn’t really have any tactics, I just wanted to go as fast as I could, ski well and try to stay with the leaders. I didn’t ask myself a lot of question, just ski fast!” — Marie Corriveau (MSA, 6th)
Bob Thompson wins the A final with three Thunder Bay teammates in the camera frame. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
“I am very happy with how today went. I found the finishing sprint gear I felt I was missing had the speed when I needed it.
Everyone was fairly relaxed for the first half of the final knowing it was important to have the energy for the gradual climb into the finish. My move was made coming up to the last short downhill and then on the short striding hill before turning into the finish. I had been feeling great in that section in every heat and made sure I was at the front to make the most of it.” — Thompson (1st)
“The group strung out a little bit going into the big downhill, I was back in 5th but had amazing skis and came back up to the group pretty easily. Everyone was really skiing together going into the last climb, and Bob just put down a mean last hill and got away from us. I jumped out from behind Julien Locke as we hit the finishing stretch and got up beside him as we got right down to the line, and just got him in a big lunge.” — Angus Foster (TBay, 2nd)
“The tactics worked out for me as well! I was planning on holding on to the leaders in the final for as long as I could, and then using my fitness to the best of my ability in the finishing stretch.” — Graham Ritchie (TBay, 4th)
Interval start free technique
Sadie White was fourth and top U23 on Saturday. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
“It was a hard race today. I had a good start but then got really stiff going into my second lap after the big climb. It took a lot of mental fight to regroup after I got really stiff on the second lap but I was able to ski out of it and push really hard on the final lap.
I am really happy with my fitness right now, my pacing was a bit off today but I think that fact that I am in good shape allowed me to bring it back.” — Beatty (1st)
“I felt better and better throughout the whole race today! I kind of wish we had more lap to go…” — Vézina (3rd)
Russell Kennedy descending to first place. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
“Pacing was important today: that being said I didn’t pace it that well. Was definitely fastest the first two laps. Skis for me were really good [as] the team did an awesome job on them.” — Russell Kennedy (Team R.A.D., 1st)
“The race today went alright, I tried to start hard and couldn’t quite get myself into a top end race gear. I skied relatively consistent and was able to find a better feeling on the last lap, but overall not the way I want to feel during a race, the result was a pleasant surprise.
I think pacing played a big role, I was pretty far back after the first and second lap but turned out to be less than some guys lost on the last lap and so I was able to move up quite a few places in the final kms.” — Evan Palmer-Charrette (Team R.A.D., 2nd)
“My race today was really good. I feel like I was able to push hard and keep a good technique. I think the key today was to get a good glide after each push because they were not a lot of easy part on this course and the downhills were fast so you needed to get recovery were you can.” — Alexis Dumas (CNEPH, 3rd)
“Today’s race was good, not amazing but I’m happy to come away with the top U23 spot which qualifies me for U23 World Championships.
Today’s weather was static and remained the same for the whole race. The race was decided on the last lap, that’s where I pushed my hardest. My plan for the race was to increase the speed as the race progressed, getting a bit faster each lap. I was getting splits and I realized I was off the pace on the first laps, so I just made sure to push as hard as I could on the final climbs.” — Gareth Williams (Telemark, 6th)
Mass start classic
Russell Kennedy (bib #1) leads out the men’s 30km while Bob Thompson towers over the field in the leader’s bib. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
“Today’s race stands out as the most fun I’ve had in a 30k since the very first one I ever did at the Canmore Nationals in 2010.
The main group got smaller definitely through Russell pushing the climbs on most laps. We had the group of 6 for several laps and then the last 2 were really just the 3 of us with Russell pushing hard on the climb from the bottom of the course. Jack and I had faster skis and on the final downhills went by and then had a great sprint to the line.” — Thompson (1st)
“After a tough sprint day, it was great to bounce back with two super successful distance races. ” – Sam Hendry (Team R.A.D., 1st junior in 4th)
“Today was a fun race. A good battle between Katherine and me once again.
Katherine set the pace early and by the second lap, we were on our own. It was windy on course today, so it was hard to break from each other and after testing each other a few times on the last lap it came down to the finish sprint, which of course is my favourite.” — Beatty (1st)
“The race was really fun. I pushed the pace right off the start so Dahria and I made a break from the rest of the group after the first lap. We skied together the entire race, it was the type of course that made it difficult to break away because the hills were relatively short and there was quite a big drafting effect on the flats. It came down to the finishing stretch and Dahria was stronger on the double pole!” — Katherine Stewart-Jones (CNST, 2nd)
Selection
“At this point, if I am offered a start I will plan to race the first 3 stages and then reassess after that based on how I am skiing. The Dresden WC will also be a focus just after the new year so I want to make sure I am well prepared and have enough energy for those races as well.” — Beatty, on Thursday, before the Tour de Ski offer was made.
“Qualifying for world juniors has been a big goal of mine for many years and I am really excited to have achieved it this weekend.” — Hendry
Personal Highlights
“Most unusual part was getting to come home and lie in bed between the quali and heats.” — MacIsaac-Jones
“I am very very happy with my race today, I really surprised myself! It’s been a long time I didn’t feel good at racing so it was really fun to have good feelings again. Take the first spot for U23 world champ was the best way to start the season!” — Corriveau
“Getting to race the final with three of my NTDC Thunder Bay teammates was a blast, I was really proud of the way we skied out there today and think it reflects a lot of hard work by our team and coaches this year! I’m stoked for Graham and Julian go 1-2 in U23 with World Champs spots on the line, and we all owe a big thank you to our wax techs for some wicked boards all day.” — Foster
“It’s been really nice to race at home and sleep in my own bed, especially knowing I will be away a lot for the rest of the season.
Everyone in Canmore has done a great job organizing the races so last minute. I’ve been especially loving the chocolate medals!” — Beatty
“The highlight from this past weekend was hands down, getting to ski with my teammate and role model Russell Kennedy for almost all of the classic mass start on Sunday.” — Hendry
Remi Drolet has been in Canmore before: Petter Northug (NOR) (l) high fives Remi Drolet (spectator) as he finishes his final lap during the men’s 1.5 k classic sprint at the Ski Tour Canada on Tuesday in Canmore. (Photo: Peggy Hung)
2018 Davos, Switzerland women’s sprint podium. Sweden’s Stina Nilsson (center) placed first, Sophie Caldwell (left) of the U.S. was second, and Maja Dahlqvist (right) also of Sweden was third. (Photo: screenshot @matt.d.whitcomb)
FIS World Cup Davos, Switzerland 1.5 k Freestyle Sprint
On a lovely Davos, Switzerland day, Sophie Caldwell of the U.S. Ski Team (USST) was the day’s fastest qualifier for the women, stopping the clock in 2:46.28 minutes. Caldwell looked cool and in-form on her way to place second overall on the day for her first podium of the season.
The win went to Sweden’s Stina Nilsson after placing third (+2.03) in qualification. Third place went to another Swede, Maja Dahlqvist. It was the twenty-four-year-old Dahlqvist’s second podium of the year after she placed second in the Ruka, Finland classic sprint. Dahlqvist was the day’s second-fastest qualifier, finishing 0.62 seconds behind Caldwell.
Four other Amercian’s advanced to the heats. Sadie Bjornsen qualified in 10th (+4.28). She looked strong in her heat, leading the first lap and skiing in second place down the final stretch. She was passed by a surging Natalia Nepryaeva from Russia. After placing third, Bjornsen did not advance. Bjornsen ended up 14th on the day.
Ida Sargent (USST) qualified in 14th (+5.41) but did not advance out to the heats after placing fifth in the first quarterfinal. Sargent was 21st overall.
Jessie Diggins (USST) was 15th (+5.50) in qualification. In the fourth quarterfinal, Diggins tripped over Russian skier’s Natalia Matveeva’s pole and fell to her knees in the heat’s opening moments. She was unable to regain the lost ground and placed sixth in a photo finish with Matveeva. Diggins placed 26th overall.
No Canadians were entered in the women’s race.
Rosie Brennan (APU)qualified in 28th (+8.83) and was eventually eliminated in the third quarterfinal where she placed sixth. Brennan was 29th on the day. Also for the U.S., Kelsey Phinney (SMS T2) placed 38th, after placing 38th (+12.10) in the qualifier.
For the men, although still young twenty-two-years-old, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo looked like the old Klæbo on his way to his first World Cup win of the season. The Norwegian was the World Cup’s overall winner last season and first in the sprint cup.
Klæbo placed first in the qualifier with a time of 2:22.39 minutes. He advanced to the finals by winning the first heat and the first semi. Klæbo won the final in 2:20.44 minutes. Italy’s Federico Pellegrino was second overall, finishing 0.39 seconds back. Baptiste Gros of France was third (+1.40) to take the last podium step.
Simi Hamilton (USST) was the best placed North American male. Hamilton qualified in 17th (+4.76) and placed 12th overall. He placed second in the fifth heat a fraction behind Finland’s Joni Maeki. In the second semi-final, won by Norway’s Eirik Brandsdal, Hamilton placed sixth (+6.90).
Kevin Bolger (USST) just missed the heats after qualifying in 31st (+6.63). After not advancing, Bolger was 31st overall. No other Americans were entered.
Alex Harvey was the best placed Canadian, placing 37th overall. Lenny Valjas in his first World Cup of the season was 53rd. Andy Shields finished in 60th. No other Canadians were entered.
IBU World Cup Hochfilzen, Austria 10 k/12.5 k pursuit
On Saturday in Hochfilzen, Austria the women’s 10-kilometer pursuit was won by Finland’s Kaisa Mäkäräinen in a time of 30:53.8 minutes. It was Mäkäräinen’s third win of the season. The Finn had a tough time on the shooting range, despite surging for the win in the final meters, she suffered three penalties on the shooting range (1+0+1+1).
Kaisa Mäkäräinen of Finland down the final stretch in Hochfilzen, Austria during the IBU World Cup 10k pursuit. Paulina Fialkova of Slovenia was second, Italy’s Dorothea Wierer was third. (Photo: biathlonworld.com)
Paulina Fialkova of Slovenia was second (+1.5, 0+0+1+1) after skiing two penalty loops. Italy’s Dorothea Wierer was third in a close fight for all three podium spots finishing 2.8 seconds behind Mäkäräinen. Wierer had three penalties during the race (2+0+1+1).
Susan Dunklee of the U.S. was the best placed North American, improving on her 34th start spot to place 28th (+2:06.1, 0+1+1+0). Teammate Joanne Reid was 31st (+2:17.1, 0+0+0+1) after missing only a single target. Clare Egan did not qualify for the pursuit.
Rosanna Crawford was the lone Canadian to qualify for Saturday’s pursuit. She placed 44th (+3:24.8, 1+1+0+1).
Martin Fourcade of France, in a return to shooting and skiing form, took the win in the men’s 12.5 k pursuit. Fourcade won in a time of 32:22.3 minutes while shooting clean through his four shooting rounds.
Germany’s Arnd Peiffer was second (+13.7, 1+0+0+0), skiing a single penalty lap. Norway’s Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen was third (+16.1) after shooting clean for the race.
First place starter after winning yesterday’s sprint, Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Bø, fell back in the standings after missing six targets. He placed ninth (+1:00.0, 0+3+1+2) overall.
Sean Doherty for the U.S. was 31st (+2:37.3, 0+1+0+1). U.S. teammate Leif Nordgren was 42nd (+3:21.5, 1+0+1+3).
Scott Gow was the only Canadian to qualify for the pursuit. He finished in 51st (+4:36.3, 1+0+0+3).
NorAm and U23/JW World Championships Qualification, Canmore, Alberta
Day two of the Noram and U23/JW trials in Canmore, Alberta, featured freestyle individual interval races; the men raced 15km followed by the women’s 10km
Russell Kennedy (Team R.A.D.), fresh back from Europe led the way with a 30:18.5 minute clocking for the 15km. His teammate Evan Palmer-Charrette was second, 30.7 seconds behind. Alexis Dumas (CNEPH) snatched third, 1.6 seconds behind Palmer-Charrette and 0.9 seconds ahead of Jack Carlyle (AWCA). Seb Boehmler-Dandurand (AWCA) was 4.3 seconds back from Carlyle and 48.5 seconds behind the winner.
Gareth Williams (CNST) was sixth and the top U23 athlete at 1:02.9 back, with CNEPH U23 teammates Philippe Boucher and Antoine Cyr taking 7th and 8th, 8.2 and 8.8 seconds behind Williams.
Samuel Hendry (Team R.A.D.) won the junior men’s 10km in 23:09.7 to earn a spot on the U23 team in Lahti next month, with his second NorAm interval start win in two tries. Remi Drolet (Black Jack) followed up two sprint NorAm sprint wins with a second place, 33.6 seconds behind. Tom Stephen (Team ULLR) was third at 45.8 seconds.
In the open women’s 10km free, Dahria Beatty (CNST) continued her hot streak with another win, finishing in 26:05.1. Last weekend’s winner, Katherine Stewart-Jones (CNST) was second at 35.0 seconds. Frédérique Vézina (CNEPH) took third, 1:01.9 behind.
Sadie White (TBay) was top U23 in 4th, 1:10 behind the winner.
All results, including live timing for the rest of the weekend.
Katherine-Stewart Jones (193) of NTDC Thunder Bay soaks up her win in the women’s 30 k classic mass start on Saturday at 2018 Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario, just 2.3 seconds ahead of Annika Hicks (AWCA) in second. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
(Note: This article has been corrected to reflect that Evan Palmer-Charrette won his second national title last weekend.)
2018 Canadian Ski Nationals (Thunder Bay, Ontario): 30/50 k classic mass starts
On the final day of racing at Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, two National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay athletes topped the podium on their local trails at the Lappe Nordic Centre on Saturday. Katherine Stewart-Jones and Evan Palmer-Charrette won national titles in the women’s 30-kilometer and men’s 50 k classic mass starts, respectively.
Stewart-Jones, 22, who is also a Canadian National U25 Team member, won the women’s 30 k for her first national title by 2.3 seconds over Annika Hicks of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) with a time of 1:33:50.7 hours. NTDC Thunder Bay had two women on the podium with Alannah Maclean finishing third, 10.2 seconds behind her teammate. Stewart-Jones had previously placed second in the freestyle sprint last Wednesday at nationals.
“Am I happy or am I happy????” Stewart-Jones, 22, wrote on Instagram following her win “Beyond stoked to finally get a National Champs Title in the 30km”
Stewart-Jones also started the week with a win in the classic team sprint with Nakkertok club teammate Zoë Williams on March 10.
Also in the top 10 of Saturday’s 30 k, Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt of Rocky Mountain Racers (RMR) raced to fourth (+18.3), Frédérique Vézina of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH) placed fifth (+19.2), American Caitlin Gregg finished sixth (+1:25.5), Sadie White (NTDC Thunder Bay) was seventh (+2:48.3), Williams (Nakkertok) eighth (+3:40.4), Laurence Dumais (AWCA) ninth (+4:30.4), and Katie Weaver (Hollyburn) 10th (+6:47.7).
Jack Carlyle (l) of the AWCA and Ryan Jackson (81) of BXC leading the men’s field in Saturday’s 50 k classic mass start on the last day of 2018 Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, Ontario. (Photo: Doug Stephen)
In the men’s 50 k, Palmer-Charrette, 23, who grew up racing at Lappe Nordic, tallied his second-straight podium (after placing third in the skate sprint) with a win in 2:16:44.1. The national title was his second after Palmer-Charrette was the top Canadian in last year’s classic sprint at nationals in Canmore. On Saturday, he finished 9.8 seconds ahead of Scott Hill of Barrie Cross Country (BXC) in second place, and BXC had two on the podium with Ryan Jackson in third (+14.6).
The top three separated from the rest of the pack, with Julian Smith (NTDC Thunder Bay) finishing 2:40.1 back in fourth, Michael Somppi (AWCA) following in fifth (+2:45.2), then Bob Thompson (NTDC Thunder Bay) in seventh (+2:57.2), Andy Shields (Lappe Nordic) in seventh (+3:13.6), Alexis Dumas (CNEPH) in eighth (+3:20.6), Jack Carlyle (AWCA) in ninth (+3:21.9) and Jess Cockney (AWCA/Canadian World Cup Team) in 10th (+5:20.5).
Canada’s Jesse Cockney (r) racing to first in his quarterfinal in the men’s classic sprint at the PyeongChang World Cup, while leading Norway’s Mathias Rundgreen and Daniel Stock. Cockney finished tenth on the day and the result was one of two which has put him on the shortlist for Canada’s Olympic team. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
But there are a few athletes with those results that don’t come up in conversation.
Simon Lapointe finished 27th in the sprint and Bob Thompson 31st in the World Cup sprint in PyeongChang, South Korea last season – a result that would be bumped up top top-30 status if the Olympic-style scoring employed by CCC for selection, which counts only the top four athletes from each country, removed “extra” Russians from the results.
Paralympic legend Brian McKeever finished 29th in the skiathlon in PyeongChang. And for the women, Annika Hicks and Sadie White finished 26th and 29th (out of 29) in the skiathlon, and 32nd and 34th in the sprint (in a field of 36) — which with Olympic-style scoring would become top-30 finishes.
By a provision in CCC’s criteria, these results won’t count towards nomination to the Olympic team.
“In order to maintain equity and fairness in this selection process, the HPC reserves the right to exclude, or to count only partially, the results of any World Cup event with a weak depth of field,” the criteria state. “The CCC Selection Committee will be charged with evaluating the depth of field in this circumstance based on comparative analysis of World Cups over two seasons (2015-16 and 2016-17). The CCC Selection Committee will bring forth to the HPC any such recommendation to exclude, in whole or part, a World Cup event. This analysis of depth of field will consider time behind the winner (FIS points), an analysis of the top 6, top 12 and top 16 individual athletes or team events in the race based on World Cup ranking, World Cup points, total FIS points of athletes in the race and any other factors that allow for a fair and equitable World Cup depth of field analysis.”
With such a criteria, it’s fairly clear that finishing last in a World Cup race with only 30 athletes would not count towards Olympic qualification.
But in terms of determining what would count, how CCC actually analyzes race results is multifaceted and not entirely transparent.
“It is always best to look at as many data factors as possible when analyzing depth of field – weak depth of field can vary at the same World Cup event depending on gender and type of race,” CCC High Performance Director Tom Holland wrote in an email.
He emphasized that the depth-of-field assessment is rarely used, citing PyeongChang as the only set of World Cups in the last Olympic cycle where results had been excluded for team qualification.
What Results Count as Competitive
Holland and the selection committee looked at different slices of the PyeongChang results. There are multiple ways to meet Olympic qualifying criteria: a top-six sprint result, a top-12 distance result, two top-16 World Cup results (all deemed “Primary Qualification Criteria”), or three top-30 World Cup results (deemed “Alternative Qualification Criteria”). The level of competition at each of these results cutoffs was considered.
And according to Holland, the men’s races were competitive at the top end but not in the middle or bottom of the fields. That’s why Jesse Cockney, who finished 10th in the PyeongChang sprint, can count that as one of his two top-16 finishes and meet CCC nomination criteria – but Thompson, for instance, can’t count the result as his second of three top-30’s.
“What would be looked at varies between the Primary and Alternate A Criteria,” Holland wrote. “For the Primary Qualifying Criteria, the depth of field analysis being considered is top 6–16; World Cup ranking of athletes, particularly the number of red group athletes in the race would be the critical starting point of analysis, next would be time behind these athletes compared to similar placing in other [World Cup] events.
“For the Alternate A Criteria, we are only looking at top 30 results counting top 4 per nation,” he continued. “The average top 30 [World Cup] FIS points over the past 2 seasons in that particular race distance per gender is a good indicator to start the analysis. Being in top half of the field (usually, but not always) and the number of top 30 ranked athletes in the race also need to be considered.”
When asked whether it was appropriate to apply a depth-of-field adjustment differently within the results of the same individual race, the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) declined to address the specific situation.
“The COC provides national sport federations with a Guide to Drafting Internal Nomination Procedures (INP), which offers a framework, practical advice, and examples they can use in their drafting, interpretation, and implementation of their INP,” COC Manager for Corporate Communications Ricky Landry wrote in an email.
“The COC then reviews all INPs to ensure that they comply with the COC Team Selection Policy, the Olympic Charter and other applicable COC rules and policies. Also, the COC reviews INPs to ensure the qualification and nomination timelines fall within COC and Organizing Committee (OCOG) deadlines. In general terms, the COC Team Selection Policy recognizes the NSF’s authority in setting qualification criteria appropriate for its sport and in determining which athletes and support personnel will be nominated to the COC Team Selection Committee for selection to the Canadian Olympic Team.”
End result: for Lapointe, Thompson, and McKeever, their results were not enough to count towards Alternate Qualification Criteria. For Cockney, 10th was good enough for Primary Qualification Criteria.
“I’ve got the spreadsheet… there were only nine out of the top 30 sprint group [on the start line] at that event,” Holland said in an interview earlier this summer. “So the depth of field and if you look at FIS points, it wasn’t there. But if you look at the top 10, it’s a little more legitimate.”
There were only seven seeded World Cup sprinters on the start line in PyeongChang. All of them bested Cockney in qualification but he beat two of them, Baptiste Gros of France and Simi Hamilton of the United States, in the final results.
That might be important, as Holland indicated that qualification versus heats racing were not necessarily considered in the same way.
“If an athlete does well in the heats, I would be inclined to put more emphasis on the heats,” he wrote.
Transparency and Athlete Expectations
While it was clear to all that the depth of field in PyeongChang would be looked at carefully – Canada was not bringing most of its top athletes, and neither were other countries – the outcome of that analysis wasn’t known.
That marks a major difference from this aspect of the criteria to the rest of CCC’s criteria. It’s fairly clear what athletes have to do to meet World Cup-based criteria: they have to hit certain results, and after a race they can look at the results sheet and immediately know whether they can check that box or not.
At the end of that process, any remaining spots on the roster will be filled at Olympic Trials. Again, there it will be clear what finish is required to be named to the team.
Going into the PyeongChang World Cups, athletes knew that a top-30 might not cut it, but what exactly they would have to do to have a result count towards Olympic qualification was unclear.
“A lot of people didn’t go, so I believe they only counted a top 20 result,” Thompson said in an interview last week. “But I didn’t know that. There was a little bit of awareness that you had to do better than top 30, like maybe making the top 12 would be more respected.”
Likewise, because the method of assessing depth-of-field is not a single mathematical formula that is evenly applied, even glancing at the results after a race may not make clear which athletes in the field had attained qualification standards and which hadn’t.
“In the last few years, I haven’t paid so much attention to what selection criteria is worth in terms of specific scenarios,” Cockney said in an interview this week. “It’s not usually up to us what is deemed a usable race or a competitive race… I can’t decide who the competition is. I can just decide to ski. That’s the attitude I was taking in Korea – just to try to do my best and have a strong day, and thankfully I was able to put together a good day.”
That’s just part of the game, Holland seemed to suggest, saying in an interview that athletes “should have been aware” that normal qualification standards wouldn’t apply before even leaving on the trip to South Korea.
Canada’s Alex Harvey with his medals for placing second in the Distance World Cup and third in the Overall World Cup on the last day of World Cup Finals in Quebec City on Sunday, March 19. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
After last weekend’s three-day World Cup Finals mini tour drew nearly 60 North American competitors and tens of thousands of spectators to Quebec City, it’s only fitting that we share the quotes from some of the athletes you haven’t heard from yet (and some you have). Here is a collection of some of the most interesting comments from the Canadian World Cup and Nation’s Group skiers at World Cup Finals. There were 30 in total. (Stay tuned for the U.S. notes & quotes version.)
And here are our race reports (with links to results at the bottom of each) from Friday though Sunday, March 17-19:
Canada’s 21-year-old Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier, of the Pierre Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH) racing his first World Cup during the men’s freestyle sprint qualifier at World Cup Finals on March 17 in Quebec City. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
“I was surprised when I was selected, but I am very happy to be here.” — Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier (CNEPH)
“I was stressing when they announced that, ‘The national group, maybe you will have the opportunity to qualify for your first World Cup.’ [My coach and I] just kind of put that to the back of our minds and decided that if it happened, it was going to be an incredible icing on the cake part of my race season, and it happened and it was super exciting. I was really just focusing on the process so I am super excited to be here, a little overwhelmed but really excited.” — Annika Richardson (Junior NST/NTDC Thunder Bay)
“I was just happy to be here. Last year I got my concussion in Montreal [during the Ski Tour Canada] so I didn’t actually get to race here so it’s a great place to come and race. I’ve raced here just a couple of times and it’s an incredible feeling to have the crowd behind you. … It’s really great because you don’t get that in Europe. You get lots of fans, but not people who know your name so it’s pretty cool.” — Andrea Dupont (Rocky Mountain Racers)
“I am really really excited to be here. I did the [Ski Tour Canada] last year and this is probably my favourite venue to race at in Canada, being in the city and it’s a beautiful day. Can’t really ask for anything more.” — Annika Hicks (AWCA)
“I didn’t reach my goal of qualifying for the World Championships, but to race at this level this weekend far exceeds all my expectations. I was a forerunner for the Tour of Ski last year, but now I’m actually racing. That makes me really happy!” — Laura Leclair (Junior NST/Chelsea Nordiq)
“It’s the cherry on the sundae. It’s good to go up against the best in the world, and it’s an opportunity to see what you have to work on for the next year, and try your hardest.” — Frédérique Vézina (CNEPH)
On racing in Canada:
“I thought last year was going to be my last chance to race internationally in Canada so I am really thrilled to be here.” — Devon Kershaw (Canadian World Cup Team)
“We are pretty lucky to have the end of the World Cup here in our own house, and it’s really exciting to be able to finish of the season here in Canada and it’s definitely convenient to be able to relax here after we are finished. We have Canadian nationals still, so I guess not complete relaxation … but it’s really fun to be back in Canada.” — Len Valjas (Canadian World Cup Team)
“It’s nice to be back here in Canada racing a World Cup. I think we are pretty lucky to have the opportunity as a group of Canadians, developing skiers, young guys, old guys like me just trying to get up there, but also seeing Alex skiing so well, world champion. I mean, what can you say? It’s awesome. It’s good for our sport right now.” — Brian McKeever (Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team)
“The atmosphere here is really on par, today especially, with the races we do overseas, and especially being in a city center that we know so well like Quebec, it’s a really good energy.” — Jess Cockney (Canadian World Cup Team), after Saturday’s 15 k classic mass start
“It’s absolute incredible to come back to Quebec after last year and race something that’s familiar to us already, but slightly different because the race course, they change out the race course, which is always exciting. It’s amazing to race in front of Canadians and to have people cheering your name all around the course that actually personally know you, so it’s a pretty incredible experience to come out here and do that. “ — Alannah MacLean (NTDC Thunder Bay)
“It’s been great to finish the season at home. It’s been a really long season, though. I have been overseas way more than I ever have in my life so I think it’s taking a little bit of a toll on the energy, but I am just so excited to be able to race at home here and enjoy this amazing atmosphere.” — Dahria Beatty (National U25 Team/AWCA)
“I was pretty tired after such a long season, and I was really happy to be here and to able to finish the season on such a fun note, to ski a World Cup at home. It’s happened the last two years, but it doesn’t really happen that often, so it’s a unique opportunity. I gave it everything that was left in the tank, and I had a lot of fun.” — Katherine Stewart-Jones (NST U25 Team/NTDC Thunder Bay)
“This is huge for Canada, and I hope FIS can see that it’s really amazing to have races here, and I think the athletes like it, too, so I hope this becomes a staple even after our generation. There’s enough North American skiers that we should have this here every year. We’re winning medals too and Alex is up there in the overall, we deserve to make them travel a little bit. I’d love to see more races here.” — Valjas
On being cheered on by tens of thousands of fans:
“It started in warmup where you kind of would be skiing around and people recognized the National Development team jacket and yell, ‘Go Canada!’ and I was like, OK, just smile and keep going and trying to keep my focus, but it felt incredible to ski around and have everyone cheering for you and rooting for you because you’re Canadian. Definitely had to nail my focus today a bit more than usual because of that, but good practice.” — Richardson
Alex Harvey (Canadian World Cup Team) racing to fourth in the men’s freestyle sprint qualifier on the first day of World Cup Finals, last Friday, March 17, in Quebec City. He went on to win the final. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
“Sometimes they’re cheering really loud and you know it’s actually not for you, it’s just the commentator mentioned Alex but then you’re just like, I’ll take it. I’ll pretend they’re cheering for me.” — Valjas
“It’s a beautiful day in Quebec and the crowds are pretty amazing. It just kind of keeps the intensity high the whole time so it’s a fun place to race.” — Dupont, after Sunday’s 10 k freestyle pursuit
“It was another absolutely beautiful day out here, lots of home crowd cheering us on, so it was a really perfect day at the races.” — Knute Johnsgaard (NST U25 Team/AWCA), after Sunday’s 15 k freestyle pursuit
“Today was not the greatest day in my skiing career, however, it was pretty amazing because the crowd was cheering me on the whole way.” — Julien Locke (NST U25 Team/AWCA), after Saturday’s 15 k classic mass start
“It’s funny that people recognize me and know my name. It’s heart warming to have all the public support me and the Canadian team. … It was really an amazing weekend, the atmosphere, the crowd, the conditions, everything was on point. I couldn’t of hoped for a better way to end the season.” — Cendrine Browne (NST U25 Team/CNEPH)
On making the jump to the World Cup:
“It was amazing. The first day it was a lot to take in with the crowd and such a high-level race and having such high-level skiers around, but then Saturday I was more used to it and I was able to really focus on my race and put in a good effort.” — Katie Weaver (Junior NST/Hollyburn)
“You’ve got a lot of fast guys, and you’re kind of going from being one of the faster guys to obviously to one of the slowest guys around, and that’s a cool feeling, actually.” — Gareth Williams (Junior NST/Telemark)
“It’s always intimidating, but once you’re on the starting line, it’s mostly exciting. I’m not expecting to lead the pack anytime soon, so all I can do is try giving my max effort.” — Sophie Carrier-Laforte (CNEPH)
“This was my first. I qualified for a couple in the winter but because of U23 [World Championships] I wasn’t able to take advantage of it.” — Evan Palmer-Charrette (NTDC Thunder Bay)
“This was my fifth [World Cup race]. I still feel like there’s a lot of work I can do to be more competitive in this field, but I think I’m getting more and more comfortable with it in general.” — Sadie White (NTDC Thunder Bay)
“I don’t think I’m at this level of competition yet, but I think it’s so fun to be here and see how the fastest people in the world race.” — Mia Serratore (NTDC Thunder Bay), at the end of her first World Cup weekend
“I mean, they’re so fast out there, but I love it because I get to see what level I need to get to. Racing in Quebec, it’s so fun. The crowd’s just crazy. It’s so good.” — Joey Foster (Team Hardwood), at the end of his first World Cup weekend
Russell Kennedy (Canmore Nordic/Team R.A.D.) racing to 36th in the men’s skate sprint qualifier at World Cup Finals in Quebec City on March 17. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
On five Canadian men qualifying for the sprint heats in the top 30 (a first for Canada in a World Cup):
“I am really pumped for everyone and I think it’s really good for the sport to see that many people up there. We have been sprinting really well in a lot of races and have a lot of good sprinters so it’s good to see everyone get up there and do well. Hopefully they can carry it out in the heats and get a couple of those closer to the podiums.” — Russell Kennedy (Canmore Nordic/Team R.A.D.)
On sprinting:
“It’s about 89.5 k too short for me these days.” — Brian McKeever (Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team), who also specializes in marathons
On conditions:
“The snow is perfect conditions. The snow is cold, but the sun is warm, and the track is holding up great, so good Canadian conditions.” — Beatty, after Friday’s sprint
“I guess it’s pretty tricky to get grip with hard wax in this stuff, and I think klister would’ve been too slow so I had a lot of speed on my skis but my grip was definitely lacking a bit in the sun. In the shade it was pretty good, but it was a lot of upper body today, which I think was the way to go anyways.” — Andy Shields (Lappe Nordic), after Saturday’s 15 k classic mass start
“The skis showed good grip. The technicians delivered today. The issue was more the skier!” — Carrier-Laforte, after Saturday’s 10 k classic mass start
“The snow was fine. It didn’t really even get that mushy on the course and the downhills were pretty glazed actually. It stayed nice and firm. My skis were just amazing today. I was drafting people and shooting by them no problem. It was really good, really competitive skis.” — Foster, after Sunday’s 15 k freestyle pursuit
On the course:
“It’s tough because there’s a lot of flats, so you’re always working, whether it’s gradually downhill or gradually uphill. It’s good. It’s a challenging course in its own way. It’s not your typical World Cup where you have a huge climb and then a big rest after that, you’re just working stead, so it hurts. It’s a different kind of tough.” — Valjas
On sunscreen:
“Today is the first day that warranted the sunscreen, but I put the zinc on every day. Gotta protect yourself.” — Cockney
On goals for World Cup Finals:
“My goals were just to ski relaxed and push my body as hard as I can. I’ve really been injured this entire season so I haven’t done really that much racing at all. I was able to get enough racing in to qualify for this World Cup, which was something that I didn’t think was going to be possible at the beginning fo the season when I got injured, but to be here and not be 100 percent, but to be able to race in this environment is something that keeps me in the sport.” — MacLean (who herniated a disk)
“I really want to push as hard as I can for each race. I think that is something that sometimes it is difficult to do in Canada on the NorAm circuit because maybe if you’re not having a good race, you could pull back a little bit and save yourself for the next day and come in seventh instead of fifth, but here, I will still probably be in the back of the field, but I really want to push and feel good every time I cross the finish line that I gave it my all and kept pushing.” –– Richardson
Cendrine Browne, of the Canadian U25 Team and CNEPH, after finishing 41st in the women’s 10 k classic mass start on Saturday at World Cup Finals in Québec City. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
On digging deep:
“Somehow I found a bit of fight. I didn’t really do much of a warmup today. I opted for a conserving energy strategy and I think it worked well. We’ve done so much racing that my body didn’t really need a warmup to get going so I did as little as possible before the racing to save everything I had for this last effort.” — Beatty
“It’s been a lot of racing this week. I was down in Lake Placid doing U.S. Junior Nationals and then I came here and now we’re off to Canadian Nationals for another three races. It’ll be a lot of racing, but that’s what I love to do.” — Weaver
“[After] yesterday’s race, I wasn’t going to start today and then the physio said, ‘If I’m treating you, you’re going to start.’ And I was like, ‘OK, Let’s do this!’ And she actually fixed me and today was much better.” — Valjas, on his upper-back injury, after Sunday’s 15 k freestyle pursuit
“I felt really really good, but I’m just having so many problems with my shins and my calves this season so it just makes it really difficult to ski properly.” — Serratore
On Quebec City:
“Quebec City, as far as Canada goes, is probably the closest thing to Europe, but it’s still the same country, same food.” — Palmer-Charrette
On their season overall:
Devon Kershaw leads Canadian teammate Graeme Killick in the men’s 15 k classic mass start at World Cup Finals on March 18 in Quebec City. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
“It has been a really good season. It has been my most consistent season to date, so I have been really happy with it, have had some really good races and I just think especially in sprinting, my bad races are way better than they have been in the past. The fluctuation is smaller so I am showing good signs for next year.” — Beatty
“I think the season for me was a little disappointing. I had some signs of the training paying off, but I think overall I might have overdone it through the summer in sections and from that I struggled with some sickness through a lot of the season. I think some races were OK for me and I’ll take that and try to fix some things for next year over the summer and see what I can do. I mean, today was a good reminder that skate is not there and I really need to work on it for next year.” — Graeme Killick (Canadian World Cup Team), after 15 k skate pursuit
On season highlights:
“It’s got to be those two relay medals, especially the 4 x 7.5 k, that was so cool because my whole career we’ve tried to get a medal there and I was honored to be the anchor and that was a huge moment in my career to be able to pull that off and secure a medal for the men’s relay was just awesome. And of course, the first win for me with Alex was also just as special. It’s been a good year. Lots of highs, some lows, and I’m ready for next year.” — Valjas, on historic third-place finish with men’s relay at World Cup in Ulricehamn, Sweden, and World Cup freestyle team sprint win with teammate Alex Harvey in Toblach, Italy
Emily Nishikawa (Canadian World Cup Team) racing to 38th on the final day of 2017 World Cup Finals on Sunday in Quebec City, the women’s 10 k freestyle pursuit. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
“I think the relay in Lahti for us, it was one of our best women’s results since 2001 or something like that, so 16 years.” — Emily Nishikawa (Canadian World Cup Team), on the Canadian women’s team’s 10th place in the 4 x 5 k relay at 2017 Nordic World Championships
“For me, it would be Davos. I was really happy with my form there, and I think I never felt that good in a skate race. I like altitude, too, so that course kind of suits me. That was my best individual start ever so it’s good to have one of those. I was really happy with that day.” — Killick, referring to his 21st place in the World Cup 30 k freestyle individual start on Dec. 10 in Davos, Switzerland
“That’s hard to call. Probably the highlight of my season was my 26th was La Clusaz, getting my first distance top 30. That was something I wasn’t really sure I’d be able to bridge this season and to be able to ski into the top 30 in distance as well as sprint this year wasp pretty amazing so that was a big step for me forward in coming years.” — Beatty, on her 26th place in the World Cup 10 k freestyle mass start on Dec. 17 in La Clusaz, France
“Maybe this, watching Harv do well. The Holmenkollen was an amazing experience. It was hard and not my best finish ever, but it was a really, really cool experience and I can’t say enough how awesome it was.” — Kennedy, who placed 47th in the 50 k classic mass start at Holmenkollen in Oslo, Norway, on March 11
On the upcoming training season:
“I’m pretty relieved that this season’s over and really excited to kind of get a fresh start on next year and just take some time to reflect on this past season and look at the things that went well and things that I could improve on and hopefully use those as building blocks for next year’s training.” — Johnsgaard
“This summer, I’ll put in practice what I learned from my World cup experience. I’ll really focus on technique and work on my tempo. The only way to improve is to keep racing against the best.” — Browne
Alex Harvey racing in the men’s 15 k freestyle pursuit at Stage 4 of the Ski Tour Canada last year in Quebec City. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com/NNF)
For the second-straight year, the World Cup’s season-ending races will be held in Canada, with Québec City hosting 2017 World Cup Finals, this Friday through Sunday. Canada initially announced a roster of 30 (15 women, 15 men) for the three-day mini tour, and the U.S. selected 27 (15 women and 12 men), with both countries maximizing their Nation’s Group “home” quota for the event in downtown Québec City.
Note: On Tuesday, Cross Country Canada (CCC) announced it would be releasing a revised roster “due to some CPL points errors in calculations,” according to a press release. On Thursday, FasterSkier confirmed that the list included the same 15 women and 15 men that were originally published on FasterSkier.
And on Wednesday, Quebec organizers announced that the times of each race would be moved back an hour “upon FIS recommendation” to satisfy international broadcast schedules. The updated times are listed below.
2017 World Cup Finals race schedule (updated Wednesday):
(All times Eastern Daylight Time)
Friday, March 17: Freestyle sprint (qualifier starts at 11:45 a.m.; heats at 2:15 p.m.)
(Note: Jenn Jackson of Lappe Nordic declined her spot)
Men:
Alex Harvey (World Cup A-team)
Devon Kershaw (World Cup A-team)
Len Valjas (World Cup A-team)
Jess Cockney (World Cup B-team)
Graeme Killick (World Cup B-team)
Knute Johnsgaard (NST U25 Team/AWCA)
Russell Kennedy (Canmore Nordic/Team R.A.D.)
Gareth Williams (Junior NST/Telemark)
Andy Shields (Lappe Nordic)
Bob Thompson (NTDC Thunder Bay)
Joey Foster (Team Hardwood)
Julien Locke (NST U25 Team/AWCA)
Evan Palmer-Charrette (NTDC Thunder Bay)
Brian McKeever (Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team)
Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier (CNEPH)
USA
Women:
Kikkan Randall (U.S. Ski Team A-team/APU)
Sadie Bjornsen (USST A-team/APU)
Liz Stephen (USST A-team)
Caitlin Patterson (CGRP)
Rosie Brennan (USST B-team/APU)
Erika Flowers (SMS Elite)
Jennie Bender (BSF)
Julia Kern (USST D-team/SMS Elite)
Liz Guiney (CGRP)
Kaitlynn Miller (CGRP)
Chelsea Holmes (APU)
Becca Rorabaugh (APU)
Jessie Diggins (USST A-team/SMS Elite)
Sophie Caldwell (USST A-team/SMS Elite)
Ida Sargent (USST A-team/CGRP)
(Note: Katharine Ogden, of the SMS Elite Team and U.S. Ski Team D-team, declined her spot due to “ongoing stomach issues,” according to U.S. head coach Chris Grover. Guiney was the first alternate as she was next on the SuperTour list.)
Men:
Andy Newell (USST A-team/SMS Elite)
Noah Hoffman (USST B-team/Ski Club Vail)
Erik Bjornsen (USST B-team/APU)
Matt Gelso (SVSEF)
David Norris (APU)
Ben Lustgarten (CGRP)
Cole Morgan (SVSEF)
Patrick Caldwell (USST D-team/SMS Elite)
Jack Hegman (SVSEF)
Brian Gregg (Team Gregg/Loppet Nordic Racing)
Scott Patterson (APU)
Simi Hamilton (USST A-team/SMS Elite)
A view from the steep hill on the sprint course with the stadium area in background, as seen during training last year in Quebec City, one day before the third stage of the 2016 Ski Tour Canada. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
The women’s 4 x 3.3 k relay podium on the final day of 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, with Russia (c) in first, Italy (l) in second, and the U.S. (with Hailey Swirbul, Julia Kern, Hannah Halvorsen, and Katharine Ogden) in third. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)
FIS Nordic Junior World Championships (Midway, Utah): Junior relays
Hailey Swirbul, Julia Kern, Hannah Halvorsen, and Katharine Ogden on the podium. That’s right. Two days after Ogden became the first American to earn an individual medal at Junior World Championships, those four U.S. junior women listed above did the same, placing third in the 4 x 3.3-kilometer relay on the last day of 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah.
The team credited their lucky socks, similar to the red-white-and-blue striped socks the U.S. women’s World Cup team wears for relays and team events.
“We gave everything we got,” Kern said in a televised post-race interview.
“It’s the dream,” Ogden said.
In fourth at the last exchange, Ogden anchored the team to third, 25.8 seconds behind Russia, which won in 34:45.3 minutes with Polina Nekrasova, Lidia Durkina, Anna Zherebyateva, and Mariya Istomina.
Italy placed second (+20.6) with Martina Bellini, Anna Comarella, Francesca Franchi, and Christina Pittin.
Canada finished 12th (+4:41.3) with Natalie Hynes, Lisle Compton, India McIsaac, and Annika Richardson.
[UPDATED] In the junior men’s 4 x 5 k relay that followed, Norway’s Thomas Helland Larsen outlasted Russia’s Vladislav Vechkanov by 0.4 seconds for the team win in 49:36.1.
Norway’s gold-medal team included Herman Martens Meyer, Jon Rolf Skamo Hope, Harald Østberg Amundsen, and Larsen, while Russia took silver with Egor Kazarinov, Kirill Kilivnyuk, Yaroslav Rybochkin, and Vechkanov.
France rounded out the podium in third (+1:05), with Martin Collet, Camille Laude, Hugo Lapels, and Arnaud Chautemps.
The U.S. finished ninth (+4:28.8) with Bill Harmeyer, Kam Husain, Wyatt Gebhardt, and Hunter Wonders, and Canada followed in 10th (+5:21.6) with Antoine Blais, Ryan Jackson, Philippe Boucher, and Gareth Williams. Twelve teams finished the men’s relay, the final race of 2017 Junior World Championships.
FIS Cross-Country World Cup (PyeongChang, South Korea): Freestyle team sprint
The women’s freestyle team sprint podium at the PyeongChang World Cup on Sunday in South Korea, with Sweden’s Elin Mohlin and Maria Nordström (c) in first, Norway’s Anna Svensen and Silje Øyre Slind (l) in second, and USA I’s Ida Sargent and Sophie Caldwell (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
The U.S. women had one team on the podium and one just 0.35 seconds off of it on Sunday in the World Cup 6 x 1.4-kilometer freestyle team sprint in PyeongChang, South Korea.
USA I, with Sophie Caldwell and Ida Sargent, skied in third for most of the race and ultimately finished third, 6.11 seconds behind Sweden’s Elin Mohlin and Maria Nordström in first (in 20:37.11 minutes). Norway took second, 1.71 seconds back, with Anna Svensen and Silje Øyre Slind, while USA I edged USA II, with Caitlin Patterson and Liz Stephen for third. Patterson and Stephen ended up fourth (+6.46), ahead of Slovenia’s Katja Visnar and Anamarija Lampic in fifth (+14.46).
Fifteen women’s teams competed on Sunday, with 10 of them reaching the final. Canada placed 14th overall with Annika Hicks and Sadie White.
In the men’s 6 x 1.5 k freestyle team sprint, Russia’s Gleb Retivykh picked up his second win in in PyeongChang, after winning Friday’s classic sprint. He teamed up with Andrey Parfenov for the victory in 19:34.11, beating France (Baptiste Gros/Lucas Chanavat) by 0.03 seconds in a photo finish.
Russia had two teams on the podium with Russia II’s Artem Maltsev and Nikita Kriukov in third (+5.52). Andy Newell and Simi Hamilton (USA I) fell off the leaders’ pace to finish fourth (+24.23), 18.71 seconds off the podium.
USA II, with Scott Patterson and Matt Gelso, finished ninth (+54.85) in the final, and Canada’s Jess Cockney and Len Valjas placed 13th of 14 teams.
NorAm Eastern Canadian Championships (Cantley, Quebec): 15/20 k freestyle pursuits
SMS Elite’s Anne Hart catching Nakkertok’s Zoe Williams in the interval start classic, day two of Eastern Championships. (Photo: Ian Austen)
The NorAm mini tour at the Nakkertok Nordic Centre wrapped up with freestyle pursuits.
In the men’s 20 k, AWCA’s Russell Kennedy posted the fastest time of 53:42.68 to move up from third to take the overall victory in 1:33.22. Lappe Nordic’s Andy Shields started first but couldn’t hold off Kennedy, finishing 36 seconds behind with a 6th best time, 1:01.46 slower. AWCA’s Dominique Moncion-Groulx wrapped up a strong weekend with the fourth best time of day, 37.92 back, to take third overall, 58.53 behind Kennedy.
SMS Elite’s Anne Hart won the women’s 15 k pursuit in dominant style, starting first and winning time of day in 47:36.10 for an overall time of 1:17:39. AWCA’s Maya MacIsaac-Jones started third and finished second with the second best time of day, 31.36 seconds back for a combined deficit of 51.39 seconds. CNEPH’s Sophie Carrier-Laforte started second and ended third, 2:14.81 down after a sixth best time of day 2:05.47 back.
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.
The women’s 1.4 k classic sprint podium on Friday at the pre-Olympic PyeongChang World Cup in South Korea, with Slovenia’s Anamarija Lampič (c) in first, Norway’s Silje Øyre Slind (l) in second, and American Ida Sargent (r) in third. It was the first time on the World Cup podium for all three athletes. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Liz Guiney, Caitlin Patterson and Jessica Yeaton.)
Sometimes just being there is half the battle, as the saying goes.
No Maiken Caspersen Falla. No Stina Nilsson. On Friday at the site of next year’s Olympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, three athletes who had never made it to a World Cup podium before prevailed in the women’s 1.4-kilometer classic sprint.
And right there was Ida Sargent of the U.S. Ski Team (USST) in third place, smiling together with Slovenia’s Anamarija Lampič, who won her first sprint final in a time of 3:41.97 minutes (just 1.79 seconds ahead of Sargent), and Norway’s Silje Øyre Slind rounding out the picture in second place (+1.60).
“I’m really excited about the podium and it hasn’t really set in yet,” Sargent commented on the best result of her career in an email to FasterSkier, instantly thinking of those who helped her get there. “I feel so grateful to have such an awesome team behind me both on the USST and at home in Craftsbury.”
Ida Sargent racing earlier this season at the World Cup in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: Toko/NordicFocus)
Sargent has started in over 100 individual World Cup races, three International Ski Federation (FIS) World Championships, and the 2014 Winter Olympics. But this was the first podium finish for the 29-year-old Vermont native, and it had been a long time in the making.
Sure, not all of the best skiers made the long trip to South Korea. In fact, while a number of the best sprinters still packed their ski bags, none of the top-25 ranked athletes in the women’s overall World Cup standings before this weekend did, including Norway’s Falla and Sweden’s Nilsson, who combined have also won 13 out of the last 15 sprint races.
Those athletes opted to prepare for the upcoming World Championships in Lahti, Finland, by taking a training break or starting at the Norwegian and Swedish national championships also going on this week. But that was their choice, while the women smiling atop of the podium in PyeongChang had decided differently.
As any professional in a regular job can relate to, “showing up is 80 percent of life” – a quote commonly attributed to filmmaker Woody Allen.
And the shrunken field should not distract from the exciting heats and convincing fashion in which Sargent, along with her teammate Sophie Caldwell, qualified and advanced through the rounds in the night race under floodlights, in a beautiful and brand-new arena for the first cross-country World Cup event ever hosted by South Korea.
Both have proven before that they can hang with the best, even when all World Cup regulars stand at the start line. Sargent has achieved five top-10 sprint finishes in her career, including a fifth place in Kuusamo, Finland, for the 2014 season opening. Caldwell won a classic sprint during the Tour de Ski last season in Oberstdorf, Germany. (The other athlete to break the streak of Falla and Nilsson was Norway’s Heidi Weng, who in December 2016 won the classic sprint in Lillehammer, Norway.)
Earlier in the day, Caldwell had the fastest qualifying time around the 1.4 k course, which features a steady climb out of the arena soon followed by a tricky right downhill turn into the next steep climb that later gave a number of athletes problems during the heats, and another downhill back into the stadium with a sharp corner that caused some athletes to ski wide left out of the V-boards marking the course.
“It’s probably the hardest sprint course for women that maybe we’ve ever encountered,” U.S. Ski Team (USST) Head Coach Chris Grover said in a phone interview from Korea with FasterSkier. “It almost has no flat on it except for some double poling out of the start and some double poling into the finish. You really just are spending all your time climbing. And such a small difference between the women’s course and the men’s course.”
Sargent qualified in fifth, 4.76 seconds back from Caldwell. She had to put up a bit of a fight in her quarterfinal, coming onto the finishing stretch with three other athletes still close by and spreading out into the lanes. Sargent poled hard and prevailed to win the heat in a photo finish by 0.03 seconds against Russia’s Elena Soboleva, keeping Slind and Slovenia’s Katja Višnar at bay all within less than half a second.
Russia’s Elena Soboleva leads Norway’s Silje Øyre Slind (second from r), American Ida Sargent (second from l) and Slovenia’s Katja Visnar during their quarterfinal of the women’s classic sprint at the World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
Then, Sargent placed second in her semifinal behind Lampič, edging Russia’s Alisa Zhambalova in third with both timed at 0.5 seconds back, though the third place would also have been sufficient to advance.
“Both of the lucky losers came out of my quarterfinal and then the semifinal so the heats were really fast from the start, but I was able to learn a little with each one and tweak my strategy,” Sargent wrote of her progression through the heats.
“Ida just kept herself toward the front, and had some good double-pole finishes to keep advancing through the rounds,” Grover said. “And yeah, it was just the right course, the right day, good skis, great kick, great glide, it was just the right combo.”
Caldwell had even fewer problems than Sargent in her quarterfinal, quickly gapping the rest of the pack with Sweden’s Maria Nordström up the first climb out of the arena and finishing the heat in first place.
But then things did not fall her way in the semifinal.
“I’m really frustrated with how I skied the last corner of my semi,” Caldwell wrote in an email. “I was determined to make the final and was pretty mad with myself for giving it up on that last corner.”
Her main obstacle: Justyna Kowalczyk. The 34-year-old Polish ski star certainly carries a big name on the international scene with two Olympic gold medals, but due to persistent back problems, she has had to reduce her World Cup appearances in the last seasons, mostly focusing on a few classic races and ski marathons starting for the Norwegian professional team Santander.
But on Friday she was at the start in PyeongChang, qualifying in second position just 1.84 seconds behind Caldwell before winning her quarterfinal. In the semifinal, the two raced head to head. Initially Caldwell skied with Kowalczyk, but then lost all momentum when Sweden’s Nordström in front of her stumbled a bit and the rest of the pack caught up to them.
American Sophie Caldwell chasing Sweden’s Maria Nordström in Friday’s 1.4 k classic sprint at the PyeongChang World Cup in South Korea. Caldwell finished the day in eighth overall, behind Nordström in seventh. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
“There was a moment of panic coming off the downhill into that second hill when the Swede and Kowalczyk almost fell and I was right behind them,” Caldwell explained. “I got bumped into a pretty far track on the outside and we had lost most of our speed at that point.”
But Caldwell kept fighting and managed to catch back up to Kowalczyk on the final downhill into the arena with the best curve technique and good skis, but ran onto her when they both took the same lane into the finish, not able to speed up as much as she had wanted to. She got passed outside by Slind who advanced in second place as well as by Nordström, who like Caldwell also missed out on the best two lucky loser times.
“I pushed well over the top and carried my speed through the corners, positioning myself exactly where I wanted to be in the inside track,” Caldwell wrote. “Going up and over the little bump in the stadium, I let Kowalczyk get just enough ahead of me so that she was able to cut in front of me before the finish lanes and then two other people whipped by. I wish I could do it again and realize that’s part of ski racing, but it’s a bummer to screw it up tactically on a day I was feeling good and skiing well.”
“For Sophie to win the qualifier was cool,” Grover said. “I believe that was the first time she has won the qualifier.”
The Final
Lampič was already smiling broadly in the start gate of her quarterfinal and semifinal, where she advanced in second and first, respectively. But back then she couldn’t yet know that her day would turn out even better.
Slovenia’s Anamarija Lampic (10) celebrating her first World Cup victory and podium on Friday in the as she wins the women’s 1.4 k classic sprint final in PyeongChang, South Korea, while Ida Sargent (directly behind Lampic) races for a career-best third. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)
In the final, initially the others let Sargent set the tempo out of the arena, but Lampič passed her by on the penultimate hill, with Slind and Kowalczyk also pushing hard to create a small gap.
“She skied powerful over the top of the second big climb and set herself up for the downhill,” Grover said. “There’s a really tough downhill corner coming into the stadium, and she skied that great. She really carried her momentum well through that … Other people crashed, other people went outside the V-boards because they couldn’t control the corner there.”
“I had figured out a good line on that last downhill and I also had very fast skis so I used it as a chance to move up each time,” Sargent wrote of the race situation. “I think I was behind Kowalczyk in the final at that part but I was hoping if I skied it well I could gain back some time.”
Turning the last corner into the finishing stretch, Lampič was several meters ahead with none of her competitors able to challenge her anymore.
“It is unbelievable I won today,” Lampič said, according to a FIS press release. “I hoped to make it to the final but to win, it’s a dream. I skied well in the downhill. I managed to get a gap on the other girls. After the curve in the stadium I knew I had a lead and I could enjoy the home stretch.”
With her win, Lampič currently also leads the U23 standings in the World Cup.
As they double poled hard the finish, Slind passed Sargent on the lane to her right on the last meters, but Sargent held off the final charge from Kowalczyk by half a second to claim the third place and her first World Cup podium.
“It was tough today, the course was hard but it was hard for everybody,” the 28-year-old Slind, who is not a regular member of Norway’s senior national team on the World Cup, told FIS. “I got tired in the big climb but managed to ski the downhill well. I had some power left and was pushing hard on the homestretch.”
Kowalczyk finished fourth (+2:35), Russia’s Alisa Zhambalova placed fifth (+4.24), and Lampic’s teammate Višnar was sixth (+17.10).
A jubilant Sargent raised her arms as she crossed the finish line, and on the small victory lap of the podium finishers she skied to the side fence to hug with Caldwell and her other teammates, who had waited in the arena to watch her final heat.
“It was pretty incredible to watch Ides get her first podium,” Caldwell wrote. “We were all lining the finish stretch cheering for her and of course I had to go congratulate her. Your first podium is something you remember forever and Ida is a hard worker who deserved that and I was happy I could be there to see it!”
In recent years, the U.S. Ski Team has put a number of female athletes onto the podium. Kikkan Randall. Jessie Diggins. Sophie Caldwell. Liz Stephen posted some of the best hill-climb times in several editions of the Tour de Ski. And a month ago, Sadie Bjornsen also reached a third place. Now, Sargent joined their ranks.
“It has been a goal of mine for a long time to be on the podium so it was a very special day!” Sargent wrote. “I’ve been inspired by so many fast teammates, so happy to follow in their footsteps!”
All five U.S. women in the heats
But it was not just a good race day for Sargent and Caldwell, with the U.S. team managing to put all of its starters into the heats.
“It was a really small women’s field,” Grover noted, “so it was not a huge surprise that all of those five [women] made it in. But there were some massive spreads in times. You saw right away in the quarterfinals that they were getting pretty spaced out.”
Sargent’s Craftsbury Green Racing Project teammate Liz Guiney qualified in 25th (+20.74 to Caldwell). She then went on to place fifth in her quarterfinal (+2:18), keeping Finland’s Mona Liisa Nousiainen behind her to finish the day in 24th place overall. It was the best individual result in her first season of World Cup races so far.
“It’s really exciting to score World Cup points for the first time!” Guiney wrote in an email. “I recognize that this field is not the same as a normal World Cup field, but I guess you have to show up to score the points. … My season has been a bit up and down this year, so I’m hoping that this race was a good sign that things are headed in the up direction!”
In terms of the sprint course, she described it as both fun and hard.
“The climbs on the sprint course are pretty steep and sustained, which I think is great for a classic sprint, to discourage double poling without kick wax,” Guiney wrote. “The first downhill is fine since it’s banked, but conditions were fast on the second downhill and it definitely felt different (faster) than skiing it the previous days. I actually skidded, and a few people fell, but the most successful skiers in the rounds were picking a good line and stepping it to carry momentum.”
Liz Stephen of the USST was the highest-ranked athlete in the overall World Cup standings, male or female, who made the trip to Korea (but with Slind’s second place, she surpassed Stephen).
Stephen, a distance specialist, will focus on Saturday’s skiathlon, but took the opportunity for a sprint race on Friday and qualified in 29th (+23.59). It was the first time she managed to qualify for the heats in three seasons. Smiling and waving to the fans at the start of her fast quarterfinal heat together with the eventual finalists Sargent, Slind and Visnar, she quickly fell to the back of the pack and eventually finished fifth (+19.10) for the 25th place overall.
The third Craftsbury member, Caitlin Patterson qualified in 20th (+17.90) and placed sixth in her quarterfinal (+21.81), which included the eventual winner Lampič as well as the finalist Zhambalova. With that, she achieved 27th place overall and the fourth top-30 result of her career, though her race day could have gone even better.
“I am a notorious slow starter, and I was determined to start quickly, but I still ended up in 6th place by the bottom of the first hill,” Patterson wrote in an email. “I was frustrated near the top of that hill, as I was boxed in behind the 4th and 5th place women, who were moving a little slowly, as the top 3 gapped us. After taking a bad line on the first downhill, I got stuck behind the same two girls on the 2nd hill, then jumped to an outer track and moved around them, accelerating to the top of the course and building a gap behind me.
“The 3 women leading the heat were a ways in front of me, but I was determined to do everything I could to close the gap, so I took the curvy downhill into the stadium really fast with no speed checking. I swung wide at the bottom, I think caught some grabby corduroy there, and before I knew it, crashed right at the bottom of the corner,” she continued. “I consider myself fairly good at downhills, but I think I was too focused on the women I was trying to catch, and not quite focused enough on the snow under my own feet. … It was a great experience to be in a heat on this level, but I was very frustrated with the fact that I took myself out, not to mention the poor positioning from earlier in the heat prior to the crash.”
Her goal to start the day had been to qualify and make the most of an opportunity to race in World Cup heats.
“I can’t say I expected that it would be easy to make the heats, even with the reduced field there are still lots of fast people here,” Patterson wrote. “I did believe that it would be possible though, and I met the goal of qualifying with a solid 22nd place.
“It’s fun to be in the top 30, but I don’t think it means a whole lot here at this Korean World Cup,” she wrote of her overall result. “The field is undoubtedly weak, and just top 30 doesn’t really make a splash compared to the many fantastic results of the strong US women’s team right now.”
Also racing in the heats was Jessica Yeaton of Alaska Pacific University, who internationally skis for Australia. She qualified in 30th (+26.29) and also finished 30th after placing sixth behind Stephen in the first quarterfinal (+20.1).
“Going into the race it was my goal to make the heats once I saw that the start list was smaller than usual,” Yeaton wrote in an email. “I thought it would be an awesome opportunity to practice skiing heats, and thought I might actually have a shot at it given the size of the field.
“My quarterfinal was fast, and I struggled to stay with the group over the top of the first hill,” she explained, “Although I am happy with my effort overall. Skiing head to head with some of the fastest qualifiers helped me realize my weaknesses with striding, and I am inspired to work on these as the Olympics approach.
“This result is very special for me, as skiing in the heats has always been a goal of mine that I have worked hard towards achieving,” she added.
Canada’s Annika Hicks (Alberta World Cup Academy) in 32nd (+32.96 to Caldwell’s time in the qualifier) and Sadie White (NTDC Thunder Bay) in 34th (+38.96) missed qualifying for the heats.
Due to the time difference, the athletes aside from Sargent and Caldwell could not be reached for comment before press time.
Racing continues on Saturday with the women’s and men’s 15/30 k skiathlons, followed by freestyle team sprints on Sunday.
“I’m not racing tomorrow and will rest up to race the team sprint on Sunday with Sophie,” Sargent wrote regarding her plans for the weekend.
Katharine Ogden (SMS/USST) finishing third for bronze in the women’s 10 k skiathlon on Friday at 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. She is the first American to reach the podium in a Junior World Championships. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)
FIS Nordic Junior World Championships (Midway, Utah): 10/20 k skiathlon
A Junior World Championships medal has been on Katharine Ogden’s mind for some time — two years, to be exact.
“Every day in training, it’s kind of something that I think about. It’s the little thing that helps me push myself,” Ogden, a 19-year-old member of the Stratton Mountain School and U.S. Ski Team D-team, said in a post-race interview with the U.S. Ski Team on Friday. “Even in the middle of June, I’ll be like, ‘You know what I want to be? On the podium at World Juniors.’ ”
She did just that on Friday, racing to third in the women’s 10-kilometer skiathlon at 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. In doing so, she became the most successful American at World Juniors, surpassing Lindsey Williams’s previous best of fourth place in 2003.
Ogden finished 10.4 seconds behind the winner, Norway’s Marte Mæhlum Johansen, who finished first in 27:17.3 minutes. Sweden’s Ebba Andersson took second, 6.6 seconds back. Behind Ogden, Italy’s Anna Comarella placed fourth (+51.6) ahead of Finland’s Eveliina Piippo in fifth (+58.7).
Hailey Swirbul (University of Alaska Anchorage) was the second U.S. woman in 24th (+2:21.0), while Natalie Hynes (Whitehorse) led Canada in 28th (+3:11.3).
Also for Canada, India McIsaac (Rocky Mountain Racers) finished 30th (+3:13.8), Lisle Compton (NTDC Thunder Bay) was 33rd (+3:45.5) and Annika Richardson (NTDC Thunder Bay) 41st (+4:49.3).
Also for the U.S., Lauren Jortberg (Dartmouth) finished 37th (+4:04.5) and Taeler McCrerey (University of Denver) 38th (+4:07.5).
[UPDATED] In the men’s 20 k skiathlon that followed, Russia’s Vladislav Vechkanov notched his second gold of the week in 49:40.5, outlasting Norway’s Thomas Helland Larsen by 1.9 seconds. Norway had two on the podium with Harald Østberg Amundsen in third (+2.2).
Canada’s Gareth Williams (Telemark Race Team) was the top North American in 11th (+1:24.0) for his best result at his first Junior Worlds.
American Wyatt Gebhardt (Steamboat Springs WSC) followed in 12th (+1:42.7) for his second-straight top 20 and Hunter Wonders (Alaska Pacific University) also finished in the top 20 for the second-straight race in 18th (+1:57.9).
Canada’s Philippe Boucher (CNEPH) was 22nd (+3:15.7), Ryan Jackson (Team Hardwood) 31st (+3:52.5), and Remi Drolet (Black Jack) 49th (+6:57.3).
Also for the U.S., Kam Husain (SMS) placed 50th (+6:59), and Logan Diekmann (University of Utah) was 53rd (+7:47.3).
NorAm Eastern Canadian Championships (Cantley, Quebec): Classic sprint
The NorAm series resumed at the Nakkertok Nordic Centre on Friday with Eastern Canadian Championships with classic technique sprints.
Alberta World Cup Academy’s Maya MacIsaac-Jones returned from U23s in time to win the 1.3 k A-final in 3:42.06, after qualifying sixth. Top qualifier Sophie Carrier-Laforte was second for CNEPH at her home event, 0.66 seconds behind. SMS Elite’s Anne Hart rounded out the podium at 3.40 seconds back.
On the men’s side, AWCA’s Dominique Moncion-Groulx qualified first before winning every heat on his way to victory in 3:14.84 on a slightly longer 1.4 k course. NTDC Thunder Bay’s Angus Foster was a close second, 0.09 seconds behind. Team R.A.D.’s Russell Kennedy was a comfortable third, 2.75 seconds back, on a day marked by some surprising eliminations.
The elite field is slightly smaller than usual with some athletes away in Soldier Hollow and PyeongChang. As many younger racers were stuck in school for the day, there are only about 500 starters for what is usually the largest FIS event in Canada.
FIS Cross-Country World Cup (PyeongChang, South Korea): Classic sprint
The women’s 1.4 k classic sprint podium on Friday at the pre-Olympic PyeongChang World Cup in South Korea, with Slovenia’s Anamarija Lampič (c) in first, Norway’s Silje Øyre Slind (l) in second, and American Ida Sargent (r) in third. It was the first time on the World Cup podium for all three athletes. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)
In the last month, we’ve seen two U.S. Ski Team members — Jessie Diggins and Sadie Bjornsen — on the World Cup podium. Add Ida Sargent to that list.
On Friday, the Vermont native raced to third in the women’s 1.4-kilometer classic sprint at the first-ever World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea. It was the first of three days of racing in PyeongChang, which will host the 2018 Winter Olympics next season.
Sargent qualified fifth (4.76 seconds behind her teammate Sophie Caldwell, who won the qualifier in 3:40.89 minutes) and went on to win her quarterfinal in a photo finish, then placed second her semifinal (also in a photo finish), edging Russia’s Alisa Zhambalova in third by less than 0.01 seconds.
Both advanced to the final, where Sargent ultimately finished third, 1.79 seconds behind Slovenia’s Anamarija Lampič, who won in 3:41.97. Norway’s Silje Øyre Slind took second (+1.6), just 0.19 seconds ahead of Sargent. For all three women, it was their first time on a World Cup podium.
Sargent beat out Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk for third by 0.56 seconds. Zhambalova finished fifth and Slovenia’s Katja Visnar was sixth (+17.1).
“I’m really excited about the podium and it hasn’t really set in yet,” Sargent wrote in an email on Friday. “It has been a goal of mine for a long time to be on the podium so it was a very special day! I’ve been inspired by so many fast teammates so happy to follow in their footsteps!”
All five U.S. women racing on Friday finished in the top 30 to qualify for the heats. Caldwell won the qualifier by 1.84 seconds over Kowalczyk, Caitlin Patterson qualified 22nd, Liz Guiney 25th and Liz Stephen 29th (Stephen’s first time making the heats in three years).
Jessica Yeaton, who races for Australia but trains with Alaska Pacific University, took the last qualifying spot in 30th (+26.29).
Canada’s Annika Hicks and Sadie White missed qualifying in 32nd (+32.96) and 34th (+38.96), respectively, out of 36 women.
Caldwell won her quarterfinal but finished fourth in her semifinal (behind Slind, Kowalczyk, and Sweden’s Maria Nordström, respectively) to miss advancing to the final. She placed eighth overall.
Guiney placed 24th overall after finishing fifth in her quarterfinal, Stephen was 25th after taking fifth in the same quarterfinal as Sargent (where Yeaton finished sixth for 30th overall), and Patterson was 27th after finishing sixth in her quarterfinal.
***
Both Canada’s Len Valjas and American Andy Newell reached the final in the men’s 1.5 k classic sprint on Friday, where they raced to fourth and sixth, respectively.
Valjas started the day by qualifying in second, 1.97 seconds behind Russia’s Alexander Panzhinskiy, who topped the qualifier in 3:26.78. The Canadian went on to advance in second from his quarterfinal and fourth as a lucky loser from the first semifinal. In the final, he missed out on the podium in a photo finish with Russia’s Andrey Parfenov, who took third, 0.01 seconds ahead of him.
Meanwhile, Newell qualified seventh (+5.18) and took second in both his quarterfinal and semifinal (finishing the second semifinal 0.34 seconds behind Panzhinskiy in first).
In the final, Russia’s 25-year-old Gleb Retivykh pulled off his first World Cup victory and podium with a 0.3-second win over Norway’s Sondre Turvoll Fossli in 3:30.79. Retivykh qualified sixth (+4.53) then won his quarterfinal and placed third in the same semifinal as Valjas, advancing as the other lucky loser.
“I had wait six years for my first victory and it is great,” Retivykh said, according to an International Ski Federation (FIS) press release.
Russia had two on the podium with Parfenov in third (+0.73), just ahead of Valjas. The third Russian in the final, Panzhinsky ended up fifth (+1.49), ahead of Newell in sixth (+17.19)
Three Canadian men qualified for the heats, with Jess Cockney in 16th (+10.24) and Simon Lapointe in 25th (+14.15). Bob Thompson missed 30th by one-hundredth of a second in 31st (+16.95), and Julien Locke was 36th (+17.9).
Three Americans qualified as well, with Simi Hamilton in 12th (+8.26) and Matt Gelso in 29th (+16.66). Distance skiers Scott Patterson and Noah Hoffman finished 44th (+24.21) and 48th (+25.28) out of 55.
Cockney reached the semifinals after winning his quarterfinal. In the second semifinal with Newell, he placed fifth, 5.44 seconds behind Panzhinskiy, for 10th overall.
In Cockney’s quarterfinal, Hamilton crashed and finished fourth (+41.9) for 17th overall.
Canada’s 23-year-old Lapointe finished sixth in his quarterfinal to place 27th, besting his previous World Cup best by 43 places. Gelso took 29th for his first-ever World Cup points after placing sixth in his quarterfinal.
“We are 7 hours behind you in Pacific time (and a day ahead),” U.S. Ski Team Head Coach Chris Grover wrote in an email from South Korea on Monday. But as his email hints, tracking time and day when criss-crossing time zones and arranging a phone call can be befuddling. So another way of stating what Grover wrote is that KST, or Korea Standard Time, is 17 hours ahead of the time at this reporter’s location in Bend, Ore.
The call went down on Monday at 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. Just so we’re all straight, that was Tuesday, 10 a.m. KST.
With all that travel, staying rested, staying fast and staying healthy are primary concerns for athletes and coaches traveling on the usually Eurocentric World Cup.
“When you look at the U.S. team it is primarily a European-based team,” Grover said on the phone. Many U.S. athletes have been in Central Europe since mid-November. Maybe there’s a +1 hour difference from Central European Time (CET) when a race is hosted in, say, Finland. Most athletes haven’t had to deal with constant time-change jolts.
As a pre-Olympic World Cup (the 2018 Winter Games will be held in PyeongChang, South Korea), organizers wanted athletes and team support to have an easy transition upon arrival. The races — a classic sprint on Friday, skiathlon on Saturday and freestyle team sprint on Sunday — are being held in the late afternoon or evening; at times compatible with Europe’s television market.
Although the Korean times are atypical for Euro-based World Cups, they do correspond to the “physiological” times dictating when skiers are primed for racing. A 6 p.m. KST race is the equivalent of a 10 a.m. race in France.
“It actually plays well for athletes coming from Europe because they can acclimate less because they can sleep in,” Grover said of how the time-zone change shouldn’t be a dramatic shift for the U.S. team. “They can sleep in for quite a while, get up late, have a late lunch, race, and then have a late dinner and shift their whole normal schedule further back in the day. So I’d say the primary strategy we are employing, but not every athlete can do it, or do it super effectively, but we are trying basically to keep these guys on a European time zone as much as possible while they are over here.”
Yet remaining healthy while traveling and living abroad has been a puzzle for many skiers. On the flight over and while staying in hotels, Grover preaches good hygiene: wash hands and use hand sanitizer when hand washing isn’t convenient. The U.S. also asks that hosting hotels take precautions like disinfecting rooms prior to team’s arrival to help minimize germ exposure. In addition to these precautions, Grover had athletes consult face to face with a U.S. Ski Team (USST) nutritionist when the athletes were in Ulricehamn, Sweden, in mid-February. It was another aspect of monitoring athlete health.
“[The nutritionist was] making sure everybody was doing OK nutritionally, making sure they are doing OK with their body composition,” Grover said. “It is one thing to monitor those things in the U.S. when everybody is in the training mode, it is another things when you move to Europe and all of sudden you are on a different diet pretty much every week and you are competing full time. … So everybody had a good check in there. If people needed a supplement of vitamin D or iron, or what have you, or to improve part of their nutritional program, then we addressed that a couple weeks ago. That’s one way that we are trying to stay healthy.”
Another aspect of the quick-turnaround PyeongChang trip is transporting gear and making good and efficient use of the USST ski techs’ time while on the ground at the future Olympic venue.
“We brought all of our own equipment; we had nothing here,” Grover explained. “This is the first time we have been here during the winter. That was of course one of the challenges is the logistics and the expense of moving all of our necessary gear over here. And all teams are obviously in that same boat.”
The three U.S. coaches (Grover, Matt Whitcomb and Jason Cork) and four techs that made the trip to PyeongChang are there first to prepare athletes and skis for the three-race stop. But it’s also double duty in terms of Olympic prep. The USST staff will remain an extra day, the athletes depart for Europe next Monday, to further advance their venue-specific data set. Grover said this trip will remain the only USST testing trip prior to the 2018 Games.
“We have definitely taken lessons that we have learned from Vancouver [and] from Sochi,” Grover said of the team’s de-emphasis on longer term, on-site testing. “You can definitely over test a bit in a place and kind of get heading in wrong directions that are not so applicable a year later when you have a different composition on the track between, say, manmade and natural snow, for example. … So the testing that we really want to do is important, but it is more on the fundamentals of structure of grinds, of base layers, that sort of thing.”
The U.S. brought six current USST athletes to South Korea: Sophie Caldwell, Ida Sargent, Liz Stephen, Andy Newell, Simi Hamilton, and Noah Hoffman. Grover stated the remaining national-team members opted for a different schedule and did not make the trip.
Matt Gelso and Liz Guiney earned start rights as Period 1 SuperTour leaders. According to Grover, the U.S. team invited two additional athletes as well, Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) and her brother Scott Patterson (Alaska Pacific University).
Neither of the Patterson siblings were selected for the upcoming World Championships in Lahti, Finland. Yet Grover stated he believed both deserved PyeongChang starts — specifically in the skiathlon.
“They both had been sick immediately prior to the nationals and then actually the first part of the nationals as well. Especially in Scott’s particular case,” Grover explained. “But both had been skiing well not only in the early season this year, but also in the late season last year. Caitlin was taking World Cup points distance at the end of last year and at the beginning of this year in Kuusamo as well.”
In Scott’s case, Grover mentioned he remained one of the top U.S. distance skiers behind USST members Erik Bjornsen and Hoffman.
“The next guy that was getting close to perhaps breaking through to the top 30,” Grover said. “We wanted to find an opportunity to give them a distance start and to see what they could do.”
The Canadians have also arrived in Asia. Coach Charles Castonguay, of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre, will be leading the team in South Korea, assisted by five Canadian team World Cup techs and Tom Holland, Cross Country Canada’s high-performance director.
Representing Canada in the women’s races will be Annika Hicks (Alberta World Cup Academy) and Sadie White (NTDC Thunder Bay).
On the men’s side, national-team members Len Valjas and Jess Cockney, Para-Nordic Ski Team member Brian McKeever, Bob Thompson (NTDC Thunder Bay), Julian Locke (Alberta World Cup Academy/National U25 Team), and Simon Lapointe (CNEPH) were slated to start Friday’s sprint in South Korea.
In an email, Castonguay explained that team selection was premised on two criteria: 1. World Cup results (such as a top 30, which Len Valjas achieved), and 2. Classic sprint results and distance results from U.S. nationals last month (excluding athletes who were selected for Junior and U23 World Championships).
“Some athletes, who were also selected for senior [World Championships] in Lahti declined PyeongChang, like Knute [Johnsgaard], to get a better preparation for Lahti,” Castonguay wrote. “So we went down the rank list to select people for Korea.”
Racing begins on Friday with the men’s and women’s classic sprints.
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/39985486385_0048c66bae_k.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2018/03/39069570200_6d17ac10b0_k.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_4548_1W.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_9932_1W.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_9514_1W.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_9833_1W.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_2204_1W-e1489870627517.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_0317_1W.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/03/JCL_2710_1W.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/03/SMF9689.jpg")
![](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/03/D7K_5364copyW-e1457105957899.jpg")
![The women's 4 x 3.3 k relay podium on the final day of 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, with Russia (c) in first, Italy (l) in second, and the U.S. (with Hailey Swirbul, Julia Kern, Hannah Halvorsen, and Katharine Ogden) in third. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/SMF1225.jpg")
![The women's freestyle team sprint podium at the PyeongChang World Cup on Sunday in South Korea, with Sweden's Elin Mohlin and Maria Nordström (c) in first, Norway's Anna Svensen and Silje Øyre Slind (l) in second, and USA I's Ida Sargent and Sophie Caldwell (r) in third. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/C35Svs_UcAAV_m3.jpg-large.jpeg")
![SMS Elite's Anne Hart catching Nakkertok's Zoe Williams in the interval start classic, day two of Eastern Championships. (Photo: Ian Austen)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/DSC_6759.jpg")
![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)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/Russias-Chervotkin-Spitsov-and-Bolshunov.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")
![The women's 1.4 k classic sprint podium on Friday at the pre-Olympic PyeongChang World Cup in South Korea, with Slovenia's Anamarija Lampič (c) in first, Norway’s Silje Øyre Slind (l) in second, and American Ida Sargent (r) in third. It was the first time on the World Cup podium for all three athletes. (Photo: FIS Cross-Country/Twitter)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/C3vOANtUYAENIZE.jpg")
![Ida Sargent racing earlier this season at the World Cup in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: Toko/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/12/e17c1cf2-e46a-4d11-bb42-b1ca284b2dc7.jpg")
![Russia's Elena Soboleva leads Norway's Silje Øyre Slind (second from r), American Ida Sargent (second from l) and Slovenia's Katja Visnar during their quarterfinal of the women's classic sprint at the World Cup in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/Visnar03022017vt0123.jpg")
![American Sophie Caldwell chasing Sweden's Maria Nordström in Friday's 1.4 k classic sprint at the PyeongChang World Cup in South Korea. Caldwell finished the day in eighth overall, behind Nordström in seventh. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/Nordstroem03022017vt0139.jpg")
![Slovenia's Anamarija Lampic (10) celebrating her first World Cup victory and podium on Friday in the as she wins the women's 1.4 k classic sprint final in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/Kowalczyk03022017vt0174.jpg")
![Katharine Ogden (SMS/USST) finishing third for bronze in the women's 10 k skiathlon on Friday at 2017 Junior World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. She is the first American to reach the podium in a Junior World Championships. (Photo: FlyingPointRoad.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2017/02/SMF7229.jpg")
