Kendall Gretsch (r) and Oksana Masters at the 2018 Paralympics medal ceremony for the women’s sitting 6 k biathlon sprint after Gretsch won gold and Masters claimed silver on the first day of competition in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics/Joe Kusumoto)
As a sophomore at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, Kendall Gretsch stumbled across an article that would change her life. It was the spring of 2012, just a few months before the Summer Paralympics in London.
Gretsch had been reading the local news when she came across a story about a St. Louis college student who hoped to attend the London Games as part of the U.S. Paralympics Swimming team.
Born with spina bifida, Gretsch had been a swimmer in high school. After graduating in 2010, she enrolled at Washington University with the intent of studying biomedical engineering and no plans to swim collegiately.
However, within the first few months of her freshman year, she missed the athletic outlet. She began to swim and exercise on her own. By the time she came across the aforementioned article about a year later, she was ready to jump back into the pool, struck by the idea of pursuing the Paralympic dream.
“I was just so oblivious to any sort of para-sport,” Gretsch, 26, reflected on the phone earlier this summer, noting that she had not really thought of the Paralympics as “an option” for continuing her athletic career until reading the piece.
Competing at the Paralympics quickly became her goal, but it wasn’t limited to swimming.
Kendall Gretsch is a three-time world champion in the women’s paratriathlon PT1 classification. (Photo: IPC)
“In high school, I just liked being a part of the team and the social aspect of [swimming], the sport elements of being able to push yourself and set your own individual goals,” said Gretsch, a native of Downers Grove, Illinois.
Following her sophomore year of college, Gretsch returned to Illinois in search of an adaptive sports program to join. What she found was Dare2Tri. Based out of Chicago, the Dare2Tri program offered swim sessions, and Gretsch made it out for the final swim practice of the season. After getting out of the pool, she was approached by one of the instructors. Would she be interested in stepping outside and trying her luck on the track?
“She had me come right out after the swim practice and try racing wheelchair,” Gretsch recalled. “I ended up doing my first triathlon race that summer.”
After graduating in college in 2014, she competed in her first international race and started focusing solely on paratriathlon. At 2014 world championships, she won gold in the PT1 classification and was later awarded 2014 Female Para Triathlete of the Year by USA Triathlon.
In 2015, Gretsch won another World Championship paratriathlon title and was also nominated for an ESPY Best Female Athlete with a Disability award. (She would earn a third World Championship title in 2016.)
World Championships and awards aside, the Paralympics were still on Gretsch’s radar in the spring of 2016. Her chance seemed forthcoming. The 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, would be the first in history to feature paratriathlon. However, the PT1, Gretsch’s class, was not to be contested for women.
If she wanted to compete at the Paralympics, she would have to wait and see if her classification would be included at the 2020 Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo or turn her attention elsewhere. But where to go?
During her first year with Dare2Tri, she had heard about adaptive cross-country skiing.
“Someone I had met through triathlon mentioned to me in passing, ‘Hey, there’s this group up in Madison, [Wisconsin], they do adaptive nordic skiing, you should check it out sometime,’” Gretsch explained. “So nordic skiing was in the back of my mind [leading up to Rio].”
She decided to give nordic skiing a go. She moved to Madison and took a technical-support job with an electronic health records company, Epic Systems, while training in an effort to make the 2018 Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea.
“Maybe it’s just because I had a background in swimming that I felt like triathlon came a little bit more naturally,” Gretsch said of her transition to nordic. “The hardest part about learning to nordic ski was definitely the maneuvering. In nordic, when you’re in a sit ski, your skis are fixed together, straight. When you’re maneuvering around a corner, you can’t just pick up your foot and step around a corner, like you would if you were standing. So learning how to maneuver was really fun and challenging. We spent a long time on that in practice.”
Kendall Gretsch takes aim during the women’s 6-kilometer sitting biathlon at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games on Saturday in PyeongChang, South Korea. She won the race to become the first American woman to medal in a biathlon event at the Paralympics (or Olympics). (Photo: US Paralympics/Mark Reis)
Beyond the challenge of learning a new sport, Gretsch also bumped up against a lack of snow during her first season as a cross-country skier.
“I would travel every weekend to find snow,” Gretsch said of her first winter in Wisconsin. “In Madison, there wasn’t really any snow, so during the week I wasn’t really skiing that much at all. I was just sort of skiing during the weekends and then as much as I could during the week.”
Gretsch remained in Madison through the winter and into the summer. A little less than a year out from the 2018 Paralympics, she turned her attention completely to skiing, putting paratriathlon on hold. Four months prior to the Games, she moved Bozeman, Montana, to train with the U.S. Paralympics Nordic team and then-head coach Eileen Carey (Carey recently became the director of U.S. Paralympics Nordic).
By the time the Winter Paralympics rolled around, Gretsch had a full year of nordic training under her belt. Still, what came in South Korea was slightly unexpected.
American Kendall Gretsch (l) racing in the 4 x 2.5 k mixed relay at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. Her team finished seventh. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics/Mark Reis)
“A lot of times — this probably sounds really terrible — I feel like in triathlon, people are waiting for me to fail,” Gretsch said. “Whereas in a new sport, you have your own personal expectations of how things should go, but no one else really has those expectations for you. You don’t have a target on your back. So there’s a lot of freedom with that.”
With two Paralympic gold medals to her name, Gretsch plans to continue cross-country skiing. She also hopes that her classification will eventually be included in the Summer Paralympics so that she may become a Paralympic triathlete as well.
“I think we’ll know by the end of this year whether or not my classification will be in Tokyo for triathlon,” she said. “So the plan right now is to do both.”
And for someone as strong and talented as Gretsch, more medals from both sports is not out of the question.
“It’s a very humbling experience being able to hear your anthem,” Gretsch said, according to a U.S. Paralympics Nordic press release after her second gold medal in PyeongChang. “Puts everything into perspective. Knowing that you’re here not just here for yourself but for your country.”
Martin Benes, who has coached at Sugar Bowl Academy for the last seven years, was recently hired as head coach of U.S. Paralympics Nordic. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics)
(Note: This article has been updated to include the hiring of Miles Havlick as the University of Utah’s head nordic coach, which was announced Monday afternoon.)
There have been several notable career changes in North American nordic skiing this summer. Here’s a quick look at who moved where:
Robert Lazzaroni, the nordic director at U.S. Ski & Snowboard, will soon begin his new role as Salomon’s nordic regional commercial manager for the Americas. (Photo: Salomon)
Robert Lazzaroni:from U.S. Ski & Snowboard to Salomon. Last week, Salomon announced via a press release that Lazzaroni, of Park City, Utah, will join its staff as nordic regional commercial manager for the Americas, starting Aug. 27. For the last three years, Lazzaroni served as nordic director at U.S. Ski & Snowboard in Park City. Before that, he was program manager at Utah Olympic Park, and before that, a nordic division manager for Rossignol and later One Way Sport. Asked about his new job at Salomon, Lazzaroni told FasterSkier he’d be willing to talk more in depth after he starts. Until then, he’s still employed at U.S. Ski & Snowboard.
According to U.S. Ski & Snowboard’s Chief of Sport Luke Bodensteiner, many of Lazzaroni’s duties as nordic manager “have been or will be distributed across existing staff, and we’re taking the opportunity to re-align our staffing positions to make sure that we have an efficient structure that supports our priorities of athlete development, coach education, and strong domestic competition,” he wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “This will likely require hiring an additional position, but the nature of that job is TBD based upon where we determine that we need the human resource to support those priorities.” Bodensteiner expected to know more about the shift in staff responsibilities later this month.
Martin Benes:from Sugar Bowl Academy to U.S. Paralympics Nordic. Also last week, the U.S. Olympic Committee announced the hiring of Martin Benes as its new head coach of U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing. He replaces Eileen Carey, who was promoted to program director following the departure of John Farra (to USA Triathlon) this spring. Benes began coaching as an assistant ski coach at Bates College, then spent the last seven years as head nordic coach and director at the Sugar Bowl Academy near Truckee, California, according to his LinkedIn profile. As head coach of the U.S. Paralympics program, he will “lead the development of annual and seasonal training plans for the national team, track athlete performances, workout data, sport science data and annual progress reports, contribute to the U.S. Paralympics athlete identification and development strategy, and assist in planning travel and logistics for the Nordic skiing program to competitions, camps and events,” according to the press release.
“It’s an incredibly exciting time to join the program following such a successful performance in front of the world at the Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018,” Benes stated in the press release. “I’m eager to get started in my role so we can continue to strengthen the program and win medals on the international stage.” He’s set to begin on Aug. 20.
Fredrik Landstedt:from the University of New Mexico to the University of Utah. Late last month, the University of Utah announced it had found a new director of skiing to replace Kevin Sweeney. Landstedt had been a staple on the University of New Mexico (UNM) Ski Team for the last 21 years, spending the last 11 years as head coach of both the nordic and alpine programs (and 10 years before that as head nordic coach). His decision to take the job at Utah came less than 24 hours after the UNM Board of regents unanimously approved a proposal to eliminate four sports starting in the 2019/2020 season, according to the Albuquerque Journal. Those sports are men’s and women’s skiing, men’s soccer, and women’s beach volleyball. The proposal would also significantly impact funding for cross country and men’s track and eliminate the women’s diving program. In the meantime, UNM announced assistant coach Joe Downing will assume the role of interim head skiing coach.
“I am honored to have the opportunity to lead a program with such a rich history,” Landstedt stated in the Utah press release. “Utah has a strong winning tradition and the support that the University provides its ski team is incredible. I look forward to bringing NCAA titles back to Utah!”
Miles Havlick in November 2015 in West Yellowstone, Montana.
Also at the University of Utah, Miles Havlick: new head nordic coach. In a press release on Monday, the university announced that Havlick, one of its former skiers and a two-time NCAA champion (2012 and 2013), was hired to head up its nordic team for the coming season. Havlick, 28, skied for the the Sun Valley Ski Education Foundation Gold Team after college and won the 42-kilometer Australian Hoppet Worldloppet last August. He delved into coaching last summer in Australia with the Birkebeiner Nordic Ski Club and Victorian Junior cross-country ski team, and last winter, was an assistant coach and wax technician for the Australian junior national team at Junior World Championships. Havlick also waxed for the Australian national team last March in China. He has also assisted the Utes ski team, most recently as an assistant coach at 2018 NCAA Championships.
Eliška Hájek Albrigtsen:from Central Cross Country to the University of Alaska Fairbanks. After spending the last year filling multiple roles with Central Cross Country (CXC) out of Madison, Wisconsin (including CXC Team head coach and junior development coach), Albrigtsen has accepted an assistant-coaching position with the University of Alaska Fairbanks Ski Team, replacing Josh Eide. Albrigtsen was a four-time All-American skier for the University of Colorado Boulder and an NCAA champion in 2011.
Cross Country Canada seeks senior national team coach: Two days ago, the CCC headquarters in Canmore, Alberta, put out an announcement for applications for a full-time senior national team coach. The position indicated it requires both domestic and international travel. “Reporting to the HPD [high-performance director], the Senior National Team Head Coach (NST Head Coach) is responsible for leading the technical delivery and alignment of Senior National Ski Team (Senior NST) programs in order to achieve podium performances at Olympic Games and FIS World Championships,” the job description stated. “The NST Head Coach will have the responsibility to plan, coordinate and monitor the training and competition of NST athletes in line with CCC’s collective goals.” CCC’s senior team includes 10 athletes, five of which are on the World Cup Team. The other five are on the U25 (under-25) Team. View the job posting here.
Within the global parameters of the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing High Performance strategy and USOC Paralympic Sport Performance priorities, the Coach will exercise principal leadership in the development and implementation of performance-focused year-round training programs for U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing programs and athletes. The Coach will lead day-to-day training at various sites, and in collaboration with the Director, U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing and other program staff, lead key programmatic activities. The Coach will work in collaboration with the Director on overall program and budget management. The Coach will promote and support the Olympic and Paralympic movements and contribute to overall planning, sport planning and implementation of Paralympic Division and USOC organizational priorities.
Lead development of annual and seasonal training plans and daily workouts for national team, and development athletes as relevant.
Lead in the execution of athletes’ individual training programs.
Set training courses, develop equipment list for each project, and maintain relationships with training sites and other partners as relevant.
Oversee facility and performance service requests/availability with athlete schedules to maximize training and recovery.
Track athlete performances, workout data, sport science data, and annual progress reports/graphs as relevant for the program.
Contribute to the annual development of the 4-year rolling high performance plan for the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing Program.
Provide support and coaching to athletes at team practices, camps, and competitions.
In collaboration with the Director, plan travel and logistics for the Nordic Skiing program to competitions, camps, events and other scheduled activities.
Establish and maintain positive working relationships with USOC and NGB staff, with local Nordic Skiing programs, other local partners, and with others in and outside of the Nordic Skiing community as is beneficial to the program.
In collaboration with other Paralympic staff members, contribute to the U.S. Paralympics athlete identification and development strategy. This includes assisting in the creation and implementation of Nordic specific programs within that strategy, utilizing available USOC resources and partnerships with other organizations.
Perform other duties assigned by the Director.
Regular attendance at work is an essential job function.
Minimum Qualifications Required
Education:
Bachelor degree and Nordic skiing coach education &/or certification.
Licensure & Certification:
USSA coaching certification
USBA coaching certification or recent USBA coaches conference participation preferred
USSA and/or USBA Coaches License
Experience:
Minimum 5 years of experience coaching cross country skiing or biathlon
Minimum 3 years of supervisory experience, preferably as a head coach leading 2 or more coaches
Professional experience with Paralympic programs desired
Skills:
Proven ability to promote sport performance
Demonstrated leadership & collaboration skills, specifically with athletes and staff
Exceptional organizational skills and attention to detail
Excellent written and oral communication skills
Strong customer service skills
Excellent problem-solving skills
Tools, Equipment, & Conditions
Standard office equipment
Sports training and sport science equipment
Sport training and competition venues
Hotels, dorms and other camp and competition environments
Significant national and international travel
Work Location: TBD
Travel Required: Yes. Significant national and international travel
Brian McKeever (l) and Oksana Masters (r) are FasterSkier’s 2018 Para-Nordic Skiers of the Year. (Photos: Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee & Joe Kusumoto/US Paralympics)
With the 2017/2018 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S., Canada, and Europe, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review. This set of honors goes to outstanding Para-Nordic skiers on the international circuit.
American Oksana Masters reacting to her first gold medal in her third Paralympics, after winning the women’s 1.1 k sitting sprint in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Joe Kusumoto/U.S. Paralympics)
Undefeated in this category for the last four years of the FasterSkier awards, Oksana Masters had her best Paralympics yet this winter and overcame a major setback to do so. Just two weeks before the 2018 Winter Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, Masters slipped on ice, injured her elbow and had to get surgery. Then, entirely propelled by her arms as a sit skier, the 28 year old competed in all six individual races in PyeongChang and medaled in five of them (she fell in the other and pulled out of the race shortly before the finish). In total, she racked up the first two Paralympic gold medals of her career (in her third Paralympics) plus two silver medals in biathlon — her first biathlon medals — and a bronze.
“I am absolutely truly speechless on this performance,” Masters told U.S. Paralympics after winning her second gold medal of the week in the women’s 5-kilometer sitting cross-country race (her first came in the cross-country sprint).
“I thrive and love the athlete lifestyle of eat, sleep and train,” she continued. “To put yourself to the ultimate test on that start line and seeing all your hard work come through, and not just that, it’s a whole team effort. … It’s not a one-person show. It definitely takes a village and we have an incredible team.”
Masters and her teammate Dan Cnossen accounted for 11 of Team USA’s 16 medals in nordic and biathlon in PyeongChang, which was more than five times the amount of medals the team brought home after Sochi in 2014.
Overall this season in the World Para Nordic Skiing rankings, Masters ranked first in women’s sitting biathlon and tied Germany’s Andrea Eskau for first in cross-country. In the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) overall World Cup standings, Masters placed third in both cross-country and biathlon.
Brian McKeever, Canadian Para-Nordic Skiing
Also our award winner last year, Brian McKeever became Canada’s most decorated Winter Paralympian of all time this winter with 17 career medals, 13 of which are gold. Three of those golds came in PyeongChang, and he captured bronze there with his teammates on the final day of racing, in the open relay, when Canada placed second in the mixed relay and third in the open relay for its first Paralympic relay medals.
Brian McKeever (r) follows guide Graham Nishikawa during the men’s visually impaired 20 k freestyle at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Along with guide Russell Kennedy, they won the race by over a minute for McKeever’s 14th Paralympic medal and 11th gold. (Photo: Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
This marked the fifth Paralympics for McKeever, 38, and he was accompanied by two guides, Graham Nishikawa (whom he skied with at the 2014 Sochi Games) and Russell Kennedy (who joined the Canadian Para-Nordic Team this year). Together, they won all three visually impaired cross-country races they competed in: the 20 k freestyle, classic sprint and 10 k classic.
In his first race of the Games, the 20 k distance race, McKeever, who was also Canada’s flag bearer for the PyeongChang Opening Ceremony, captured his 14th career medal — the most of any Canadian Winter Paralympian. In fact, he’s the most successful cross-country skier in Paralympic history, according to an IPC press release.
“I wasn’t aware of this record, but it is pretty cool,” McKeever told Cross Country Canada after the 20 k. “I think for me more than anything is this is a testament to our entire program. We’ve had so many great skiers leading the way for me with my brother, Robin, who is now coaching us, and Colette Bourgonje. Now it is awesome for me to be a part of a new generation that has arrived in Mark [Arendz], Colin Cameron, and the young women like Emily [Young], Brittany [Hudak] and Natalie [Wilkie], who are ready to carry the torch. I’m so excited to be around all of them this week and to be there cheering them on.”
Like the U.S., Canada tallied 16 medals between nordic and biathlon at the PyeongChang Paralympics.
Honorable Mentions: Mark Arendz (Canadian Para-Nordic) and Dan Cnossen & Kendall Gretsch (U.S. Paralympics)
Canada’s Mark Arendez gets a congratulatory hug after he won gold in the men’s 15 k standing individual biathlon race at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
While McKeever carried the Canadian flag at the PyeongChang Opening Ceremony, his teammate Mark Arendz was honored with waving it at the Closing Ceremony. In his third Paralympics, the 28-year-old Arendz had his best Games yet, taking a medal in all six events he competed in to make him the most successful Canadian at a single Winter Paralympics.
Arendz captured five individual medals in the men’s standing races in PyeongChang, including his first-career gold in the 15 k biathlon, silver in the 7.5 k biathlon sprint, and bronze in the 12.5 k biathlon, as well as his first Paralympic cross-country medals: bronze in both the sprint and 10 k classic, and silver in the mixed relay. He sat out the only race he didn’t medal in: the long-distance cross-country race.
“I came in here thinking I could get three medals, but to get six is incredible,” Arendz said on the last day of the Games, after his team placed second in the mixed relay for Canada’s first relay medal. “Today’s is a special one. I am happy we got this done, but there is no way I could do another race. I’m done.”
We mentioned Dan Cnossen earlier, but he’s worth mentioning again. Cnossen, 37, opened his second Paralympics with his first career medal at the Games — gold in the men’s 7.5 k sitting sprint. The next day, he placed second in the 12.5 k biathlon race, and from there, he kept up his medal streak through all six individual races. The total medal haul for the former Navy SEAL and current Harvard graduate student was one gold, four silvers, and one bronze.
Dan Cnossen of the U.S. celebrates his win in the men’s sitting 7.5 k biathlon sprint on opening day of competition at the 2018 Winter Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Mark Reis/U.S. Paralympics)
It wasn’t an easy feat. Cnossen considered pulling out of the last biathlon race — the 12.5 k — in order to compete in the final 10 k cross-country race in PyeongChang.
“I have an excerpt that says it doesn’t matter how you feel today, it doesn’t matter what your background is or where you’re coming from, all that matters is what you can do,” Cnossen told U.S. Paralympics after finishing second in the biathlon race. “I just tried to focus on what I could do today. Not the fact that I didn’t sleep well last night, that doesn’t matter. Just go out there and perform like I know I can.”
In all, Cnossen raced about 60 k over eight days.
“I came into the Games just trying to take it one race at a time and give it my all — each and every race — and not think too far ahead,” Cnossen said after placing second in the 10 k cross-country race the next day for his sixth-straight medal. “Just focus on the here and now, and soak up the moment and be in the present.”
His teammate Kendall Gretsch, a triathlete who recently took up nordic skiing and biathlon, opened her first Paralympics with gold in the women’s 6 k sitting sprint in PyeongChang. Gretsch, who turned 26 earlier this month, also won the 12 k biathlon race the next day.
In an interview with U.S. Paralympics, she described being “unsure” of how she’d stack up in PyeongChang. Days 1 and 2 of racing pretty much settled it.
“I knew that since our last World Cup I had improved a lot, but you never know until you race,” she said after her second-straight gold. “It’s a very humbling experience being able to hear your anthem, puts everything into perspective. Knowing that you’re here not just here for yourself but for your country, it’s amazing.”
Kendall Gretsch (r) and Oksana Masters at the 2018 Paralympics medal ceremony for the women’s sitting 6 k biathlon sprint after winning gold and silver, respectively, on the first day of competition in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Joe Kusumoto/U.S. Paralympics)
Canada’s 17-year-old Natalie Wilkie being awarded gold after she won her first Paralympic race on Saturday, the women’s 7.5 k standing classic, in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Dave Holland/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): 5/7.5/10 k cross-country races
Saturday marked the last day of individual racing at the PyeongChang Paralympics, and as they have over the last week, the U.S. and Canadian teams did not disappoint, with the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Team adding a gold and two silvers to its medal count and the Canadian Para-Nordic Team notching two golds and two bronze medals in the middle-distance cross-country races.
Seventeen-year-old Natalie Wilkie of Salmon Arm, British Columbia, won the women’s 7.5-kilometer standing classic race, while her Canadian teammate Emily Young placed third in that race.
Brian McKeever, 38, of Canmore, Alberta, won his third-straight race of the Paralympics, the men’s 10 k visually impaired classic race, sweeping all three races at the Paralympics for the third-straight time (he was undefeated at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, as well as the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver, B.C.)
Canada’s Mark Arendz raced to bronze in the men’s 10 k standing classic race for his fifth medal of the week (including a biathlon gold) and seventh of his Paralympic career.
For the U.S., Oksana Masters won her second gold of the Games in the women’s 5 k sitting (after winning the cross-country sprint as well) and fifth medal total in PyeongChang. In three Paralympics, she has eight medals to her name.
Dan Cnossen continued his medal streak with another silver in the men’s 7.5 k sitting for his sixth medal in as many races this week (three in cross-country, three in biathlon), and Jake Adicoff achieved his first Paralympic medal after placing second behind McKeever in the 10 k visually impaired classic.
In the women’s standing race on Saturday, Canada nearly went first and second, with Young missing out on silver by 0.1 seconds. While Wilkie took the win in 22:12.2 minutes, Ekaterina Rumyantseva of the Neutral Paralympics Athletes (NPA) finished 1.6 seconds back for second, just ahead of Young in third (+1.7).
Natalie Wilkie (r) and Emily Young at Saturday’s 2018 Paralympic medal ceremony with their gold and bronze medals in the women’s 7.5 k standing classic race on Sunday in Pyeongchang, South Korea. (Photo: Dave Holland/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
“This is crazy awesome,” Wilkie said after winning the last individual race of her first Paralympics, according to a Cross Country Canada press release. “I didn’t think this would happen at all…
“The difference today was double poling,” she added. “I just kept telling myself to pretend I was elbowing my older brother.”
During the race, Young channeled her teammate for motivation.
“ ‘What would Natalie do?’ I just kept saying ‘What would Natalie be doing?’ ” Young, 27, said with a laugh to Cross Country Canada. “I was trying and trying all week to get onto the podium. I knew this race would be my big chance. I kept telling myself to get this done. There is nothing left in the tank. I didn’t want any more hills. I just wanted to get over the finish line. I left it all out there today.”
Also in the women’s standing race, Canada’s Brittany Hudak placed eighth (+1:37.4) and American Grace Miller finished 18th (+7:09.7).
McKeever spent about half the race with each of his guides, Graham Nishikawa and Russell Kennedy, to win the men’s visually impaired race by more than a minute in 23:17.8. Adicoff, of the U.S., with his guide Sawyer Kesselheim had the second-fastest time for silver (+1:13.5), while Belarus’s Yury Holub (with guide Dzmitry Budzilovich) placed third (+1:19.3).
Canada’s Brian McKeever (r) having some fun at the medal ceremony after winning gold with guides Graham Nishikawa (l) and Russell Kennedy (not pictured) in the men’s 10 k visually impaired classic race at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Dave Holland/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
“This feels good,” said McKeever, who has won 13 gold medals in five Paralympics. “That one was hard today and was a lot closer than the others.
Nishikawa led him for the first 6 k, helping him claw back 4 seconds on Sweden’s Zebastien Modin (and guide Johannes Andersson) ahead of him. At the race’s halfway point, the Canadians took the lead, and after Kennedy jumped in to guide McKeever, they widened their gap over the final 4 k. Modin did not finish.
“Sebastian had a pretty hard crash and I’m most concerned about him because he is a very good friend and you don’t want to win that way,” McKeever said. “It was a good fight today. We knew when to hit it and when to pull back. It’s nice to complete what we set out to do.
“Today was all about teamwork,” McKeever added. “There was a huge temperature change so we were out very early as a team testing new skis with our wax techs for 90 minutes before the race even started. It was a huge effort by everyone today.”
For Adicoff, 22, the silver marked the first Paralympic medal of his career. He had previously been awarded bronze in the cross-country classic sprint, but was relegated to fourth for a technique violation.
As for Saturday’s middle-distance race, he said the skiing was “absolutely awesome. We had great skis by our staff,” Adicoff said, according to a U.S. Paralympics Nordic press release. “I got a little bit sick a couple days ago, so going into this race I told myself to stay relaxed the first part and see if we could keep adding throughout the whole race. It ended up working out, I’m really happy about that.”
“He was really smart today, thinking about how he’s going to pace the race,” Kesselheim told U.S. Paralympics. “Taking it out not too hard and then building throughout. Really using the skis to our advantage and skiing smooth.”
In the women’s 7.5 k visually impaired classic race, American Mia Zutter (with guide Kristina Trygstad-Saari) finished ninth, 5:33.7 behind the winner, Belarus’s Sviatlana Sakhanenka (with guide Raman Yashchanka).
Oksana Masters and her U.S. coach Eileen Carey after Masters won the women’s 5 k sitting cross-country race on Saturday at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics/Mark Reis)
Then there was Masters, 28, who learned Friday that she was elected as the flag bearer for the entire U.S. Paralympic team at Sunday’s Closing Ceremony. She picked up her second gold medal of the week with a win in the 5 k sitting in 16:42, 11.5 seconds ahead of Germany’s Andrea Eskau in second.
“I am absolutely truly speechless on this performance,” Masters told U.S. Paralympics on Saturday. “I was a little bit nervous because I didn’t get my full warm up in and I was yawning at the start line thinking I was a little too relaxed. I have no idea what just happened.
“I thrive and love the athlete lifestyle of eat, sleep and train,” she continued. “To put yourself to the ultimate test on that start line and seeing all your hard work come through, and not just that, it’s a whole team effort. Seeing how our amazing team between our wax tech, nutritionist, sport psych, everything just comes together at the finish line. That’s really what it’s all about. It’s that moment coming together. It’s not a one-person show. It definitely takes a village and we have an incredible team.”
In that race, American Kendall Gretsch, who won two golds earlier in the week, placed sixth (+1:04.4), Canada’s Cindy Ouellet (+4:04.6) finished 17th and American Joy Rondeu was 19th (+5:13.1)
American Dan Cnossen racing to silver in the men’s 7.5 k sitting cross-country race at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics/Mark Reis)
In the men’s 10 k sitting, Cnossen pulled off his fourth silver medal of the week (and sixth medal total), finishing 5.3 seconds shy of gold, which went to South Korea’s Sin Eui-hyun in 22:28.4.
“This is my favorite race that we do,” Cnossen, 37, told U.S. Paralympics. “It’s 20-21 minutes of effort, or thereabouts, just all out as hard as you can go. I left it all out on the course and was edged out by five seconds. I’m really happy for Mr. Sin, my South Korean competitor. He earned the gold medal.”
After what he estimated to be around 60 k of racing over the last eight days, not including training, warming up or cooling down, Cnossen said he was feeling “very fatigued.”
“I came into the Games just trying to take it one race at a time and give it my all — each and every race — and not think too far ahead,” the retired Navy SEAL said. “Just focus on the here and now, and soak up the moment and be in the present.”
Also in that race, Andy Soule of the U.S. finished fifth (+34.0) and Canada’s Chris Klebl placed sixth (+1:00.9). Also for Canada, Derek Zaplotinsky followed in 15th (+3:15.2), Sebastien Fortier placed 16th (+3:19.9) and Yves Bourque 31st (+8:47.9). For the U.S., Sean Halsted finished 23rd (+4:19.8), Bryan Price 26th (+5:35.9) and Jeremy Wagner 30th (+8:06.9).
In the men’s standing division, Arendz claimed his fifth medal in as many starts this week, placing first, second and third in the three biathlon races and earning another bronze in the cross-country sprint. (He skipped the long-distance cross-country race.)
Canada’s Mark Arendz after being awarded bronze in the men’s 10 k standing classic race at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Dave Holland/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
On Saturday, in the middle-distance cross-country event, Arendz finished 20.3 seconds behind the winner, Japan’s Yoshihiro Nitta, who won in 24:06.8, and 11.6 seconds behind Ukraine’s Grygorii Vovchynskyi, who placed second (+8.7).
“The focus was to come here and race in six out of the seven events,” Arendz explained. “I have one more left to accomplish in the relay, but I got done what I set out to do in biathlon and to get a couple in cross-country is extra special. This course here really suits me well and the skis have been great all week.”
With two relay races (mixed and open) remaining on Sunday, Canada has a grand total of 14 nordic and biathlon medals at these Paralympics, surpassing its previous Paralympic medal total. The U.S. team is up to 16, also record-breaking for its nordic/biathlon program.
Americans Jake Adicoff (l) and his guide Sawyer Kesselheim racing to silver in the men’s 10 k standing classic race at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics/Mark Reis)
Canada’s Mark Arendez gets a congratulatory hug after he won gold in the men’s 15 k standing biathlon individual race on Friday at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): 12.5/15 k biathlon races
Mark Arendez lets out his trademark roar as he crosses the finish line of the men’s 15 k standing biathlon individual on Friday at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. He won for his first Paralympic gold and sixth-career Paralympic medal. (Photo: Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
Canada’s Mark Arendz captured his first Paralympic gold, the sixth Paralympic medal of his career and his fourth medal of the PyeongChang Games on Friday in the men’s 15-kilometer individual standing biathlon race — the longest and final biathlon event on the schedule.
Meanwhile, Dan Cnossen of the U.S. continued his medal streak with his fifth medal in as many races, taking silver in the men’s 15 k sitting biathlon. His teammate Oksana Masters raced to silver for her fourth medal of the 2018 Games in the women’s 12.5 k sitting biathlon, and two Canadians earned bronze with Collin Cameron placing third in the men’s 15 k sitting and Brittany Hudak taking her first Paralympic medal in the women’s 12.5 k sitting.
Arendz, 28, who placed second and third in two biathlon races at the 2014 Paralympics and once again finished second and third in two previous biathlon events at these Games, cleaned all four shooting stages to secure the win in 42:52.2 minutes. France’s Benjamin Daviet took silver, 58.3 second back, after missing one target (0+0+1+0) and having a minute penalty added to his time. Norway’s Nils-Erik Ulset shot clean for bronze, 1:14.5 behind Arendz.
“Every time I stepped on the podium this week, I kept thinking I want to hear ‘Paralympic Champion’ and then my name announced,” Arendz told Cross Country Canada, according to a press release. “I wanted nothing more than to hear my country’s anthem played. I’ve seen the maple leaf on top of the podium three times this week, but to finally have it behind the top step of the podium for me is an amazing feeling.”
“I wanted to be consistent and focus on the process all week. This race was my strength,” he said. “It is a shooting race and you have to go clean. The process was key today, and I just tried to make sure I hit those 20 targets. Once I got to that last bout I wasn’t going to miss, so I made sure of every shot before I pulled the trigger. In the end I was clean, the skiing was strong, and that is what I wanted.
“That completes the [medal] set for biathlon, and my first gold which means everything to me,” Arendz said of the last biathlon race of the 2018 Games.
Also in that men’s standing individual race, American Ruslan Reiter placed 15th with nine penalties.
Silver for Cnossen, Masters; Second Bronze for Cameron
American Dan Cnossen racing to second in the men’s 15 k sitting biathlon individual at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics/ Maddie Meyer-Getty Images)
In the men’s sitting biathlon event on Friday, Cnossen and Cameron raced to second (+45.5) and third (+1:01.9), respectively, behind Germany’s Martin Fleig in first. Fleig shot clean and finished in 49:57.2, while Cnossen missed one in the last stage (0+0+0+1) and Cameron had a single miss in the second shooting (0+1+0+0). The silver was Cnossen’s third of these Paralympics, and he medaled in every biathlon race in PyeongChang (taking gold in the 7.5 k and silver in the 12.5 k).
“This is special because, for one, the conditions were so difficult,” Cnossen explained in an interview with U.S. Paralympics Nordic. “It’s snowing, it’s cold. It’s 30-40 degrees colder than yesterday. I’m getting a little bit tired. I had a bit of a mental battle this morning waking up. I was considering pulling out of the race because I really want to be fresh for tomorrow, so to overcome that and still put up a really solid performance is really quite good. I wish I could have cleaned that last stage – I missed one shot. Then I just really tried to hammer on that last lap.”
While the biathlon races are over, Saturday holds middle-distance cross-country races in PyeongChang.
“I have an excerpt that says it doesn’t matter how you feel today, it doesn’t matter what your background is or where you’re coming from, all that matters is what you can do,” said Cnossen, a 37-year-old retired Navy SEAL who was awarded a Purple Heart and a Bronze Star with Valor from the Secretary of the Navy for his service in combat.
“I just tried to focus on what I could do today,” he continued. “Not the fact that I didn’t sleep well last night, that doesn’t matter. Just go out there and perform like I know I can.”
“I have an excerpt that says it doesn’t matter how you feel today, it doesn’t matter what your background is or where you’re coming from, all that matters is what you can do.” — Dan Cnossen, U.S. Paralympian and former Navy SEAL, after racing to his fifth medal of the 2018 Paralympics
Collin Cameron racing to his second bronze of the 2018 Paralympics on Friday in the men’s 15 k sitting biathlon individual in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
Cameron, 29, achieved his second bronze medal of the Games after placing third in the biathlon sprint then coming close in fourth in Wednesday’s cross-country sprint.
“This is awesome. This one is the sweetest one for sure,” Cameron said, according to a team press release. “That was a little redemption after the sprint day because I really wanted that one.
“I got very little sleep last night. I just couldn’t seem to settle,” he continued. “My coach told me some of the best athlete performances have happened after a bad night of sleep. I told myself to just settle down. I got the bugs out in that first lap, focused on pacing in every lap and just kept pushing.
“I came here wanting to get on the podium in cross country, and I’m going home with two biathlon medals. I didn’t expect that at all,” Cameron added.
Also in that men’s sitting biathlon race, Aaron Pike placed sixth with perfect shooting and Andy Soule finished ninth with four penalties (0+0+4+0).
In the women’s sitting biathlon individual, both Masters and Germany’s Andrea Eskau shot clean, but Eskau completed the course faster to claim gold in 49:41.2. Masters finished 18.8 seconds back for silver, her second biathlon medal of the Games, and Lidziya Hrafeyava of Belarus finished third (+1:15.8) with one penalty (0+1+0+0).
American Oksana Masters celebrates as she finishes second in the women’s 12.5 k sitting biathlon individual race on Friday at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics/Simon Bruty-OIS/IOC)
“I went from getting a sunburn a couple days ago during the sprints to freezing right now,” Masters, 28, said of Friday’s conditions to U.S. Paralympics. “The skiing is great, our skis are amazing, the team is amazing putting together some fast skis. I’m so happy I got a chance to redeem myself from the last biathlon race I didn’t get to finish.”
Masters did not finish the women’s 10 k biathlon race earlier in the week. She has been racing with an elbow injury throughout the Games.
“The way I looked at it, I wasn’t going to get defeated by this elbow,” she said. “I definitely know I wasn’t skiing at 100 percent, but I wanted to see where I was. I’ve trained four years, the day after Sochi ended. I counted the days, it was like 1,461 days – not that I’m counting – but I was not going to let that basically take away from my Games experience here.”
As for hitting all 20 targets on Friday, Masters said she was in the zone.
“I just focused on that ‘breathe, exhale, pause, squeeze,’ which is everything I’ve been training and practicing,” she said. “I couldn’t believe it. I almost fell going around the corner telling my coach ‘I cleaned!’ I can’t believe it.”
In three biathlon races in PyeongChang, the U.S. team tallied seven medals. Going into these Games, the U.S. had one biathlon medal (Soule’s bronze from 2010) in the history of the Paralympics and Olympics.
In the women’s 12.5 k standing biathlon race, Hudak notched her first Paralympic medal and Canada’s first in a women’s standing biathlon event in third place, 2:23.9 behind Anna Milenina of the Neutral Paralympic Athletes (NPA) in first and 1:20.1 behind Ekaterina Rumyantseva (NPA) in second. While Milenina overcame two minutes of penalties (0+1+0+1) to take gold in 38:56.8 and Rumyantseva had two misses as well (0+2+0+0), Hudak shot clean.
Brittany Hudak hugging her teammate Emily Young after Hudak placed third for her first Paralympic medal on Friday in the women’s 12.5 k standing biathlon individual in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
“This is such an unreal day. There are so many emotions,” Hudak said, according to the team press release. “I just tried to think about the process throughout the race. I wanted to focus on shooting because I knew it was going to make a difference today.”
As she left the range in fourth after her last shooting stage, Hudak got a lift from her teammate Emily Young, who pushed to catch her and pull her around the final loop. Together, they clawed back five seconds and Hudak finished third, 3.7 seconds ahead of Ukraine’s Iryna Bui in fourth.
“I’m just so lost for words. It is so incredible,” Hudak, 24, said. “I knew I was in the medal mix heading into that last lap. Everyone was screaming at me to keep going. Emily kept yelling at me the whole way around, and I just tried to hang onto her. I was breathing so hard and gave it everything I had. I was so tired at the finish and wanted to collapse.”
Young finished the race in seventh with two penalties (1+0+1+0).
“I was hearing the splits around the course, and I knew after my second round of shooting I was out of the top four and there was a big gap,” Young, 27, reflected. “I just chased Britt down on the course, and once I caught her, started screaming at her to follow me and not get dropped. I was breaking the wind for her the whole way. I was pretty tired on that last lap, but just kept skiing hard and screaming at her to follow. I don’t know where I found the energy.
“She did awesome. Britt is my right-arm girl,” Young added. “I’m so proud of her. We both work so hard and I know how many hours she put into this. I’m just as excited for her as I would be for myself.”
The Paralympics enter their final weekend with middle-distance cross-country races on Saturday, starting at 10 a.m. Korea time (9 p.m. EDT on Friday), and conclude with mixed and open relays on Sunday.
Canada’s Mark Arendz with his first Paralympic gold medal after winning the men’s 15 k standing individual biathlon race on Friday at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Dave Holland/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
American Dan Cnossen racing to silver in the men’s 12.5 k biathlon sitting on Tuesday and his third medal in as many races at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics/Thomas Lovelock – OIS/IOC)
2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): 10/12.5 k biathlon races
Amid soft and slow conditions at the Alpensia Biathlon Centre on Tuesday, American Dan Cnossen raced to his third-straight medal in as many races at the 2018 Paralympics, claiming silver in the men’s 12.5-kilometer sitting biathlon race just ahead of his U.S. Paralympics Nordic teammate and fellow military veteran Andy Soule, who earned bronze.
Cnossen, a retired Navy SEAL, previously won gold in Saturday’s 7.5 k biathlon sprint and silver in Sunday’s 15 k cross-country race. Despite wind gusts up to 15 miles per hour on Tuesday, Cnossen hit all 20 of his targets and finished second, 1:01.7 minutes behind Ukraine’s Taras Rad, who won in 45:35.6 with clean shooting as well.
“Personally, this was such an important breakthrough, to shoot 20 for 20, especially on the last shooting stage,” the 37-year-old Cnossen said, according to a U.S. Paralympics press release. “I’ve had some mental blocks in the past where I overthink things or get a little anxious, so I really took my time, especially on the last two shots. I wanted to get my heart rate down and make sure the wind wasn’t blowing. It feels really good to overcome this mental hurdle. I just wanted to see what I could do today, and have my own race, and not worry about what other people are doing.”
Soule, a 38-year-old Army veteran, missed two on his third shooting stage (0+0+2+0) to finish third, 1:33.1 out of first. It was the second Paralympic medal of his career after Soule he earned bronze in the biathlon pursuit at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, British Columbia.
“I was really skiing at an aggressive pace,” Soule told U.S. Paralympics on Tuesday. “I was struggling to hold it together at the range those last two shootings. When I missed those two, I also knew that I had seen other people missing. I knew a miss or two wasn’t going to necessarily put me out of it. I knew I just needed to get back up, set the same aggressive pace, and maybe back it off just a little earlier on the next lap to make sure I get the shots. It came together just fine.”
It was another special moment for the U.S. Paralympics program with two of its leading men on the podium.
“I’m really happy for our whole team, to see how much success we’re having,” Soule said. “I think it’s a testament to great coaching, great support, great staff. Lots of great work being done behind the scenes by so many people that you don’t even see who are out here long before we even arrive at the venue. It’s a great group of athletes. I’m so happy to be a teammate with these guys.”
“This race feels especially good because I have my teammate, Andy, on the podium,” Cnossen said. “I knew he was going to have a good race. I’m really proud and happy to see him on the podium.”
Also for the U.S., Aaron Pike placed seventh in that race (+5:38.1) with a single miss (0+0+0+1), Sean Halsted finished 14th (+10:35.7) with five penalties, and Bryan Price was 16th (+17:02.3) with 10 misses.
Canada’s lone man in the 12.5 k sitting biathlon race, Derek Zaplotinsky finished 12th (+9:15.3) with five penalties.
American Kendall Gretsch racing to fourth in the women’s 10 k sitting biathlon race on Tuesday at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics/ Maddie Meyer – Getty Images)
Coming off two medals in the women’s sitting biathlon and cross-country events last weekend, Kendall Gretsch placed fourth in the 10 k sitting biathlon race on Tuesday, 16.5 seconds out of third. According to a U.S. Paralympics press release, she fell three times and incurred three penalties (1+0+0+2), finishing 2:05.4 behind the winner, Germany’s Andrea Eskau.
A four-time gold medalist in Paralympic cycling with two silver medals in cross-country skiing (from two Winter Paralympics), Eskau, 46, claimed her first gold of the PyeongChang Games in 42:36.6 with one miss (0+0+1+0). Marta Zainullina and Irina Guliaeva, of the Neutral Paralympic Athletes (NPA), took silver (+1:15.5) and bronze (+1:48.9), respectively, with Zainullina skiing just one penalty lap and Guliaeva having to ski three.
Oksana Masters did not finish, pulling out after 8.64 k with six penalties (1+2+1+2).
Second Medal for Arendz
Canada’s Mark Arendz racing to bronze in the men’s 12.5 k standing biathlon race on Tuesday at the 2018 Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
Mark Arendz led Canada with his second medal in the second biathlon race, the men’s 12.5 k standing, racing to bronze, 30.9 seconds out of first. Arendz cleaned three stages before missing one on his last shooting (0+0+0+1), causing him to ski an additional 150 meters in the penalty lap.
France’s Benjamin Daviet won that race in 38:55.5 with one late penalty as well (0+0+0+1), and Ukraine’s Ihor Reptyukh collected silver (+6.7) with one miss as well (0+0+1+0).
“I knew there were some tired guys, so I went for it from the start and tried to put some pressure on,” Arendz, 28, said in a Cross Country Canada press release. “I decided in that last bout to go for it all, throw it down, and go for the win. Unfortunately, I had the one miss and it made it a tight and interesting race.”
The men’s 12.5 k standing biathlon podium at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, with France’s Benjamin Daviet (c) in first, Ukraine’s Ihor Reptyukh (l) in second, and Canada’s Mark Arendz (r) in third. (Photo: Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
Arendz, who took silver in the opening biathlon sprint and also has two biathlon silver medals from the 2014 Paralympics, is seeking his first Paralympic gold.
“It was a really tough battle all day. I handed it to them early and had a choice: to go for gold or settle for the podium. I went for the win and had that one miss that cost me today,” he said. “I ran out of energy at the end. I am really happy with my race and it is another medal for Canada. I know everything is going well. I just need that last little tweak to finally win one.”
American Ruslan Reiter finished 11th in that race (+8:41.4) with three penalties (0+2+1+1).
Brittany Hudak led the Canadian women in fifth in the 10 k standing biathlon race, 5:45.8 behind Ekaterina Rumyantseva (NPA) in first. Hudak cleaned the first three stages before missing one in the last bout (0+0+0+1).
“The first lap I felt good,” Hudak recalled in the team press release. “The skis were running well in these conditions, but then it just got slower as we went on. The flat sections you really try put power to glide the ski but your weight is sinking you into the snow. It got harder to get some glide and as my legs got more tired I didn’t feel like I was moving fast.
“I tried to keep calm in the range and take my time,” she added. “The wind today was gusting, so I took a bit longer on my setup than I usually would and tried to be consistent. For the most part it worked well until that last lap, and that last bout. Overall it was an OK race.”
Paralympic racing continues Wednesday with men’s and women’s cross-country sprints, starting at 10 a.m. Korea time (7 p.m. EDT Tuesday).
Brian McKeever follows guide Graham Nishikawa during the men’s visually impaired 20 k freestyle on Monday at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Along with guide Russell Kennedy, they won the race by over a minute for McKeever’s 14th Paralympic medal and 11th gold. (Photo: Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): 15/20 k visually impaired and standing races
Make that record-breaking medal No. 14 for Brian McKeever. In his fifth Paralympics, the 38-year-old Canadian raced to the 11th gold medal of his career (and 14th medal total) on Monday at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. He did so in the 20-kilometer visually impaired freestyle cross-country race with his guides Graham Nishikawa and Russell Kennedy, who traded guiding responsibilities during the four-lap race.
Canada’s Brian McKeever (l) and one of his two guides on Monday, Graham Nishikawa, (Russell Kennedy was the other), at Monday night’s medal ceremony after they all teamed up for gold in the visually impaired 20 k freestyle cross-country race at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Dave Holland/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
McKeever finished in 46:02.4 minutes, more than a minute faster than silver medalist Yury Holub and his guide Dzmitry Budzilovich of Belarus, who finished 1:05 back in second. France’s Thomas Clarion (with guide Antoine Bollet) completed the podium in third (+1:33.3), Sweden’s Sebastian Modin (with guide Johannes Andersson) took fourth (+1:38.4) and American Jake Adicoff and his guide Sawyer Kesselheim placed fifth (+3:41.0).
“It was super good today. Thanks to our wax techs and both of these guides. They all did an awesome job,” McKeever said, according to a Canadian Paralympic Committee press release. “It is super windy out there so to be able to tuck in behind these big boys is important for me. They pushed hard, skied well and towed me along the whole way.”
Nishikawa led McKeever for the first half of the race before handing off to Kennedy.
“The biggest thing about coming in mid-race is I have to remember that I’m fresh and Brian has already skied 10 kilometres so you have to be careful not to go out too hard or he could blow up,” Kennedy explained. “Brian is such an incredible athlete. He is so fit, so I knew it would not be a major problem. It worked out really well today.”
After pushing hard in the middle of the race, McKeever changed skis at 14 k, then worked to hang on to the sizable lead he had built.
“The plan was to ski comfortably into it and build towards the end, and I think I built a little too much during the middle and almost undid it because that last lap was very hard to keep the pace,” McKeever said with a laugh. “It was touch and go there for a bit, but we did enough in the middle to build a nice cushion, and we were able to manage it and hang on.”
Brian McKeever leads the Canadian Paralympic team during the Opening Ceremony of the 2018 Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
The race was McKeever’s first of the 2018 Games and came three days after he served as Canada’s flag bearer at the Paralympics’ Opening Ceremony. With his 14th medal, he became Canada’s most decorated Winter Paralympian, surpassing the late Para-alpine skier Lana Spreeman, who amassed 13 medals in five Paralympics.
“I wasn’t aware of this record, but it is pretty cool,” McKeever said. “I think for me more than anything is this is a testament to our entire program. We’ve had so many great skiers leading the way for me with my brother, Robin who is now coaching us, and Colette Bourgonje. Now it is awesome for me to be a part of a new generation that has arrived in Mark [Arendz], Colin Cameron, and the young women like Emily [Young], Brittany [Hudak] and Natalie [Wilkie], who are ready to carry the torch. I’m so excited to be around all of them this week and to be there cheering them on.”
Canada’s Emily Young racing to fifth in the women’s standing 15 k freestyle on Monday at the 2018 Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
In the women’s standing 15 k freestyle race, his teammate Emily Young raced to fifth in slushy conditions, 2:21.3 behind Ekaterina Rumyantseva, a Russian designated as a Neutral Paralympic Athlete (NPA), in first. Anna Milenia, also an NPA, placed second (+1:21.0), and Ukraine’s Liudmyla Liashenko took bronze (+1:32.9).
Canada’s 17-year-old Natalie Wilkie, the youngest member of her team in her first Paralympic race, raced to sixth (+2:41.9). Eighteen-year-old Grace Miller, of the U.S., placed 10th (+20:02) in that race.
“That was really tough – a lot tougher than I thought it was going to be,” Wilkie said. “I’ve never raced over five kilometres before in these types of conditions. It wasn’t easy, but I’m happy I was able to push to the end.”
In his second Paralympics, Adicoff, a 22-year-old Bowdoin College skier, led the U.S. team on Monday in fifth place in the visually impaired 20 k skate. The result bested his previous Paralympic mark of sixth place in the 20 k classic at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.
“First lap felt pretty good. We were right in it,” Adicoff recalled in a U.S. Paralympics press release. “I just got tired and started to slow down, ended up getting bumped from the podium.
American Jake Adicoff leading Canada’s Graham Nishikawa and Brian McKeever in the men’s visually impaired 20 k freestyle on Monday at the Paralympic Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: US Paralympics/Mark Reis)
“It’s pretty warm out, but the skiing stayed fast. It was awesome out there,” he added.
In the women’s visually impaired 15 k on Monday, Americans Mia Zutter and her guide Kristina Trygstad-Saari raced to eighth place, 13:09.0 behind Belarusian winner Sviatlana Sakhanenka and her guide Raman Yashchanka. Ukraine’s Oksana Shyshkova (with guide Vitaliy Kazakov) placed second (+8.2) and Mikhalina Lysova (with guide Alexey Ivanov) of the NPA placed third (+3:20.1).
“It was so much fun,” Zutter, 18, told U.S. Paralympics Nordic. “I competed here [in PyeongChang] last year, so I kind of had an idea of what to expect, but definitely the big ‘Games’ title made it a lot more nerve-wracking but also really fun.”
Paralympic action continues Tuesday with men’s and women’s middle-distance biathlon races, starting at 10:00 a.m. Korea time (7 p.m. EDT on Monday).
Kendall Gretsch racing to her second gold medal of the 2018 Winter Paralympics on Sunday in the women’s 12 k sitting cross-country race in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: US Paralympics/Joe Kusumoto)
2018 Winter Paralympics (PyeongChang, South Korea): 12/15 k sitting cross-country races
It was a gold, silver and bronze day for the U.S. Paralympics Nordic team on Sunday at the 2018 Paralympics in PyeongChang, as Kendall Gretsch raced to her second-straight victory in as many races, Dan Cnossen took silver and Oksana Masters claimed bronze in the cross-country distance events.
A day after achieving a historic bronze for Canada in a biathlon sit-ski event, Collin Cameron led his country in fifth in Sunday’s 15-kilometer sitting cross-country race.
Gretsch, a Paralympic rookie who won the sitting biathlon sprint to open the Paralympics, also won the women’s 12 k sitting cross-country race on Sunday in 38:15.9 minutes, 34.5 seconds clear of Germany’s Andrea Eskau in second, while Masters followed 49 seconds back in third.
“For cross-country, I was pretty unsure going in here,” said the 25-year-old Gretsch, according to a U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing press release. “I knew that since our last World Cup I had improved a lot, but you never know until you race. Just happy with how things went today and I was able to put together another good race.”
“It’s a very humbling experience being able to hear your anthem,” she said of her second gold medal. “Puts everything into perspective. Knowing that you’re here not just here for yourself but for your country, it’s amazing.”
For Masters, who is recovering from an elbow injury, it was her second medal after taking silver in Saturday’s biathlon sprint.
“I’m just so happy to be on the podium,” Masters told U.S. Paralympics. “I was a little worried on the long distance considering I haven’t done intensity in three weeks. It definitely is a very painful, rude awakening to how painful the sport is. I’m happy to be on the podium.”
She described the pain in her elbow as “extremely excruciating. It feels like there’s just a saw going at your bone 24/7, especially hammering up the climbs,” Masters said. “I had a spill over there through the stadium, but mind over matter.”
Ukraine’s Maksym Yarovyi won the men’s 15 k sitting in 41:37.0, and Cnossen, who had taken gold in the men’s sitting biathlon sprint, placed second, 43.1 seconds back. Sin Eui-hyun claimed South Korea’s first medal of the Games in third (+51.9) ahead of China’s Zheng Peng in fourth (+1:18.5) and Canada’s Cameron in fifth (+2:09.0).
“I’ve already exceeded my expectations,” Cnossen, 37, said of his second Paralympic medal in as many days. “I’m very proud to represent the U.S. Today, I dug as deep as I could and went as hard as I could, and regardless of where I ended up on the result, it is my success to go as hard as I could.”
Canada’s Colin Cameron racing to bronze in the mens 7.5 k sitting biathlon sprint on Saturday at the 2018 Paralympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. (Photo: Scott Grant/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
“It was really soft out there, but the skis were still fast,” Cameron, 29, said, according to a Canadian team press release. “The skis have been awesome both days – the guys are working their butts off back in the wax room.”
Cameron explained his goal for Sunday’s race was to “start steady and be comfortable, to get rid of the bugs from yesterday’s race because I was pretty tight.
“I was able to loosen up as I went along, which allowed me to dig a little deeper today,” he continued. “It’s tough to go from biathlon to this event. It is a totally different mindset for pacing, a totally different game. I wasn’t event thinking about [yesterday’s medal] I just wanted to build off it and take that momentum with me the rest of the week. Today was a different day and I’m happy with how I was able to perform.”
Also for Canada, Chris Klebl, who won gold in the 10 k sitting event at the 2014 Paralympics, finished eighth (+2:25.6), Derek Zaplotinsky followed in ninth (+2:42.6), Sebastien Fortier finished 18th (+5:01.0), Ethan Hess 24th (+10:37.1), and Yves Bourque 25th (+11:35.7)
In the women’s sitting race, Canada’s Cindy Ouellet, a 29-year-old Paralympic wheelchair basketball player, placed 18th (+11:37.3).
“This is my first race over five kilometres and it was tough,” Ouellet said, according to the press release. “Basketball is all stop and go, but endurance is much different. I just need more races.”
For the U.S., Andy Soule placed 11th (+2:59.1) and Sean Halsted finished 22nd (+7:18.0).
Paralympic racing continues Monday with the men’s and women’s standing and visually impaired cross-country long-distance events, starting at 10 a.m. Korea time on Monday (7 p.m. EDT on Sunday).
A look at Mount Van Hoevenberg’s freshly groomed, machine-made trail in late October during a U.S. Paralympics Nordic Program camp in Lake Placid, N.Y. (Photo: BethAnn Chamberlain)
It’s that time of year when everyone’s raring to get on snow. Let’s say you’re lucky enough to find some — even just a few hundred meters — like the U.S. Paralympics Nordic team did late last month at a training camp at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Seven athletes — a combination of high-performance and development skiers — spent a week at Van Ho from Oct. 23-29 for the nordic center’s earliest opening yet on machine-made snow. Starting Oct. 1, the area’s SnowFactory blew enough snow for a 480-meter loop wide enough for two-way skiing. And it did so despite daytime temperatures hovering around 70 degrees Fahrenheit.
U.S. Paralympics Nordic’s 2017 Lake Placid camp attendees:
High-performance athletes:
– Jeremy Wagner
– Eric Fraizer
– Bryan Price
Development athletes:
– Julius Schram
– Chris Rassmusen
– Dave Nicholes
– William Ward
On top of that, Van Ho organizers constructed a two-point, 10-meter Para biathlon range, which was connected to the loop and gave the team’s biathletes a place to practice shooting.
But on Day 2 of camp, the rains came, putting a sizable dent in the skiable terrain. While Van Ho was rebuilding its loop for the end of the week, the Para skiers switched gears to dryland training, shooting and rollerskiing/mountain boarding at the venue’s full-size biathlon range and rollerskiing the paved loop at Lake Placid’s Olympic Jumping Complex — the latter of which is known for its challenging terrain.
“This was a first for us and proved to be a great training site for all of our sit skiers,” BethAnn Chamberlain, the US Biathlon Paralympics development coach who led the camp, explained in an email, referring to the jumping-complex trails. “Late in the week, despite the continued warm temperatures, the Mt Van Hoevenberg crew was able to put together a short strip of snow for us again, including giving us access to our Biathlon range area.”
What did they do to make the most of their on-snow time? Chamberlain shared an agility workout for “even the smallest stretch of snow.”
The Workout: Early season agility
What you need: At least 200 meters of snow, cones, and if possible, a corner on the track (cones can substitute if no corner is available)
U.S. Paralympics Nordic high-performance athlete Bryan Price (Casper Mountain Biathlon Club) rounds a corner during an agility workout at a U.S. Paralympics on-snow camp in late October at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y. (Photo: Mt. Van Hoevenberg/Facebook)
What you should know: “The basic premise of this workout is to have the athletes ski corners and around cones at different speeds and by taking different lines, and doing so on their own as well as in groups,” Chamberlain explained. “This not only helps the skiers develop a better feel for how their sit ski responds to their movements around corners, but also opens up the idea of the near infinite approaches and techniques to get around a corner or to maneuver around other skiers on course. (It only take a few minutes of skiing in a sit ski to truly appreciate how difficult it is to maneuver and stay upright, and do so with speed in a sit ski. I highly recommend everyone, adaptive and non-adaptive skiers to give it a try.) This is a speed workout disguised as an agility workout.”
Setup: Using cones, construct two slalom courses for the athletes to race through, head to head.
Warmup: 20 minutes of easy skiing
The workout: (45 minutes to 1 hour total)
First, ski course at an easy speed and work up to a sprint speed.
Then, start the “races”, with two athletes racing at a given time, competing against each other on the parallel courses.
Throughout the session, change it up. “You can continue to run ‘races’ in this manner, change the position of the cones, to create different corners to practice on,” Chamberlain wrote. “You can then move onto 180-degree turns, long sweeping turns in both directions and every other kind of other turn you can think of. Athletes will ski these corners on their own as well as in groups or pairs at easy speeds to start and ramping up to race speed.”
“A continued change in the position of cones creates changes the turn they have to make and keeps the athletes engaged and challenged to practice different lines and approaches through out the workout,” she added. “Run these drills along with additional variations such as shuttle run ‘races’ & slalom style turn relays for 45 minutes to an hour.”
Cool down: 20-30 minutes Level 1 skiing.
“We had a great week of training in Lake Placid,” Chamberlain noted. “The folks at ORDA [New York State’s Olympic Regional Development Authority] and Mt Van Hoevenberg were amazing and worked very hard making snow for us, which we were able to use for skiing and for Biathlon training.”
Jeremy Wagner (in black) chases Bryan Price, his U.S. Paralympics Nordic and fellow 2014 Paralympian, during an agility workout at a team training camp in late October at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y. (Photo: Mt. Van Hoevenberg/Facebook)
Kris Cheney Seymour, the nordic program and events manager at Mt. Van Ho and ORDA, which owns the venue, explained in an email that while the week was reminiscent of 2017 Junior Nationals (which were also forced to relocate to the jump-complex trails), it was certainly worth it.
“Hosting the U.S. Paralympic on-snow fall camp is a wonderful opportunity and provided a timeline that pushed boundaries to do something that is normally outside the realm of possibility,” Seymour wrote in an email. “The effort to pull this off was more about effective planning and management of the process. Of course the dedication of our staff to pull off all pieces was considerable, but everyone had a pieces and executed it well.
“We started with 480-meter-long stretch of snow, 2 feet deep and 16 feet wide,” he explained. “The SnowFactory snow was very durable to skier traffic. In the middle of the week we had a significant rain storm with high winds that compromised the loop and we had to rebuild for the end of the week. … It was a small flashback to the weather we dealt with last year at Junior Nationals.”
The nordic center is currently stockpiling snow from the SnowFactory in order to open to the public. Over the course of the winter, Van Ho has a stated goal of being open 150 days with skiable snow; last year, it was open 139 days thanks to the SnowFactory (as opposed to 39 days the year before without it).
“We have a SnowFactory because of unpredictable winter weather,” Seymour wrote. “… Without the SnowFactory this past season we would have lost the stadium and connector trails just under 40% of the days we were open. Our season would have been closer to 85 days if we only had natural snow. … As pioneers with the SnowFactory in North America we are still learning from the machine and perfecting our warm weather snow management. TechnoAlpin has been helpful in sharing how others have used the SnowFactory around the planet, but to some extent, all locations have their own challenges.”
U.S. Paralympics high-performance athlete Eric Frazier training in late October on machine-made snow at Mount Van Hoevenberg in Lake Placid, N.Y. (Photo: BethAnn Chamberlain)
Three-time Paralympic medalist Oksana Masters won her third consecutive overall women’s sitting IPC World Cup globe in cross-country. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics)
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. — Thirteen athletes, including seven U.S. Paralympians in Nordic skiing, were named to the 2017-2018 U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing National Team on June 1 by U.S. Paralympics, a division of the United States Olympic Committee.
“The level to which our Nordic skiers have performed already is very inspiring,” said Paralympic Nordic Skiing head coach Eileen Carey. “Our veteran athletes have continued to improve as we approach the Paralympic Winter Games PyeongChang 2018, and the addition of new members on our national and development teams is promising for the future.”
Three-time Paralympic medalist Oksana Masters (Louisville, Kentucky) highlights the team after claiming four world championships titles during the 2016-17 season, including cross-country crowns in sprint, middle and long distances, as well as the sprint biathlon title. She capped off the season by securing her third consecutive overall women’s sitting world cup globe in cross-country at the World Para Nordic Skiing World Cup Finals in Sapporo, Japan. Additionally, Masters finished third in the world cup overall rankings in biathlon.
Kendall Gretsch (Chicago, Illinois), Ruslan Reiter (Manchester, Maine) and Daniel Romanchuk (Mount Airy, Maryland) all make the national and development teams for the first time.
Four military veterans are featured on the roster, including Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kansas/Navy), Sean Halsted (Rathdrum, Idaho/ Air Force), Bryan Price (Belton, Missouri/Army) and Andy Soule (Pearland, Texas/Army).
Team USA had a record-breaking 2016-17 season that finished with 33 world cup medals by five athletes, setting a record for the Nordic skiing team. Of the 33 world cup medals acquired, 12 were in biathlon. All A- and B-Team athletes reached the podium this past season, including first-time medals for Jake Adicoff (Sun Valley, Idaho) and guide Sawyer Kesselheim (Bozeman, Montana), as well as Aaron Pike (Park Rapids, Minnesota) at the PyeongChang Test Event.
2017-18 U.S. Paralympics Nordic Skiing National Teams
*Denotes U.S. Paralympian in Nordic skiing
# Denotes U.S. Military veterans
A Team
Jake Adicoff (Sun Valley, Idaho) – visually impaired skier*
Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kansas/Navy) – sit skier*#
Sawyer Kesselheim (Bozeman, Montana) – guide
Oksana Masters (Louisville, Kentucky) – sit skier*
B Team
Aaron Pike (Park Rapids, Minnesota) – sit skier*
Andy Soule (Pearland, Texas/Army) – sit skier*#
C Team
Kendall Gretsch (Chicago, Illinois) – sit skier
Development Team
Sean Halsted (Rathdrum, Idaho/Air Force) – sit skier*#
Bryan Price (Belton, Missouri/Army) – sit skier*#
Ruslan Reiter (Manchester, Maine) – standing skier
Daniel Romanchuk (Mount Airy, Maryland) – sit skier
Joy Rondeau (Granby, Colorado) – sit skier
Mia Zutter (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin) – visually impaired skier
For the second-straight year, Oksana Masters (l) and Andy Soule of the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Program are FasterSkier’s Para-Nordic skiers of the year. (Photos: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
With the 2015/2016 season officially in the rearview, FasterSkier is excited to unveil its annual award winners for this past winter. Votes stem from the FS staff, scattered across the U.S. and Canada, and while not scientific, they are intended to reflect a broader sense of the season in review.
***
Oksana Masters, U.S. Paralympics Nordic
When Oksana Masters ended her season undefeated in every International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cup cross-country event, she proved podiums are just as much a performance as they are a process.
Her third year on the U.S. Paralympic Nordic team — after making the switch from rowing to skiing in 2012 — Masters finished the 2015/2016 ski season with 11 cross-country victories in a row and four biathlon podiums. Prior to this year, her top World Cup result was second in the 5 k sitting event at 2015 IPC World Championships.
“Success doesn’t happen overnight nor does it happen on the 1st try. Every time [you] get up [you’re] 1 step closer,” Masters tweeted prior to this year’s IPC World Cup races in PyeongChang, South Korea.
For Masters, it’s important to look beyond the season’s results to see the full story. Her 14 podium finishes (five of which came from U.S. Sit Ski Nationals) were not only products of strong skiing, but staying tuned to her body throughout season training and race recovery.
“Oksana made gains this winter in making smart decisions for her recovery and health, even when it meant backing off from training,” U.S. high-performance coach Eileen Carey wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “She made a few mistakes early in the winter, training through some sickness, but she learned from it and made smarter decisions for the rest of the season. Her performances in cross country races would not have been possible without that adjustment.”
Masters’ winning streak began in Siberia, when she raced to a first place in the women’s 12 k cross-country sitting event. The run continued as she competed at U.S. nationals and the IPC Continental Cup in Craftsbury, Vt., as well as the World Cups in PyeongChang, Finsterau, Germany, and Vuokatti, Finland.
At the end of the season, Masters won her second-straight overall cross-country World Cup by more than 200 points. She was nominated for the USA Olympic Committee’s Female Olympic/Paralympic Athlete of the Month for March, as well as the Allianz Athlete of the Month.
“I am so excited to be nominated as Allianz Athlete of the month for the Paralympics,” she tweeted.
Andy Soule, U.S. Paralympics Nordic
Sprinting, distance, or middle distance, cross-country or biathlon, you name it, Andy Soule is an automatic choice when it comes to all-around athlete.
However, Soule’s podiums proved him as an adept skier in all distances and disciplines. He raced to two third-place finishes at the PyeongChang World Cup in the 1 k sitting sprint and the 5 k middle distance.
He went on to achieve to two second-place finishes in PyeongChang, this time in the 7.5 k biathlon sprint and 12.5 k middle distance event.
He took two more third-place podiums in Finsterau, one in the cross-country sprint and one in the biathlon 7.5 k sprint. He also finished third in the season-opening 12.5 k biathlon pursuit in Siberia.
At nationals in January, he won four out of five races: the men’s biathlon sprint and individual as well as the cross-country sprint and middle distance.
Soule, who has been on the U.S Paralympics Nordic team for the past nine years, pointed out that his performances this year were not without challenge.
“The men’s sit field is very strong in IPC nordic, and I was up against some great skiers every day,” Soule wrote in an email after competing in Finsterau. “I just have to approach each race one at a time, and focus on good procedure, technique, and recovery for the next day.”
At the end of the season, Soule placed fourth in the overall cross-country World Cup, 30 points short of the podium. He was fifth in the overall biathlon World Cup, while Masters placed sixth in the women’s biathlon overall.
Honorable mentions:
Canada’s Emily Weekes placed seventh in the women’s standing cross-country and Brian McKeever finished eighth in the men’s visually impaired, despite competing in a few select races (he won two races, including the inaugural 30 k marathon, at World Cup Finals).
Weekes finished the season in ninth overall in the biathlon World Cup, and yet another Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team member, Mark Arendz tied for ninth in the men’s standing biathlon.
Oksana Masters (front) and U.S. Paralympics Nordic coach Eileen Carey at 2016 IPC World Cup Finals in Vuokatti, Finland, with wax tech Dave Mark (behind). Masters won the overall cross-country World Cup for the second-straight year. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)
When an athlete finishes a World Cup season undefeated, it’s not just a win for the athlete, it’s a win for their teammates as well.
After U.S. Paralympics Nordic sit skier Oksana Masters completed the 2015/2016 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cup race season as the undefeated victor in the cross-country events, from the 1-kilometer sprints to the debut of the 20 k marathon event, her success was seen as one for and from the team.
“Oksana is an amazing athlete and I have been privileged to be a [part] of her cross country skiing career since she started the sport,” her teammate Andy Soule wrote in an email.
“We have both become better skiers by learning from one another and training together,” Soule added. “She is hard-working, motivated, and a joy to be around as a teammate and as a person; and it makes me incredibly happy to see her having the level of success she had had these past couple of years.”
Last week at IPC World Cup Finals in Vuokatti, Finland, Masters raced to three wins in a row, including the cross-country sitting sprint, but she didn’t let it get to her head.
“It [was] the last sprint of the season and I didn’t want to leave anything behind!” Masters, of Louisville, Ky., told Inside the Games.
Throughout the season, nobody came close to the 26-year-old Masters in the cross-country events. According to a U.S. Paralympics press release, nearly eight seconds separated her from her closest competitor in the sprint, and more than 28 seconds separated her from the field in the middle distance 5 k.
“Oksana brought impressive consistency to her racing this season,” U.S. high-performance coach Eileen Carey wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “We had longer travel to our World Cups this season than is typical, so quality recovery was hard to come by at times. Oksana made gains this winter in making smart decisions for her recovery and health, even when it meant backing off from training. She made a few mistakes early in the winter, training through some sickness, but she learned from it and made smarter decisions for the rest of the season. Her performances in cross country races would not have been possible without that adjustment. That self-knowledge will pay off in future seasons.”
Day 1: Canada’s Arendz Fifth, Top 10’s for Weekes and Hudak
The first day of IPC World Cup Finals took place Tuesday, March 15, with a biathlon sprint.
In the women’s 6 k visually impaired biathlon sprint, Ukraine’s Oksana Shyshkova won in a time of 20:55.8 after shooting clean. Also with perfect shooting was Mikhalina Lysova of Russia who finished in second overall. Third place went to Russian skier Elena Remizova after she missed two shots (1+1).
In the women’s 6 k standing biathlon sprint, Oleksandra Kononova of Ukraine placed first in a time of 20:53.2 after two penalties (1+1). Russia’s Anna Milenina finished in second, also with two penalties (2+0). Russian teammate Ekaterina Rumyantseva rounded out the podium in third with three penalties (1+2).
Two Canadians competed in the 6 k standing biathlon sprint, including Emily Weekes and Brittany Hudak. With three misses (0+3), Weekes finished ninth, while teammate Hudak finished just behind her in 10th place with four penalties (2+2).
In the women’s 6 k sitting biathlon sprint, the top two spots went to Russia, with Irina Guliaeva coming in first in 23:31.8, after missing one shot (1+0). Her teammate Nadezhda Fedorova, came in second after shooting clean. Third place went to Germany’s Anja Wicker after she missed one shot (1+0).
Masters finished sixth in a time of 25:47.0 after missing three shots (3+0).
In the men’s 7.5 k visually impaired biathlon sprint, Russia’s Stanislav Chokhlaev emerged victorious, winning the event in a time of 20:36.9 after perfect shooting. Also shooting clean was second place finisher, and Russian teammate Nikolay Polukhin. Third place for the men’s visually impaired event went to Ukraine’s Anatolii Kovalevskyi with one miss (1+0).
U.S. Paralympics Nordic veteran Andy Soule tucking at 2016 IPC World Cup Finals in Vuokatti, Finland. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)
American skier Jake Adicoff also competed in the event, racing to 11th after four misses (2+2).
In the men’s 7.5 k standing biathlon sprint, Ukraine’s Ihor Reptyukh, raced to first place in a time of 18:49.5 after perfect shooting. In second place was Vladislav Lekomtsev of Russia with two misses (2+0). France’s Benjamin Daviet rounded out the top three, finishing third with one miss (0+1).
Canada’s Mark Arendz competed in the men’s standing biathlon sprint, racing to fifth place overall with two misses (1+1).
“Going into today I felt I had a lot more. The body felt ready to go, but it didn’t materialize in today’s race,” Arendz said in a Canadian Para Nordic Team press release.. “I was close on the skiing, but I’m still finding myself needing to tweak my shooting. Two misses is two too many for me right now.”
In the men’s 7.5 k sitting biathlon sprint, the top three spots all went to Russia, Grigory Murygin leading the trio in first in 25:23.6 with one miss (1+0). Ivan Golubkov and Roman Petushkov both shot clean and finished second and third, respectively.
Soule was the sole U.S. skier in the event, racing to an 11th place overall after five misses (3+2).
“[I] had a broken pole early in the sprint and I am grateful to team Russia for their display of sportsmanship in offering me one of their spare poles until a coach could get mine to me,” Soule wrote in an email.
Canada’s Derek Zaplotinsky also competed in the event, finishing in 15th overall after shooting the same as Soule.
The second day of racing, Wednesday, March 16, brought athletes out for another biathlon event.
In the women’s 12.5 k sitting biathlon, Russia’s Maria Iovleva took her first victory of the week, finishing first in a time of 53:20.6 with just one miss (0+0+1+0). She led a Russian podium sweep with Guliaeva placing second with three misses (2+0+1+0) and Svetlana Konovalova taking third with two misses (1+0+1+0).
Masters finished seventh, after skiing eight penalty loops (2+0+4+2).
In the women’s 12.5 k visually impaired biathlon, Ukraine’s Shyshkova took her second consecutive title of the week, completing the course in a time of 40:43.0 after one missed shot (1+0+0+0). Finishing in second once again behind Shyshkova was Russia’s Lysova after skiing four penalties (2+1+1+0). Third place went to Vivian Hosch of Germany, who missed three (0+3+0+0).
In the women’s 12.5 k standing biathlon, Ukraine’s Kononova continued her winning streak, taking first place in a time of 43:15.2, after missing two shots (0+0+1+1). Second place went to Russia’s Natalia Bratiuk, with one penalty (0+0+0+1). Rounding out the podium finishers for the day was Russia’s Milenina in third after missing six shots (0+1+2+3).
Weekes finished just off the podium in fourth, with two misses (0+0+0+2).
“Emily led the way for us again today, and showing steady development,” Canadian head coach Robin McKeever, said of Weekes in a team press release. “The classic sprint is a bit of a tough test for Emily, but she faired well today and skied strong.”
In the men’s 15 k visually impaired biathlon, Russia’s Polukhin bested his previous second place finish for first, winning the 15 k in a time of 43:31.3 with perfect shooting. In second place was Russian Nikita Povarov, who also shot clean. Ukrainian skier Iurii Utkin rounded out the podium in third, after two misses (1+1+0+0).
In the men’s 15 k standing biathlon, France’s Daviet raced to the win in 44:12.0 after skiing three penalties (2+0+1+0). Second place went to Ivan Kodlozerov of Russia with one miss (0+0+1+0). Russian teammate Lekomtsev finished third after missing four (0+2+1+1).
Mark Arendz (Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team) at last year’s 2015 IPC World Cup Finals in Surnadal, Norway. This year in Finland, he placed fifth in the 2016 World Cup Finals biathlon sprint. (Photo: IPC Nordic Skiing/Facebook)
Arendz finished just off the podium in fourth after skiing three penalty loops (0+1+1+1).
In his second victory of the week, Murygin of Russia, raced to first in the men’s 15 k sitting biathlon in 54:18.1 with one penalty (0+1+0+0). Germany’s Martin Fleig finished second after missing four (2+0+2+0). The third podium spot went to Poland’s Kamil Rosiek with two penalties (2+0+0+0).
Soule finished sixth, with seven penalties (4+1+0+2).
“Both biathlon races were difficult shooting races for me. I have struggled in the range somewhat this year and will be working in the of season to return to some solid shooting fundamentals,” Soule wrote. “I am really excited for the mass start 20km marathon race [later that week] … This is a type of race that we do not get to do often and I an looking forward to the challenge.”
Canada’s Derek Zaplotinsky was the second North American to compete in the event, finishing 11th with 12 penalties (2+4+3+3).
Day 3: Masters Wins Sprint; Adicoff, Weekes and Soule All Reach Respective Finals
Thursday marked the third-consecutive day of racing with a 1 k cross-country sprint, where Masters continued her streak to finish the season with her fourth cross-country sprint win in as many races. She won the sprint in 2:12.68, besting Russia’s Iovleva in second and Germany’s Wicker in third.
The women’s 1 k visually impaired cross country sprint went to Lysova of Russia, who won in 3:31.34. Crossing after Lysova in second was her Russian teammate Remizova. Ukraine’s Shyshkova took the final podium spot in placed third overall.
Thursday brought the third-straight win for Ukraine’s Kononova, who won the women’s 1 k standing cross-country sprint in 3:28.44. Crossing behind her in second was her Ukrainian teammate Liudmyla Liashenko. Rounding out the top three was Russia’s Milenina in third.
Weekes advanced to the final where she finished fifth. Her teammate, Hudak finished ninth overall.
Three Russians dominated the men’s 1 k visually impaired cross-country sprint, with Vladimir Udaltcov taking first in 2:52.66. Chokhlaev placed second, while Oleg Ponomarev took third.
Jake Adicoff (c) and his two guides, U.S. Paralympics high-performance coach and director John Farra (r) and Germany’s Florian Grimm. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)
Finishing just off the podium after advancing to the final was Adicoff of the U.S. in fourth.
The men’s 1 k standing cross-country sprint saw Russian Lekomtsev stand at the top of the event podium, ahead of Ukraine’s Vovchynskyi in second place. Third place went to Japan’s Yoshihiro Nitta.
Arendz missed advancing to the final by one spot, finishing seventh overall.
Competition in the men’s 1 k sitting cross-country sprint went to Ukrainian athlete Maksym Yarovyi, who crossed the final in first in a time of 1:55.47. Russia’s Golubkov and Aleksandr Davidovich finished second and third, respectively.
Soule advanced to the final, where he placed sixth overall.
Canada’s Chris Klebl advanced to the semifinal, where he placed 12th and Canadian teammate Zaplotinsky finished the day in 14th overall.
Day 4: McKeever, Masters Take Marathon Titles; Klebl Second
After a day of rest, IPC World Cup athletes returned to the Vuokatti ski trails for Saturday’s marathon events.
Masters raced to first place in the women’s 20 k sitting marathon on Saturday, March 19, completing the course in a time of 1:00:57.0.
Two Russians, Guliaeva and Fedorova finished behind Masters in second and third, respectively.
The women’s 30 k visually impaired marathon event went to Remizova of Russia, who won in 1:36:22.6. Her Russian teammate Lysova placed second. Ukraine’s Shyshkova earned her fourth-straight podium of the week, after placing third.
Ukraine’s Kononova rolled to her fourth-straight win of the week in the women’s 30 k standing cross-country marathon. She won in 1:39:09.6, while Sweden’s Helene Ripa finished second and Russia’s Rumyantseva placed third.
Hudak raced to fifth in the women’s 30 k.
Canada’s Brian McKeever (c) and his guide Graham Nishikawa with their gold medals after the men’s visually impaired 30 k at 2016 IPC World Cup Finals Vuokatti, Finland. Russia’s Alexsander Artemov (l) placed second and France’s Thomas Clarion (r) was third. (Photo: IPC Nordic Skiing/Facebook)
Canadian team veteran Brian McKeever took the victory in the men’s 30 k visually impaired cross-country marathon, completing the course in a time of 1:20:43.0. Behind him in second was Russia’s Alexsander Artemov and France’s Thomas Clarion in third.
Adicoff was the second North American in the men’s visually impaired marathon in sixth overall.
After winning Thursday’s standing sprint, Russian Lekomtsev took his second win of the week in the men’s 30 k standing in 1:17:52.8. The next closest competitor was his Russian teammate, Rushan Minnegulov in second. Third place went to France’s Daviet.
Arendz raced to eighth place in the 30 k standing marathon.
In the men’s 20 k sitting, Klebl narrowly out on a victory, placing second behind Maksym Yarovyi of Ukraine. Yarovyi completed the 20 k course in a time of 52:31.0.
Soule was one spot off the podium in fourth, behind Korea’s Eui Hyun Sin in third.
“The 20km was an interesting race,” Soule wrote in an email. “It was formatted as a mass start, which is not how we usually race. Because of the way we adjust times for differing disabilities, it was not actually first across the line wins. While we do not actually train specifically for this distance, the fast conditions and relatively flat course made it run much like a long individual race.”
Day 5: Masters Defends Unbeaten Streak; McKeever Wins Again
Athletes geared up for the final World Cup race of the season on Sunday, March 20, with the men’s and women’s middle-distance cross-country races.
American Oksana Masters (c) on the podium with one of her three gold medals from this year’s IPC World Cup Finals in Vuokatti, Finland. (Photo: IPC Nordic Skiing/Facebook)
Masters displayed her strength with one final win, topping the women’s 5 k sitting cross-country in a time of 17:16.3, for her third win of the week.
Finishing behind Masters in second was Russia’s Fedorova and in third was Guliaeva, also of Russia.
In the women’s 7.5 k visually impaired cross-country, Lysova won in a time of 20:02.0. Second place went to her Russian teammate Remizova and Ukraine’s Olga Prylutska finished behind her in third place overall.
In the women’s 7.5 k standing cross-country, Russia’s Milenina won in 19:59.2. Ukraine’s Kononova finished in second and Russian Rumyantseva placed third.
McKeever secured his second win of the week, finishing first in the men’s 10 k visually impaired cross-country. McKeever completed the 10 k course in 22:31.1. Second place went to France’s Clarion.
“We put in a really good effort today. Nish was on fire for the first five kilometres, and that moved us into a solid position,” McKeever said of his guide, Graham Nishikawa, in a team press release. “We were able to build on that pace, and nobody was able to respond.
Adicoff once again just missed the podium in fourth overall, finishing behind Russia’s Chokhlaev in third.
France’s Daviet took his second win of the week in men’s 10 k standing cross-country. Behind Daviet in second was Russia’s Minnegulov and Ukraine’s Reptyukh finished third.
Arendz placed eighth in the 10 k standing event.
In the final men’s sitting cross-country event, Russia’s Golubkov finished first in a time of 23:47.4. Second place went to Ukraine’s Yarovyi and Korea’s Eui Hyun Sin took third.
Soule led the North Americans in that race in fifth, while Canada’s Klebl and Zaplotinsky finished behind him in 12th and 16th, respectively.
“Overall the event has been a lot of fun,” Soule wrote. “I always enjoy coming to Vuokatti, a place where we have competed on a regular basis for my entire nine-year career.”
Masters Wins World Cup Globe for Second-Straight Year
Overall, Masters won the season-long World Cup title for the second year in a row in the women’s sitting cross-country. She topped the rankings with 760 points, beating out Russia’s Maria Iovleva, who had 545 points, and Russia’s Nadezhda Fedorova, who was third with 526 points.
Andy Soule was 30 points short of the cross-country podium in fourth overall, with 390 points to Russian winner Ivan Golubkov’s 689 points in first.
Emily Weekes placed seventh in the women’s standing cross-country, McKeever was eighth in the men’s visually impaired.
Soule placed fifth overall in the biathlon World Cup men’s sitting, while Masters was sixth in the women’s category. Weekes finished the season in ninth overall in the biathlon World Cup, and Mark Arendz tied for ninth in the men’s standing biathlon.
Canadian para athlete Yves Bourque, of Quebec, a veteran of the 2014 Sochi Paralympics, skiing in Craftsbury, Vt., at 2016 U.S. Paralympics Sit Ski Nationals and IPC Continental Cup from Jan. 6-9. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
The first week of January was a busy one. In random corners of the world, some of the top-ranked nordic skiers competed for various titles: at the Tour de Ski in Switzerland, Germany and Italy, at U.S. Cross Country Championships in Houghton, Mich., and at the U.S. Paralympics Sit Ski Nationals and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Continental Cup in Craftsbury, Vt.
In Craftsbury, about 30 miles south of the Canadian border in northern Vermont, five races were held in a span of four days, Jan. 6-9, after anticipated rain prompted organizers to move up the last two races to the scheduled off day.
“Busy for sure, but the OC [organizing committee] did an amazing job and the athletes got a big bang for their time and investment in being there,” U.S. Paralympics Nordic High Performance Director John Farra wrote in an email.
Oksana Masters (U.S. Paralympics Nordic A-team) during a snowy day in Craftsbury, Vt., at the U.S. Paralympics Sit Ski Nationals and IPC Continental Cup from Jan. 6-9. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
The Craftsbury Outdoor Center hosted 25 participants in three cross-country races followed by two biathlon races. U.S. Paralympics A-team members Andy Soule and Oksana Masters won the opening men’s 7.5-kilometer and women’s 5 k mid-distance sit ski races, respectively, and Masters went on to sweep the remaining races of nationals.
Soule won four out of the five, placing second to longtime teammate Sean Halsted in the men’s 2.5 k short-distance sit ski on the second day of racing.
That day entailed back-to-back races: the short-distance in the morning and a full sprint — complete with a qualifier and heats —following in the afternoon.
“It was a busy day, but from a development perspective it was a great model,” Farra wrote.
Interestingly, the 850-meter sprint was scored as a “mixed” event, ranking both genders on a single results sheet. Masters topped the coed field, winning with an adjusted time 11 seconds faster than Soule. Halsted was the second male and third overall.
“This year for the first time we were able to take advantage of a new rule by IPC that allows us to combine men’s and women’s fields for the purposes of establishing a points base when the numbers of points-holding athletes in a single field would otherwise be too small,” Eileen Carey, head coach of U.S. Paralympics Nordic explained in an email.
“There is a precedent for this in IPC in the relay, where women get an additional 18% off their compensation to equalize the field and combine everyone in one event. As an example when Oksana is racing against women’s only fields, she has a 100% compensation, so her calculated result is the same as her real time,” Carey continued. “In this event, her calculated result was 82% of her real time. This made for a much more exciting event and a better competition for athletes. For our World Cup regulars and new skiers alike, it meant more practice going into technical sections in groups and having to ski more tactical races to qualify for finals.”
Looking at the overall field, Farra and Carey noted they were impressed by some “brand new” athletes.
“This was the first major competition for a majority of the field,” Carey explained. “As a group, they arrived impressively fit for skiing and improved throughout the week. It is exciting for us to have a bigger community of adaptive athletes in the same place each year.”
U.S. para skiers (left to right) Brittany Fisher, Oksana Masters, and Joy Rondeau at 2016 U.S. Paralympics Sit Ski Nationals and IPC Continental Cup. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
In her first IPC Continental Cup and sit-ski nationals, Joy Rondeau, who trains with the National Center for the Disabled in Winter Park, Colo., placed second to Masters in all three cross-country events and the 6.5 k biathlon race.
“We had participation in all 3 classes and both genders… which was really cool for us,” Farra wrote. “Great to have some new talent in standing and visual impaired classes especially.”
“The development group as a whole came to the event more fit and more skilled than in the past so we think that means good things for the future of the sport,” Carey added.
This season, sit skiers Halstead and Bryan Price are on the development team. Halstead reached the podium in all five races, Price landed on it three times, and B-team member Aaron Pike tallied two podiums in Craftsbury.
Andy Soule (U.S. Paralympics A-team) at 2016 U.S. Paralympics Sit Ski Nationals and IPC Continental Cup. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
“I was impressed with the group as a whole and am excited to see what is to come,” Carey wrote. “Our National Team athletes are skiing well and are on track for a good winter.”
As for the conditions in Craftsbury, Carey described them as “great.”
“The crew there is incredible with what they can do with small amounts of snow,” she wrote. “They worked hard making and moving snow and (once again!) made excellent courses for our skiers. I have learned to never underestimate what they are capable of, and they did not disappoint. We are lucky to have such a dedicated organizer in Nordic sport and the fact that they pulled out all the stops for our field of 25 athletes was amazing. They put together World Cup quality competitions.”
The national team is headed to Pyeongchang, South Korea, for the IPC Asian Cup Jan. 28-Feb. 1 and a chance to preview the 2018 Paralympics venue.
“We will get eyes on Pyeong Chang for the first time this winter so we will learn specifics from that trip that we will apply to our training,” Carey wrote.
Andy Soule (l) and Oksana Masters, both of U.S. Paralympics Nordic, are FasterSkier’s 2015 Para-Nordic Skiers of the Year.
Andy Soule
When you become the first American to rack up five medals in six individual events at World Championships, you’re essentially a shoo-in for Para-Nordic Skier of the Year. Andy Soule, a U.S. Army veteran and sit skier, did just that at the 2015 International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships in January in Cable, Wis., taking silver in two biathlon events and the 10-kilometer cross-country race plus bronze in the cross-country 15 k and sprint.
Andy Soule and his hardware from 2015 IPC World Championships: five medals with three silvers and two bronze. (Photo: James Netz)
“After the second podium, I just started feeling like that wasn’t a fluke,” Soule said in February. “This isn’t just a one-time thing … I can come out and compete on a level with the top guys every day. It was a confidence builder as well when you have that feeling.”
In his eighth year on the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Team, Soule, 35, was named IPC’s January athlete of the month. After World Championships, he improved to third overall in the World Cup and finished the season first overall in the cross-country standings.
“It is a great feeling and a great finish to the season,” he said at World Cup Finals in Surnadal, Norway.
In all, Soule tallied four World Cup golds — all of which came in Asahikawa, Japan — and a bronze during the 2014/2015 season.
And all the success has led him to commit to another three seasons leading up to the 2018 Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. According to his teammate, Dan Cnossen, Soule considered retiring after 2013/2014.
“I’m right at that age and I’m right at the point in my career where I’m in the prime of real top-performance potential,” Soule said. “I feel really great about what I have going forward and that I’ll be able to build on it and still improve on it.”
Oksana Masters
It got even better for U.S. Paralympics as Oksana Masters, another sit skier, also rose to the top of the 2014/2015 World Cup cross-country podium in her second year on the team.
Oksana Masters (U.S. Paralympics Nordic) in a biathlon competition at 2015 IPC World Cup Finals in Surnadal, Norway. Masters won the 5 k cross-country sitting to clinch the overall World Cup cross-country title for 2014/2015. (Photo: IPC Nordic Skiing/Facebook)
A rowing convert, Masters, 25, earned two cross-country medals at 2015 World Championships — silver in the middle distance and bronze in the sprint — and won four out of five races in Japan this year. That put her on top of the IPC overall and she ended the season in first with a total of seven individual World Cup golds and two silvers.
“I respect my competition, of the years they put in to be where they are now,” Masters said in February. “I’m playing catchup and I’m just doing what I can and focusing on myself. It just so happens to be putting me much higher than I ever could imagine being.”
She explained that it took her 13 years to reach the Paralympic podium in rowing (she earned bronze in the double scull in 2012) and was humble about the strides she had made in skiing since starting the sport a year and a half ago.
A silver and bronze medalist at the 2014 Winter Paralympics, Masters committed to skiing full time last spring, partially to alleviate a past rowing injury in her back. A training crash leading up to 2015 U.S. nationals re-aggravated the injury, forcing her to sit out the week.
A week before World Championships, she got back on snow while fighting bronchitis and walking pneumonia.
“World Championships was just more of a mental battle than … just a battle for getting medals, with one setback after another,” Masters said. “I didn’t really have much expectations for myself … so [I was] just basically trying to survive at that point.”
The bronze medal she earned in Cable, her first of World Championships, brought her some serious relief.
“[It] also just brought my focus more towards, OK, I had setbacks, but I still can be within the competition and hang with the field, so just believe in the previous training that I’ve done and what I do know and just do it,” she said.
Brittany Hudak (Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team) at 2015 IPC World Cup Finals in Surnadal, Norway. Hudak won the 2014/2015 World Cup Overall Cross-Country title. (Photo: IPC Nordic Skiing/Facebook)
The Canadian Para Nordic Ski Team had a banner season as well, with standing skier Brittany Hudak topping the overall World Cup cross-country podium in her first year on the development team.
“The learning curve has been so huge for me,” Hudak, 21, said in a team press release after winning two consecutive races in Asahikawa.
At the following World Cup Finals, she collected three medals: silver in the 15 k cross-country, silver in the 12.5 k biathlon and bronze in the 6 k biathlon.
“Having the opportunity to attend national training camps … I have noticed a huge improvement in my technique,” she added. “It has been such an advantage for me to be in the same environment with the high-performance athletes, seeing how the train and learning from them.”
Hudak wrapped up 2015 with two World Cup golds, two silvers and a bronze in cross-country, and a silver and a bronze in biathlon.
Chris Klebl
It’s a close call between several Canadian Para-Nordic teammates for the men’s pick for honorable mention, but Klebl tops the list as he placed third overall on the cross-country World Cup and is currently first in the IPC rankings. Standing biathlete Mark Arendz was was fourth overall in biathlon, and longtime team veteran Brian McKeever — a visually impaired distance specialist — won most of the races he jumped into for third overall in cross-country.
Canada’s Chris Klebl racing to gold in the cross-country 10 k sit-ski at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. (Photo: Matthew Murnaghan/Canadian Paralympic Committee)
In Asahikawa, both Klebl and Arendz notched back-to-back bronze medals before Klebl placed second in both the 10 and 15 k cross-country races. Klebl, a 2014 Paralympic gold medalist in the 10 k, went on to win the 15 k at World Cup Finals.
McKeever won the 20 k that same day in Surnadal (he won the same event at 2015 World Championships; it was the lone race he competed in there) and took first in the 10 k classic in Japan as well.
Arendz picked up two bronze medals at World Cup Finals in the biathlon sprint and following pursuit.
Klebl edged American Dan Cnossen by 40 points for third overall on the World Cup, making Cnossen — who won his first World Cup in Japan and achieved multiple podiums later in the season — worthy of mention as well.
The U.S. Paralympics Nordic team at the World Cup in Asahikawa, Japan, Feb. 14-19, including athletes Andy Soule (l), Oksana Masters (second from l) and Dan Cnossen (second from r). (Photo: Eileen Carey/U.S. Paralympics Nordic)
Heading into the last races of the season, the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cup Finals, the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Program is probably used to the weight of carrying several medals around, but its athletes aren’t feeling any pressure.
“I honestly can not believe that I am currently the World Cup leader,” U.S. sit skier Oksana Masters wrote in an email last month after winning two-consecutive World Cup races in Asahikawa, Japan.
In her second year of skiing, the 25-year-old former Paralympic rower went on to win four out of five races in Asahikawa to stay on top of the overall World Cup standings and earn a nomination for IPC Athlete of the Month.
Oksana Masters racing to gold in the cross-country 5 k sit ski at the World Cup last month in Asahikawa, Japan.(Photo: Eileen Carey/U.S. Paralympics Nordic)
“It’s a great feeling knowing what I have been working on is working,” Masters continued. “I feel like anything can happen … I am just eager to continue to grow as a skier and feeling more confident on the snow.”
At IPC World Championships in January, Masters earned silver in the cross-country middle distance and bronze in the cross-country sprint in Cable, Wis. She was the second-most decorated skier on her team after Andy Soule, who racked up five medals in seven races.
A few weeks beforehand, Masters had to skip U.S. nationals at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. Leading into the championships, she injured her back in training, compressing nerves on the right side while stopping suddenly and aggravating a previous injury from rowing.
“I sat out the whole week of nationals and then that week before Cable, I started to get back on snow,” she explained on the phone in early February. “I was basically on the bed for that week, then afterwards, [I] kind of had to fight off a little bug that I got that week prior to Cable, which happened to turn into bronchitis and walking pneumonia. So World Championships was just more of a mental battle than gonna be just a battle for getting medals, with one setback after another.”
“I didn’t really have much expectations for myself at all considering there’s only so much your body will allow you to do when it’s trying to get back to it’s healthy stage and so [I was] just basically trying to survive at that point,” Masters continued. “Instead of being in the top five or something, I was trying to focus on areas where I need to be focused in any race, which is technical aspects, like turns and transitions, up and over the hill, and kind of take it one race at a time.”
She quickly found her racing form in Cable.
Asked how her first race there felt, she reflected: “Like I was gonna die. I just saw the black light, nothing else … but skiing-wise, it was the first time since about three weeks that I’d basically did anything and pushed my body at that race pace, so that first [biathlon] race was brutal and tough, but at the same time, it got my body more ready and prepared me for the cross-country races and [upcoming] races through that week.”
In total, Masters competed in six events in Cable and explained she was shocked after taking her first medal — bronze — in the sprint.
“Not to fall and to end up with that medal was kind of a relief, but [it] also just brought my focus more towards, OK I had setbacks, but I still can be within the competition and hang with the field, so just believe in the previous training that I’ve done and what I do know and just do it,” she said.
“I’m just doing what I can and focusing on myself. It just so happens to be putting me much higher than I ever could imagine being.” — Oksana Masters (U.S. Paralympics Nordic)
Last year, Masters made herself known as one of the world’s most competitive sit skiers after taking two medals (silver and bronze) at the Sochi Paralympics. She went on to podium in three races at this season’s IPC World Cup opener in Vuokatti, Finland.
Based on her experience in rowing, in which it took her 13 years to medal at the Paralympics (she earned bronze in the double scull in 2012), she appreciated the time it takes to become a veteran of any sport — despite being a new favorite in nordic.
“I’m now that the stage where I respect my competition, of the years they put in to be where they are now,” she said. “I’m playing catchup and I’m just doing what I can and focusing on myself. It just so happens to be putting me much higher than I ever could imagine being.”
Lt. Cmdr. Dan Cnossen (l) and Oksana Masters with their gold medals from the Asahikawa World Cup in Japan last month. (Photo: Eileen Carey/U.S. Paralympics Nordic)
Next week from March 16 to 22, Masters and her teammates will be competing at IPC World Cup Finals in Surnadal, Norway.
“I think our athletes are still feeling fresh and motivated and excited to get another opportunity to race, especially with the full field competing,” U.S. Paralympics High-Performance Coach Eileen Carey wrote in an email. “Our goals will be to continue the process of progress, and squeeze as much as we can from final days on snow this season.”
There’s no ignoring that they’ll be favorites. At the last World Cup in Asahikawa in mid-February, Soule, an Army veteran, won four-straight races. His teammate, Lt. Cmdr. Dan Cnossen won the fifth: the middle-distance cross-country.
“I knew that with a small but strong field there was a good chance for several very good and meaningful finishes,” Soule wrote in an email earlier this month. “The whole week felt great and was an amazing experience. I have never had a string of wins like that, but tried to approach it the same way I do any other race series, taking one day and one race at a time, trying not to think too far ahead.”
With his success in Japan, Soule, 35, rose from third to first in the overall World Cup.
“I am excited to go to Norway and have a good strong finish to the season,” he said.
A biathlon specialist, he’s looking forward to three biathlon events in Norway.
Cnossen pointed out that Soule considered retiring before this season. Soule explained that, because he was doing well at the end of last year and still having a lot of fun, he couldn’t imagine ending his ski career. As of February, Soule said he was committed through the 2018 Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“The mental space he is in is pretty remarkable and I think it has allowed him to relax and let his skills, experience, and love for skiing take over,” Carey explained. “He is aware of the results and knows what he has to do to clinch the World Cup overall, but isn’t letting that distract him from focusing on the basics when he gets to the start line. More than his personal performances, I think he is excited by the team’s performance as a whole.”
While he didn’t have his best performance in the final middle-distance race in Asahikawa, Cnossen did — and Carey wrote that Soule was excited for him.
“It has strengthened him to be a part of the success and progress of the team as a whole,” she added. “The coolest thing about Andy and all our National Team athletes is that they are still very much in progress. They have all made gains this year and all have more to make. It is exciting for all of us as a team to feel the progress but to also see the space for improvements.”
Dan Cnossen racing to gold in 10 k cross-country sit ski at the World Cup last month in Asahikawa, Japan.(Photo: Eileen Carey/U.S. Paralympics Nordic)
“I decided to ski a hard first lap on the 10km race and see if I could hang on for the remaining three laps,” Cnossen wrote in an email.
“The coaches mentioned during the team meeting the previous night that we should use this World Cup event as an opportunity to take chances without worrying about the finishing result. I wanted to see if skiing an overly-fast first lap, out of four total, would result in an implosion or if I could hang on knowing I’m in with the leaders.”
On the second lap, a Norwegian wax technician told him he was in the lead.
“The US coaches may not have wanted me to know that early!” Cnossen reflected.
He went on to win by 13.4 seconds over Canada’s Chris Klebl. Cnossen spent the better part of the fall and winter in San Diego — not exactly ideal for a winter athlete.
“This season has been a transition for me, with a move [from Colorado] to San Diego in order to out-process from the military,” he explained. “Accordingly, my training time on snow has suffered, so my goal this year is to accumulate as much race experience as possible and work on a relaxed, powerful double pole technique.”
The process, which involves a thorough evaluation by the Veterans Affairs and Departments of Defense, will have taken the 34-year-old Navy SEAL commander six months to complete. Unable to get on snow in southern California, he spent about two to three hours a day training with a Ski Erg or hand cycle, after taking up competitive cycling last summer.
“Now, so close to retiring, I’m able to train in the mornings for a couple hours as I normally would, with a second workout in the afternoon,” he wrote. “I’m going to attempt to travel to Norway one week in advance of my team, which would be ten days ahead of the first competition, to train on snow.”
As for the team on the whole, Carey wrote that she could not be more proud.
“Our athletes have taken being students of the sport to a new level this year,” she wrote. “They enjoy doing the hard and sometimes frustrating work to back up what they are learning. Of course it is motivating to see race results back up the progress. But we are not getting too distracted by the podiums.
“There is a lot of progress left to make so we try to keep sight of that,” she added.
Andy Soule and his hardware from 2015 IPC World Championships: five medals with three silvers and two bronze. (Photo: James Netz)
Andy Soule took one look at the skate course at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Championships — with technical downhills and a massive uphill — and thought, I could do that. The 35-year-old Army veteran previewed it the day before the final race in Cable, Wis., and found it to be “fairly difficult by our standards,” he said in a phone interview last week.
Difficult in the sense that he’s a sit skier who relies entirely on his upper body and core strength, double poling everything from flats to steep hills. The course was designed for standing athletes — with two freestyle legs in the mixed relay, but the U.S. only had one man that could skate.
“We wanted to enter a relay at World Champs, but we only had one standing athlete available to us, Omar Bermejo, who had been battling sickness during these events so running him twice on a super cold day did not seem like the best idea,” U.S. Paralympics High Performance Director John Farra explained in an email. “So we floated it by Andy and he did not hesitate to say yes! … This is the first time a sitting athlete has done the standing course in the relay, so that was fun as countries came up to me to be sure we had not made a mistake.”
It wasn’t against the rules, as Soule pointed out: “There is no rule that says you have to have a sit skier or a stand skier on either one; factors are just supposed to take care of those.” So as the second leg of the U.S. mixed relay on Feb. 1, he headed out after teammate Oksana Masters tagged him in fourth of seven teams.
Farra’s Take on the “Sit-Ski Heavy” U.S. Team:
“It’s a good thing… we have been able to attract sitting athletes from other sports and they are having success, which is getting attention from other sitting athletes,” U.S. Paralympics High Performance Director and Coach John Farra wrote in an email. “We have proven that we can be a good sport for summer sport athletes looking for cross training and a new challenge and tough competition.”On the other side we are very much interested in increasing the [numbers] of standing and visually impaired athletes who can develop into strong international racers. Those who are finding success are finding it best to join up with a USSA Club program so they can be training & racing with other standing (able bodied) skiers as much as possible.”
“Our team is very sit-ski heavy right now, and while we didn’t really go into the relay with an expectation of a high place or anything, they decided to go ahead and field me on the standup course,” Soule said from his home in Pearland, Texas. “I told my coaches I believed it was entirely doable … it’s probably not any sort of a competitive advantage for sure, but it was an interesting experience, and it went pretty well.”
Soule came through the exchange in seventh, just seven seconds behind Germany’s Tino Uhlig, a standing skier who uses one pole, in sixth. With sit-skier Tatyana McFadden and Bermejo, a single-arm amputee, racing the third and fourth legs, respectively, the Americans placed seventh, 45.4 seconds out of sixth.
From the outset, the mixed relay was the team’s weakest event of the week, one in which they did not field a team at last World Championships. However, more symbolically, it capped their historic showing in Cable, where Soule racked up five medals — unprecedented for a U.S. cross-country skier at World Championships — and competed in all seven events, including the relay.
He was glad he did it.
“It have me a really good gauge of where we are in terms of what relative speeds look like for sit skiers versus standup athletes,” Soule said. “On the largest climb of that race, I was passed by one of the best standup skiers in the world in our sport, Nils-Erik Ulset, of Norway. I think it was an interesting event for a lot of people to see exactly what is possible for a sit skier, too.”
Andy Soule navigates a turn during one of his six individual races at 2015 IPC World Championships in late January in Cable, Wis. Soule medaled in five of those events. (Photo: James Netz)
And he held his own on the descents. “I definitely didn’t lose any time on downhills,” Soule added.
“Andy left Cable as a bit of a Legend,” Farra wrote. “5 medals and climbing & descending Telemark Hill successfully!”
In his eighth year on the U.S. Paralympics Nordic team, it was not only Soule’s most successful World Championships, it was perhaps the highlight of his career after winning bronze in biathlon at the 2010 Paralympics.
“This is a pretty high highlight,” Soule said. “After the second podium, I just started feeling like that wasn’t a fluke. This isn’t just a one-time thing, I’m really up here with the top of the field. I can compete with these guys. I can come out and compete on a level with the top guys every day. It was a confidence builder as well when you have that feeling.”
“After the second podium, I just started feeling like that wasn’t a fluke … I can come out and compete on a level with the top guys every day.” — Andy Soule, who earned three silver medals and two bronze at the 2015 IPC World Championships in Cable, Wis., unprecedented for an American
That feeling translated into three silver medals in two of three biathlon events and the cross-country 10-kilometer race at the 2015 championships, and two bronze in the cross-country 15 k and 1 k sprint (where Soule charged up from fourth with 40 meters to go to take third). On Monday, the IPC named Soule its January athlete of the month across all sports.
Prior to this season, he had a Paralympic bronze from 2010 and placed fourth twice during last winter’s 2014 Paralympics in Sochi, Russia.
“I wanted to break through that last little barrier for sure,” Soule said of his tendency toward wooden medals. “Between being almost on the podium and being a solid, consistent at least podium-potential finisher … that’s kind of been the source of all the little tweaks and changes we’ve been working with over the past year.”
2015 U.S. Paralympics Nordic World Championships Team in Cable, Wis. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)
Asked specifically about those changes, U.S. High Performance coach Eileen Carey explained, “To talk about what any one individual athlete has done to improve is to talk about the whole team,” she wrote in an email.
Everyone on the team is analytical and thoughtful when it comes to what they need to work on and how to achieve those changes, she added. “They have created a really cool team environment focused on improving as individuals and as a team.”
For Soule, it was about relaxing his technique at race pace.
“He has always skied well at level 2, but speed had previously introduced a lot of wasted, inefficient movements into his technique, especially on flat terrain,” Carey wrote. “His ski speed and relaxed technique have always been there, it was just a matter if translating them to a race pace.”
In September, they started with rollerski sessions on the treadmill with live video so Soule could see the changes he was making as he tried them out.
“Once we had the cues we knew worked for him, we brought it to snow this fall,” Carey explained. “It has been an evolution and I am sure it will continue to evolve. We did a lot of video analysis during and after the first World Cup in Finland in December and spent the pre-World Champs camp honing in on some of the patterns we saw from that. He and his teammates have driven the process and we have worked to find the process and communication style that works best with each athlete.”
Andy Soule working on technique during a treadmill session on Sept. 16 at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y.
As a result, Soule came out of the World Cup opener in Vuokatti, Finland, with two fourth-place finishes in the cross-country 10 k and biathlon sprint. While they weren’t podiums, he could feel a difference.
“What I used to be doing was concentrated more on high tempo,” he said. “My emphasis on training recently has been to focus on flat sections of the course, what standup, able-bodied skiers would be considering a V2-technique section, lengthening out the pole stroke.”
He continued to work on his technique at U.S. nationals in early January and at the team’s pre-World Championships training camp after that. He also switched to shorter poles this season.
“I think everything just builds off what you’ve been working on in the past,” he explained. “You keep watching video of yourself, keep looking at races and identify what did work and then what little things we can maybe experiment with to get a little more speed.”
Soule approached the biggest races of the season in Cable hoping to see improvement first, then results.
“I wasn’t really worried going in what specific places I was aiming for — you can never really control that because you can never control how good everyone else is going to be,” he said. “But I wanted to see a personal improvement in what I would be able to accomplish as compared to how I’ve been performing in the past year.”
As for which medals meant the most to him, he said his bronze in the cross-country 15 k was something he’d remember.
Andy Soule’s stack of medals from 2015 IPC World Championships in Cable, Wis., where he earned three silver and two bronze between two biathlon and three cross-country races. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)
“It meant a lot to get the medals in the cross-country races just because that long-distance race, the first cross-country race of the week, was actually my first-ever podium in a cross-country race,” he said. “And it also boosts my confidence going into a biathlon event. It used to be, in order to have a shot at the podium in biathlon, I had to outshoot the top competitors. They had to miss shots in order for me to have a shot at the podium. Now I have that confidence that I can ski right with them. If neither of us misses anything, between me and the top competitors, I’m still in it.”
Now third overall in the IPC World Cup standings with two major stops remaining (this weekend in Asahikawa, Japan and at World Cup Finals from March 16-22 in Surnadal, Norway), Soule said he mostly wanted to put together a “solid string of really great performances” for the rest of the season. Beyond that, he has his sights set on the 2018 Paralympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
“I’m right at that age and I’m right at the point in my career where I’m in the prime of real top-performance potential,” he said. “I feel really great about what I have going forward and that I’ll be able to build on it and still improve on it.”
In most every interview in Cable, Soule tossed around the word: “team.” He reiterated that he couldn’t have done it without his teammates and turned the focus toward their many successes at this year’s World Championships as well, including five Americans making the sit-ski sprint finals (three men and two women), and Masters tallying silver and bronze in the cross-country 5 k and cross-country sprint, respectively.
“It just feels really good to have great teammates,” Soule said. “You’re always cheering for each other and everyone wants to see everyone else succeed, so it makes practice more fun when we’re all there and it makes racing more exciting. A good team component is really important to what we have going right now.”
“Lots of good things were going in Cable beyond the medals,” Farra added.
Masters currently ranks first in the World Cup in cross-country. Stay tuned for her interview.
From left to right: Dan Cnossen, Omar Bermejo and Oksana Masters are three members of the U.S. team who will be competing at the IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in Cable, Wis., with races starting on Saturday. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics)
Note: This article has been updated to include the most recent information on the 2015 IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships according to an IPC Nordic Skiing press release.
This past fall, FasterSkier spoke with Yuriy Gusev, head of the Cable 2015 organizing committee and executive director of Central Cross Country (CXC), about the ongoing preparations to host the upcoming International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Nordic Skiing World Championships in Cable, Wis. It seemed like a long ways off at the time, and now it’s here: being held for the third time in the U.S., for the first time in a decade.
With Cable and the Telemark primed for the event, which includes 135 athletes from 15 countries from Jan. 23-Feb. 1, we had an opportunity to check in with U.S. Paralympics Nordic High Performance Coach Eileen Carey to see how the U.S. team was preparing. The U.S. roster was announced Jan. 9 and includes nine returners (out of 16) from last year’s Paralympics team at the Sochi Winter Games. All but one of them are sit skiers; Omar Bermejo is the lone standing athlete.
U.S. 2015 IPC Nordic World Championships Team:
Men
– Omar Bermejo (Marine Corps/Grand Rapids, Mich.)
– Lt. Cmdr. Dan Cnossen (Navy/Topeka, Kan.)
– Sean Halsted (Air Force/Rathdrum, Wash.)
– Augusto Perez (East Syracuse, N.Y.)
– Aaron Pike (Park Rapids, Minn.)
– Bryan Price (Army/Belton, Mo.)
– Andy Soule (Army/Pearland, Texas)
Women
– Oksana Masters (Louisville, Ky.)
– Tatyana McFadden (Clarksville, Md.)
The two members of the women’s team found repeated success in Sochi, with Oksana Masters and Tatyana McFadden taking home three combined medals.
Masters became the first female U.S. cross-country skier to win a Paralympic medal in 20 years at the Games, initially earning silver in the 12-kilometer sitting event. She also won bronze in the 5 k cross-country. This season, Masters racked up three medals at the World Cup opener in Finland, winning gold in the 1 k cross-country sprint, and silver in the biathlon 6 k as well as the 5 k cross-country.
In Sochi, McFadden notched silver in the women’s 1 k cross-country sprint, and in the time since, she has continued her domination of the road-marathon circuit. After the ski season ended, McFadden won four world-caliber marathons in Boston, London, Chicago and New York City. It was the second-straight year that McFadden achieved the marathon grand slam in wheelchair racing.
U.S. Paralympics Nordic skier Oksana Masters (r) talks to coach Eileen Carey before her first time on a treadmill on Sept. 16 at the Olympic Training Center on Sept. 16 in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Masters and McFadden missed U.S. nationals because of injury and ilnees, respectively.
“Earlier in the season, Masters had a minor back injury and McFadden had the flu and were forced to miss the last World Cup event and the US Nationals,” Carey explained. “Both are back healthy and will be in the field in Cable.”
On the men’s side, Andy Soule leads a strong men’s team heading into World Championships. A veteran sit skier, Soule is a bronze Paralympic medalist from the 2010 Games in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he shot an unprecedented perfect 50-for-50 in all three biathlon races. In Sochi, Soule finished in the top five in every event he competed in and placed fourth twice (in the 7.5 k biathlon and 15 k biathlon).
He split the number of U.S. sit-ski titles won at this year’s nationals with teammate Lt. Dan Cnossen (both men won two races at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah). Cnossen won the men’s sitting short and sprint cross-country races, while he finished as the runner-up to Soule in the long distance cross-country and biathlon sprint races.
Eileen Carey: We had a strong opening to our season at the December World Cup races in Finland with a small group of athletes. We followed that with a great U.S. Nationals that brought together our top athletes with developing skiers and biathletes. Those two events showed both the high performance capacity and development focus of our program, both of which are critical to our long-term success.
FS:What is the atmosphere of the team leading to these World Championships on U.S. soil?
EC: Our athletes are becoming students of skiing and biathlon and driving the process of what and how they want to learn. This has created a great atmosphere for our whole program and has energized both athletes and staff. We are excited to take that energy to an event like World Champs, especially being at home. The Cable organizing committee has always been so welcoming and excited to have us and that gives us a great boost as a team.
FS: What are your goals and expectations for this years team?
EC: Our team philosophy is based on the concept that athletes are their own best coaches. Their training and racing has been focused on the idea that there are no “right” ways to do anything. As a result, this season they have gotten really creative and analytical about figuring out what works for them and exploring many different solutions. Our intentions are that bi-products of this exploration are improvements in skill, self-awareness as an athlete, and eventually performance. Our goals and expectations as a program are that our athletes will keep pushing those boundaries and continuing to think of different and perhaps better ways to train and race. Through this continual evolution, I think great performances will follow.
FS: What are your thoughts on this years course? How does this course compare to 2013?
EC: The courses in Cable will be a combination of courses we have skied there in the past, and some new features that will improve the experience for the athletes. We have spent some workouts focused on some of the terrain and technical features we will see there, so I think everyone is excited to be on the snow in Cable and test out what we have been working on.
FS: What events will the team participate in?
EC: We will have athletes competing each race day, with most competing in a combination of biathlon and cross-country races. Eight of our 9 athletes are sit skiers. Omar Bermejo is our only standing skier to make the team and this will be the first time this season that we will all be together, so we are looking forward to being a full team.
“We have a great team of athletes who have taken a very professional approach to training and building upon last season, ”Carey said in a U.S. Paralympics press release. “We are thrilled to get another chance to test out some of our training and racing strategies, ultimately focused on improving in each race. Having the opportunity to do that on home snow is a great bonus for us.”
The opening ceremony will kick off Friday, Jan. 23 and the championships run through Feb. 1.
All seven days of the championships, which includes 38 events between cross-country and biathlon, will be streamed live at Cable2015.com and USParalympics.org from Jan. 24 to Feb. 1.
Saturday, Jan. 24
Biathlon Sprint – Penalty Loop
Sitting: Men 7.5km (3 x 2.5 km) / Women 6.0 km (3 x 2.0 km)
Standing: Men 7.5km (3 x 2.5 km) / Women 6.0 km (3 x 2.0 km)
Visually Impaired: Men 7.5km (3 x 2.5 km) / Women 6.0 km (3 x 2.0 km)
Sunday, Jan. 25
Cross Country Long – Free
Sitting: Men 15 km (5 x 3.0 km) / Women 12 km (4 x 3.0 km)
Standing: Men 20 km (5 x 4.0 km) / Women 15 km (5 x 3.0 km)
Visually Impaired: Men 20 km (5 x 4.0 km) / Women 15 km (5 x 3.0 km)
Tuesday, Jan. 27
Biathlon Middle Distance – Penalty Loop
Sitting: Men 12.5 km (5 x 2.5 km) / Women 10 km (5 x 2.0 km)
Standing: Men 12.5 km (5 x 2.5 km) / Women 10 km (5 x 2.0 km)
Visually Impaired: Men 12.5 km (5 x 2.5 km) / Women 10 km (5 x 2.0 km)
Wednesday, Jan. 28
Cross Country Sprint – Classic
Sitting: Men/Women 0.8 km
Standing: Men/Women 1.2 km
Visually Impaired: Men/Women 1.2 km
Friday, Jan. 30
Biathlon Individual Distance
Sitting: Men 15 km (5 x 3.0 km) / Women 12.5 km (5 x 2.5 km)
Standing: Men 15 km (5 x 3.0 km) / Women 12.5 km (5 x 2.5 km)
Visually Impaired: Men 15 km (5 x 3.0 km) / Women 12.5 km (5 x 2.5 km)
Saturday, Jan. 31
Cross Country Relay – CL/Free/CL/Free
Open: 10 km (4 x 2.5 km)
Mixed: 10 km (4 x 2.5 km)
Sunday, Feb. 1
Cross Country Middle Distance – Classic
Sitting: Men 10 km (4 x 2.5 km) / Women 5 km (2 x 2.5 km)
Standing: Men 10 km (4 x 2.5 km) / Women 5 km (2 x 2.5 km)
Visually Impaired: Men 10 km (4 x 2.5 km) / Women 5 km (2 x 2.5 km)
For updates throughout IPC World Championships, follow FasterSkier’s Para Nordic blog.
U.S. Paralympics Nordic national-team members Andy Soule (B team, back), Oksana Masters (A team, center) and Bryan Price (development team, front) doing some reverse pursuit sprints in the Oberhof ski tunnel in Germany in early October. (Photo: Eileen Carey)
This week’s workout comes from U.S. Paralympics High-Performance Coach and Associate Director Eileen Carey, who traveled to the Oberhof ski tunnel in Germany last month with a few national-team members for an on-snow camp.
***
This workout is designed to give head-to-head technical and tactical practice to a group of skiers with a wide range of speeds. This type of workout is important for our program because we often have training sessions with athletes with a wide range of experience levels and/or with different impairments competing against one another.
The combination of the short duration and reverse pursuit format aims to create head-to-head scenarios in situations that may not exist in more traditional interval or speed sessions. We have had good luck using this workout to combine standing and sit skiers into the same heat so they all get the opportunity to compete even if there might not be anyone else in their Paralympic class. This could also work well for a youth program, or any workout including athletes with a variety of ski speeds.
(Photo: Eileen Carey)
(Photo: Eileen Carey)
Here’s how it works:
Prep: Set up a short course with some technical elements. If your athletes have a wide range of ski speeds, a shorter course will help to facilitate more head to head action. A slalom style course with cones can be really effective and simple if all you have is a small area (think early season!). We usually shoot for between 75 meters to 300 meters depending on our technical and physiological goals for the workout.
Warm-up: During a 20-30 minute warm-up, athletes ski the course, focusing on technical elements and trying different lines around tricky sections. The solo practice helps build confidence and learn some of the unique elements of the terrain, conditions and other factors at play.
Solo heats: Have skiers ski the course 1-3 times on their own at a race pace speed. This is an important progression from the warm-up as additional speed always adds some new elements. The goal at the end of the solo rounds is for athletes to feel confident with the technical elements before adding the head to head component. During the solo heats, I time athletes to get an idea of the general times of each athlete or group of athletes. I usually time them to whatever section of the course I want them to be head to head on. This helps set up the heat starts.
Pursuit head-to-head heats: Once athletes are confident on the course, line them up in pursuit format, but with fastest skier at the end. Start athletes one by one in reverse pursuit order depending on how long it will take each of them to get to the sticky section of the course. Repeat head to head heats 5-10 times. Once you get an idea of where challenges are coming up for each athlete, you can manipulate start times to force them to focus on that aspect of their skiing.
Bonus tactical round: If you want to add an additional tactical element, set up your course as a loop. Complete the above workout doing one lap around the loop. Once they are dialed with that, have them do the same format in two laps. How does this change their tactics on the technical sections? How might they ski those sections differently on lap 1 and lap 2? The simple change can force some interesting changes and can be effective in starting a conversation about tactics in general. This is a great session to video so the conversation can continue after the workout. Plus, you will capture some great diggers, and who doesn’t love watching those on replay?
Cool down: 20-30 mins
There are lots of different ways to do this workout and so far all we have tried are both fun and effective. We recently had a camp at the Tunnel in Oberhof and this was a great technical and tactical workout to maximize the very small area that we had to ourselves. Be inventive and have fun duking it out!
The 2014 U.S. Paralympics Nordic Team before the Opening Ceremony in Sochi, Russia. (Photo: Eileen Carey)
LAKE PLACID, N.Y. — In his eighth year skiing, retired Army veteran and double-leg amputee Andy Soule, of the U.S. Paralympics Nordic B-team, had been on a rollerski treadmill before — several times in fact: at the U.S. Ski Team headquarters in Park City, Utah, and at U.S. Biathlon’s base at the Olympic Training Center (OTC) in Lake Placid, N.Y., where he trained with fellow national-team members for a week earlier this month.
Straight off a training camp at Sweden’s Torsby ski tunnel in early September, Soule, A-team member Oksana Masters and C-teamer Aaron Pike all put their wheels on the OTC treadmill last week on Sept. 16. And while Soule, 34, was comfortable testing his double-pole technique in front of two coaches (John Farra and Eileen Carey), two physiologists (Jason Kask and Australia’s Sacha Fulton), and a visiting biomechanic from the Chula Vista OTC in California, Masters — who was born with multiple physical defects — had never been on a treadmill before.
“We’re starting from scratch,” Farra said to Masters, 25, as she watched herself rollerski on a video monitor at eye level in front of her. This was the first time the team had set up the treadmill with live-video capabilities, showing front and side views for the athlete to make tweaks or corrections on the fly.
“This is all new,” he said, reminding her to not overthink it. “Work on your V2.”
“What’s V2?” Masters asked as she playfully swung her poles behind her, alternating sides as if she was gliding to the left and right with each double pole.
“You were just doing it,” Carey said.
During each session, Soule, Masters and Pike all reached speeds around 10 miles per hour at about 10-percent incline. Each double poled for about 45 minutes, getting feedback from coaches, with Carey taking notes, Farra holding the safety rope, and both coaches asking how it felt.
The idea was to give the athletes ownership of their own progress — not just on the treadmill, but throughout offseason training. Farra said he got the treadmill-with-real-time-video idea from U.S. Ski Team member Noah Hoffman, who keeps a detailed training blog, and the U.S. Biathlon team, which uses it for that purpose in Lake Placid. As far as he knows, no other Para Nordic team in the world is doing that.
“Maybe one of our advantages is that we think that way,” Farra said. “I hope other Paralympic teams around the world aren’t thinking about all these little pieces and parts because we have a long ways to make up on Russia, who won most of the medals at the [Sochi] Paralympic Games. We’re not them, but I think we can run one of the most professional program in the world. That’s the goal: even if our results aren’t there yet, but if you do everything possible to run the single-best Paralympic program in the world, then that stuff will come, if you find the athletes and if they love it and if everything goes well.
“Andy Soule’s won a medal, so you could kind of go, oh well, he’s already won a medal, so why mess with his technique?” he added. “Well, because he can make two-, three-percent difference just by locking that down …”
U.S. Paralympics Nordic skier Andy Soule (r) gets feedback from coaches Eileen Carey (l) and John Farra during a treadmill workout at the Olympic Training Center on Sept. 16 in Lake Placid, N.Y.
U.S. Paralympics Nordic skier Andy Soule (in yellow) gets feedback from coaches Eileen Carey (l) and John Farra during a treadmill workout at the Olympic Training Center on Sept. 16 in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Andy Soule
Andy Soule working on technique during a treadmill session on Sept. 16 at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y.
U.S. Paralympics Nordic skier Oksana Masters (r} talks to coach Eileen Carey before her first time on a treadmill on Sept. 16 at the Olympic Training Center on Sept. 16 in Lake Placid, N.Y.
Oksana Masters gets her poles and helmet from coach Eileen Carey (r) and team physiologist Jason Kask (second from r) and is ready to go while teammate Aaron Pike (l) observes.
Oksana Masters
Oksana Masters
Oksana Masters on the treadmill while coach Eileen Carey (r) and team physiologist Jason Kask observe.
Oksana Masters
Oksana Masters (r) looks at a video screen next to coach John Farra
Oksana Masters demonstrates superior tucking ability during a rollerski treadmill workout at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y.
U.S. Paralympics Nordic director and coach John Farra (l) briefs Oksana Masters before her first-ever time on a treadmill at the Olympic Training Center on Sept. 16 in Lake Placid, N.Y.
The U.S. Paralympics Nordic Team treadmill staff works with athlete Aaron Pike in Lake Placid, including Larry (pointing) a biomechanic from the Chula Vista Olympic Training Center, team physiologist Jason Kask (l), visiting physiologist Sacha Fuller from Austalia, and coaches Eileen Carey (in red) and John Farra (r).
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![For the second-straight year, Oksana Masters (l) and Andy Soule of the U.S. Paralympics Nordic Program are FasterSkier's Para-Nordic skiers of the year. (Photos: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/04/Masters-and-Soule-para-nordic-skiers.jpg")
![Oksana Masters (front) and U.S. Paralympics Nordic coach Eileen Carey at 2016 IPC World Cup Finals in Vuokatti, Finland, with wax tech Dave Mark (behind). Masters won the overall cross-country World Cup for the second-straight year. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/03/Oksana-Eileen-Carey-and-Dave-Mark-wax-tech.jpg")
![U.S. Paralympics Nordic veteran Andy Soule tucking at 2016 IPC World Cup Finals in Vuokatti, Finland. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/03/Andy-Soule-tuck.jpg")
![Mark Arendz (Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team) at 2015 IPC World Cup Finals in Surnadal, Norway. He placed fourth overall in the 2014/2015 IPC World Cup biathlon standings. (Photo: IPC Nordic Skiing/Facebook)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/03/10686663_815099761871530_6240947688851136757_n.jpg")
![Jake Adicoff (c) and his two guides, U.S. Paralympics high-performance coach and director John Farra (r) and Germany's Florian Grimm. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/03/Jake-Adicoff-and-his-two-guides-John-Farra-Florian-Grimm-of-Team-GER-.jpg")
![Brian McKeever (c) and his guide Graham Nishikawa with their gold medals after the men's visually impaired 30 k at 2016 IPC World Cup Finals Vuokatti, Finland. Russia's Alexsander Artemov (l) placed second and France’s Thomas Clarion (r) was third. (Photo: IPC Nordic Skiing/Facebook)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/03/12671979_979915135389991_2259626625599369564_o.jpg")
![American Oksana Masters (c) on the podium with one of her three gold medals from this year's IPC World Cup Finals in Vuokatti, Finland. (Photo: IPC Nordic Skiing/Facebook)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/03/12888712_979915172056654_1965668222538447075_o1.jpg")
![Canadian para athlete Yves Bourque, of Quebec, a veteran of the 2014 Sochi Paralympics, skiing in Craftsbury, Vt., at 2016 U.S. Paralympics Sit Ski Nationals and IPC Continental Cup from Jan. 6-9. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/01/535169_774847192648971_5255085664945973994_n.jpg")
![Oksana Masters (U.S. Paralympics Nordic A-team) during a snowy day in Craftsbury, Vt., at the U.S. Paralympics Sit Ski Nationals and International Paralympic Committee (IPC) Continental Cup from Jan. 6-9. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/01/Oksana-Masters.jpg")
![U.S. para skiers (left to right) Brittany Fisher, Oksana Masters, and Joy Rondeau at 2016 U.S. Paralympics Sit Ski Nationals and IPC Continental Cup. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/01/12439268_774847125982311_4674213081235238425_n.jpg")
![Andy Soule (U.S. Paralympics A-team) at 2016 U.S. Paralympics Sit Ski Nationals and IPC Continental Cup. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2016/01/dsc_7949copyW.jpg")
![Andy Soule (l) and Oksana Masters, both of U.S. Paralympics Nordic, are FasterSkier's 2015 Para-Nordic Skiers of the Year.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/05/para-nordic-skiers-of-the-year.jpg")
![Andy Soule and his hardware from 2015 IPC World Championships: five medals with three silvers and two bronze. (Photo: James Netz)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/02/c-James-Netz-0397.jpg")
![Oksana Masters (U.S. Paralympics Nordic) in a biathlon competition at 2015 IPC World Cup Finals in Surnadal, Norway. Masters won Saturday's 5 k cross-country sitting to clinch the overall World Cup cross-country title for 2014/2015. (Photo: IPC Nordic Skiing/Facebook)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/03/20689_815099941871512_279683205503295829_n.jpg")
![Brittany Hudak (Canadian Para-Nordic Ski Team) at 2015 IPC World Cup Finals in Surnadal, Norway. Hudak won the 2014/2015 World Cup Overall Cross-Country title. (Photo: IPC Nordic Skiing/Facebook)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/05/10603713_917443208286840_2044736757433132678_n.jpg")
![Canada's Chris Klebl racing to gold in the last race of his third Paralympics on Sunday in the cross-country 10 k sit-ski at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. (Photo: Matthew Murnaghan/Canadian Paralympic Committee)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/03/soc14_pn_cklebl_crscountry_10km_sitting_mm_01.jpg")
![The U.S. Paralympics Nordic team at the World Cup in Asahikawa, Japan, Feb. 14-19. (Photo: Eileen Carey/U.S. Paralympics Nordic)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/03/Full-team.jpg")
![Oksana Masters racing to gold in the cross-country 5 k sit ski at the World Cup last month in Asahikawa, Japan.(Photo: Eileen Carey/U.S. Paralympics Nordic)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/03/Roxy-mid1.jpg")
![Lt. Cmdr. Dan Cnossen (l) and Oksana Masters with their gold medals from the Asahikawa World Cup in Japan last month. (Photo: Eileen Carey/U.S. Paralympics Nordic)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/03/Dan-Oksana-medals.jpg")
![Dan Cnossen racing to gold in 10 k cross-country sit ski at the World Cup last month in Asahikawa, Japan.(Photo: Eileen Carey/U.S. Paralympics Nordic)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/03/Dan-mid-21.jpg")
![Andy Soule navigates a turn during one of his six individual races at 2015 IPC World Championships in late January in Cable, Wis. Soule medaled in five of those events. (Photo: James Netz)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/02/James-Netz-1526.jpg")
![2015 U.S. Paralympics Nordic World Championships Team in Cable, Wis. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/02/WCH-TEam-2015.jpg")
![Andy Soule working on technique during a treadmill session on Sept. 16 at the Olympic Training Center in Lake Placid, N.Y.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/IMG_8188.jpg")
![Andy Soule's stack of medals from 2015 IPC World Championships in Cable, Wis., where he earned three silver and two bronze between three biathlon and two cross-country races. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/02/10671367_609524119181280_529342833264707080_n.jpg")
![(L-R) Dan Cnossen, Omar Bermejo and Oksana Masters are three members of the U.S. team who will be competing at the IPC Nordic Skiing World Championships in Cable, Wisconsin. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/01/14Nordicteam_800x375.jpg")
![U.S. Paralympics Nordic skier Oksana Masters (r} talks to coach Eileen Carey before her first time on a treadmill on Sept. 16 at the Olympic Training Center on Sept. 16 in Lake Placid, N.Y.](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/09/IMG_8198.jpg")
![Lt. Dan Cnossen negotiates the final turn on the course 100 meters from the finish en route to his sprint-final victory at 2015 U.S. Paralympics Nordic Nationals at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. (Photo: U.S. Paralympics Nordic Program)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2015/01/Dan.jpg")
![U.S. Paralympics Nordic national-team members Andy Soule (B team), Oksana Masters (A team) and Bryan Price (development team) doing some reverse pursuit sprints in the Oberhof ski tunnel in Germany in early October. (Photo: Eileen Carey)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/11/US-paralympics-nordic-in-oberhof-WW.jpg")
![The 2014 U.S. Paralympics Nordic Team before the Opening Ceremony in Sochi, Russia. (Photo: Eileen Carey)](http://fasterskier.com/wp-content/blogs.dir/1/files/2014/11/Opening-Team-Sochi.jpg")
