FasterSkier shot some video (as usual, shaky), at the distance and sprint races at the Canmore World Cup. Check out some shots of Kris Freeman (USA) and Dario Cologna (SUI) in the distance race, Emil Joensson (SWE) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) skiing to dominating victories in the sprint, and a few others. The video from the sprint finals is worth watching just to see the size of the margins of victory…

Nothing special, but we got a few video clips of some Americans and some international skiers racing yesterday in Canmore. Check it out below–clips of Dario Cologna, Holly Brooks, and Kris Freeman.

Better late than never: a quick video with U.S. athletes Tad Elliot and Noah Hoffman following their distance skate races in Canmore. Also, a quick example of the media frenzy in advance of the Olympics: Ivan Babikov being interviewed by his own press attache for a Canadian TV station.

It was a day for the Italian men here in Canmore, as Giorgio Di Centa and Pietro Piller Cotrer took first and second in the 15k skate today.

The two Italians went back and forth over three loops of the 5k course, with Cotrer in the lead until the final lap. Switzerland’s Dario Cologna took the final spot on the podium.

The top North Americans here didn’t have great days-Ivan Babikov of Canada led the way with a tenth place finish on the hilly course that suited his strengths. His teammate George Grey followed in 17^th, and American Kris Freeman was 20^th, just over a minute back.

Freeman said afterwards that he was shooting to be inside a minute, in the top-15, and that he was not excited about the result.

Also of note was Matt Liebsch’s 29^th place finish, putting the Minnesotan in the World Cup points. He started early in the field, and sat in the leader’s chair for a few minutes, basking in the afternoon sun.

Complete report and photos to come.

A story on Kikkan Randall was featured on National Public Radio’s weekend edition this morning.

Listen to it here.

A longer version that was played on Alaska Public Radio can be found here.

Petter Northug (NOR) won the final event of the 2009 Nordic World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic.  Northug claimed victory in the 50km mass start freestyle, edging Russian Maxim Vylegezhanin.  German Tobias Angerer took the bronze.  Northug ended the championships with two individual gold medals to go with a relay gold.

Ivan Babikov skied with the lead pack for the entire race and finished 16th.

James Southam led the US in 39th.  Southam stayed with the main pack through 30 kilometers, before falling off the pace.  He appeared to fade hard at the end, losing three minutes to the leaders in the last 6km.

Garrott Kuzzy, the only other American starter, was 46th.

Chris Butler (CAN) was 40th.

Petter Northug displays his three World Championship Gold Medals (Photo: Swix Sport)

The US and Canada will both start 3 skiers in the 30km freestyle tomorrow.  The US is led by Liz Stephen who is coming off a career best 15th in the pursuit.  Morgan Arritola just missed the top 30 in that event, and will be looking to crack into the points, while Caitlin Compton tries to rebound from several sub-par races.

Sara Renner, the only seeded North American, will be gunning for a top finish.  Renner has been a stronger classic skier of late, so contending for a medal in this event is a stretch.  Daria Gaiazova skied very well in the sprint and was the only Canadian to make the heats.  She will be hard pressed to match that performance in this race, but top-40 is a reasonable goal.  Shayla Swanson rounds out the Canadian trio.  If everything comes together, she could battle for a top-30.

US

Liz Stephen
Morgan Arritola
Caitlon Compton

Canada

Sara Renner
Shayla Swanson
Daria Gaiazova

Complete Start List

Video from the 15km Freestyle World Cup Race – includes winner Valerio Checchi (Italy) and Kris Freeman (USA)

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