World Cup Blog Banner

Freestyle

American Women Break the Seal on Olympic Racing

Monday, February 15th, 2010

It was a day for rookies in Whistler, as all four American women in Monday’s 10k freestyle broke the seal on their first-ever Olympics. With a 30th-place by Caitlin Compton the best result on the day, Liz Stephen probably summed it up best.

“First race of the Olympics! It was fun as hell, but not the result I wanted,” she said.

After a 14th-place in the same event last weekend in Canmore, Compton looked to be in fine form for the Games. She said that she couldn’t be disappointed with the result from today, but that after last weekend’s result, the bar has been raised a little bit higher.

She got the benefit of skiing a good chunk of her first lap with eventual winner Charlotte Kalla (who apparently was snowplowing around one of the downhill corners), and said that the Swede was definitely not out of reach.

“I had a blast holding on to her and watching her ski. I can’t think of anything better than getting to watch a soon-to-be gold medalist,” she said.

Morgan Arritola, Holly Brooks, and Liz Stephen followed Compton in 34th, 42nd, and 50th, respectively, sporting the team’s new red suits.

Madeleine Williams was Canada’s only starter, and she was one spot behind Stephen, in 51st.

Morning Chill Greets Skiers, Wax Techs for Olympics Freestyle Races

Monday, February 15th, 2010
Polish wax technicians out testing this morning before the start of the freestyle 10/15k in Whistler

Polish wax technicians out testing this morning before the start of the freestyle 10/15k in Whistler

After a textbook Whistler snow squall on Sunday, a new weather system has moved in for today, bringing with it clear skies and cooler temperatures. It’s currently 27 degrees at Whistler Olympic Park, with highs predicted to reach just 35–significantly cooler than the last few days.

German Head Coach Jochen Behle told FasterSkier this morning that organizers groomed very late, which hasn’t given the course much time to set up. While the racing should be fast, frozen granular for the women, he said that it may soften up again by the time the men go off in the afternoon.

Fans were already trickling in two hours before the start of the races. Pressure is high on the Scandinavians this morning, according to a couple of international journalists. Sweden hasn’t yet won a single medal in this Games, and Norway only has Emil Hegle Svendsen’s silver from yesterday. The women’s race going off at prime time in those countries, and the spotlights are on Marit Bjoergen (NOR), Petter Northug (NOR), Charlotte Kalla (SWE), and Marcus Hellner (SWE).

 Tags: , , , , , , ,
Posted in Conditions, Freestyle, General, Olympics, Photos, Race Update | No Comments »

Better Late Than Never: Racing Video from the Canmore World Cup

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010

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…

Racing Action from Yesterday’s Freestyle 10/15k in Canmore

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

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.

Tad Elliot and Noah Hoffman Break Down the Canmore 15k

Saturday, February 6th, 2010

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.

Italians Take Top Two in 15k led by Di Centa; Cologna Third

Friday, February 5th, 2010

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 17th, and American Kris Freeman was 20th, 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 29th 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.

Kikkan Randall on NPR

Sunday, November 29th, 2009

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.

Northug Wins Again as World Championships End

Sunday, March 1st, 2009

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)

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

Women’s 30km Starters

Friday, February 27th, 2009

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

Thursday, February 7th, 2008

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