Bjoergen Leads Norwegian Sweep in Falun Pursuit, Randall 14th

Marit Bjoergen (NOR) took the ladies 10km Pursuit today in Falun, Sweden in a time of 31:58. Bjoergen was in 11th place after the 5km classic with a time of 17:04, but only 4 seconds off the pace set by Stefanie Boehler (GER) who finished the day in 25th place. Bjoergen, however, had the fastest freestyle leg on the day with a split of 14:31.

As one would expect the ladies remained together throughout the classic portion of the race, but once they switched to their skate skis only Kristin Stoermer Steira could match the pace being set by her Norwegian teammate. Bjoergen crossed the line just 2.5 seconds ahead of Steira with the next closest competitor being fellow Norwegian Therese Johaug 33.6 seconds behind Bjoergen.

Career Best Distance Race for Randall

Kikkan Randall (USA), whose previous best in a World Cup distance race was 18th in Kuusamo, Finland earlier this year, improved on that mark by crossing the line in 14th place. Her time of 32:50 was 52 seconds off the pace of the winner, but Randall was only 19 seconds out of third place. As you would expect the ladies Randall is battling with for a top twenty in a World Cup race have decent, but not great resumes. That, however, is not the case with those battling for a top ten. Today Randall went toe to toe with the best in the business. She beat Sweden’s Anna Haag by over four seconds and out toed Haag’s teammate Anna Olsson in a photo finish. Randall was only half a second behind Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) and just six seconds behind Charlotte Kalla (SWE). Lastly, Randall crossed the line less then six seconds out of fifth place.

Obviously Randall has nothing else to prove this season, by all measures the last four months have proven that all of her hard work has been worth it. However, she keeps turning heads. At this point it is not a surprise when she battles for a podium position in a freestyle sprint, but until this season expectations were lower during classic sprints or distance races in either discipline – that is no longer the case. Her results in the classic sprint at the Olympics was beyond solid and today she proved that we can expect to see her name near the top in middle distance races in either technique.

The top Canadian skier was Daria Gaiazova in 43rd place in a time of 36:32, 4:34 off the pace set by Bjoergen.  Check back later for a full race report.

Complete Results

Northug Does it Again in 20km Pursuit, Babikov 13th

Like so many other times over the past few years Petter Northug (NOR) lurked in the pack throughout most of the race, saving energy and positioning himself for the final dash to the line. Northug won today’s 30km pursuit in a time of 1:00:03, 1.7 seconds ahead of Germany’s Tobias Angerer, who bettered Lukas Bauer (CZE) by 0.1 seconds. Unlike the ladies race, the top nine finishers were separated by only 4.9 seconds.

At 7.5km Northug was skiing in 14th place nearly 20 seconds off the pace being set by Sweden’s Anders Soedergren, who finished the day in 8th place, but by the 10km mark Northug and others had closed the gap down to under 5 seconds. By the 12.8km mark he even took a short pull at the front of the race only to soon settle back in near the back of the lead pack. With 2.2km to go Sweden’s Marcus Hellner controlled the front of the race with Northug in 8th place ten seconds behind. As we have come custom to watching it all came down to positioning over the final 500 meters with the final sprint rather predictable.

Canadians Still Strong

Ivan Babikov (CAN) kept his solid season going with a very respectable 13th place finish. Although it appears that Babikov may have worked too hard in the early kilometers; donning bib number 48 he worked himself up to 34th at the 2.5km mark, 20.4 seconds off the pace of Mats Larsson who started at the very front. By the 5km mark, Babikov had the lead, but by the 7.5km mark he was already 18 seconds off the front of the pack. Babikov would again work his way up to just 4.8 seconds off the lead at the 15km checkpoint only to again fall to 23.6 seconds off the pacing being set by Marcus Hellner (SWE) at the 17.8km mark. All in all it was a solid result for Babikov.

Babikov’s teammate Alex Harvey finished the day in 23rd position with fellow Canadian Devon Kershaw crossing the line in 38th place.

The US Men

Andy Newell (USA) skied a rather consistent race bettering his start bib by one to finish in 40th position, 1:59 off the pace set by Northug. Brian Gregg ended the day in 49th position, but was 4:42 behind the lead.

Check back later for a full race report.

Complete results.

In both the ladies and men’s IBU World Cup races in Oslo, Norway today it was fast skiing over good shooting which proved to be the winning formula. Both Simone Hauswald (GER) in the ladies’ race and Martin Fourcade (FRA) in the men’s race won with three misses.

In the ladies’ 10km pursuit Darya Domracheva (BLR) had only one miss, but finished 5.4 seconds off the pace set by Hauswald. Anna Carin Olofsson-Zidek (SWE) rounded out the podium 39.8 seconds back.

In the men’s 12.5km pursuit Simon Schempp (RUS) shot clean, but could not match the pace set by Fourcade, finishing 9 seconds behind the Frenchman. Ivan Tcherezov (RUS) climbed the final step on the podium finishing 26 seconds off the pace.

Check back later for a full race report.

Complete ladies’ results.

Complete men’s results.

Dario Cologna (SUI) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) won the 2.5/3.3km classic prologue in Falun this morning.

Cologna edged Mats Larsson (SWE) by 4.9 seconds.  Additional sprint bonus seconds were given to the top-3, and Larsson took over the overall World Cup Final lead.  Petter Northug (NOR) is 2nd 7.3 seconds back after finishing 4th in the prologue.  Swedish sprinter Emil Joensson continues to show solid distance chops, placing 18th in the prologue and maintaining his 3rd position in the overall.

Alex Harvey (CAN) was 21st today, +20.2 seconds.  His teammates Devon Kershaw, Ivan Babikov, and Graham Nishikawa placed 29th, 46th, and 49th respectively.

Andy Newell led the US men in 48th while Brian Gregg took the last spot in the race, placing 53rd.

Kowalczyk got the best of rival Marit Bjoergen (NOR), striding to a 8.7 second victory.  Charlotte Kalla (SWE) was 3rd.

Kowalczyk now leads the overall by 16.5 seconds over Bjoergen.  Anna Olsson (SWE), winner of Wednesday’s sprint, is 3rd overall after placing 7th today.

Kikkan Randall (USA) placed 36th, +1:08.2.

Dasha Gaiazova (CAN) took 45th.

All of the male Russian sprinters withdrew before the start of today’s race.

Complete Results

Stockholm, Sweden – Host Sweden took seven of the top 12 places between the men’s and women’s races in the opening even of the World Cup finals.

Anna Olsson (SWE) claimed her first World Cup victory since 2006, holding off Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) over the final meters.  Marit Bjoergen (NOR) finally lost a race, but still managed the podium, finishing 3rd.

Petter Northug (NOR) chose to double pole the anything-but-flat Stockholm course.  He won both his quarterfinal and semifinal heats, but Nikita Kriukov (RUS) prevented him from getting away on the flats and was able to stride past to claim the victory on the final climb.  Northug outlinged Emil Joensson for 2nd.

The Swedish men went 3,4,5,6 and the women, 1,4,6.

All four North Americans were eliminated in the quarterfinals.  Andy Newell remained in good position, but faded halfway up the last hill.

Newell ended up 22nd and Alex Harvey (CAN) 30th.

Kikkan Randall finished 15th, another strong classic sprint result and Dasha Gaiazova was 23rd.

Drammen, Norway – Andy Newell (USA) skied to 3rd place, and his third career World Cup podium.  Newell qualified in 11th, and advanced through one of the toughest World Cup fields imaginable.  It is hard to find a deeper and stronger group of racers than what you get in a classic sprint in Norway.

That didn’t phase Newell, however, and the top American sprinter advanced to the finals, placing second to eventual winner Emil Joensson (SWE) in both the quarterfinals and semis.

Joensson pulled away from the group to win the race by 1.9 seconds over Petter Northug, gaining a measure of redemption after a disappointing Olympics.  Northug barely edged Newell, crossing the line just .1 seconds in front.

Newell last finished on the podium in 2008, when he finished 2nd in the freestyle at the Lahti Ski Games.  He was also 3rd in the freestyle sprint in Changchun, China in 2006.

Over the last months, Newell has consistently stated that his fitness is the highest it has ever been.  But he has struggled to reach the finals, and the Olympics were the ultimate disappointment when he crashed during qualifying.

But today proved him correct, and he moved into 4th in the overall Sprint Cup standings, with 2nd within striking distance.

Newell has 278 points, two behind John Kristian Dahl (NOR) and 28 in back of Northug.  Joensson is now clear in the lead with 427 points.

Two sprint races remain – one this weekend in Oslo, and then next Wednesday in Stockholm.

Newell is also ranked 15th in the overall World Cup standings.

Sweden’s Joergen Brink and Susanne Nystrom won the annual 90k Vasaloppet on Sunday, topping a combined field of over 16,000.

Brink became infamous for bonking in the relay at World Championships in 2003, blowing Sweden’s big lead, but today’s win should help him move on. He beat his countryman–and three-time race winner–Daniel Tynell in a four-up sprint at the line.

For men’s and women’s top ten, click here (in Norwegian).

On Sunday in Lahti, the Norwegians showed that homefield advantage can’t hold a candle to fitness, as both their men and women skied away from host nation Finland and everyone else in the 4×5 and 4×10 k relays.

In the women’s race, it was Marit Bjoergen besting Germany’s Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle and Italy’s Arianna Follis in a three-up sprint, while for the men, it was Norway’s second team, anchored by the unheralded Kristian Tettli Rennemo, that won over their first team, as well as Germany and Russia.

Full results here, and report to come.

Marit Bjoergen and Maurice Manificat won the 15 and 30 k pursuit races in Lahti, Finland this morning. Kikkan Randall and James Southam led the way for the United States, in 24th and 36th, respectively. No Canadians took to the start line.

Full results available here.

The women’s 30km classic race got started in challenging conditions with 55 starters in the field.  It has rained all night in Whistler so the new FIS rule change to allow three ski changes during the course of longer races might come into play.

It hard to think that Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) will not be there at the end with the way that she has been classic skiing through the season and especially during these Olympics.  Obviously, Marit Bjorgen (NOR) is another pick to take home the gold medal, but I sense that it is the Poles day.  I’m making the early pick that Kristin Stormer Steira (NOR) will finally get a chance to take home a an individual medal today – most likely the bronze behind the favored two up front.

Sara Renner (CAN) and Kikkan Randall (NOR) are the top North American skiers in the race and a top ten result would be an excellent result for either of them.

As the skiers come into the stadium after 5km several women took advantage of the option to switch to another pair of skis, including nearly the entire Finnish team.

As they come into the stadium after 10km many of the favorites in the lead pack decided that it was time to switch skis, including Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), Marianna Longa (ITA) and Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN).

Kristin Stormer Steira (NOR) led the pack throughout much of the early kilometers of the race and continued to do so as they left the stadium after 10km of racing.  She eventually found some comfort sliding back and allowing Charlotte Kalla (SWE) and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) to do the pace setting.  That is the way it stands now at the 12.3km mark.

Now at the 17.1km mark not much has changed as a dozen women are still left in the lead pack with Kowalczyk leading the way and Saarinen (FIN) making her way back up to the second position after changing skis at 10km.

Morgan Arritola (USA) has called it a day and dropped out of the race.

The pace and tempo seems to be lifting as they come through the time check at 19.2km.

Stormer Steira (NOR) had made her way back up into second place after switching skis at the 15km mark and sat in second as they came into the stadium at 20km when the leader, Kowalczyk (POL), decided to switch skis again.  Stormer Steira (NOR) looked to her right to see that this was a good time to lift the pace and make Kowalczyk’s decision to switch skis a costly one.  Bjorgen (NOR) also decided to switch skis while in the stadium at the 20km mark and at this point it seems like this was a great decision, as she lifted the pace leaving the stadium until she past her country women and took over the lead.  She is no longer holding anything back and is going to attempt to win the gold medal right now.

Kowalczyk (POL) too is has pushed hard over the last couple of kilometers and now sits in second place, but her skis do not look as dialed in as the Norwegian skiers’ skis do.  She, however, is hungry for her gold of these Winter Olympics and the two up front are now together as the leave the stadium for the final time with just 5km to go.

The race for bronze will be as equally exciting as Stormer Steira (NOR) has finished fourth in the Olympics four times throughout her career and desperately wants an individual medal of her own.  She skied in the fourth position right behind Saarinen (FIN) until Saarinen chose to switch skis at the 25km mark and Stormer Steira again attempts to lift her pace.

The battle up front seemed as if it is going to come down to a sprint for the line as both Kowalczyk and Bjorgen looked strong.  Kowalczyk put a hard move in on the final climb before they dropped into the stadium.  Bjorgen battled to pull up next to Kowalczyk in the finish lanes and it looked as if she would out doublepole the Pole down the finish lanes, but the Norwegian’s skis seemed to drag over the final meters and Kowalczyk was able to capture her much desired Olympic gold.  Saarinen (FIN) proved that her role of the dice, switching skis with just 5km to go, was a good one as she will climb onto the remaining position on the podium.

Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle (GER) was able to move her way up to fourth position, while Japan’s Masako Ishida took home fifth.  Kristin Stormer Steira, who skied such an inspired race, crossed the line in 8th place.

Sara Renner (CAN) concluded her Olympic career with a 16th place finish, while Madeleine Williams (CAN) finished in 46th place.

Kikkan Randall (USA) with a solid classic distance race, ending the day in 24th place.  Holly Brooks (USA) showed her determination finishing in 36th place.

Complete Results.

Lightning. Bears. Concrete walls.

Those are a few things that might be able to stop Norway’s Marit Bjoergen right now. Mere mortals from Italy, Finland, and Germany? Fat chance.

Taking the tag from Kristin Stormer Steira with Italy hot on her heels, Bjoergen laid down a blazingly fast final leg—dropping Sabina Valbusa on the first climb and skiing away, uncontested, to her third gold medal of these Games, and Norway’s first in the women’s relay in 26 years.

The real battle unfolded behind, as the chase pack of Finland, Sweden, and Germany quickly swallowed up Valbusa. Without a single medal for her country from the 2010 Games thus far, Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) was out for blood, driving the pace hard for her two laps of the 2.5 kilometer course. Only Germany’s Claudia Nystad could hang on, passing the Finn on the final climb to take silver, while Saarinen held on for the bronze.

How it Unfolded

With Bjoergen anchoring, Norway may have been the favorite, but their coaches couldn’t take anything for granted until Vibeke Skofterud made it through the first leg unscathed.

Italy and Germany led things out up the first big climb, with the pack still together. Kikkan Randall sat in the second row, just next to Skofterud.

Skiing aggressively, Randall still sat in the lead group on her second lap, then used a fast pair of skis to gap the rest of the field on the course’s biggest downhill. Anna Olsson (SWE), Skofterud, and Katrin Zeller (GER) made up the ground on the climb before the stadium, but Randall still came into the stadium with the leaders, tagging off to Holly Brooks in fourth place—just ten seconds back.

Brooks didn’t have the legs today, though, and she quickly fell off the back. She said afterwards that she’s worried her health problems from the summer (see may have resurfaced, and she spoke to the team doctor about doing some testing to figure out what’s wrong.

“It was really fun having Kikkan come in in such a strong position,” Brooks said. “There was a little pressure going into that, but I just know that can ski a lot faster than I’m skiing right now, and it’s pretty frustrating.”

At the front, Norway, Italy, and Germany were still together, while Sweden’s Magdalena Pajala was gapped going up the big climb on her first lap.

As the three leaders duked it out up ahead, Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk was working her way back from the 18-second deficit she’d inherited from her teammate, Kornelia Marek. Echoing yesterday’s spectacular second leg by Lukas Bauer (CZE), Kowalczyk made up all the ground Marek had lost, then just kept on going.

No one could respond when she came by—Marianna Longa (ITA), Therese Johaug (NOR), and Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle (GER) couldn’t hold on, and the lead group shattered. Kowalczyk’s leg ended up being nearly thirty seconds faster than anyone else’s, and she tagged off to Paulina Maciuszek with a ten-second lead.

Which promptly evaporated. Maciuszek was no match for the power of Norway’s Kristin Stormer Steira and Italy’s Silvia Rupil, as that pair caught her and dropped her almost in the same breath.

Meanwhile, after a miserable first leg, Finland’s Riitta-Liisa Roponen had worked her way back to a chase group, which included Sweden, Germany, and France. Led by Charlotte Kalla (SWE)—who turned in the fastest split of the leg—that group stayed within striking distance of Steira and Rupil, coming through the exchange just fifteen seconds behind.

But with Bjoergen anchoring Norway, the most any of those teams could hope for was silver or bronze. While Italy and Norway came into the exchange together, Bjoergen was gone before Valbusa could say “arrivederci.” Bjoergen gapped the Italian going up the first climb out of the stadium, and was off to her third gold of the Games. Despite coming to a full stop before the finish to pick up a Norwegian flag, and skiing the last hundred meters with no poles, she still had the fastest time of her leg.

After being dropped by Bjoergen, Valbusa was fading hard. The chase group behind her was gaining, led by a ferocious Saarinen. As the Finn V2-ed her way up the course’s big climbs, it didn’t seem like there was any way that Germany’s Claudia Nystad or Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter could hold on, and indeed, Ingemarsdotter came off on the last lap—just as the trio caught and passed Valbusa. But Nystad hung tough, and somehow found the energy to go by Saarinen on the final climb and ski in for silver.

Anchored by Caitlin Compton, the U.S. finished 12th on the day. Like Brooks, Compton said that she wasn’t at her best today, and also may have had trouble with her skis, according to Zach Caldwell, one of the members of the U.S. service staff. Canada was 14^th.

Full report to come!