Updated status of Tour de ski Roster
Athlete,
Erik Bjornsen, discretion accepted
Paddy Caldwell, discretion accepted
Simi Hamilton, discretion, accepted
Andy Newell, Shaftsbury. discretion, accepted
Scott Patterson, discretion declined
Noah Hoffman, rejected
WOMEN
Sadie Bjornsen, objective, accepted
Rosie Brennan, objective, accepted
Sophie Caldwell, objective, accepted
Jessie Diggins, objective, accepted
Kikkan Randall, objective, accepted
Ida Sargent, objective, accepted
Liz Stephen, discretion, accepted
Chelsea Holmes, Rejected
Tour de Ski Start Rights
Tour De Ski start rights are given to US skiers that are ranked in the World Cup top 30 in either sprint or distance at the end of period one, or via coaches discretion. These discretionary start rights have become a controversial topic because the Olympic Team is named at the close of the Tour. US athletes that are ranked in the World Cup top 50 in either Distance or Sprint after the final day of the tour earn an Olympic start over skiers qualifying via SuperTour and US Nationals. The controversy stems from reduced athlete fields due to high drop-out rates in the Tour that left only 32 women competing in the final stage last year. Thirty skiers score points in each World Cup event and last year the US Ski Team qualified three of their athletes for the World Championships on the final day of the tour. The other point of contention is that the objective marker for earning a Tour de Ski start is a top 30 after period one in distance or on the overall ranking list. This is a much tougher standard than the top 50 needed to make the Olympics at the end of period two. Less than half of the US skiers (and no men) that started world cups in period one earned Tour starts objectively. The remainder of the athletes will only start via discretion which gives the coaching staff a lot of control over who qualifies for the Olympic Team.
These athletes qualified objectively
Women: Kikkan Randall, Sadie Bjornsen, Jessie Diggins, Rosie Brennan, Sophie Caldwell, Ida Sargent
These athletes did not qualify objectively
Women: Liz Stephens, Chelsea Holmes, (Julia Kern, limited starts, did not compile data)
Men: Noah Hoffman, Erik Bjornsen, Andrew Newell, Patrick Caldwell, Scott Patterson, Simi Hamilton
In mid-November head coach Chris Grover wrote the email below, explaining how discretionary starts would be given to athletes for the Tour de Ski. Since this email was not private correspondence and nearly every athlete in contention for making the Olympic Team received it, I think it is appropriate to share. Whether or not you agree with the broad and indistinct language used to “clarify” the discretionary process, I think it is important for the ski community to be aware of how decisions that have direct repercussions on Olympic Team naming are made. Following Grover’s email, I listed this season’s stats for each athlete that did not make the top 30 rankings.
“Dear Athletes,
We’ve recently received some feedback from members of the community that are concerned about how the USST staff might apply World Cup selection criteria specifically to this year’s Tour de Ski. There are those who feel that a Tour de Ski start provides a potentially easier path for Olympic Team qualification than racing at U.S. Nationals. Because this is an Olympic year, people are understandably concerned that every athlete has ample opportunity to qualify for the Games, no matter if they are racing internationally or domestically. As USST staff, we too want to see the fairest application of the selection criteria while simultaneously selecting the best possible USA squad to PyeongChang.
To help clarify the upcoming Tour de Ski Team selection, we’ve strengthened the discretionary selection guidelines in the attached Selection Criteria.
We are not modifying our USA Team for Period 1 of World Cup. Some of those athletes are already in Europe and preparing to race.
The only change comes in the language used to describe how discretionary picks are made, where we’ve added further detail:
- Athletes who have not met the General Criteria may be selected to the team via discretion if they satisfy any of the following:
o Outstanding competition results from the 2016/2017 or 2017/2018 seasons, including as a member of a team event, indicating a potential for Olympic success.
o Recent positive direction or trend of competition results indicating a potential for Olympic or World Championship success.
o Indication of medal potential in future Olympic or World Championship competition (such as international age group results and age rankings) that would be materially enhanced by selection to the team.
The General Criteria is a ranking of top-30 in the Distance or Sprint World Cup.
Our hope is to be more transparent and to provide the USA skiing community with a better understanding of how and why selection decisions are made. The updated criteria have now been posted here: https://usskiandsnowboard.org/sport-programs/criteria/us-cross-country-team-criteria In addition, throughout this winter we’ll be naming World Cup starters publicly for each period of racing (including those who have made the General Criteria, COC leaders, and those athletes who we have been invited to start via discretion) and describing the rationale behind those discretionary picks.
Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns, and please help me by circulating this to your colleagues that may be attempting to secure World Cup or OWG team nominations. I don’t have e-mails for everyone.
Best of luck to everyone this winter! Thanks, Chris”
Period One Race Data
Liz Stephens
Age 30
WC Distance Rank = N/A
Average FIS point (six races) = 74.57
Best Finish = 36
Total World Cup points = 0
Points from Objective criteria = 21
| 17-12-2017 | Toblach | ITA | World Cup | 10 km C Pursuit | 48 (51) | 123.68 |
| 16-12-2017 | Toblach | ITA | World Cup | 10 km F | 47 | 70.94 |
| 10-12-2017 | Davos | SUI | World Cup | 10 km F | 40 | 62.02 |
| 03-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | World Cup | Skiathlon 7.5/7.5km C/F | 36 | 113.17 |
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Stage World Cup | 10 km F Pursuit | 56 (47) | 92.23 |
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Overall Standings | 56 |
Chelsea Holmes
Age 30
WC Distance Rank = 55
Average FIS point distance(six races) = 83.83
Best Finish = 29
Total World Cup points = 2
Points from objective criteria = 19
| 17-12-2017 | Toblach | ITA | World Cup | 10 km C Pursuit | 39 (40) | 92.44 |
| 16-12-2017 | Toblach | ITA | World Cup | 10 km F | 36 | 57.64 |
| 10-12-2017 | Davos | SUI | World Cup | 10 km F | 29 | 48.62 |
| 03-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | World Cup | Skiathlon 7.5/7.5km C/F | 38 | 120.82 |
| 02-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | Sprint Qualification WC | SP C Qual | 64 | 147.24 |
| 02-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | World Cup | SP C Final | 64 | |
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Overall Standings | 60 | ||
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Stage World Cup | 10 km F Pursuit | 60 (48) | 93.24 |
| 25-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Stage World Cup | 10 km C | 64 | 90.21 |
Simi Hamilton
Age 30
WC sprint rank = 23
Overall rank = 46
Average FIS point sprint (two races) = 60.23
Best finish 9
total world cup points 29
points from top 30 overall and objective = 15
| 10-12-2017 | Davos |
SUI |
World Cup | 15 km F | DNS | |
| 09-12-2017 | Davos |
SUI |
Sprint Qualification WC | SP F Qual | 12 | 33.04 |
| 09-12-2017 | Davos |
SUI |
World Cup | SP F Final | 9 | |
| 25-11-2017 | Ruka |
FIN |
Stage World Cup | 15 km C | 96 | 88.53 |
| 24-11-2017 | Ruka |
FIN |
Sprint Qualification WC | SP C Qual | 60 | 87.41 |
| 24-11-2017 | Ruka |
FIN |
Stage World Cup | SP C Final | 60 |
Noah Hoffman
Age 28
WC Distance rank = 60
Average FIS point distance = (six races) 54.87
Best Finish = 28
Total World Cup Points = 3
Points from Objective Criteria = 34
| 17-12-2017 | Toblach | ITA | World Cup | 15 km C Pursuit | 49 (55) | 86.01 |
| 16-12-2017 | Toblach | ITA | World Cup | 15 km F | 40 | 37.58 |
| 10-12-2017 | Davos | SUI | World Cup | 15 km F | 48 | 49.31 |
| 03-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | World Cup | Skiathlon 15/15km C/F | 28 | 66.18 |
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Overall Standings | 39 | ||
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Stage World Cup | 15 km F Pursuit | 39 (35) | 43.27 |
| 25-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Stage World Cup | 15 km C | 43 | 46.92 |
Patrick Caldwell
Age 23
WC Distance rank =46
Average FIS point distance (six races)= 66.44
Best Finish = 19 stage, 41 WC
Total World Cup points = 12
Point from Objective criteria = 25
| 17-12-2017 | Toblach | ITA | World Cup | 15 km C Pursuit | 44 (39) | 68.01 |
| 16-12-2017 | Toblach | ITA | World Cup | 15 km F | 53 | 48.92 |
| 10-12-2017 | Davos | SUI | World Cup | 15 km F | 41 | 43.30 |
| 09-12-2017 | Davos | SUI | Sprint Qualification WC | SP F Qual | 108 | 201.59 |
| 09-12-2017 | Davos | SUI | World Cup | SP F Final | 108 | |
| 03-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | World Cup | Skiathlon 15/15km C/F | 56 | 140.70 |
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Overall Standings | 51 | ||
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Stage World Cup | 15 km F Pursuit | 51 (19) | 28.98 |
| 25-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Stage World Cup | 15 km C | 72 | 68.75 |
Scott Patterson
Age 25
WC Distance Rank N/A
Average FIS point (six races) = 66.28
Best Finish = 31st (stage), 36 WC
Total World Cup points = 0
Points from Objective Qualification = 37
| 17-12-2017 | Toblach | ITA | World Cup | 15 km C Pursuit | 39 (40) | 68.07 |
| 16-12-2017 | Toblach | ITA | World Cup | 15 km F | 42 | 39.76 |
| 10-12-2017 | Davos | SUI | World Cup | 15 km F | 88 | 88.87 |
| 03-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | World Cup | Skiathlon 15/15km C/F | 36 | 89.98 |
| 02-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | Sprint Qualification WC | SP C Qual | 74 | 160.72 |
| 02-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | World Cup | SP C Final | 74 | |
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Overall Standings | 55 | ||
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Stage World Cup | 15 km F Pursuit | 55 (31) | 32.66 |
| 25-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Stage World Cup | 15 km C | 86 | 78.34 |
Erik Bjornsen
Age 26
WC Distance rank = 39
WC Sprint rank = 42
Overall rank =42
Average FIS Points Distance (five races) = 42.27
Average FIS Points Sprint = 78.05
Best Distance Finish = 20
Best Sprint finish = 24 Overall, 26 Qualifying
Distance World Cup Points = 18
Points from Objective Criteria = 11
Sprint World Cup Points = 7
Points from objective top 30 overall = 11
| 17-12-2017 | Toblach | ITA | World Cup | 15 km C Pursuit | 26 (22) | 47.15 |
| 16-12-2017 | Toblach | ITA | World Cup | 15 km F | 29 | 30.95 |
| 09-12-2017 | Davos | SUI | World Cup | SP F Final | 58 | |
| 09-12-2017 | Davos | SUI | Sprint Qualification WC | SP F Qual | 58 | 93.25 |
| 03-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | World Cup | Skiathlon 15/15km C/F | 20 | 54.67 |
| 02-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | Sprint Qualification WC | SP C Qual | 35 | 78.15 |
| 02-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | World Cup | SP C Final | 35 | |
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Overall Standings | 26 | ||
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Stage World Cup | 15 km F Pursuit | 26 (43) | 48.78 |
| 25-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Stage World Cup | 15 km C | 26 | 29.80 |
| 24-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Sprint Qualification WC | SP C Qual | 26 | 62.76 |
Andrew Newell
WC Sprint Rank = 40
Age 34
Sprint FIS Points = 58.9
Best Finish = 21 Overall, 10th Qualification
Total Points = 10
Overall rank = 64
Points from top 30 overall and objective criteria = 34
| 09-12-2017 | Davos | SUI | Sprint Qualification WC | SP F Qual | 10 | 29.35 |
| 09-12-2017 | Davos | SUI | World Cup | SP F Final | 21 | |
| 02-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | Sprint Qualification WC | SP C Qual | 38 | 79.76 |
| 02-12-2017 | Lillehammer | NOR | World Cup | SP C Final | 38 | |
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Overall Standings | 75 | ||
| 26-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Stage World Cup | 15 km F Pursuit | 75 (79) | 139.40 |
| 25-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Stage World Cup | 15 km C | 59 | 59.28 |
| 24-11-2017 | Ruka | FIN | Sprint Qualification WC | SP C Qual | 34 | 67.59 |
