21 Winter Olympics. 145 events. 1 silver medal. That’s the history the US is facing as they head into the cross-country competition in Sochi. The US hasn’t won a medal in 38 years and has never won a gold medal. Could Sochi finally see the US go to the medal stand and maybe even find themselves on top?

It might just be possible. While the US didn’t have a great showing in Vancouver the results of the 2013 World Championships provide some hope. It was only one medal, but it was a gold. Jessica Diggins and Kikkan Randall in women’s team sprint. If one year later they can recapture that mojo, it could be the first US medal in nearly four decades, and perhaps the first ever gold. While the team sprint might be the best chance for the US they also have chances in other events and look to have a chance at one of their best Olympics in years.

Cross-Country Skiing’s Olympic History

Cross-Country Skiing was an Olympic sport for the first time when the Winter Olympics began in 1924. The program back then consisted of just two events, both for men. The program expanded to three events in 1936 but didn’t include women until 1948 when they got their first event. There was not an equal number of events for men and women until 1984 and the current program has only been unchanged since 2006. The program now contains six events for men and six events for women.

Norway is the dominant country in cross-country skiing having grabbed 96 of the 421 medals, 23 more than 2nd place Finland. Norway’s 35 gold medals are eight more than 2nd place Sweden’s 27. As for the US… you’ll find us in 18th place. One medal. A silver in 1976 by Bill Koch.

How the Cross-Country Skiing Competitions Work

Cross-country skiing events are held over a wide range of distances and in different formats. Oh and there are two techniques too. There are a lot of differences between the twelve different events that will be held in Sochi! The first technique is known as classic. Think of it as the skis staying in a parallel track going forward. It might be more clear after I explain that the freestyle technique is like you would see in speed skating, pushing off to the side.

The first events contested will be the skiathlon. The men race 30km, the women race 15km. The first half of the race is done using the classic technique. Halfway through the athletes will stop, change skis (because you don’t use the same kind of skis for classic and freestyle technique), and then do the other half with the freestyle technique. This format of course means some athletes will excel in one half, some in the other. The  men’s winner in Vancouver was 11th after the classic technique.

The next events will be the individual sprint competitions. These will start with a qualifying round where each athlete will put up a time to determine the top 30 for the quarterfinal round. The men’s races are over a slightly longer distance than the women’s races, but both are under 1.6km and the winning times will be under 3:40. In the quarterfinal rounds there will be five groups of six. The top two finishers in each group will advance to the semifinals. Additionally the next two best times will also move. In the semifinal round there will be two groups of six and once again the top two in each group will move on to the final as well as the next two best times. The final is self-explanatory.

Then the program moves to the classical races. The men’s race is 15km, the women’s race is 10km. These races are done with each athlete starting individually, spaced out by 30 seconds. The best athletes from the season of competitions go last, so you’ll know what time they need to beat to get on the medal stand.

The team relay event involves four legs, the first two done using the classic technique and the last two with the freestyle technique. Men race 10km legs while the ladies race 5km legs. All athletes begin at the same time.

Another team event will come next as the team sprint relay is held. This event involves two athletes per team who will each race three legs, switching off in between. The semifinal round will involve two heats in which the top three teams move into the final, along with the next four best times.

The final events will be freestyle technique events using mass-starts. The men race 50km, the women race 30km. Vancouver’s men’s race saw five athletes finish within 1.6 seconds after a little over two hours.

US Team

The US team is made up of seven men and seven women. Seven of the athletes are returning from the team in Vancouver while four of them also competed in Turin. Three of those four are now on their fourth Olympics after having competed in Salt Lake City as well!

At this time I haven’t seen any information online about which athletes are going to compete in which events. Erring on the side of caution I’m not going to make any assumptions about this.

Links are to twitter accounts for the athletes.

US Cross-Country Skiing

Men:
Erik Bjornsen
Kris Freeman***
Brian Gregg
Simi Hamilton*
Noah Hoffman
Torin Koos***
Andy Newell**

Women:
Sadie Bjornsen
Holly Brooks*
Sophie Caldwell
Jessie Diggins
Kikkan Randall***
Ida Sargent
Liz Stephen*

* – Was on team in Vancouver
** – Was on team in Vancouver & Turin
*** – Was on team in Vancouver, Turin, & Salt Lake City

A Sochi 2014 Cross-Country Skiing list on twitter including all of these athletes

US Team’s Olympic History

Kris Freeman competed for the US in Vancouver in three different events. His best finish came in the 30km skiathlon where he finished in 45th with a time of 1:23:02.6. He finished 59th in the 15km freestyle event and did not finish the 50km classical event. Freeman was part of the US team in Turin as well where he finished 21st in the 15km classical event, 61st in the 50km classical event, and was part of a 4x10km relay team which finished 12th. Freeman’s first Olympic experience game in Salt Lake City where he was very competitive finishing 14th in the 20km skiathlon, 22nd in the 15km classical event, and was part of a 4x10km relay team that was 30 seconds away from a medal finishing in fifth.

Vancouver saw the debut of Simi Hamilton at the Olympics. He finished 64th in the 15km freestyle event in 36:41.6 and was part of the 4x10km relay team that finished 13th.

Torin Koos was part of the US team in Vancouver competing in that 4x10km team relay event where the US team finished 13th. Koos also was in the individual sprint event where he finished 36th for the third straight Olympics (more on that in a second), missing the quarterfinal round by 0.94 seconds. Koos also competed in the team sprint competition where he and Andrew Newell finished second in their semifinal group before being unable to match that time in the final and finishing ninth. In Turin, Koos was competing in the men’s individual sprint event where he finished 36th in the qualifying round, missing out on the quarterfinals by 1.01 seconds. Koos also finished in 36th in Salt Lake City in the same event.

As I just mentioned, Andy Newell teamed up with Torin Koos in Vancouver for a ninth place finish in the team sprint competition. Newell also competed in the individual sprint competition but finished 45th in the qualifying round to end his run. Newell was also teamed up with Koos as part of the team that finished 13th in the 4x10km team relay. Newell had a much better qualifying round in the Turin Olympics when he had the second highest qualifying time in the individual sprint event. Newell finished fourth in his quarterfinal group, eliminating him from the Olympics. Newell also teamed up with Chris Cook in the team sprint event. They finished seventh in their semifinal, not advancing to the final.

Holly Brooks competed for the US in five events in Vancouver. Her best individual finish was 36th in the 30km classical event with a time of 1:38:14.5. She also finished 42nd in the 10km freestyle, 56th in the 15km skiathlon, and 38th in the individual sprint event. She was also part of the women’s 4x5km relay team that finished 11th.

An experienced veteran, Kikkan Randall was the best competitor in cross-country for the US in Vancouver. Her best individual finish came in the individual sprint competition where she finished 10th in the qualifying round, advanced from her quarterfinal group after finishing third, and was eliminated when she finished fourth in her semifinal. Randall also competed as part of the 4x5km relay team that finished 11th and raced in the 30km classical event where she finished 24th, the best finish by any American in the non-sprint races. Randal teamed with Caitlin Compton in the team sprint competition. They finished third in their semifinal and sixth in the final.

Randall competed in four events in Turin. Her best individual finish was in the individual sprint event where she reached the semifinals before finishing fifth in her semifinal. She also finished 53rd in the 10km classical race and was part of a 4x5km relay team that finished 14th. She partnered with Wendy Kay Wagner to reach the final in the team sprint competition, ending up in tenth place. Randall made her Olympic debut in Salt Lake City where she didn’t finish in the 5km skiathlon and finished 44th in the individual sprint competition.

Making her Olympic debut in Vancouver, Liz Stephen competed in two events for the US. Stephen finished in 50th in the 10km freestyle event with a time of 27:41.1 and finished 58th in the 15km skiathlon.

Schedule

All Times ET, * indicates medals awarded

Saturday, February 8th
*5 AM – Ladies’ Skiathlon 7.5km Classic + 7.5 km Free

Sunday, February 9th
*5 AM – Men’s Skiathlon 15km Classic + 15km Free

Tuesday, February 11th
5 AM – Ladies’ Sprint Free Qualification
5:25 AM – Men’s Sprint Free Qualification
7 AM – Ladies’ Sprint Free Quarterfinals
7:25 AM – Men’s Sprint Free Quarterfinals
7:56 AM – Ladies’ Sprint Free Semifinals
8:06 AM – Men’s Sprint Free Semifinals
*8:22 AM – Ladies’ Sprint Free Finals
*8:30 AM – Men’s Sprint Free Finals

Thursday, February 13th
*5 AM – Ladies’ 10km Classic

Friday, February 14th
*5 AM – Men’s 15km Classic

Saturday, February 15th
*5 AM – Ladies’ Relay 4x5km

Sunday, February 16th
*5 AM – Men’s Relay 4x10km

Wednesday, February 19th
4:15 AM – Ladies’ Team Sprint Classic Semifinals
5:06 AM – Men’s Team Sprint Classic Semifinals
*6:45 AM – Ladies’ Team Sprint Classic Final
*7:15 AM – Men’s Team Sprint Classic Final

Saturday, February 22nd
*4:30 AM – Ladies’ 30km Mass Start Free

Sunday, February 23rd
*2 AM – Men’s 50km Mass Start Free

US Team’s Recent World Championship History

The FIS Nordic World Ski Championship is held every couple of years with the most recent in February 2013 in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

The men’s individual sprint competition started off well as Andy Newell posted the seventh best time in qualifying. He was the only American to reach the quarterfinals as Simi Hamilton finished 34th (1.08 seconds out of a quarterfinal spot) and Erik Bjornsen was 51st. Newell’s run didn’t last long though as he ended up fifth in his quarterfinal group, 0.9 seconds out of a semifinal group.

In the 15km freestyle event the top US competitor was Noah Hoffman who wound up with a solid 15th place finish. Erik Bjornsen also competed in this event and finished 48th.

In the 30km skiathlon the top US athlete was Kris Freeman who finished in 41st. He was followed closely by Noah Hoffman in 43rd.

Noah Hoffman was again the best US competitor in the 50km classical race when he finished 27th. Kris Freeman followed him in 37th while Erik Bjornsen finished 52nd.

Erik Bjornsen and Andy Newell teamed up for the team sprint event. They came in seventh in their heat and missed out on the final.

Newell also competed in the 4x10km relay with Kris Freeman, Noah Hoffman, and Tad Elliot. The group finished in 10th place about a minute behind the top three.

On the women’s side Kikkan Randall and Sophie Caldwell both advanced into the quarterfinals of the individual sprint event by finishing in 28th and 30th in the qualifying round respectively. Sadie Bjornsen and Ida Sargent both just missed the quarterfinals as they finished in 32nd and 33rd, both within 2/3 of a second of Caldwell. Caldwell and Randall both finished fourth in their quarterfinals to end their hopes.

In the 10km freestyle event Liz Stephen nearly got a medal for the US when she finished fifth, less than nine seconds off the bronze medal. Jessica Diggins (23rd), Holly Brooks (27th), and Kikkan Randal (30th) all also had good finishes for the US.

Liz Stephen was also the top finisher for the US in the 15km Skiathlon event where she took 20th place. Sadie Bjornsen and Ida Sargent again finished one-after-the-other (37th and 38th) while Holly Brooks finished 49th.

The 3okm classical event was a lot like the previous two events as Liz Stephen was once again the top American, this time in 16th place. Ida Sargent finished 25th while Jessica Diggins did not finish.

In the team sprint event Kikkan Randall teamed up with Jessica Diggins and posted not only the top time in their semifinal heat, but the top time in the semifinals by nearly seven seconds. Randall and Diggins backed that up in the final when they took home the gold for the US by a full 7.8 seconds.

Randall and Diggins teamed up with Liz Stephen and Sadie Bjornsen for the 4x5km team relay. The US team put up a great effort but finished fourth about 30 seconds behind Russia’s bronze medal winning team.

US Olympic History

As mentioned earlier, the US has only won one medal in cross-country skiing and that was a silver 38 years ago. Vancouver was tough for the US with no individuals reaching a sprint final or finishing a longer race any higher than 24th. The best US team finished in 6th.

On the men’s side in the 15km freestyle event the top US finisher was James Southam in 48th. Southam was also best in the 30km skiathlon where he finished 34th and the 50km classic event where he finished 28th. The US 4x10km relay team finished in 13th.

In sprint events the US sprint team did reach the final but finished 9th while the top individual was Simi Hamilton, the only American to reach the quarterfinal but finished 6th in his group.

Among US women in the 10km freestyle event the best athlete was Caitlin Compton who finished 30th. In the 15km skiathlon Compton was topped by Morgan Arritola who finished 38th. Kikkan Randall was the 3rd American to be the best from the US in an event when she was 24th in the 50km classic competition.

Randall again was tops in the individual sprint competition when she reached the semifinals before finishing 4th in her group, and she teamed with Compton to reach the final of the team sprint event before finishing 6th.