Kikkan Randall Official Website

 Kikkan Randall of the United States and Ola Vigen Hattestad of Norway won cross-country skiing World Cup sprint races Saturday in Düsseldorf, Germany. Randall claimed the women’s event in 1 minute 44.6 seconds, with Natalia Matveeva of Russia four-tenths of a second behind and Laurien Van Der Graaf of Switzerland a second back.

Kikkan Randall of the United States won her second straight freestyle sprint in cross-country skiing's World Cup on Sunday. Russia's Alexey Petukhov won the men's race. Randall got her fifth career World Cup victory by completing the 1.5-kilometer course in 3 minutes, 2.4 seconds. 

She remembers the waves of colorful flags in Oslo and the noise. The stadium's deafening roar and the Scandinavian cheers with each pole plant. Nothing beats cross-country skiing in the country that invented it. In Norway, competing in the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is like being in the Super Bowl. Three-time U.S. Olympian Kikkan Randall went into the February 2011 sprint quarterfinals gunning for the gold. The Norwegians had adopted her as their underdog, cheering her name as she glided up to the line, tip to tip with their reigning speed queen, Marit Bjoergen. 

The U.S. Ski Team's Kikkan Randall (Anchorage) scored a career best classic sprint finish, coming in fourth in the first stage of the Ruka Triple in Kuusamo, high up on the Arctic Circle of Finland. Qualifying 15th, Randall powered through to the finals after beating Poland's Justyna Kowalczak to the line in the semi-finals. Norway's Marit Bjoergen took the win with Randall 4.5 seconds out in the sprint final. Andy Newell qualified 19th but lost out in the first round of heats. Saturday's second stage of the Ruka Triple will feature 10k/5k freestyle race before concluding Sunday with a pursuit. 

 Kikkan Randall of Anchorage skied the second-fastest time in the second leg of a World Cup relay race Sunday in Sjusjoen, Norway, lifting the American team to a ninth-place finish.

SJUSJOEN, Norway (Nov. 19) – The U.S. Ski Team's Kikkan Randall (Anchorage) scored a career best non-sprint finish as the FIS Cross Country World Cup opened in Sjusjoen. Randall, who was third in the season-long World Cup sprint standings last year, was eighth in the opening 10k freestyle technique race. Liz Stephen (Montpelier, VT) matched her career best in 18th. Norway's Marit Bjoergen won the women's 10k while Swede Johan Olsson won the men's 15k. The World Cup openers were moved to Sjusjoen, near the 1994 Olympic city of Lillehammer, because of low early season snow in Beitostolen. The weekend continues Sunday with relays. 

Cross country superstar Kikkan Randall will have some Alaskan company with her in Vancouver.

Alaskan Olympian Kikkan Randall leaves town Tuesday, but Monday she showed up for a shin-dig in her honor at Continental Nissan.

American cross-country skier Kikkan Randall bounced back from a potentially fatal blood clot in her lower leg and is now closing in on a chance to end her nation's decades-long drought in the sport at the Olympics.

Cross country skiing has been part of the Winter Olympics since the very beginning at Chamonix in 1924, although the women did not have the opportunity to participate until Oslo in 1952.

The 2010 World Cup season is underway. I started off with a 10km skate race on an icy course. Started conservative but built speed through the race for a 21st place finish. It was my best World Cup distance placing and my best skate distance race by far. Didn't get a chance to start the relay. Now on to Kuusamo, Finland for a sprint and a 10km classic.

In the 1.4km skate sprint at the 2009 World Championships, I became the first US woman to ever win a major championship medal in cross-country. The day started off with a solid qualifying round in 7th place. I took the lead in each of my heats to make it all the way to the final. I led most of the final as well and only Arianna Follis of Italy was able to sneak past me over the final 100m. Standing on that podium was a great feeling, especially after coming back from the blood clot just eight months earlier.

At the opening race of the 2009 World Championships in Liberec, CZ I skied my best-ever major championship distance result in the 10km classic. It was snowing and the conditions were a little tricky, but I skied aggressively the whole way to finish 26th. This race was not my focus for the championship but a great way to kick start the week.

It was great to be back in the A-final, and in contention for the medals today at the World Cup freestyle sprint in Valdidentro, Italy. I led both my quarterfinal and semi-final heats, and attacked on the big climb. In the A-final I was in solid position for the podium when I lost my balance and crashed. I had to settle for sixth. I'm at least grateful to be finding my racing form with a week to go until World Championships.

After winning my first world cup in Rybinsk, Russia last season, I was excited to try and repeat again this year. Unfortunately, I have been struggling to find my racing form and after an unlucky move in the quarterfinals, I had to settle for 14th place instead.

Back in Europe again for the second half of the season. Kicked off this Otepaa WC weekend with a 10km classic. Skied an identical race to the 10km here last year, but improved my place from 42nd to 33rd. In the classic sprint I posted one of my better classic sprint qualifiers in 15th 

Liz Stephen and I teamed up for a fourth place finish at this weekend's Whistler World Cup freestyle team sprint. It was really fun to mix it up and almost make the podium on the 2010 Olympic courses. I won a lunge in our semi-final heat to automatically advance to the final where we each moved up steadily through the laps. Liz attacked on the final climb and tagged off to me in fifth. I was able to move us into fourth and was gaining on the podium positions until I just 

Today I got to make a full run around next year's Olympic classic sprint course and narrowly missed advancing to the semi-finals. After qualifying 16th I skied well through my quarterfinal heat and just got out double-poled over the final 30m. It was great to be able to experience the Olympic course at full speed. Whistler Olympic Park has been a great venue so far! My final place was 14th. To