By Gavin Kentch
We’ll have our World Champs stories for today up soon, or soonish; the dirty little secret of in-person reporting is that everything about it takes much longer than you feel like it should. Lukas Pigott is feverishly writing away somewhere in the bowels of Granåsen Skisenter as I speak, and we’ll have his in-person report for you at some point.
Until then, here are some photos from Thursday’s skate sprints. First three shots here are by Leann Bentley, for U.S. Ski & Snowboard:
Happy athlete and coaches: From left, Kristen Bourne, Julia Kern, and Kern’s wax tech, Eli Brown (Eli, whatever you put on those skis today, hells yeah)
Happy women’s starters: From left, Rosie Brennan, Jessie Diggins, Kate Oldham, and Kern
Happy men’s starters: From left, JC Schoonmaker, Ben Ogden, Gus Schumacher, and Jack Young
All remaining photos are by Lukas Pigott for Nordic Insights. Note how sunny it is, how damn many people are there (on a Thursday!), how the corners are being raked between heats on a warm day, and how locked in Klæbo was pre-race, among other takeaways.
You’re reading this on Nordic Insights, one man’s labor of love dedicated to publicizing American nordic skiing. Last season’s GoFundMe is literally the only reason why I turned a profit in years one and two of Nordic Insights, and in turn the only reason why there is a year three of Nordic Insights for you to be reading now: I was okay with working for very little money to get this love letter to American cross-country skiing off the ground, but I didn’t want to lose money for the privilege of doing so. If you would like to support what remains a brutally shoestring operation, last season’s GoFundMe may be found here. Thank you for your consideration, and, especially, for reading.
