Ski Racing - November 21, 2011

Kikkan Randall powers through rollerski training at Utah’s Soldier Hollow last month.

Fast, Female — and Fighting

for Gold

KIKKAN RANDALL ON PATIENCE, CRASHING AND GRASSROOTS PROGRAMS FOR YOUNG ATHLETES BY TIM REYNOLDS

You’re coming off your best season ever on the World Cup: third overall in the sprint standings, a pair of World Cup wins, a handful of podiums, and some impressive distance results as well. How did that guide your off-season training?

Well, last season was an incredible step forward. I missed the big carrot that I wanted, which was the World Champs sprint. But I had big improvement in my distance skiing; I was so close to that top 10 in Lahti! That’s going to be a necessary skill to be a contender for the overall World Cup someday. I’m focused on continuing that improvement trend, and I’d like to go for the overall sprint Cup this year. My classic sprinting has to really improve for that to happen — so I’ve definitely put more emphasis on that.

Talk about last winter. You were really on a roll. Has this been a long time coming or have you made some big changes to your preparation?

When I was first coming on to the circuit with World Champs and the Olympics, people were saying it’s going to take 10 years to reach the top in this sport. Well, I was young and really ambitious and I didn’t totally take all that seriously. I realize more each year that it takes hard work and patience. I’ve been at this game for 10 years now and I have been steadily improving each year. I haven’t made any big changes, I’m just always continuing to work hard and push myself to that next level.