Kikkan Randall

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Kikkan Randall

Kikkan Randall won the overall sprint cup, part of the FIS World Cup 2012/2013, at the Royal Palace Sprint, in Stockholm on March 20, 2013.
Medal record
Women's cross country skiing
World Championships
Gold 2013 Val di Fiemme Team sprint
Silver 2009 Liberec Individual sprint

Kikkan Randall (born December 31, 1982 in Salt Lake City, Utah) is an American cross-country skier from Anchorage, Alaska. She is the niece of former cross-country skiing Olympians Betsy Haines (1980) and Chris Haines (1976). She won the silver medal in the individual sprint at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009 in Liberec, becoming the first American woman to win a medal in cross country skiing at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships and in 2013 teamed up with Jessie Diggins to win the first ever FIS Nordic World Ski Championships gold medal in the team sprint.

Kikkan Randall B FIS Cross-Country World Cup 2012-2012 Quebec 02

Early Years

Randall lived in Salt Lake while her mother attended law school at the University of Utah. In the mid-1980s, she moved to Anchorage, Alaska, with her parents, Ronn and Deborah, where her younger siblings, Tanner and Kalli were born. Randall won 10 state titles at East Anchorage High School — seven in track and three in cross-country running. Randall has taken classes at Alaska Pacific University.

Skiing Career

Early Years

Randall made her Olympic debut as a 19-year-old at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City and finished 44th in the inaugural Olympic individual sprint. In January 2006, Randall returned to Soldier Hollow, Utah, the site of the 2002 Olympic cross-country competition, and won national titles in the 5-kilometer freestyle, the 10-km classical and the sprint. At the 2005 World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, she finished 30th in the individual sprint. Randall's sixth-place finish in the sprint at the 2001 Junior World Championships was the best ever result by an American woman.

2006-2011

At the 2006 Winter Olympics, Randall finished ninth in the Olympic Sprint, the best ever Olympic result in cross-country skiing by an American woman. Shortly thereafter, she finished fifth in a World Cup sprint. On January 21, 2007, she captured bronze in the women's 1.2-kilometer sprint in Rybinsk, Russia, the best ever cross-country World Cup result by an American woman.

In January 2010, Randall qualified for the 2010 Winter Olympics, where she earned a US best finish of sixth in the team sprint and her best individual finish of eighth in the individual sprint event.

2012-2013

In 2012, Randall became the first American woman to win a World Cup discipline title in cross-country by topping the Overall Sprint standings.

In 2013, Randall won five World Cup events including a team sprint in Quebec with teammate Jessica Diggins. Randall finished first in the final World Cup sprint standings and third in the overall standings. Third place is the highest ever by a U.S. woman. [1] Randall, with Diggins, won the first-ever team sprint gold for U.S. women at the World Ski Championships. [2]

Kikkan Randall at Royal Palace Sprint 2013

2014

Randall has qualified for the U.S. Olympic team.[3]

Achievements

  • Randall has won 17 US National titles, taken home 17 U.S. Championships, 16 podiums in the Stage World Cup, three trips to the Olympic Games and the highest finish by an individual U.S. woman at the World Championships (2nd in the Sprint FS at Liberec, CZE in 2009).[4]
  • Randall became the first American woman to win a cross country World Cup with her Dec. 16, 2007. ' sprint win in Rybinsk, Russia.
  • Randall and Jessica Diggins are among the first Americans to win gold in a cross country World Championship with their team sprint win in the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2013 in Val di Fiemme.

Personal life

  • Randall mixes studies at Alaska Pacific University with skiing for the APU Nordic Ski Center program run by former national level ski racer, Erik Flora.
  • Randall is married to former Candian ski racer Jeff Ellis.
  • She is a former state high school champion in cross country running and the last Alaska state speed-skiing champion.

References

  1. ↑ http://nordic.usskiteam.com/athletes/kikkan-randall
  2. ↑ http://nordic.usskiteam.com/news/world-champs-kikkan-jessie-take-gold
  3. ↑ 'No Hakkinen, Teela on Olympic Biathlon Team', Anchorage Daily News, Beth Bragg, 13 January 2014. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
  4. ↑ http://data.fis-ski.com/dynamic/results.html?sector=CC&competitorid=49824&raceid=14505
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