Liz Stephen reacts after the women's skiathlon at the FIS Cross-Country World Cup presented by Viessmann on Feb. 4, 2017 in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Liz Stephen earned her the second individual world cup podium of her career Saturday, taking second in the skiathlon Olympic test event in PyeongChang, South Korea.
A two-time Olympian, Stephen covered the course in 44:50.7, 56 seconds behind the winning time of 43:54.7 by Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk. Masako Ishida of Japan was third at 45:09.5, while Caitlin Patterson gave Team USA two in the top four, finishing fourth in 45:16.1.
The result gave Stephen her sixth trip up the podium. Her best prior individual world cup result was a second in the 10-kilometer two years ago in Rybinski, Russia. Her other podiums came in team relay, most recently a second place in January 2016 in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.
Patterson, who celebrated her 27th birthday Jan. 30, logged her first world cup top-10 finish. Her prior best was 25th in the mass start in Falun, Sweden, last February. Elizabeth Guiney also posted her best individual finish in a world cup race, placing 13th in 46:16.4.
The men’s team also earned a pair of top-10 finishes with individual bests. Noah Hoffman, a veteran of three world championships and one Olympic team, made his first individual top-10 world cup appearance, placing eighth in 1:16:55.8, while Scott Patterson, Caitlin's brother, was ninth in 1:20:18.0. The previous best world cup showing for both was when they combined as part of the eighth-place relay team in January 2016 in Nove Mesto.
