Photos: Olympic skiers return to Anchorage for week of races

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Kikkan Randall of Anchorage won the women's 10-kilometer SuperTour Finals nordic ski race on Saturday at Kincaid Park. Cross-country ski races continue throughout the week, with many of the racers, including Randall, returning home after competing in the Sochi Olympics. Mar 22, 2014

Under sunny skies Saturday at Anchorage's Kincaid Park, Nordic skier Kikkan Randall returned to her home turf in triumphant style. The four-time Olympian won the first event of what will be a week of races, besting fellow U.S. Ski Team member Liz Stephen by 2.2 seconds in a 10-kilometer freestyle race, part of the finals of the SuperTour series of races.

Randall, fresh off her third straight World Cup sprint title, raced in her hometown for the first time since before the 2010 Winter Olympics. "All the familiar faces, cheering all the way around the course, it's nice to hear out there," Randall said in a press release. "It's so nice to be back home and see everybody."

Randall wasn't the only Olympian racing. Fellow U.S. Ski Team members Stephen, Jessie Diggins, Holly Brooks, Sadie and Erik Bjornsen, Sophie Caldwell, Ida Sargent and Noah Hoffmann joined her on the trails, with Hoffmann taking first in the men's race.

Races over the weekend are part of the finals in the SuperTour, a series of domestic races that include some of America's best cross-country skiers. Next week's races will be the U.S. National Championships. For a schedule of races and more information visit www.anchorage2014.com.

Contact multimedia editor Loren Holmes at loren(at)alaskadispatch.com.