Tag: Lillehammer skate sprint

Ogden and Schoonmaker Miss Skate Sprint Final by Narrowest of Margins as Klaebo Wins Again

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Ben Ogden (USA) raced boldly on Saturday, finishing less than a boot’s-length away from the World Cup Sprint Final. (Photo: NordicFocus)

Lillehammer, Norway—that most timeless of ski venues—provided viewers with a familiar scene on Saturday: Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo exiting the final turn in the lead, gliding away from the field en route to an easy win in an individual skate sprint. It was the 32nd win of his career in the event—exactly double the number of any other skier in history. The man behind him on that list—Federico Pellegrino (ITA)—was also 2nd behind him on the day. Even the name of the skier in 3rd place—Northug—fit the scene, though in this iteration the Northug was Even, not Petter.

So it was that the first skate sprint of the 2022-2023 season ended with a podium that could have been plucked from any skate sprint in the past half-decade. Partially because of that fact—and because Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo first staked his ground in the event before moving on to also dominating every other discipline of skiing—the skate sprint has become the archetypal stand-in for this current era of cross-country skiing.

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) celebrates down the finishing stretch during Saturday’s World Cup Sprint Final. (Photo: NordicFocus)

Anyone looking for winds of change in the sport would probably want to watch for little changes in the landscape of a World Cup skate sprint. On Saturday in Lillehammer, those little changes came clad in Stars and Stripes, as Americans Ben Ogden and JC Schoonmaker finished the day in 7th and 8th, respectively. Luke Jager also qualified for the heats, finishing in 27th. Three Americans in the heats, two contending in the semifinals; a year ago, that would’ve been cause for hopeful surprise, as the young potential of this current generation of young men began to peak through onto the sport’s highest level. At the beginning of this season, however, today’s qualifying crop marked more of a hopeful progression, as that group of American men looked to expand on a newfound comfort in World Cup sprinting that they’ve gained over the course of last season.

That progression was on full display once the heats started rolling. Ogden would ski out of the fourth quarterfinal heat, taking the inside lane alongside seasoned veterans Erik Valnes (NOR) and James Clugnet (GBR). Ogden marked moves by Valnes and Clugnet as they charged the uphill. Around the sharp-left that marked the beginning of lap two into the downhill again, Ogden moved to the outside, swept around the corner into the hill, and this time led the charge rather than marking it. By the time the field hit the long flat of the Lillehammer stadium, Ogden was clear in front, allowing him to avoid a tangle-up involving Valnes and Clugnet. Clugnet broke a pole and lost the chance to advance to the semifinal.

Ogden’s strategic success may be indicative of big things to come: the skier who last spring in an interview with FasterSkier claimed that he “[is] not known for my detailed race plans” had out-witted and out-skied competitors who are fixtures in World Cup sprint fields. In an interview with FasterSkier US Ski Team Head Coach, Matt Whitcomb, said that Ogden’s patience was a noticeable difference between this week’s sprint and last week in Ruka. “When Ben was leading in the heats today, he wasn’t spazzing like he was in Ruka, he was controlled. [That meant] that when he did go—he hit the gas pedal—the vehicle went a lot faster.”

Those same patient-minded tactics were the hallmark of the American’s approach throughout the day. In the next quarterfinal heat after Ogden’s, Luke Jager followed JC Schoonmaker as the latter executed the same plan. Jager fell off the pace just at the end, but Schoonmaker held off all-comers, including Richard Jouve (FRA), to win the heat and advance to the semi-finals.

Luke Jager (USA) during qualification on Saturday. He would advance to the quarterfinals, and finish the day in 27th. (Photo: NordicFocus)

On this nuanced approach to the day’s heats, US Ski Team Head Coach Matt Whitcomb pointed to Schoonmaker, Ogden, and Jager’s experience gained over the past year. “When you struggle through a season and qualify once or twice, you don’t get very much sprint experience,” Whitcomb said. “Once you get to a point where you are getting through the quarterfinals, your experience starts to double each day. And that’s what we are seeing: a year of skiing into heats and skiing them aggressively.”

Whitcomb also stressed that the key lesson learned for the talented American sprinters was patience. “For athletes that have that natural…[what I’d call] Tesla power, the key is to not use too many matches early in the heat,” Whitcomb said.

The American pair of Ogden and Schoonmaker held steady on that patience while starting together in the second semi-final of the day. In that heat, they were outnumbered by a Norwegian contingent that included World Cup Overall leader Paal Golberg, Ansgar Evensen, and Erik Valnes. The Norwegians also appeared to approach the heat with a preference for patience. A furious pace from the gun quickly gave way to a kind of stalemate in which Ogden found himself at the front of the pack, leading the first climb alongside Evensen. Paal Golberg tucked comfortably behind Ogden (indicating that Norway and USA were attempting to utilize similar tactics) as they went into the second turn around the downhill. Ogden moved to the outside; Golberg, Jouve, Evensen and Schoonmaker followed; and the five came into the stadium together. That was the crystallizing moment for the Americans on the day. Ogden and Schoonmaker, in a semi-final, fending off the World Cup Overall leader and Richard Jouve, the only other skier in the world than Klaebo to have won a skate sprint this calendar year.

Ben Ogden (USA) stretches for the line in his semifinal. Ogden finished 3rd in the heat, with JC Schoonmaker (USA) 4th. (Photo: NordicFocus)

The Americans came up just short. Golberg won the heat, besting Evensen by a boot throw. The patience of Ogden and Schoonmaker in the beginning of this relatively slow heat likely cost them a shot at the lucky loser times, as they finished 3rd and 4th, respectively. Thus, the American’s maturity was met with some decidedly bitter irony. Still, it was mature racing, and will surely be marked by a mature analysis.

In the opposite semi-final, four Norwegians matched up against Federico Pellegrino and a twenty year-old Swede named Edvin Anger making only his 3rd World Cup start. The Swede’s second start was last weekend in the Ruka Classic Sprint, where he showed a propensity for racing at full gas from the beginning of each and every heat. That crashed spectacularly in Ruka, as he was spit out the back of the pack in the semi-final, but it didn’t change his approach this week.

Anger went hard from the gun, the Norwegians filed in, Klaebo moved out from the back and moved to the front, and everyone else sprint for 2nd. This time though, Anger kept the pace. He advanced to his first sprint final, and in the process animated the pace to the degree that 3rd place Pellegrino and 4th place Even Northug advanced to the final with the lucky loser times.

Federico Pellegrino (ITA), who finished 2nd on the day after earning a lucky loser spot into the Final. (Photo: NordicFocus)

The final began as a near-replay of this semi-final: Anger went out hard, the Norwegians filed in, Klaebo moved out from the back and moved to the front, and everyone else sprint for 2nd. There was a change to the script, though: the old veteran, Federico Pellegrino, had seen Anger’s move in the semi-final, and decided to follow him this time. Result: the old veteran passed up the new kid on the block, and solidified second place on the day. Klaebo 1st place, Pellegrino 2nd place, Northug 3rd place.

The established champions still had their way, for now.

On his day progressing to the cusp of the final, Ben Ogden said in an email to FasterSkier that:

“today is a massive step for me in my [sprint progression from last year]. My goals this year are to feel more control and composure in the quarterfinal and advance regularly. Today was huge for that confidence and I’m really happy with how things turned out. Always hungry for more, but [today] was satisfying.”

JC Schoonmaker also emphasized that experience was the most important quality to his sprint success, saying in an email with FasterSkier that:

“It is tough to be so close to making it to the final, but with better tactics I know it is possible. A lot of heat skiing for me has been gaining experience and making sure that I’m learning from every race I compete in.”

Schoonmaker added that the highlight of the day was lining up next to his teammate Luke Jager in the quarterfinal, “Racing that with Luke was more fun than anything really.”

Tune in next Friday in Beitostolen to see where the boys sprint from here…

Full Results

Qualifying | Heats

Federico Pellegrino (ITA), Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) and Even Northug (NOR), (l-r) take the freestyle sprint podium in Lillehammer, Norway.
(Photo: NordicFocus)

December 3, 2022
Golberg Trusts Skis for the Win, Harvey Fifth in Lillehammer Skate Sprint

Canada’s Alex Harvey (r) congratulates Norwegian winner Pål Golberg at the finish of Friday’s 1.5 k freestyle sprint final. Harvey placed fifth for a season best. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)

If you don’t count the Norwegians, most everyone’s skis in Friday’s 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint were relatively even in terms of speed, according to men’s finalist Alex Harvey of Canada.

But the reality is, Norway is a big part of essentially every World Cup race, let alone one in Lillehammer, Norway. Their often-superior skis can be pivotal to their success, but they’re not the only thing they rely on.

Unless you ask Pål Golberg.

The men’s 1.5 k freestyle sprint podium on Friday at the World Cup mini tour in Lillehammer, Norway, with Norway’s Pål Golberg (c) in first, Russia’s Alexey Petukhov in second (l) and Norway’s Finn Hågen Krogh in third. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)

After winning the men’s skate sprint — the first of three races in Lillehammer’s mini tour — by 0.24 seconds over Russia’s Alexey Petukhov, Golberg said in a press conference that his skis were so good, he simply had to believe he could win.

While that was easier said than executed, the 24-year-old Norwegian’s thought process worked.

“I have a past as a sprinter, so I should be doing well here,” Sundby told NRK. “But it’s fun to prove that I can do both [sprint and distance].”

Golberg stood as the sixth-fastest qualifier behind Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov, who clocked the fastest time of 3:14.99. In the qualifier standings, he followed his teammate Finn Hågen Krogh in second, Petukhov in third, Norway’s Petter Northug in fourth, and Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson in fifth. Ten Norwegians qualified in the top 30, including several distance specialists: Sjur Røthe (in ninth), Martin Johnsrud Sundby (13th) and Niklas Dyrhaug (20th).

But Golberg, who’s notched seven World Cup podiums in sprints and won a 15 k classic in Lillehammer in 2013, went on to win his quarterfinal on Friday in a photo finish with Norwegian U23 Team member Emil Iversen. He beat out Sweden’s Emil Jönsson, Norway’s Ola Vigen Hattestad, Halfvarsson, and Great Britain’s Andrew Musgrave, in that order, with the second-fastest quarterfinal time of the day in 3:18.56.

Far from done, Golberg squeezed out another victory in his semifinal, this time over Finland’s A-team sprinter Juho Mikkonen in second and Ustiugov in third in a three-way photo finish. (Northug was relegated from fourth behind Ustiugov to last after cutting off Ustiugov in the finishing straight. Jönsson received a warning for a similar action in the quarterfinal, after impeding Iversen.)

Krogh won the other semifinal after dominating his quarterfinal as well — initially beating out France’s Jay Renaud by 0.22 seconds, Harvey (+0.36) and Mikkonen (+0.48), then winning his semifinal in 3:19.57, about 1.7 seconds faster than Golberg. He topped Petukhov (+0.11), Iversen (+0.37), Harvey (+0.59), Larkov (+0.66), and finally, Jay (+1.61) to do so.

Despite finishing third and fourth, Iversen and Harvey advanced to the final as lucky losers with the next-fastest semifinal times. For Harvey, it was his second time advancing in that fashion after doing the same with Mikkonen in the quarterfinal.

From there, teammates Golberg and Krogh would meet in the final, along with 23-year-old Iversen — and Petukhov, Mikkonen and Harvey.

“I knew I had good glide,” Golberg recalled in a translated interview with NRK. “If I managed to keep my back to Finn, I knew I was the only one who stood between myself and the finish. My skis were so good they almost did the job on their own.”

That kind of confidence allowed Golberg to sit patiently behind until the final climb, when he caught a ride out of the sharp lefthand-downhill corner and glided into the start of the long hill. Positioned around fourth with Petukhov and Iversen in tow, Golberg and Petukhov swallowed Harvey in third coming out of the bend. Golberg carried his momentum and attacked for second place by the top, trailing Krogh into the stadium. Petukhov went with him.

Pål Golberg (l) takes on Krogh (2) and Petukhov (3) for the win in Friday’s 1.5 k freestyle sprint at the Lillehammer World Cup. Golberg won it by 0.24 seconds. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)

With a downhill into and around the final curve before the finish, Golberg and Petukhov put the pressure on Krogh — an early leader in the final. Golberg trusted his skis once more and powered past Krogh, winning in 3:20.51 while Krogh and Petukhov duked it out for second. Petukhov emerged on the better end of the photo finish, five-hundredths of a second faster than Krogh for second and 0.24 behind Golberg.

After taking a gutsy leap to the front out of the start, Mikkonen held strong for fourth (+0.56) and Harvey ran out of gas but pushed for fifth (+1.13) ahead of Iversen in sixth (+4.15).

“Right after the finish I was not so satisfied,” Krogh told FIS after cameras caught him shaking his head in disappointment. “I wanted to win, but now I am happy. My plan was to gain a gap before the final stretch, maybe if the gap was bigger I could have won.”

Petukhov explained he knew he had to catch Krogh and Golberg if he wanted a shot at the win.

“I think I could have skied better tactically today, but I am happy for the second place. Pål was very strong today,” he told FIS.

Harvey had similar respect for Petukhov and Krogh.

“I knew from the beginning that the last uphill was crucial,” he said in a phone interview with FasterSkier. “Finn Hågen has won skate sprints on big uphills and Petukhov is a beast on skate sprinting up big hills, so I knew what their move would be even before I skied with them, and I knew I had to make a move there, but for me it’s hard. I feel good coming into that last uphill, but I just can’t go, I just don’t have it yet. I knew I had to position myself first, second or third before the last downhill, but I just couldn’t do it because I didn’t have the jam in there.”

Day 1 put Golberg in the mini-tour lead by 2 seconds over Petukhov. Krogh is 4.9 seconds back in third, Mikkonen 10.2 in fourth, Ustiugov 11.5 in fifth (thanks to bonus seconds from his qualifier win), and Harvey 11.8 seconds back in sixth.

“It set me up good now I have to make sure I stay in the top five,” Harvey said. “After tomorrow, a couple of the guys ahead of me will slip after the 10 k [freestyle]. I think I’m in a good position, something like 15 seconds clear of Sundby and [6.6 seconds ahead] of Petter so I have to use that to my advantage tomorrow.”

Sundby, who was third in his quarterfinal (behind Golberg and Iversen) for 14th overall on Friday, is currently 15th in the mini-tour standings, 27 seconds behind Golberg. Northug, who ended up 12th after being relegated to last in his semifinal, sits in 10th, 18 seconds back from the leader.

“Martin has put himself in a good position [for the mini tour], but I have the best [position],” Golberg told VG with a smile.

“Tomorrow what matters is not the position, it’s the time behind the leader or maybe be the leader,” Harvey said. “Just be able to start in a good group on Sunday. I couldn’t have asked for a much better position than I am now. Any time you make a final in a mini tour or a Tour de Ski, you get a lot of advantage [in that mini tour] compared to other distance skiers.”

Seventh Last Weekend, Harvey Up to 5th

The only North American man to qualify for the rounds in 22nd, 6.26 seconds off the top qualifying time, Harvey went on to experience the angst and joy of being a lucky loser twice.

Third in his quarterfinal behind Krogh and Jay, he said he could tell their heat was a fast one based on the way it felt and information from his team’s wax technicians.

“I knew we had a chance of lucky loser already because I knew the first three heats were pretty slow — the techs said they were just crawling up the hill,” Harvey said. “Then I had a good finish, but already I could tell that I was missing some push, some power on the last uphill. Like in offset [V1] on the steep stuff, I was feeling fresh entering that uphill, but I could never have enough speed as the sprinters, but I was lucky to have a fast-enough finish.”

Krogh led their quarterfinal early on, and Poland’s Maciej Starega put himself in second early just ahead of Røthe. Harvey moved from fourth to third, eventually behind Krogh and Røthe, on the long descent before Jay attacked on the climb and Harvey slipped to fifth. The Canadian recovered, pushing into the stadium for third, 0.12 seconds ahead of Mikkonen, who came on late for the last lucky loser spot into the semis.

In the semifinals, Harvey knew his heat had to be faster than the first if he wanted to make the final.

“I knew that the first semi had gone really slow, so the plan was if I could take the lead, I would just go full blast and try to clock a decently fast time to give me a better chance at making the final,” he said. “With a mini tour like that, you get a lot of bonus seconds [for making the final].”

And that was his overarching goal. More bonus seconds meant a more competitive position for the second day of racing.

So, to the Eurosport announcers’ surprise, the usually calm-and-collected Harvey took control out of the start of his semifinal. From their estimations, he was “trying to conserve energy whilst leading” and did so all the way into the base of the big climb before the finish.

However, Krogh and Petukhov shot passed him on the way up it, and Harvey entered the final straight in fourth behind Iversen.

Regardless of his place, his tactic worked. Harvey heard a split after the first climb, around 40 seconds into their semifinal, that they were two seconds faster than the first heat. If they held up that pace, he knew he could finish outside the top two and still make the final.

“I’m usually pretty slow at the start so sometimes that’s my plan, to go to the front and push the pace, but it’s not every day that it happens,” he said.

In the final, Harvey said he looked back for the first time all day because he couldn’t hear anyone behind him — when he was in third behind Krogh and Mikkonen.

“About two-thirds of the way, we had a little gap,” he said. “[I looked back and] I saw that Petukhov was like four or five meters behind. I thought maybe we had a chance to break away and we did.”

Heading into the big hill, which he described as not as steep but longer than Kuusamo’s final 240-meter climb at around 315 meters, Harvey struggled to stay with the pace once again. It didn’t help him that fresh snow overnight made the track slower, and required V1 instead of the V2 he had been able to use to ski up it on Thursday.

“I felt good; I didn’t feel like I was spent or anything,” he said of his last time up that hill. “[Golberg and Petukhov] were side by side with me when we hit the really steep stuff, and when I switched to offset, I was going as hard as I could and I was still in a good position. Had I been strong, I would’ve been able to crest over the top in second place.

“It’s really my weakness in skating,” Harvey added. “I’m working on it, I improved a bit, but I’m still not the world’s best. To make a move like that when you’re in the final and you’re against two, three other dudes that are really good, you have to really be one of the best to make a difference there.”

Regardless, it was Harvey’s best result of the season so far. “Last year, I had three wins, and they were all in skating. … I think my best performances over time are in skating,” the 2013 World Championships classic-sprint bronze medalist said.

December 5, 2014
Seven Canadians Miss Qualifying; Jones & Cockney within Tenths of a Second of Top 30

Perianne Jones was close — just 0.22 seconds from qualifying in the women’s World Cup 1.3-kilometer freestyle sprint to be exact.

So was Jesse Cockney, who was 0.68 seconds outside the top 30 in the men’s 1.5-kilometer sprint in 34th.

Both are Canadian Development B-Team members, and both were a few places and tenths of a second away from getting more racing time on Friday in Lillehammer, Norway.

“I wanted to make sure I finished today and felt like I left it all out there,” Jones, 29, wrote in an email after placing 33rd. “Last weekend I skied so terribly that I didn’t feel like that at the end, so that was a step in the right direction.”

In the World Cup opening classic sprint in Kuusamo, Jones placed 48th, 4.38 seconds out of 30th. Considering that, Friday was an improvement.

“Of course I would have liked to be in the heats, being that close is hard, but at the same time encouraging because I was so close,” she wrote.

Jones hadn’t raced since last Saturday’s classic sprint, opting out of the distance race to get a full week of recovery.

“If this had been a regular weekend race instead of a Friday race I probably would have raced the distance race in Kuusamo, but I just didn’t want to risk feeling crappy today,” she explained.

“I will for sure race tomorrow.”

As for Sunday’s 10 k classic pursuit, she added that she was taking it one day at a time.

In his first World Cup of the season, Cockney, who placed 13th in a Norwegian Cup Gala classic sprint and 39th in a 10 k classic last weekend, explained his two races there were “great prep” for Lillehammer.

“It’s been all good here the last week with some good training at Sjusjoen, just outside of Lillehammer,” the 25 year old wrote in an email. “I’m not doing anything differently to transition from domestic circuits to the World Cup so it’s fairly business as usual in that sense.”

Warming up on Friday morning felt normal, he added. “I felt like I had some speed to use today,” he wrote.

“I thought my qualifier was good but with a field like this in Norway, it has to be perfect to get to the heats. I’m happy with the feeling and I did everything I could but pretty bummed about being on the wrong side of a close race.

“I skied hard and gave everything that I could but maybe I need to ski a bit more like my job is on the line because at the end of the day it actually is,” he added. “Some more desperation may go a long way to putting me in the heats.”

Like Jones, he plans to race Saturday’s freestyle individual starts — 5 k for the women and 10 k for the men — after which he will decide whether he’ll start Sunday’s 15 k pursuit.

“Some more desperation may go a long way to putting me in the heats.” — Jesse Cockney, 34th in Lillehammer 1.5 k freestyle sprint qualifier

Alex Harvey was Canada’s lone male qualifier in 22nd. He went on to finish a season-best fifth in the final.

Lenny Valjas finished 45th in the preliminary round, 2.65 seconds from qualifying. Devon Kershaw placed 64th, Graeme Killick was 94th and Ivan Babikov was 110th out of 119 men.

“I was feeling good warming up to be honest. Kind of like last weekend before the sprint qualifier,” Kershaw wrote in an email. “In the qualifier though, not feeling as good. Just not able to hold the technique I wanted deep enough into the hills (switching to offset too early).

“Once that started happening, perhaps I started to scramble too much and I did a poor job over the tops of the climbs — I wasn’t snappy or peppy enough to create enough speed into the descents,” he added. “It wasn’t a stellar day of sprint qualifying.”

Kershaw described the course as a “good, honest and hard course,” excellent for a sprint.

“Climbs, turny descents, some flatter terrain and probably most importantly, room to pass if you were strong,” he wrote. “I didn’t ski fast, but once upon a time I would have loved a course like this! I wanted to race the heats badly because I thought it really would suit me. I am just not fast enough on my own yet to put that last statement to practice.

“I guess I am still carrying fatigue from the training load, or perhaps I’m just getting slower in my old age — I don’t know. I do know I’m not totally ready to give up on the sprints yet — but I am taking my knocks that’s for sure.”

His goals for the weekend remain unchanged, he wrote, and he’s excited for Saturday’s 10 k skate and will focus on some technical tasks during that.

“Of course I am most excited about Sunday’s 15km classic. It’ll be pretty much a mass start — or at least there will be big groups to ski with,” Kershaw added. “The course is really challenging, but I felt good last weekend in Kuusamo on a challenging course in classic, so I am for sure excited and more confident in that distance/discipline at the moment. I am very thankful that the sprint is out of the way now and I can focus more on the distance racing for the weekend which has been feeling better for me by miles than the short, fast sprints.”

The second Canadian woman in Friday’s sprint, development-team member Emily Nishikawa placed 76th.

***

Qualifying results: Men | Women

Final results: Men | Women

December 5, 2014
Bjornsen a Lone Star for USST as Americans Struggle in Lillehammer Sprint

Sadie Bjornsen leads Liz Stephen in the 2014 U.S. Distance Nationals 30 k classic last March in Anchorage, Alaska. Bjornsen was the top American finisher in Friday’s World Cup freestyle sprint in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: ADN)

The U.S. Ski Team was predicting a slow start to the season this year, but in Friday’s World Cup freestyle sprint in Lillehammer, Norway – perhaps the team’s best event – they had one of their worst days in recent history.

While there were a few bright spots, including Sadie Bjornsen’s 21^stplace, it was a far cry from last Saturday’s classic sprint where five athletes qualified for the finals, and Ida Sargent finished a career-best fifth overall.

“Five people in the qualifier in Kuusamo – that’s our standard. Anything below that begins to be a compromise performance,” U.S. Ski team (USST) Women’s Coach Matt Whitcomb said on the phone after Friday’s race. “Today, with only qualifying Sadie, was way off the mark.”

According to Whitcomb, there were several reasons their squad failed to meet expectations.

First, the team, especially on the women’s side, faced several injuries and illness prior to the weekend.

Sophie Caldwell, last season’s Olympic standout in the same event, returned to competition after breaking her elbow in October. Friday’s sprint was her first race since the injury and she placed 61st. In addition, both Caldwell and three-time Sprint World Cup champion Kikkan Randall suffered from illness in the week prior to racing in Lillehammer.

Furthermore, several Americans cited dragging skis on a course where downhills played a major role in finish times on the first day of the three-stage mini tour.

Whitcomb said that, despite the fact both coaches and skiers were disappointed with the day’s results, there is no reason to worry about the rest of the USST’s season.

“I would encourage people to not be frustrated with the results of today or anything in this early season. What goes down in February, that’s what we’re really targeting,” he said.

Bjornsen, the sole USST member to advance to the final, qualified in 16^th, 8.67 seconds behind eventual race-winner Marit Bjørgen of Norway.

Bjornsen explained that she started her 1.3-kilometer qualifier at a fast pace, and “went out too hard.” However, her pacing was good enough to put her well within the top 30.

Before entering the quarterfinals, she and Whitcomb devised a plan for the demanding course. She decided to start conservatively and make a move on the first hill so that she would be in good position headed into the stadium. It was a strategy that many skiers, especially the Norwegians, used in the quarterfinals with much success.

Unfortunately for Bjornsen, her start was too slow and she found herself far behind the others in her quarterfinal. In the first third of the the race, she was out of the mix with all five skiers in font of her, including eventual second-place finisher Celine Brun-Lie of Norway.

“I was trying to be more conservative at the beginning. I don’t know if it was that I was too conservative, or that I just wasn’t fast enough at the beginning because I found myself in the very back,” Bjornsen said on the phone. “If I skied it again, I would try to be aggressive right off the start.”

However, Bjornsen made up ground and kept contact with the group. Heading into the last few hundred meters of the race, Bjornsen inched into fourth position, but was unable to hold her speed around the corner into the stadium. Russia’s Anastasia Dotsenko passed her, and Bjornsen ended her heat in fifth for 21^st overall.

According to Whitcomb, the result, in combination with last week’s races, readies the 25-year-old Bjornsen for a strong season. He explained that her next step in sprinting will be to focus on her ability to advance past the quarterfinals.

“With Sadie, we’re still working on getting through these quarterfinals. She can qualify often, but the quarterfinals have been challenging for her,” he said.

Randall Misses Rounds

The next American on the results list was Randall, who finished 43^rd and 1.63 seconds outside 30th. The placement was an uncharacteristic finish for Randall, who is known as one of the fastest sprinters on the World Cup circuit.

The last time Randall did not place in the top 30 in a freestyle sprint was in a World Cup in Lahti, Finland, in March 2009, where she was 47^th. According to the FIS database, the last sprint she didn’t advance — freestyle or classic — was four years ago in a classic-sprint World Cup opener in Kuusamo, Finland.

Going into the Lillehammer sprint, the second sprint of the season, Randall said she was optimistic. While she did not feel in top form during the previous day’s race preparation, she explained that she had outstanding performances in the past with similar pre-race feelings.

Randall felt her effort in the qualifier would be enough to get her into the finals, but she was “very surprised” when she discovered that she was out of contention for a spot in the heats.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be a light-the-world-on-fire kind of day, but I actually felt like it was a decent qualifier,” Randall said. “I kept the pedal down the whole way and I paced it quite well. I was aggressive up the first hill and saved some energy for the last climb and skied all the different sections the way I wanted to. I didn’t feel like I had full power out there, but I was very surprised to not qualify today,” she said.

“I knew it wasn’t going to be a light-the-world-on-fire kind of day, but I actually felt like it was a decent qualifier. … I was very surprised to not qualify.” — Kikkan Randall, 43rd in Lillehammer World Cup 1.3 k freestyle sprint on Friday

Randall said a combination of lacking race form, being sick earlier in the week, and having “tough” skis were all factors in her result.

“You put all those things together in a World Cup field where everybody is on, and you don’t make the top 30,” she explained.

However, Randall found a silver lining in Friday’s performance — because she’s not in top race form, she still has a lot of room to improve over the season.

“I’m certainly not feeling like I’m in race form yet so that’s the good news,” she said. “The big goal this year is the World Championship in Falun so I’m just going to focus on that.”

Newell Top U.S. Male in 36th

In the men’s 1.5 k race, Andy Newell was the first American in 36^th, 8.34 seconds back from qualifier winner Sergey Ustiugov of Russia and 0.78 seconds out of the top 30.

Newell entered the sprint feeling strong and ready to race, but left the venue unsure of what happened.

Much like Randall, he has a long history of qualification. On the phone Friday, he said the last time he didn’t advance to finals without a crash in his qualification round was in 2005 or 2006.

“I’m not really sure what to think. It feels kind of weird not to qualify,” he said.

According to Newell, the combination of several factors, such as racing form and slow skis, led to where he ended up. However, he said that in the past, he has always overcome such problems.

“I think even with slow skis I should be able to get in there,” he said. “One of my strengths has always been to qualify.”

Despite his disappointment in Friday’s result, Newell said his finish was a reminder that a spot in the top 30 is never guaranteed.

“It’s good to have days like this to remind you how tough it is on the World Cup if your skis aren’t gliding or if you make a mistake,” he said.

Newell will participate in the remaining two races of the mini tour, but said he will focus on performing well in next weekend’s classic sprint in Davos, Switzerland.

“One of my strengths has always been to qualify. … It’s good to have days like this to remind you how tough it is on the World Cup,” — Andy Newell, 36th in Lillehammer World Cup 1.5 k freestyle sprint

Other American finishers of the day were Sargent in 51^st and Jessie Diggins in 55^th.

Sargent, who holds the top result for an American on the World Cup so far this season, was unable to break into the points on Friday.

Diggins explained she was disappointed in her result and pointed to timid skiing on the downhills as to why she didn’t make the heats for the first time since 2011. One of the only U.S. racers to say her skis were fast, Diggins added that she wasn’t ready for their speed after switching from her slow warmup skis.

Behind Sargent and Diggins was Caldwell in 61st, who explained she was happy to be racing again after finishing in 61st.

As mentioned previously, the race was Caldwell’s first since her injury. While she’s expected to fully recover at the 12-week mark (she’s currently at week nine), she said that there was no pain in her elbow in Friday’s race.

The result was nothing noteworthy for Caldwell, who placed sixth in the Olympics skate sprint last year, but she explained that the fact she was racing again was a victory in itself.

“I made it a goal to have zero expectations going into today and to just be grateful to be racing again,” she wrote in an email.

Whitcomb was excited to see Caldwell wearing a bib again, especially ahead of schedule.

“It was a good move to race … I’m really pleased with how the recovery from the broken elbow has gone,” he said. “We’re right on track if not a little bit ahead. We were discussing about Davos being her first race, so this is a bonus. We’re not going to push it but I’m encouraged by today’s result.”

Rounding out the U.S. women were Liz Stephen in 71^st and Cailtin Gregg in 78^th.

For the men, Erik Bjornsen and Simi Hamilton finished 58^th and 59^th, roughly half a second apart.

The two men had very different experiences on the course, but both ended the day wanting more.

Bjornsen said that he was very excited about the effort and that he gave what he thought to be a strong performance until he saw his results. Hamilton, on the other hand, wrote that he felt lethargic and fatigued during his race, and that the hilly course did not favor his strengths. Both were optimistic about future races and explained they were ready to prove themselves in future sprints.

Reese Hanneman was the final American skier in 99^th. Hanneman, who is in Europe as the 2013/2014 men’s SuperTour leader, wrote in an email that he paced the race as well as he could as he was feeling in better racing shape than a week ago.

The Lillehammer mini tour continues tomorrow with 5/10 k freestyle individual starts.

The highest-ranked American headed into Day 2, Bjornsen said that she was looking forward to the freestyle competition, as one of her focuses this summer was to improve her results in the discipline.

“In the past I’ve been stronger in classic, but I really worked to change that this summer so I’m excited to see what I can do tomorrow and see if I can find a way to float in my skate skiing,” she said.

Stephen’s ‘Scapular Impingement’

Stephen, a strong skater who placed fifth in the 5 k freestyle at the 2013 World Championships, will also be looking to perform well in Saturday’s race.

Stephen met up with the team just two days before last week’s Kuusamo World Cup races due to what Whitcomb called a scapular impingement.

He said the injury’s source was unknown, but caused the 27-year-old Stephen to minimally use her upper body for two weeks before the start of the World Cup.

“It felt like a muscle fairly deep in her shoulder that was pushing on her first rib. It really hurt her to breathe and it essentially felt like the rib was out of place,” Whitcomb explained. “It had been hurting her a couple days double poling and I made the mistake of pushing her too hard in an interval session and not really understanding the nature of the injury. It set her back.”

However, Stephen wrote in an email that the injury had recovered 100 percent and that she was ready to see what she can do in the season’s first freestyle race. She explained that Friday’s sprint was a “big step forward” in how her body functioned in the race, even though she’s not at full racing shape yet.

“Last weekend was a bit of a tough start for me, and my body and shape are not where I wanted them to be at this point, but the season is long and I have to be patient with these early races,” Stephen wrote. “I am focused on the next two races, making up some time on some people tomorrow and continuing my fight for spots in the 10k classic on Sunday. The courses are really challenging here, with long, hard climbs and fast downhills, so I am excited to see how it will go.”

Full results: Men | women

December 5, 2014
Bjørgen, the ‘Machine,’ Opens Lillehammer Mini Tour with Sprint Win; Norway Sweeps Top 4

Norway’s Marit Bjørgen (yellow bib) leads teammates Maiken Caspersen Falla (l), Heidi Weng (behind) and Celine Brun-Lie (r) into the finish of the women’s 1.3 k freestyle sprint final on Friday at the Lillehammer World Cup mini tour in Norway. Bjørgen dominated every heat from the qualifier on to win the final by 0.76 seconds. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)

Change happens. After four-consecutive seasons of the World Cup opening with the Ruka Triple in Kuusamo, Finland — all of which Marit Bjørgen won outright — Lillehammer, Norway, became the new host of the first mini tour of 2014/2015. And it opened with freestyle sprints on Friday.

Luckily for Bjørgen, skiing on home snow wasn’t a problem. It actually worked out for her quite nicely in the women’s 1.3-kilometer skate sprint. The overall World Cup leader since last weekend, Bjørgen (who won the opening classic sprint in Kuusamo) steamrolled the competition for her second-straight World Cup sprint victory on Friday afternoon.

Overall World Cup leader Marit Bjørgen (Norway) celebrates her second-straight sprint win in the first freestyle sprint of the season on Friday in Lillehammer, Norway. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)

“It is always fun to win. That’s what you train for,” she told NRK after the race. It’s a good thing it doesn’t get old.

To say she was a favorite would be an understatement — but there are never sure-things in racing. Most would put American Kikkan Randall right up there with her, after Randall’s won seven of the last 13 World Cup skate sprints, but it became apparent early on that showdown wasn’t going to play out in Lillehammer, at least not today.

Randall failed to qualify for the rounds after placing 43rd in the morning prelim. She was 12.48 seconds behind Bjørgen, the fastest woman’s qualifier, and 1.63 seconds outside the top 20.

The last time Randall missed out on the heats in a World Cup sprint was four years ago in Kuusamo— and that was a classic sprint. In 2009 in Lahti, Finland, she placed 47th in a freestyle sprint.

“My race shape is not quite 100% yet, and, in combination with battling a cold this week and possibly some tough skis for our team today, I missed advancing to the quarterfinals for the first time since spring of 2009,” Randall wrote in an email. “While this is not what we were all hoping for today, the good news is we get right back at it tomorrow with an individual start skate race. … I always love another chance to get out there and fight again!”

With Randall out of the picture (and Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk out of qualifying in 37th), the next question to be answered was which Norwegian would win the day and by how much. After the morning qualifier, Bjørgen appeared primed for the heats, yet eight of the top 10 women were her teammates, or at least skiing for Norway. In total, 13 of the top 30 qualifying spots went to Norwegian women.

The quarterfinals started off with Bjørgen setting the early pace in the first heat, winning in 3:01.38. Of the five quarterfinal heats, her winning time was fourth-slowest. The fastest quarterfinal belonged to Norway’s Heidi Weng, who won the third heat in 2:59:55, 0.35 seconds ahead of Germany’s Denise Herrmann. In the fourth quarterfinal, Norway’s Therese Johaug pushed the pace up the final long climb back up to the stadium, but didn’t have quite the sprint kick in the finishing stretch and placed third, about half a second behind teammate Ingvild Flugstad Østberg in first (3:02.94) and 0.3 seconds back from Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter in second.

The first women’s semifinal was stacked with three strong Norwegians: Bjørgen, Weng and Celine Brun-Lie, who took second in the second quarterfinal to Norway’s Mari Eide.

Bjørgen set a blistering pace in her semi, treating it more like a final than a qualifying round. She had skied similarly in the quarterfinal, controlling the pace and leading out of the start, but this time, she was out for a definitive win and the fastest time as well. She lead from start to finish and held off Weng by 0.14 seconds in 2:56.42.

Brun-Lie finished third in that semifinal, but moved on a lucky loser with a fast-enough time, along with Slovenia’s Katja Visnar in fourth.

The second heat showcased Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla, the winner of the fifth quarterfinal, and Herrmann. Falla beat out Herrmann in the photo finish in 3:01.51. Leading the race with Falla into the stadium, Østberg narrowly missed out on the final in third (+0.33). Ingemarsdotter dropped off the pace late to finish outside the top three, but nipped Norway’s Ragnhild Haga in a another photo finish for fourth (+2.12).

Of the six women in the final, four were Norwegian: Bjørgen, Weng, Brun-Lie, and Falla. Visnar and Herrmann toed the start line with them.

Now the question was how much energy Bjørgen had left after her rocket-fast semifinal. That was easily answered immediately after the start. She flew out of the gate and never looked back, as Weng led the initial chase, followed by Falla and Brun-Lie. Not far behind them on the first hill, Herrmann and Visnar appeared to conserve at the back.

Halfway through the final, it became clear that the two non-Norwegians simply couldn’t catch the four-woman train ahead of them. Bjørgen continued to lead the charge, with Falla, Weng, and Brun-Lie in tow at the bottom of the last grueling hill. By the top, Bjørgen remained in front, letting the teammates behind her duke it out for the remaining podium spots.

The all-Norwegian women’s skate-sprint podium on Friday in Lillehammer, Norway: winner Marit Bjørgen (l), runner-up Celine Brun-Lie (r) and Heidi Weng (c) in third. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)

Bjørgen won it in 2:55.71 by 0.76 seconds over Brun-Lie, who edged Weng in a photo finish for second. Four-hundredths of a second separated the two, and Falla completed Norway’s top-four sweep in fourth, 1.43 seconds behind Bjørgen. Visnar took fifth (+4.43) and Herrmann finished sixth (+7.57).

Shortly after, FIS Media Coordinator Jeff Ellis was at a loss for words interviewing Bjørgen on camera. “We’ve done this many times. What would you like to answer today?” he said.

“I am very happy today. I was good in the prologue and also in the heats,” she responded. “Thanks to our men in the waxing cabin, it’s amazing how our skis have been in the last week and also this weekend. The shape is very good and today I feel very fast also.”

It was her 84th World Cup win (including stages), according to FIS, and Brun-Lie’s first World Cup podium since two seasons ago in Sochi, Russia.

“It’s been a long time since my last podium,” Brun-Lie told FIS. “I am very grateful for the support I got from the people around me.”

“I’ve had so many downs in recent years,” she told NRK while tearing up, according to a translation. “Now I am very happy.”

Weng said she had fun in the final with Bjørgen and Brun-Lie, despite being a little irked by Bjørgen’s repeated success.

“She’s a machine,” Weng told NRK. “That’s a bit irritating. I was thinking that if I could only hang on over the crest, I should be able to beat her. But she just puts a gap on you right away.”

“She’s a machine and difficult to beat. That’s a bit irritating.” — Heidi Weng, third in Lillehammer skate sprint on Friday, to NRK

“I tried to follow Marit so that she did not ski away too far, but she was very strong,” she told FIS. “I am very happy for the third place. I will try to have a good performance tomorrow and beat Marit.”

Bjørgen is currently first in the Lillehammer “triple” standings with a time of 2:27.5, 6.3 seconds ahead of Brun-Lie and 9.3 second in front of Weng.

Johaug, who didn’t advance past the quarterfinals, currently trails Bjørgen by 32.4 seconds. Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla is 36 seconds back and Kowalczyk 41 seconds behind.

Results | Brackets

December 5, 2014