From the FasterSkier archive — posts syndicated from athletes’ and coaches’ own blogs between 2004 and 2012, kept online as published. Current coverage is at fasterskier.com.
This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.
Jonna Sundling (SWE) during qualification in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Authamayou/NordicFocus)
The World Cup season returned to Finland this weekend, closing a circle that began more than three months ago in Ruka. In the time since Olympic teams were selected, dreams realized or deferred, experience forged, and farewells offered week after week as the long winter wears on. If the stakes in Lahti feel slightly lower than they did earlier in the season, they are tightening in another way — especially in the races for the Crystal Globes.
With only a handful of races remaining in the season, the women’s Freestyle Sprint offered more than just another podium. The fight for both the Sprint Crystal Globe and the Overall Crystal Globe continues to tighten.
In tricky conditions, Sweden’s Jonna Sundling emerged as the day’s winner, navigating the heats with authority before closing out the final to claim victory.
“I think all day it’s been difficult with the conditions because it seems so nice, but when you ski it’s like icing underneath,” Sundling said in a post-race interview with FIS on the broadcast. “There were some challenges with the skiing, but I’m glad that I could ski as I did today and go all the way.”
The victory marked a strong return for Sundling, who said she had recently been dealing with a cold and missed racing in Falun before arriving in Lahti.
One of the most interesting moments of the women’s race came when Kristine Stavaas Skistad (NOR) was disqualified during the semifinals for what appeared to be a very minor incident. She received a yellow card for the incident, and because she was already carrying one from a previous violation, she was disqualified. (Photo: Authamayou/NordicFocus)
A Tactical Sprint Course
The Lahti freestyle sprint course rewarded patience as much as power. After the individual qualification round, the top 30 athletes advanced into the head-to-head heats — five quarterfinals of six athletes each, with the top two finishers and the two fastest “lucky losers” advancing to the semifinals.
From there, the field narrowed again: two semifinal heats would determine the six skiers racing for the win.
While the course appeared straightforward on paper, athletes quickly discovered the conditions made positioning critical. The climb before the final hairpin offered one of the few reliable passing opportunities before the long run to the finish, which saw the race often gather back together around the final corner before the finishing stretch. And throughout the heats, several favorites discovered how narrow the margin for error could be.
Maja Dahlqvist (SWE) got out well, but was unable to advance from the quarterfinals. (Photo: Authamayou/NordicFocus)
Globe Leaders Falter
Two of the athletes who have dominated the sprint standings this season — Maja Dahlqvist (Sweden) and Nadine Fähndrich (Switzerland) — both saw their days end earlier than expected, failing to advance beyond the quarterfinals.
Their early exits added intrigue to the sprint globe race as the season heads toward its final stretch.
Meanwhile, Sundling continued to build momentum, advancing smoothly through her heats despite the difficult snow conditions.
“I’m super motivated,” Sundling said of the final weeks of the season in the broadcast interview. “It’s my favorite time of the year.”
Hilla Niemela (FIN), Johanna Hagstroem (SWE), and Jessie Diggins (USA) (l-r) charge up the opening climb of the Freestyle Sprint in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Authamayou/NordicFocus)
Diggins Attacks, But Falls Short
For the United States, Jessie Diggins came closest to advancing deep into the rounds.
In her quarterfinal, Diggins launched a decisive move on the final climb, surging to the front of the group in an effort to create separation before the tight hairpin turn at the top of the hill. Over the crest, she continued the attack, aggressively no-pole skating the downhill in an attempt to open a gap.
For a moment, the tactic appeared to work.
But the chasing group quickly organized behind her, the draft pulling them back together on the descent into the stadium. Sweden’s Johanna Hagström surged in the final meters, lunging at the line to edge Diggins and end the American’s day in the quarterfinal.
Diggins said the Lahti crowd helped make the experience memorable.
“It was so cool to hear the crowd roaring. There were so many people out, really filling the stadium and along the course. It’s just a very cool environment. It was sunny and beautiful, which made it really fun.
“I was really happy with my energy today. I feel like I skied a pretty good race and did everything I could. But again this year, I feel like I just don’t quite have that ultimate power, especially in the finishing stretch.
“I’m excited for tomorrow and just excited to be finishing out my last stretch here in Europe. That feels really special. It’s kind of cool to take a moment to reflect on my many years spent on the road in Europe. That chapter is coming to a close now, which is really cool and really special. I’m just grateful thinking back on all the memories over all the different years.”
Rosie Brennan (USA) fighting to maintain contact with the group as Gina Del Rio (AND) takes the opening climb out fast during their quarterfinal. (Photo: Authamayou/NordicFocus)
Brennan Knocked Out in Quarterfinal*
Veteran American Rosie Brennan also reached the quarterfinals but was unable to advance.
Lauren Jortberg (USA) on her way to 37th place in qualification in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Authamayou/NordicFocus)
Jortberg Reflects on Qualification Miss
For Lauren Jortberg, the Lahti sprint was a reminder of how thin the margins can be in World Cup qualification.
Jortberg finished 37th in the qualification, just outside the top-30 cutoff needed to advance to the heats. After the race, she said the conditions on the Lahti course made it difficult to find the right balance between glide and stability.
“There was kind of an ice sheet underneath with some sugar on top,” Jortberg told FasterSkier after the race. “So it was hard to find skis that were running really well while also being able to push off and plant well. It made the skiing a little tricky, but that’s pretty typical for what we’ve seen in Lahti the last few years.”
Jortberg also felt she left something on the course in terms of pacing.
“I think I just didn’t pace it very well,” she said. “I probably paced it too much. I didn’t really finish feeling that tired, so that was a bit of a bummer.”
Part of that caution, she explained, stemmed from having dealt with illness in the days leading into the race.
“I had been sick the last week, so I think I held back a little bit,” Jortberg said. “That’s frustrating because I felt really good and I think I could have been competitive today.”
Even so, Jortberg said the past months of racing have helped build confidence as she continues gaining experience on the World Cup circuit.
“One of the big takeaways from these World Cup weekends is that when I can put down a really solid qualifier, I’m very much in the mix,” she said. “Even though today wasn’t a great qualifier, I wasn’t that far out of the heats, so I think that’s something I can take confidence from going into the next few weekends.”
Julia Kern (USA) during qualification. (Photo: Authamayou/NordicFocus)
Julia Kern Trying to Get Back to Form*
Julia Kern, returning to racing after illness following the Olympic Games, placed 44th in the qualification round.
Albrecht Gaining World Cup Experience
Emma Albrecht, competing in her fourth World Cup weekend, finished 48th in the qualification round in Lahti as she continues gaining experience at the highest level of the sport.
Albrecht said one of the biggest adjustments to racing on the World Cup has been the razor-thin margins in sprint qualification.
Emma Albrecht (USA) gaining experience during the qualification in Lahti, Finland. (Photo: Authamayou/NordicFocus)
“The biggest adjustment to racing at this level is how tight the race margins are,” Albrecht told FasterSkier after the race via email. “The U.S. SuperTour field is obviously not as competitive, and it has been a shift — especially in sprinting — to have to have a fast qualifier. You are no longer guaranteed to make heats.”
The Lahti sprint course also served as a reminder of the confidence and technical skills required to compete in crowded sprint fields.
“Today’s qualification reminded me to take up space on the course and not be afraid of a little hop skate,” she said.
Even with the challenges, Albrecht said the experience is fueling motivation heading into the offseason.
“This weekend is making me very excited for summer training,” she said. “A field as deep as this really highlights weaknesses on course. I would love to become a more efficient jump skater and be more confident in my high-speed V2. I’m definitely walking away with a lot of motivation to improve.”
Liliane Gagnon (CAN) charges up the first climb during her quarterfinal, where she narrowly missed advancing to the semifinals. (Photo: Authamayou/NordicFocus)
Canadian Results
Canada’s top performance came from Liliane Gagnon, who finished third in her quarterfinal — just short of advancing to the semifinals.
Teammates Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt and Katherine Weaver placed 43rd and 46th, respectively, in qualification.
Jonna Sundling (SWE) celebrates the win while Coletta Rydzek (GER) and Johanna Hagstroem (SWE) lunge for third behind her. (Photo: Authamayou/NordicFocus)
The Season’s Final Push
With only a handful of races remaining on the World Cup calendar, the results in Lahti could prove important in shaping the final standings.
For Sundling, the victory served as both a return to form and a statement heading into the closing weeks of the season.
“I’m looking forward to the rest of the season,” she said.
For others — particularly those chasing the Crystal Globes — the margin for error continues to shrink.
And with more racing still ahead in Lahti this weekend, the battle for the season-long trophies is far from settled.
*We hope to add more quotes above from athletes if we hear back from them, but wanted to get this race report posted in a timely fashion.
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The night sprint in Davos has a way of making the sport feel louder than it usually allows itself to be. The course is short, the laps repeat, the crowd sees the same faces twice, and the organizers lean into the spectacle—music, lights, flames—until the whole thing starts to resemble a winter street festival that happens to include the fastest skiers in the world. “They deliberately design this event to feel like a rock concert,” U.S. head coach Matt Whitcomb said, pointing to the night racing, the lighting, and the two-lap format that keeps the athletes close and visible.
But the women’s sprint on Saturday didn’t need help finding drama. It had its own: a final that turned into a study in timing and patience, a surprise runner-up, a home-country podium that felt like the whole point of staging a race like this in the first place, and an American women’s team day that—depending on where you stood—looked either like incremental progress or a reminder of how narrow the margins are when you’re trying to turn good skiing into the kind of skiing that survives the heats.
At the front, Jonna Sundling (Sweden) won the women’s sprint free in 2:31.86, edging Mathilde Myhrvold (Norway) by 0.08 seconds (2:31.94). Nadine Fähndrich (Switzerland) rounded out the podium in third at +2.60, a result made sweeter by the route she took to get there: she advanced into the final as a lucky loser and still skied her way onto the podium when it mattered most.
Behind them, the final was saturated with familiar sprint power: Maja Dahlqvist (Sweden) finished fourth, Linn Svahn (Sweden) fifth, and Laura Gimmler (Germany) sixth—three Swedes in a Davos final, again, in a venue that has long amplified Sweden’s particular talent for fast, hard, repeated efforts under bright lights.
Kristine Stavaas Skistad (NOR), Laura Gimmler (GER), Jonna Sundling (SWE), Nadine Faehndrich (SUI), (l-r) during the sprint heats in Davos (SUI). (Photo: Vanzetta/NordicFocus)
A course that asks for control more than courage
Davos is not a long sprint, but it’s demanding in the way short races can be demanding: there’s nowhere to hide, and every mistake is immediate. The compact two-lap circuit rewards rhythm and positioning—especially on the downhill into the technical corner that has been a recurring storyline in Davos when the surface hardens.
Whitcomb, talking about the venue more broadly, framed Davos as a place where experience matters —not only experience racing hard, but racing smart: managing altitude, managing risk, and understanding that “good” in Davos can disappear fast if you’re constantly reacting rather than shaping.
That’s why Sundling’s win felt so Sundling: not flamboyant, not chaotic, but efficient—an athlete with enough power to force the pace and enough composure to let the final come to her.
Mathilde Myhrvold (NOR) and Jonna Sundling (SWE), (l-r) lunge for the sprint final finish line in Davos (SUI). (Photo: Vanzetta/NordicFocus)
The final: Sundling’s patience, Myhrvold’s moment, Fähndrich’s home lift
If you didn’t know the result, you might have expected a Swedish one-two. Sundling and Dahlqvist were both in the final, and Sweden brought three athletes onto the start line. But sprint finals aren’t always about the most decorated name; they’re about who can keep their speed intact after a day of qualifiers, quarters, and semis—after the accumulation of small sprints that feel, by the end, like one long race done in pieces.
Sundling and Myhrvold made the final feel like a contest of timing. Sundling’s skiing had the taut confidence of someone who knows exactly what she wants from the last 200 meters; Myhrvold skied like someone who believed she could take it from her. They hit the line separated by less than a tenth of a second.
And then there was Fähndrich—third, at home, on a night designed for the crowd to matter. If Sundling’s win was clinical, Fähndrich’s podium was emotional in a quieter Swiss way: the sense that the event’s atmosphere wasn’t just decoration; it was fuel.
Julia Kern (USA) and Nicole Monsorno (ITA), (l-r) in the quarterfinals in Davos (SUI). (Photo: Vanzetta/NordicFocus)
The U.S. women: progress, frustration, and the line between them
For the U.S. women, Davos was not the same kind of headline day the men had produced a few hours earlier. But it also wasn’t empty. It was the kind of day coaches talk about carefully: pieces moving in the right direction, while also acknowledging that “right direction” still has to show up in a bracket.
Whitcomb didn’t sugarcoat the overall result. “Honestly, a little lackluster on the women’s side today,” he said, adding that the athletes themselves would agree with that assessment. At the same time, he pointed to specific positives—the kind that matter in the arc of a season.
He said Jessie Diggins “skied competitively” and “narrowly missed advancing,” and he emphasized that the difference between making semifinals and missing them is often a single decision in a single corner. He also singled out Julia Kern as an athlete whose level is rising: “Julia is definitely skiing on another level than she has been for the first couple of weekends,” Whitcomb said, framing it less as a sudden leap and more as a build—more weekends of consistent racing, more reps in heats, more time at speed until the pieces become routine.
Kern’s own description of her day fit that exact narrative: detailed plan, sharper qualifier, more of a feeling of normalcy returning—plus the kind of bad luck sprinting specializes in.
“I’m proud of making a detailed race plan and starting faster in the qualifier today,” Kern said. “I felt much more like myself out there and was able to play the tactical game with some good moves, even though it ended with an obstruction by another athlete. I’m excited to take this fresher energy into tomorrow and build on the endurance base I feel like I have going into the distance race.”
It’s a very Kern quote: pragmatic, technical, forward-looking. Not a lament—more a calibration.
The deeper truth of sprinting is that it doesn’t always reward “feeling better” immediately. Sometimes it rewards it tomorrow, or next week, or in the next venue where a better qualifier and a cleaner first heat finally align. That’s why Whitcomb’s view was pointed but not pessimistic: he sees the level rising, and he sees that the team standard is higher than the day’s outcome.
“We should be putting multiple women in the semifinals,” he said. “And it’s time to start doing that.”
Jessie Diggins (USA) during qualification in Davos (SUI). (Photo: Modica/NordicFocus)
Why Davos matters beyond the podium
Davos is always a little odd in the calendar. It arrives after the first wave of races has introduced the season’s storylines, but before the season has fully decided what it wants to be. It’s high enough to punish sloppy energy management, tight enough to punish poor positioning, and loud enough to make athletes feel—at least for one night—that they’re racing in an arena rather than on a trail.
That can be destabilizing, in a good way. It can pull surprise finalists into the light. It can elevate a lucky-loser path into a podium. It can turn a planned, steady day into a messy one. And it can expose the difference between skiing fast and getting through rounds—a difference that isn’t always about fitness.
For Sweden, Davos once again looked like a venue built for their sprint depth: three in the final, the winner on top. For Norway, Myhrvold’s second place was a reminder that the sport is always producing new sprint threats, even in an era dominated by familiar names. For Switzerland, Fähndrich’s third place felt like the perfect use of home advantage and crowd energy.
And for the U.S. women, it was a day that asked a familiar question: how close is “close,” really?
Kern’s answer—embedded in her quote—was that she’s trending toward the skier she knows she is, and she’s carrying that energy forward into the distance race. Whitcomb’s answer was both sharper and more structural: good signs are not the same as results, but good signs are still worth something if they’re backed by consistent racing.
Recap: Women’s Sprint Free, Davos
Jonna Sundling (SWE) — 2:31.86
Mathilde Myhrvold (NOR) — +0.08
Nadine Fähndrich (SUI) — +2.60
Maja Dahlqvist (SWE)
Linn Svahn (SWE)
Laura Gimmler (GER)
Mathilde Myhrvold (NOR), Jonna Sundling (SWE), and Nadine Faehndrich (SUI), (l-r) share the sprint podium in Davos (SUI). (Photo: Vanzetta/NordicFocus)
The quieter ending Davos can leave you with
By the time the final ends, the flames are still there, the music is still there, and the crowd is still leaning over the fencing as if the night could produce one more surprise. But the athletes are already drifting toward tomorrow—toward the distance race, toward the next chance to turn “better” into “through,” toward the next bracket that won’t care how good your plan was unless it shows up as a place on the right side of the line.
That’s the strange promise of Davos: it amplifies everything. It amplifies winners. It amplifies near-misses. It amplifies the feeling that a season can pivot in a single night sprint—sometimes in front of flames and floodlights, sometimes in a quiet tactical mistake that only the skier can feel.
Sundling won because she was the best sprinter on the night and skied like she knew it. Myhrvold took second because she refused to concede the finish until the last step. Fähndrich climbed onto the podium because sprinting still leaves room for the athlete who keeps the door open long enough to walk through it.
And the U.S. women left Davos with a different kind of narrative—less celebratory, more unfinished. Kern put it plainly: she felt more like herself, she played the tactical game, and she’s taking that energy into tomorrow. In a season built out of weekends, that’s how momentum often begins: not with a single clean headline, but with the gradual return of a feeling an athlete recognizes—and a plan that, sooner or later, stops being interrupted.
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It’s the most wonderful time of the year — or is it? The Tour de Ski has returned, but Devon has some beef with this year’s watered down format. Plus, recaps of the four races we’ve been through so far, including Jessie Diggins sprint win from heat five.
Send feedback, hate mail and love letters to devon@fasterskier.com. You can send love letters to nat@fasterskier.com. See you in a couple of days.
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and the A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com.
The History:
A survey of the last five Olympic cycles shows a clear trend in American women’s sprint results: upward. In the 2002 Games in Salt Lake City, no Americans qualified in the freestyle sprint. Tessa Benoit was the top qualifier in 38th, with an up-and-coming Kikkan Randall next for Team USA in 44th. Randall was then 20 years old.
In the freestyle sprint four years later in Torino, Randall was the only American to qualify for the heats. She was 10th in qualification, then moved to 9th in the final standings. Switching to classic for the 2010 Games in Vancouver, Randall again qualified in 10th to be the only American in the heats, this time racing her way up to eighth.
And then there was Sochi.
The 2014 Games in Sochi were a turning point for the American squad, with all four women qualifying inside the Top-30 in the freestyle sprint. This time, a new name topped the list for qualification: Sophie Caldwell in 9th. Not to be overlooked, USA also had Jessie Diggins 12th, Kikkan Randall 18th, and Ida Sargent 25th.
Racing in her first Olympiad, Caldwell (now Hamilton) entered uncharted territory as she won her quarterfinal to advance into the semis, which she finished in a thrilling boot slide to be 0.1 seconds behind heat winner Ingvild Flugstad Østberg of Norway. Though she crashed in the final, she again moved the needle upward for the Americans by finishing sixth in the final heat.
The remaining American women also finished inside the Top-20, though none made it beyond the quarterfinals. Diggins was 13th, Randall 18th, and Sargent 19th.
The American women’s sprint team prepares for the individual freestyle sprint. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Carrying momentum from these Games through the next Olympic quad, the Americans had three women in the Top-30 for the classic sprint in PyeongChang in 2018, with Sargent just outside in 33rd.
This time it was Diggins in 7th – the top Olympic qualification result of any American woman – with Sadie Bjornsen 9th, and Caldwell 12th.
Despite it being her weaker technique, Diggins raced with confidence, landing in second in both her quarter and semi to advance automatically into the final. Losing touch with the leaders, Diggins repeated Caldwell’s historic result to finish 6th overall.
Perhaps a less apparent victory, Caldwell also raced into the semis, finishing 8th overall after taking third in her semi and missing a lucky loser spot in the final by just 0.18 seconds. Bjornsen was eliminated in her quarter after taking third in her quarter, on the wrong side of the lucky loser mark, but just barely, to end her day in 14th.
Fast forward four years and get excited.
Rosie Brennan (USA) on her way to the 2nd fastest time during qualification. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Sweden’s Jonna Sundling smashed the qualification round of the 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint, setting the mark at 3:09.03. The next name on the list? Rosie Brennan in second (+5.80), ahead of Nadine Fähndrich (SUI) in third (+6.62), Yulia Stupak (ROC) fourth (+7.98), and… Diggins in fifth (+8.69).
Have you been reading closely? Both Brennan and Diggins both exceeded the previous best result in qualification from any American woman in history.
Also posting a strong qualifier, Julia Kern was 14th in qualification (+11.66), rebounding from Saturday’s skiathlon which left her wanting more. The final American starter, Hannah Halvorsen, finished 43rd (+20.10) in qualification – outside the Top-30, but still above Randall’s result from her first Olympic Games 20 years ago.
Jessie Diggins (USA) skis the 5th fastest time during qualification. (Photo: NordicFocus)
You may be wondering about the spread of times; the top-10 were nearly 11 seconds apart. After a quick descent out of the stadium, the course in Zhangjiakou features a 30-meter climb – nearly 100 vertical feet – followed by a sweeping downhill that leads back toward the stadium. From there, athletes face a 14-meter climb back into the stadium, finishing with a gradual rise to the line. Combined with cold dry snow, these factors can contribute to an above-average spread amongst the top qualifiers.
Here we go: the heats.
Brennan lined up alongside Sweden’s Sundling in the first quarterfinal heat. With nerves running high, a false start brought the six women back into the gate after the first starting beep. On the second go, the women pushed through the wands cleanly, but on one of her first doublepole pushes, Brennan caught the edge of her boot, dropping down to her knees and losing any momentum she had picked up as the field rocketed away from her.
Not willing to let the day end there, Brennan collected herself and focused on the task at hand, regaining contact with the group at the bottom of the climb and grinding her way into second position, looking strong as she crested the top of the hill just behind Sundling and rounded the curve to head into the descent.
After stumbling out of the start, Rosie Brennan (USA) charges back to the front of her quarterfinal heat. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Given the effort required for such a comeback, would there be enough left in the tank for the B-climb or had the matches been burned early? With Sundling holding steady in the lead Brennan was challenged by Slovenian sprint champion Anamarija Lampic as the women pushed up the final climb, but found another gear for a commanding second-place finish, +2.4 behind Sundling, but +0.7 ahead of Lampic, who would advance as a lucky loser.
The second heat featured medal favorite Maja Dahlqvist of Sweden, who qualified in sixth. Norway’s Tiril Udnes Weng set the pace, leading up the A-climb with Dahlqvist alongside, and Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva on their tails. Powering out of the B-Climb, Dahlqvist held the advantage at the front, while Nepryaeva and Weng slid over the line in a photo finish for second and third. A closer look showed Weng’s boot accelerate as she reached forward, just in time to nip Nepryaeva at the line by 0.03 seconds for the automatic advancement to the semifinal. The second heat was six seconds slower than the first, leaving Nepryaeva out of the running for a lucky loser spot.
A fast third heat saw Nadine Fähndrich of Switzerland and Maiken Caspersen Falla advance automatically, pulling Germany’s Victoria Carl over the line as the second lucky loser.
Dancing and smiling in the start gate, Diggins got out with a clean start, positioned near the front and looking powerful as the women headed into the downhill curve out of the stadium. Around this curve, she was pushed to the outside as she skied defensively to dodge potential snags with the other skiers’ equipment, leaving the curve near the back of the pack.
Jessie Diggins (USA) leads Emma Ribom (SWE) in the early rounds. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Then, Diggins put on a show up the climb. Steadily moving up along the outside, she was perfectly balanced in a crisp V2 while other were in V1, catching the Swedish leader Emma Ribom. Leading over the top, Diggins kept the pace high to take the sting out of other sprinters. Carrying momentum out of the descent and again holding a strong V2 up the B-Climb, Diggins carried her lead through the finish to win by over 2 seconds, with Ribom next. There was no doubt that Diggins was looking good heading into the semi.
In the final quarter, Julia Kern pushed the pace in the first half, positioning herself in the lead as the pack headed out of the climb. She held her position through the downhill and around the hard right turn, carrying momentum into the hill. Perhaps paying for her efforts early on, Kern was dropped on the final climb as Veronika Stepanova (ROC) and Sofie Krehl (GER) broke away before heading into the stadium. Kern kept herself in the fight, staying in contact with Alina Meier (SUI) through the false flat to the finish, but ended up fourth in the heat, +3.5 back from the leader and behind the mark needed for a lucky loser spot in the semis. A gusty and tactical performance in her first Olympic sprint appearance.
Julia Kern (USA) led her quarterfinal early during the individual freestyle sprint. (Photo: NordicFocus)
To regroup: we now have two Americans in the semi, matching the previous best result from 2018.
Lining up in the first heat of the semis, Brennan got out of the start smoothly, tucking into the back of the back to safely descend out of the stadium and carry momentum out of the left-hand bend and into the A-climb.
Following the effective, albeit unforeseen, strategy from her first round, Brennan pushed her way up the A-Climb, moving from sixth place into the lead. The American kept the effort high as she pulled Sundling, Dahlqvist, Fähndrich. Brennan charged the downhill, stepping powerfully around the right hand bend to head into the B-climb at high speed. In the second climb, the two Swedes, Sundling and Dahlqvist, worked their way around Brennan, with Fähndrich also accelerating. No relief until the finish, Brennan did not let up in the undulating terrain that follows the B-climb, rounding the final curve in fourth place just behind Dahlqvist.
After setting a fast pace for the heat, Rosie Brennan finishes fourth in her semifinal to advance as a lucky loser. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Sundling stretched out the spread of the top-four in the final stretch to take the win in 3:11.94, with Fähndrich second, Dahlqvist third, and Brennan fourth, +1.35 behind Sundling. Brennan’s efforts to keep the pace hot contributed to a lightning fast heat, with Sundling’s time nearly four seconds faster than the top finish in the quarterfinal. This left Brennan in good standing for a lucky loser spot in the final, but she would need to hold her breath to see what the second heat would decide.
The second semi was quick out of the gate, with Sweden’s Ribom leading up the start of the A-climb. Diggins was comfortably tucked into the pack, beginning to set her race plan into action as she V2ed steadily up the side of the track, holding her form longer than the others as she moved into the lead. Nearing the high point, Diggins switched to a rapid tempo V1 with Norway’s Falla matching pace to head out of the climb in first and second.
Diggins sat in a low tuck at the front, stepping around the sweeping left-hander and heading into the B-Climb with Ribom and Falla trying to match pace and challenge at the front. Ribom moved ahead near the top of the climb to lead into the final curve. Diggins sat on the Swede’s tails, with Stepanova alongside. A bobble zapped some of Diggins’ momentum and could have been devastating, but the American kept her composure and stayed upright, staying in contact with Ribom as they headed into the finish lanes.
With Ribom in the lead, Diggins powered toward the finish line to secure a second place auto-qualifier spot for the final. She crossed the line +0.4 behind Ribom’s mark of 3:15.22, with Falla and Stepanova crossing in third and fourth a few meters back.
As the second heat times were roughly four seconds slower than the first, Brennan could let out a sigh of relief. The second lucky loser spot was now hers.
And now, we watch history unfold. Two American women in the final, as Brennan and Diggins set a new mark for the stars and stripes.
The final lineup saw Sundling, Dahlqvist, and Ribom racing for Sweden, alongside Diggins and Brennan, with Fähndrich representing Switzerland in red.
Emma Ribom (SWE), Nadine Faehndrich (SUI), Rosie Brennan (USA) and Maja Dahlqvist (SWE), (l-r) get up to speed at the beginning of the women’s individual sprint final. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Taking charge from the start, Sundling skied with authority, smoothly leading her teammates Dahlqvist and Ribom up the A-climb to put Sweden in first through third heading out of the climb. Diggins was fourth as they crested the high point, with Fähndrich on her tails and Brennan just behind.
Utilizing the speed of her skis and her strength in the downhill, Diggins moved up alongside the Swedes in the descent, looking for position heading into the final climb. Maintaining her command of the race, Sundling rocketed off the front to gap the remaining five women who all remained in contention for a medal leaving the climb.
Ribom quickly fell off the pack, leaving Dahlqvist leading a tight group of four over the undulating terrain that led to the final bend before the stadium. Diggins and Brennan looked to be boxed out as they headed around the final curve in third and fourth, respectively, but the Americans were patient versus panicked, which could put them at risk of a fall.
Coming out of the curve, Diggins accelerated around Fähndrich to challenge Dahlqvist for the silver medal. Brennan followed her teammate to surge past the fading Swiss athlete, setting the stage for a three-way sprint for two podium positions.
Sundling had gold on lock, nearly three seconds ahead as she crossed the finish line in 3:09.68.
Jonna Sundling (SWE) with a commanding victory in the individual freestyle sprint comes to the finish with Rosie Brennan (USA) in the background on her way to fourth. (Photo: NordicFocus)
In her wake, Dahlqvist and Diggins were taking it to the line, with the Swede carrying a slight advantage in the final meters. Still, with Brennan close behind and both Fähndrich and Ribom off the back, the Americans were almost guaranteed their first individual medal in history.
Skiing their fastest splits of the day, Dahlqvist held her ground to the silver medal (+2.88), with Diggins on her right, less than a ski length back for bronze (+3.16).
Jessie Diggins crosses the line in third to earn the first individual Olympic medal in women’s cross country ski history. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Just over a second back, Brennan crossed fourth (+4.49), for the second best individual finish in American women’s history. The Americans maintained a gap to Fähndrich in fifth (+7.21) and Ribom sixth (+11.11).
Diggins collapsed to the ground, overcome by the emotion of what she had accomplished. Perhaps a testament to her team-centric approach, she was heard saying, “Good job, Rosie!” between gasps, as she got back to her feet to immediately hug the coaches, support staff, and teammates that lined the edge of the course.
Jessie Diggins hugs her coaches and teammates after finishing third in the individual freestyle sprint in Zhangjiakou. (Photo: NordicFocus)An emotional Jessie Diggins wraps the American flag around her shoulders after taking bronze in the freestyle sprint. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Tearfully wrapping an American flag around her shoulders, Diggins was aglow as she savored the moment before heading back to the finish to stand alongside Sundling and Dalhqvist for the podium shot.
Jonna Sundling (SWE) takes gold in the freestyle sprint, ahead of Maja Dahlqvist (SWE) and Jessie Diggins (USA). (Photo: NordicFocus)
Though she was the one whose name would be highlighted in history books, Diggins focus on the importance of those around her remained at the forefront as she celebrated the many victories of the American team in today’s event.
“It was so cool to be there with Rosie,” Diggins said in the mixed zone. “She’s skiing so amazingly well… and I’m just so grateful. That’s the overwhelming emotion, because it takes so much from such a huge team to make this happen. And we had obviously amazing skis, but also amazing teammates for years and years and years, helping me train, pushing me, supporting me – amazing coaches, amazing volunteer staff. You can’t even imagine how much it took from so many people, and so I’m just so thankful because I feel like this medal belongs to about 1000 different people. And I hope they really feel that and know that.”
Jessie Diggins takes Olympic bronze in the freestyle team sprint. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Of her approach to the course, Diggins gave a simple response, acknowledging that she has a way of blacking out while having great races, “which is really annoying,” she laughed, “because I’d love to be able to remember exactly what I did.”
“I was just so focused on trying to push as hard as I could,” Diggins explained. “Just trying to ski as well as I could and stay balanced. The snow felt a little greasy, so especially in the finishing lane, just trying to put as much power as I could into every single push. And honestly, that’s all I can remember.”
Jessie Diggins (USA) on her way to the USA’s first ever individual women’s medal in the Olympics. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Perhaps the FasterSkier audience needs no reminder that Diggins came into the 2022 Games as a gold medalist, having won the freestyle team sprint with Kikkan Randall in 2018, a day that brought many Americans, including this writer, to tears. Diggins was asked to reflect on the last four years, and the progress she’s made in her career.
“The last four years, I’ve really found my voice,” Diggins said confidently. “I’ve really found a lot of my purpose, and I feel like I’ve grown a lot. But also, I’m exactly the same person in pretty much every other way. I think one of the big things has been dealing with is the pressure and expectations, because there’s been a lot of it, and it hasn’t been easy. So for me, I think it was such a victory just to make it to the final and know that I’m skiing well. I came into this as prepared as I could be, which one of my biggest goals was to come in prepared. The second goal, cross the finish line with nothing left. And the third goal was to just have fun, and keep focusing on the process, because that’s what gets me where I am today. Like win, lose, or draw, it’s just focusing on the process and, and executing those process goals to the very best of my ability, because then I’m always proud of how I finished. I’m just proud of this effort today as I was at the skiathlon, even though they were different outcomes.”
Jessie Diggins was all smiles as she passed through the mixed zone following her bronze medal performance in the women’s individual sprint. (Photo: Nat Herz/FasterSkier-ADN)
Fourth place at the Olympics – fourth in the world on its most prestigious stage – is both a truly incredible feat and perhaps the most challenging final rank to wrap one’s head around. The “wooden medal”, just shy of the Olympic hardware skiers dream about from their youth.
“Fourth place was hard,” Brennan said honestly in the mixed zone. “You feel really happy and also frustrated at the same time. I have a lot of mixed emotions about it. But I did everything I could today, and maybe not everything went perfectly my way. But I have to be happy with that at the end of the day.”
Jessie Diggins (USA) and Rosie Brennan find their position in the early moments of the women’s final. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Asked what she would have said if four years ago, someone told her she would be in this position, Brennan laughed, “I probably wouldn’t have believed it so much.”
She talked through a rough start to the day, sharing that she has always struggled with start gates and had spent the last six weeks practicing to ensure a clean start.
“So, there I was on the ground, I was like, ‘So much for all that practice.’ But I knew my strength was in the climb, so I just had to pull it back [together] and focus on the all the time I had left and see what I could do to try and make it up.”
On her approach through the heats, Brennan played to her strengths, recognizing she could take the lead, work the hills, and not let her heats unfold as a casual first 1200 meters with a tactical final sprint that might leave her in the dust.
“My strength lies more in the endurance aspect of it,” she explained. “I tried to just keep the pace high so that I could count on being a lucky loser – by having a fast heat time. So that was my strategy in the semifinal, and it worked. Once I got to the final, I tried to then be a little more smart about my racing. I tried to be patient and wait until the last climb. I was a little far back, so I kind of got the door closed on me to make it through. So I had to kind of adjust and go for a strong finish sprint, which isn’t always my strength. But I did all I could do.”
With Ben Ogden racing into the semis in the men’s race, it was an historic day for the American program as a whole. Speaking to this landmark day, Brennan concluded with an inspiring message for those who dream of following in their footsteps.
“I think it shows the growing depth in our country. And I hope it shows a lot of people just to have some patience and keep training, keep going for it. You never know where you’ll end up.”
Jonna Sundling (SWE) takes gold in her first Olympic appearance in the women’s freestyle sprint. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Taking a closer look at the winner, Sundling is the 2018 World Champion in the freestyle sprint. Returning from injury, she has built her way into the season. Though Dahlqvist has shined as the undefeated World Cup star for Sweden, Sundling has crept up alongside, taking second to Dahlqvist in the individual sprint in Dresden, and working together to win the team sprint. Sitting out the Tour de Ski, Sundling beat Dahlqvist in their next matchup in a Scandinavian Cup race in Falun, Sweden.
This is Sundling’s first Olympic appearance, though she and Dahlqvist will be a likely pairing in the classic team sprint next Wednesday.
Once the final rounds were complete, Kern’s final placement was determined to be 18th. This marks a significant step forward from her first appearance in the skiathlon, where she finished 53rd.
Julia Kern (USA), who finished in 18th place overall, pushes to the finish during her quarterfinal round. (Photo: NordicFocus)
“It was really tough out there, but a lot of fun to have a challenging course and give it my all,” Kern told FasterSkier in the mixed zone.
Dahria Beatty 28th in qualification (+14.51) to be the only Canadian woman to make the heats. Beatty raced in the first semifinal, where she finished fifth in the heat to finish 25th on the day.
Just 0.7 seconds off the top-30 mark, Cendrine Browne was 35th in qualification (+15.82) with Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt close behind in 40th (+16.89). Laura Leclair rounded out the Canadian team in 58th (+26.28).
Dahria Beatty (CAN) races in the quarterfinals on her way to 25th place overall. (Photo: NordicFocus)
An Australian dual citizen who is a long-time APU team member, Jessica Yeaton was 52nd (+23.82) in the qualifying round.
Sweden’s Linn Svahn winning the first stage of the 2021 TdS in Val Müstair, Switzerland. (Photo: NordicFocus)
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com.
Out with 2020, in with 2021. Here in the world of multicolored lycra and skinny skis, we are kicking off the new year with the opening of the Tour de Ski on the sprint track of Val Müstair, Switzerland. As snow fell lightly but steadily, the usually remarkable mountain backdrop was veiled, narrowing our focus to the athletes as they embark on the grueling eight stages over ten days that is the TdS.
The two-lap 1.4-kilometer sprint course in the alpen valley featured two punchy climbs per lap leading down into fast and tight S-turns. Small rollers after these turns kept the skiers on their toes as they charged around the course.
Though the Norwegian athletes remain absent from the World Cup and TdS, the Swedish women are back in full force. They made their sprint prowess known in the qualifier, with 26-year-old Maja Dahlqvist setting the fastest time by nearly three seconds in 3:30.86. Seven members of their squad qualified for the heats, with an additional three in the top 10: Linn Svahn in 2nd, Moa Lundgren 4th, and Frida Karlsson in 8th. Though Karlsson is normally known for her distance racing (in particular besting Norway’s dominant Theresa Johaug at last year’s Holmenkollen 30 k), her possession of the green U23 Overall World Cup leader bib evidenced that she was not to be dismissed as a contender for the stage.
Wearing the yellow Overall World Cup leader bib, Rosie Brennan was the top American qualifier in 5th (+4.38), followed by Hailey Swirbul in 13th (+8.65), Jessie Diggins in 14th (+8.96), Sophie Caldwell Hamilton in 16th (+9.77), and Julia Kern in 25th (+12.61).
Brennan raced in a stacked first heat of the quarterfinals, racing against two of the top Swedes, Dahlqvist and Lundgren, in addition to Russia’s Natalia Nepyaeva, teammate Kern, and Switzerland’s Laurien van der Graaff. Brennan stayed near the front and in position to advance from the get-go, but couldn’t break from the lead group of four. She finished in a three-way photo finish with Nepyraeva and Lundgren, taking third but snagging a lucky loser spot allowing the threesome to all advance into the semis.
Jessie Diggins finding her form in Val Müstair, Switzerland where she placed second overall in the TdS stage 1 sprint. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Also advancing from the quarters from the fifth heat, Diggins held a position near the front throughout her heat, showing with her lightning-fast tempo that she intended to advance. She pushed Karlsson and Italy’s Greta Laurent break from the remainder of the group. In the second lap, Diggins had the fastest V1 cadence on the climbs and stayed smooth in the descents, priming herself for good positioning in the final sprint to win the quarter.
Ending their day after the quarters, Caldwell Hamilton marked Swedes Svahn and Emma Ribom. In her usual calm, cool, collected manner, she skied smoothly through the S-turn and tucked in comfortably on Ribom’s tails. Despite great position coming into the final lanes, Caldwell Hamilton could not quite overtake Ribom and finished centimeters behind for third in the heat. Swirbul stayed close to the leaders but was unable to fight for the top two and ultimately ended the heat in third also. Neither heat was fast enough to obtain a lucky loser spot.
Sophie Caldwell (bib 16) qualified in 16th and placed 16th overall in Friday’s skate sprint. (Photo: NordicFocus)Hailey Swirbul, here in bib 13 during stage 1 of the 2021 Tour de Ski, placed 15th overall. (Photo: NordicFocus)
On to the semifinals. Racing on home soil in the tight first heat, Nadine Fähndrich (SUI) edged out her opponents for the win in a three-way photo finish with Slovenia’s Anamarija Lampic and Sweden’s Dahlqvist. Considering Lampic and Fähndrich both finished in the top four of the last two freestyle sprints in Davos and Dresden, this result serves as a testament to the depth of the sprint field in those venues despite the lack of Swedes, Finns, and Norwegians.
Brennan and Diggins took off in the second heat, marking Swedes Svahn and Karlsson who held the front in the first lap. In the second lap, Brennan upped the tempo on the climbs, while Diggins pushed over the top and worked the downhill, free skating out of the rollers and putting herself into position to charge down the lanes ahead of Karlsson to hold onto the second position and a secure advance to the final.
Frida Karlsson (SWE), Jessie Diggins (USA), Greta Laurent (ITA), (l-r) during stage 1 of the 2021 TdS. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Fighting for millimeters, Karlsson and Brennan were just behind in third and fourth. Both squeaked through as lucky losers, but only just as Brennan’s time was a mere 0.1 seconds faster than the next fastest time.
The pace stayed hot and the pack stayed tight in the first lap of the final. Diggins and Brennan stayed in the mix near the middle of the pack and in contention for the podium.
As the racers rounded the bend into the second lap, Svahn began firing on all cylinders, taking off at the front with Lampic and Fähndrich marking her from a couple ski lengths back. Just when the top-3 positions seemed locked up, Lampic and Fähndrich brushed skis in the downhill S-turn causing Fähndrich to crash, losing sight of the podium. Svahn continued to hammer, flying down the final stretch to take the win with Lampic nearly a second behind her.
Seizing the opportunity, Diggins nimbly dodged around the downed Fähndrich, hopping over her pole and hitting the gas to drop a chasing Karlsson and snag third.
Linn Svahn during qualification in Val Müstair, Switzerland. (Photo: NordicFocus)
“I didn’t know how I’d feel in high altitude,” Svahn told FIS after the race. (Val Müstair sits above 4000 ft.) “I tried to take the first lap to get into my own zone and technique, then I tried to push all I had in the last uphill since the other girls were going really strong beside me.”
FIS also asked about Svahn’s goals for the tour ahead.
“I try to focus on each race, and now I’ll just focus on getting my legs working again after these tracks,” Svahn said with a tired laugh.
After a lengthy review, during which Diggins demonstrated the importance of staying on top of nutrition during the arduous tour by refueling with a bowl of pasta on the sidelines, Lampic was deemed to have interfered and was disqualified. This moved Diggins into the second position on the podium, with Karlsson stepping into third.
“Today was a fun way to start 2021,” wrote Diggins in a post-race email to FasterSkier. “But I think it’s important for me to say that I’m equally as proud of my all-out effort and our team today as I am when I’m not on the podium! It was just another day of giving it my absolute best effort, but the patience and trust in the training plan that Cork and I set down together has been paying off and my race form is coming into sharper focus now.”
Jessie Diggins finishing second overall on Friday’s stage 1 sprint. (Photo: NordicFocus)
So far this season, Diggins had a near miss at the podium with a 4th place at the individual sprint in Dresden and was unable to advance from the quarterfinals in Davos after getting boxed out on a curve just before the final straightaway. Today marks her first podium of the season in sprint or distance.
“The final was exciting, for sure,” she wrote. “I fell behind a bit on the steep climb, and was working my way down the downhill sections with as much speed as I could when I saw Nadine go down and slide around the corner in front of me. I didn’t want to hit her (or break her equipment, or my own) so I jumped over her pole while rounding the corner! In sprinting you can get lucky or be the recipient of incredibly bad luck, and today the luck definitely came my way (and I’m grateful for it).
“It was so exciting to have Team USA be 1/3 of the women’s final,” concluded Diggins. “And for myself, it was exciting to be out there having fun, not putting pressure on myself but still skiing with confidence and enjoying the banked turns and rollers all at the same time.”
Rosie Brennan (l) and Jessie Diggins in Val Müstair, Switzerland after the first stage of the TdS. (Photo: NordicFocus)
“It was a surreal day to be starting the Tour de Ski with the yellow bib,” Brennan wrote in a post-race email to multiple news outlets. “My one goal was to fight with what I had and I felt I did that well so I am proud of my effort out there today. I still have to remind myself just how far my sprinting has come and not change my expectations so quickly. This was only my second final ever and I am just so excited by the gains I’ve made.
“This might be the hardest sprint course I have ever raced,” Brennan continued. “It’s long, at altitude, and had some slow snow out there today. With that in mind, I tried to keep things under control, but also use my strengths. I had a near miss in the quarterfinal and was really happy about my quick acceleration in the finish after getting stopped up. I worked hard in the semi to keep the pace high to ensure our heat would have lucky losers which I then benefited from. However, I was pretty beat by the time we got to the final. I tried to open up on the second lap, but there wasn’t much there. I stayed out of trouble and for that was rewarded another two places. That’s a sprint race for you…That was a tough start to the Tour so the focus will now be on recovery to get ready for tomorrow and all the races to come. It’s also very cool to note that we had our 4th different girl on the podium in just 4 weeks of racing. Our team is really working hard to get through this tough season together and support one another as we navigate the world.”
Outside the top 30, Katharine Ogden finished 49th in the qualifier (+20.07), followed by Caitlin Patterson in 57th (+22.25).
Jessie Diggins leads the pack during the team sprint in Dresden, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com.
Another lovely spring-like day in Dresden, Germany with vibrant green grass contrasting the ribbon of man-made snow along the Elbe River bank. On course in the women’s team sprint final, a ten-team affair became a relative runaway as it concluded.
For the uninitiated and new to the team sprint concept, two-athletes form a team, and they tag off to one another six times each. In other words, each athlete races a .65 k lap (one time around the Dresden course) and tags off to their partner. Each partner races six 0.65 k laps for a total of 7.8 k for the team. It is dizzying. And yes, it can seem like a blur of Lycra and skis and poles. Roller derby meets cross-country ski refinement is one way to describe it.
At the race’s midpoint, the racing blur was led by an upstart team from China, pulling the pack along in their yellow and red highlighted suits. Switzerland I, U.S. I, Slovenia, Russia I, and Germany I were separated by 2.8 seconds. Just enough time back for those in the rear to keep hope alive, and for viewers to see that no real breakaway and podium locks had been determined. We’ll call it semi-scrum in its organization.
Dinigeer Yilamujiang of China leads the women’s pack halfway through the team sprint in Dresden, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
5.2 k into the race, at the eighth exchange, Russia I played their hand as they burned fuel upfront. The race became a four-team affair with Russia I setting the pace, and Switzerland I, Slovenia, and the U.S. racing in the slipstream. This trend continued with the U.S. falling off slightly at 6.5 k, 1.4 seconds back. Not much time, but in a team sprint event, when drafting and maintaining a lock on those in front are key, it can appear to be a mighty gap.
Russia I continued it’s work up front and the pattern was set on the final tag. With 0.7 k to go, the Russians were up 2.3 seconds on the Swiss, 2.5 seconds on Slovenia, and 2.6 seconds on the U.S.
Natalie Nepryaeva of Russia takes charge in the second half during the team sprint in Dresden, Germany. Caldwell Hamilton tucks in just behind. (Photo: NordicFocus)
In that final lap, Fähndrich for the Swiss, reeled in Russia’s Nepryaeva, who at the onset seemed uncatchable, seized control of the front and took the win in 16:38.34 minutes. Nepryaeva crossed 0.32 seconds back to secure second for Russia I. Lampic crossed 1.12 seconds back for Slovenia’s third place. Caldwell Hamilton, slightly off the pace, finished in fourth (+3.01) for U.S. I.
Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich celebrates bringing home a team sprint victory with partner Laurien Van Der Graaff. (Photo: NordicFocus)
“I felt very good and saw that Natalia [Nepryaeva] was already a bit tired and I could catch up a lot from behind. So I had a very good feeling, and was hoping and fighting to make it happen today,” said Fähndrich to Swiss broadcaster SRF about her team’s last loop.
Laurien Van Der Graaff and partner Nadine Fähndrich take the win for Switzerland in the team sprint in Dresden, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Van der Graaff, Fähndrich’s teammate, added, “I knew I had to send off Nadine in a good position. So I fought and suffered on my last leg, and talked to myself the whole time ‘come on, just a little bit more until I can tag off to her’. We already saw yesterday that she’s in great shape, she’s the strongest athlete at the moment. And I knew in the end she’d make it.”
The women’s podium of the team sprint in Dresden Germany. Switzerland’s Laurie Van Der Graaf and Nadine Fähndrich took the win with Russia’s Yulia Stupak and Natalia Nepryaeva in second, and Eva Urevc and Anamarija Lampic of Slovenia in third. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Sophie Caldwell Hamilton marks the leader around the bend during the team sprint in Dresden, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
“We fought hard out there, and I am so proud of all our teams for giving it out best effort!” wrote Diggins in a post-race email. “Personally I struggled a bit with positioning on such a short and tactical loop, but I was proud of how I held my own in city sprinting on a course that challenged me in different ways! I thought we had great skis and it’s nice to feel that we’re working our way into better and better racing form.”
Both Caldwell Hamilton and Diggins were coming off of strong performances on the course in yesterday’s individual sprint event, finishing 2nd and 4th, respectively. Both seemed well matched for the flat and spicy course, with tight corners where the manmade snow crumbles to a dicey sugar.
Jessie Diggins in control over the rollers during the team sprint in Dresden, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
“It was fast and furious out there today, as Dresden always is,” emailed Caldwell Hamilton. “I think Jessie and I both wanted to fight for a podium today and knew we were capable of it, but this race is a wild card and I think overall we skied quite well. For me personally, I always look back at these Dresden team sprints and wish I had skied more aggressively, but with so much carnage out there, you’re riding a fine line between aggressive and risky, so that sweet spot can be tricky to find. In hindsight, we can always find a small thing or two we would have done differently, but it’s still an effort I’m proud of and any time I get to team up with Jessie is an honor. Dresden hosted an exciting weekend as usual and now I’m looking forward to a little Christmas break in Seefeld!”
Jessie Diggins and Sophie Caldwell Hamilton celebrate a 4th place finish in the team sprint in Dresden, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Hannah Halvorsen and Julia Kern placed eighth in the final, 12.35 seconds off the winning time. The duop advanced to the final after placing fifth in the first semi-final. The top five teams from each semi advance to the finals.
Hannah Halvorsen faces off with Germany’s Laura Gimmler during the team sprint in Dresden, Germany. (Photo: NordicFocus)
A quick look to the overall standings as Period 1 draws to a close: Despite sitting out the city sprints in Dresden, Rosie Brennan is still in charge of the yellow bib with 377 points. Missing this World Cup stop was part of Brennan’s season plan. Russia’s Tatiana Sorina trails by 41 points in second (334 pts), followed by Norway’s Therese Johaug in third (301 pts).
Rosie Brennan was all smiles after her first World Cup victory and podium in Davos, Switzerland. Photo: NordicFocus
This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com.
With a thick, fresh coat of fluffy white snow that fell over the last week, Davos, Switzerland looked regal as ever despite the smaller field and lack of spectators for today’s 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint. FIS described conditions as hard-packed, elevating what Sophie Caldwell Hamilton, who landed on the podium in Davosthe last two years, called in a pre-race interview with FIS as a “technical and tactical” two lap course. Pumping music and cheering coaches, though perhaps a muted version of the norm, made the stadium feel significantly more full than the no-spectator reality.
With the Scandinavian teams out of the running as they withdrew from the December rounds of the World Cup due to Covid-19 concerns, it would be easy to focus on who did not in Davos. Let’s instead focus on who did.
Rosie Brennan during the skate sprint qualification in Davos, Switzerland. Brennan won the qualifier – a career-best for the American. (Photo: Nordic Focus)
On a roll this season, Rosie Brennan won the qualifier by 1.75 seconds in a time of 2:40.03. Rounding out the Americans in the finals, Caldwell Hamilton took second, Diggins fifth, Julia Kern 10th, and Hailey Swirbul 18th.
Jessie Diggins racing to 5th in the Davos sprint qualifier. (Photo: Nordic Focus)
In the quarterfinals, Caldwell Hamilton faced off with Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich in what would be the fastest heat. The pack stayed together in the first lap, but the two peeled off to finish comfortably off the front, Fähndrich in the lead.
The next heats were much closer. Brennan finished second in a pack of four behind Slovenia’s sprint star Anamarija Lampic in heat two, and after taking the lead in the second lap, Kern won the third heat.
Jessie Diggins (left) leads Julia Kern (bib 10) at the front of the group during the quarterfinal of the 1.5 k sprint in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Dropping into a tuck on the last descent and on Kern’s tails in the fast and furious final turn into the stadium, Diggins was in a tough position. Rather than putting herself in position for the sprint to the finish, she maneuvered to avoid tangling skis with Kern and lost some of her momentum. Despite powering down the straightaway and throwing her boot, she took third in the heat and was not fast enough to earn a lucky loser spot.
Round the bend, Julia Kern in the lead heading into the final straight during the quarterfinal of the 1.5 k skate sprint in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Swirbul was also eliminated in the quarters after taking fourth in her heat.
Hailey Swirbul climbs amidst the pack during the quarterfinal of the 1.5 k skate sprint in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo: NordicFocus)
In the semis, the three remaining American women lined up together in a stacked first heat with Lampic and Fähndrich. Brennan and Caldwell Hamilton held strong in the middle of the group while the Swiss and the Slovene set the pace. The foursome stayed tight, jockeying for positions in the second lap.
It was anyone’s game in the final straight, but Fähndrich held the others off on home turf to win the heat with Lampic and Brennan in a photo finish for second and third, respectively, behind her and Caldwell half a ski length further back in fourth. Both were able to secure lucky loser positions to advance into the final. Kern was eliminated after finishing 6th in the heat.
To the line, Rosie Brennan (L) leads Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich and teammate Sophie Caldwell Hamilton in the final sprint during the semifinal of the rounds in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo: NordicFocus)
Eva Urevc of Slovenia and Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia advanced from the second heat of the semifinals.
Fähndrich and Lampic again took the pace out hot in the final round, but Brennan kept herself in the mix. Challenging Fähndrich, she powered into the lead on the final climb, cresting the hill in front and dropping into a tuck on the downhill. Brennan held her lead out of the final turn and into the straightaway, but Lampic, Fähndrich and Nepryaeva were close on her tails.
Adrenaline pumping and poles lashing, Brennan held her lead by a narrow margin, pumping her fist in the air as she crossed the finish line in 2:37.36, breaking into a wide grin as she gasped for air.
Rosie Brennan celebrates her victory and first World Cup podium after the freestyle sprint in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo: NordicFocus)Rosie Brennan celebrates her victory and first World Cup podium after the freestyle sprint in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo: NordicFocus)
“It’s wild,” Brennan told FIS after the race. “I’ve never considered myself a sprinter, so to find myself on the podium is something I couldn’t even dream of.”
Lampic finished on her tails in second (+0.28), with Nepryaeva and Fähndrich in a photo finish for the final podium spot. They finished third (+0.49) and fourth respectively (+0.53).
The women’s podium at the 1.5 kilometer skate sprint in Davos, Switzerland. (Left to right) Anamarija Lampic (SLO) 2nd, Rosie Brennan (USA) 1st, Natalia Nepryaeva (RUS) 3rd. (Photo: NordicFocus)
After losing contact with the lead group, Caldwell Hamilton finished fifth (+6.83), with Urevc behind in sixth (+15.58).
FasterSkier spoke with Brennan while she awaited a blood draw at antidoping. Still euphoric, Brennan recounted her day and a result that she called “pretty unbelievable” and hadn’t fully set in. In fact, she thought there may have even been a mistake in the timing when she saw her name at the top of the qualifying list. Brennan also discusses training separately with clubs throughout the season, then coming together as a full American squad in Europe.
Post-race interview with Rosie Brennan.
Exhale. Sophie Caldwell in the mix during the heats of the 1.5 k skate sprint in Davos, Switzerland. (Photo: Nordic Focus)
In a post-race interview, Caldwell Hamilton discussed her own strategy to keep herself out of risk of becoming tangled up with other skiers while staying in contention throughout the heats. She also shared how significant today’s results are for the team as a whole, regardless of the presence of the Scandinavian teams.
Post-race interview with Sophie Caldwell Hamilton.
Hannah Halvorsen, qualifying in 38th, in her first World Cup since suffering devastating injuries when she was hit by an automobile in 2019. (Photo: Nordic Focus)
Returning to the World Cup just over a year after being struck by a car and sustaining severe injuries, Hannah Halvorsen placed 38th in today’s qualifier. Halvorsen provided an optimistic comment on how she feels after her first race.
“It was such a thrill to be able to get back on the race course,” wrote Halvorsen in an email. “I was both nervous and excited going into today’s race because I wanted to put down my best race. Everything went really well today so I am quite happy. Thanks to the coaches and wax techs, I had great skis and support. This feels like a great starting point, and I hope to improve off of this as the season continues. It is such an opportunity and honor to be here. The US team performed incredibly well today, and I couldn’t be more proud to be a part of this team.”
Post-race interview with U.S. Head Coach Matt Whitcomb.
Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen (c) after winning the women’s 10-kilometer classic individual start on Sunday in Cogne, Italy. Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich (l) placed second and Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva third. (Photo: FIS Instagram screenshot)
FIS Cross Country World Cup 10 k/15 k Classic Individual Start Cogne, Italy
World Cup athletes returned to the Cogne race venue on Sunday for a men’s and women’s classic interval start race. In the women’s 10 k, Finland’s Kerttu Niskanen, won in a time of 27:24.8. Finishing just 3 seconds behind her for second place was Swiss skier, Nadine Fähndrich. Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva claimed third, 12.6 seconds behind the winner.
Racing for the U.S., Rosie Brennan led the way in 21st (+1:19.6) followed by Caitlin Patterson in 36th (+1:49.6), Rosie Frankowski in 37th (+1:55.2), and Julia Kern in 39th (+1:59.2).
Finishing just 13.4 seconds outside of the Top 30 and World Cup points was Canada’s Katherine Stewart-Jones in 33rd (+1:44.6).
Cendrine Browne, also racing for Canada, placed 48th (+2:49.0), while the U.S.’s Ida Sargent finished just behind her in 49th (+3:12.3). Canadian Emily Nishikawa started Sunday’s 10 k race but dropped out after the 8.2 k mark.
Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov (c) after winning the men’s 15-kilometer classic individual start on Sunday in Cogne, Italy. Finand’s Iivo Niskanen (l) placed second and Russia’s Alexander Bessmertnykh in third. (Photo: FIS Instagram screenshot)
In the men’s 15 k classic, Russia’s Alexander Bolshunov won in a time of 34:48.4. Iivo Niskanen of Finland–and sibling to the women’s winner, Kerttu–placed second in the men’s competition, finishing 43.7 seconds behind Bolshunov. Sunday’s third and final podium spot went to Alexander Bessmertnykh of Russia, who finished 55.9 seconds back from his teammate and the overall winner.
Alex Harvey of Canada finished 10th (+1:40.7) and American Erik Bjornsen 16th (+1:54.8), 14.1 seconds outside of the Top 10.
Also skiing for the U.S. and scoring World Cup points was Kyle Bratrud in 26th (+2:21.1).
American David Norris finished 9.3 seconds outside of the Top 30 and World Cup points in 33rd (+2:52.2). Two more U.S. skiers competed on Sunday, with Scott Patterson finishing in 43rd (+3:36.8) and Adam Martin in 50th (+3:56.3).
Canadians Evan Palmer-Charrette and Scott James Hill placed 56th (+4:17.0) and 58th (+4:20.6), respectively.
Single Mixed relay winners, Lukas Hofer and Dorothea Wierer of Italy. (Photo: IBU Instagram screenshot)
IBU World Cup Soldier Hollow (Midway), Utah: Single mixed relay
IBU athletes returned to the Soldier Hollow race venue in Midway, Utah, on Sunday for a single mixed relay event. The Italian pairing of Lukas Hofer and Dorothea Wierer claimed the victory in a time of 35:27.9. In the first leg, Hofer missed two shots (0+1 0+1) clocking in at 7:41.2. Wierer completed the next leg in a time of 16:06.0 after one miss. In the third leg, Hofer again missed two shots and tagged off to Wierer at 24:02.6. In her final leg, Wierer once again missed one shot (0+1 0+0). https://newswire.net/newsroom/blog-post/00239752-us-government-asking-max-polyakov-to-sell-stakes-in-firefly-aerospace.html
Finishing 22.9 seconds back from the winners was Austria’s pairing of Lisa Theresa Hauser and Simon Eder in second place, with a team total of two penalties (0+0 0+2).
Third place went to the French team of Antonin Guigonnat and Julia Simon, who finished 50.2 seconds back from the winners with a team total of nine missed shots (0+3 1+5).
Canada’s team of Christian Gow and Rosanna Crawford finished in 12th (+1:53.6) with 12 misses (0+5 0+7). Racing for the U.S., Sean Doherty and Susan Dunklee were 14th (+2:03.1) after skiing a total of 15 penalties (0+6 2+7).
American Jessie Diggins (center) after winning the women’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint in Cogne, Italy. Germany’s Sandra Ringwald (l) placed second and Sweden’s Johanna Hagström in third.
FIS Cross Country World Cup 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint Cogne, Italy
Amidst sunshine and sporting rolled up sleeves on Saturday in Cogne Italy, American Jessie Diggins took the women’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint win in nail-biter fashion. After making it into the semifinals and the final as one of the day’s lucky losers, Diggins outlunged Germany’s Sandra Ringwald by 0.11 seconds, claiming the victory in a time of 3:32.73.
The 27 year old Afton, Minnesota native now has six individual World Cup sprint podiums, Saturday marking her first individual World Cup sprint victory (not to be forgotten is the gold medal Diggins and Kikkan Randall won in the team sprint during last year’s Pyeongchang Olympic Winter Games).
Following Diggins, Ringwald placed second (+0.11), Sweden’s Johanna Hagström third (+0.86), and Norway’s Ane Appelkvist Stenseth was fourth (+1.31). American Sadie Bjornsen also advanced all the way to the final on Saturday where she placed fifth, 2.23 seconds back from Diggins’ winning time. The sixth finalist on Saturday was Eva Urevc of Slovenia, who crossed 2.32 seconds back from Diggins.
In her strongest individual World Cup sprint result yet, Julia Kern of the U.S. raced to an 11th place. Prior to Saturday, Kern’s best individual World Cup finish in a sprint was 19th, which she earned at this year’s freestyle sprint in Dresden, Germany.
Three more U.S. woman finished in the top 30, with Sophie Caldwell placing in 17th followed by Ida Sargent in 24th and Rosie Brennan in 27th.
American Kelsey Phinney finished 1.03 seconds outside of qualification, ending the day in 33rd overall.
Four Canadian women raced on Saturday, with Dahria Beatty leading the way in 38th. The next Canadian finisher after Beatty was Cendrine Browne in 48th, followed by Maya Macisaac-Jones 49th and Katherine Stewart-Jones 51st.
Italy’s Federico Pellegrino (c) after winning the men’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint on Saturday in Cogne, Italy. His teammate, Francesco de Fabiani (l) placed second and France’s Lucas Chanavat third. (Photo: FIS Instragram screenshot)
On the men’s side, Italians Federico Pellegrino and Francesco de Fabiani put on a show for the home crowd, with Pellegrino taking the win in a time of 3:09.07 and his teammate de Fabiani earning second (+0.48) by 0.03 seconds after a photo finish with France’s Lucas Chanavat, who placed third (+0.51).
After narrowly avoiding a crash in his semifinal, American Simi Hamilton advanced to the final, ending the day just off the podium in fourth (+3.91). Following Hamilton was Norway’s Sondre Turvoll Fossli in fifth (+4.03) and Sweden’s Marcus Grate in sixth (+27.90).
Racing for Canada, Russell Kennedy was the next top North American finisher in 11th. Following Kennedy was American Andy Newell in 23rd and the U.S.’s Logan Hanneman in 27th. Kevin Bolger qualified for the fourth quarterfinal, but did not start and ended the day in 30th.
Erik Bjornsen of the U.S. Ski Team placed 39th while Canada’s Alex Harvey ended the day in 48th and Evan Palmer-Charrette 59th.
Germany’s Denise Herrmann winning the women’s IBU 10 k pursuit on Saturday at the SoHo venue in Midway, Utah. (Photo: IBU Instagram screenshot)
IBU World Cup Soldier Hollow (Midway), Utah: 10/12.5 k pursuit
International Biathlon Union (IBU) competition has returned to the famed Soilder Hollow (SoHo) race course venue in Midway, Utah for the first time in 17 years–the last time IBU/World Cup level competitions were held there was back in 2002, when Salt Lake City played host to the Winter Olympic Games.
The IBU’s third day of competition in SoHo brought on a 10-kilometer pursuit for the women. Germany’s Denise Herrmann won the event in a time of 28:03.4 after skiing two penalties (0+0+1+1). Franziska Hildebrand, also of Germany, claimed second, finishing 4.2 seconds behind Herrmann with one missed shot (0+0+0+1).
Racing for Finland, Kaisa Mäkäräinen placed third, 16.5 seconds back from the winner with three misses (2+0+1+0).
Susan Dunklee was the top North American woman, finishing in 26th (+2:34.5) with one miss (0+0+0+1). Just 0.4 seconds back from Dunklee in 27th (+2:34.9), was U.S. skier, Clare Egan with three missed shots (0+0+2+1).
Rosanna Crawford of Canada placed 34th (+2:48.2) after skiing three penalties (0+1+0+2) and U.S. skier Joanne Reid finished 40th (+4:11.9) after skiing two penalties (0+1+1+0). Canada’s Sarah Beaudry placed 44th (+4:33.2) after two missed shots (0+0+1+1) and Emma Lunder, also racing for Canada, placed 51st (+5:41.3) after skiing six penalties (2+2+2+0).
Quentin Fillon Maillet (c) after winning the men’s IBU World Cup 12.5-k pursuit at the SoHo venue in Midway, Utah. Norway’s Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen (l) placed second and Simon Desthieux, also of France, placed third. (Photo: IBU Instagram)
In the men’s 12.5-kilometer pursuit, France’s Quentin Fillon Maillet claimed the win in a time of 30:55.8 after shooting 100 percent. Norway’s Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, who earned his first IBU World Cup win on Friday, placed second in Saturday’s pursuit, finishing 25.9 seconds behind Fillon Maillet and missing just one shot (0+1+0+0).
Simon Desthieux, also of France, placed third on Saturday, finishing 47.3 seconds back from the winner after skiing three penalties (0+1+1+1).
Racing for Canada, Christian Gow placed 8th (+2:21.2) after shooting clean. American Sean Doherty finishing two places behind Gow in 10th (+2:22.8) with three misses (0+3+0+0). Canadian Scott Gow, Christian’s brother, placed 25th (+3:58.5) after skiing four penalties (1+1+2+0).
Also racing for Canada, Aidan Millar finished in 39th (+5:25.1) with five missed shots (2+0+1+2).
Minneapolis SuperTour 20 k/15 k mass start classic
The SuperTour returned to racing on Saturday in Minneapolis, Minnesota with a 15/20 k classic mass start. The men’s 20-kilometer event was won by Northern Michigan University (NMU) skier, Zak Ketterson in a time of 54:08.0. Ben Lustgarten skiing for the Craftsbury Green Racing Project (CGRP) placed second, 0.9 seconds behind Ketterson. Norwegian Mathias Rolid, also skiing for NMU, placed third, 15.8 seconds behind the race winner.
In the women’s 15 k event, Kaitlynn Miller of the CGRP won in a time of 50:17.1. Skiing for the Stratton Mountain School T2 team was Alayna Sonnesyn in second place (+25.1). Liz Guiney (CGRP) claiming third (+30.6).
An all Swedish podium, from left to right: Jonna Sundling, Stina Nilsson and Maja Dahlqvist after the women’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint in Dresden, Germany. (Garrott Kuzzy /LumiExperiences.com)
With the 2019 Tour de Ski complete, World Cup athletes returned to competition on Saturday for a 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint. The race took place in the city of Dresden, Germany–an icy, two lap sprint course along the Elbe river offered racers the non-traditional backdrop of cathedrals and other gothic architecture. Temperatures hung around 40 degrees Fahrenheit on Saturday and the snow that was trucked in to cover the streets made for a hard packed, icy racecourse. Wind gusts between 15 and 25 mph added another challenge to those competing.
“It was really windy, so I just wanted to save some energy the first lap and be in a good position the whole last lap,” Sweden’s Stina Nilsson said during an interview with the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Nilsson went on to take the overall win, finishing the final first in a time of 3:48.49 after also winning both her quarterfinal and semifinal. The 25 year old Swede now has 16 individual World Cup sprint titles, this being Nilsson’s fourth successive sprint win in a row.
Two more Swedes finished on the podium, with Maja Dahlqvist claiming second (+0.24) and Jonna Sundling third (+0.54) after she bested Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich by 0.02 seconds in a photo-finish.
“When I realized there were three [Swedish] girls on the podium I was really happy because we have such a strong team and I am really proud to be a part of it,” Nilsson told FIS after the race.
The podium finish is Dahlqvist’s fourth in the individual top three at the World Cup level. Last year in the Dresden sprint, the 24 year old placed second (then to her teammate Hanna Falk). Dahlqvist has yet to win an individual World Cup sprint.
Following Fähndrich’s fourth place finish (+0.56) was American Sophie Caldwell in fifth (+2.61). Caldwell started the day with the second fastest qualifying time of 3:42.34, Sweden’s Hanna Falk posting the fastest qualifier in a time of 3:41.85. The U.S. skier went on to cross second in her quarterfinal, which was won by Fähndrich, and then second again in her semi final, this time to Nilsson.
In the final, Caldwell remained in contact with the group for the first two thirds of the race. Until the race’s midway mark, she was positioned in third, just behind Sundling and Fähndrich who led the first half of the final. Cornering into the last half kilometer, Slovenia’s Alenka Cebasek fell and Nilsson took over the lead. Caldwell clung to the three Swedes and Fähndrich, but the four broke away their last time up the courses lone, short uphill.
“My strategy was to conserve energy for the first lap and try position myself well with fresh legs for the second lap. This worked quite well in my quarter and semi, but in the final I was bopping around not quite in the draft at the beginning of the second lap and definitely lost my legs a bit for the last half of the lap,” Caldwell wrote in an email. “That said, it’s always a good day when you make it into the final, and these long courses used to be a challenge for me, so I was really happy to ski into the final with confidence.”
Sophie Caldwell racing the qualifier of the women’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint in Dresden, Germany. (Photo: Garrott Kuzzy /LumiExperiences.com)
“She’s pretty happy with the day,” the U.S. Ski Team’s World Cup head coach, Matt Whitcomb, told FasterSkier after the race. “At the end, I think the 1.6-kilometer course coupled with it being very flat and then one thing tactically went very poorly near the end where she ended up having to break some wind and she just got tired. No real mistakes out there, she executed the plan like she wanted to, there were just a lot of good women out there, it was a strong final. She also had a very strong semi-final which made for an exciting day.”
Julia Kern racing the qualifier of the women’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint in Dresden, Germany. (Garrott Kuzzy /LumiExperiences.com)
In her first World Cup start of the season, American Julia Kern ended the day in 19th after qualifying in 23rd. She advanced to the same quarterfinal as Nilsson and Sundling and for the first lap of the race, Kern was in second, right on Sundling’s tail. During the second lap, Nilsson ramped up the speed and took over the front pace. Kern was able to hang onto the pack and ultimately crossed fourth after a photo finish with Canada’s Dahria Beatty.
“I was really psyched to lay down a good qualifier and make it into the heats!” Kern, 21, wrote in an email to FasterSkier. “My family is here watching (parents, grandparents, and aunt and uncle) so I wanted to qualify for heats so they could watch me more than once.”
“I think coming off a strong start to season, I carried in more confidence and excitement coming into this World Cup which put me in a great place to go for it and have fun!”she added.
Saturday’s heats were the first of the season for Beatty. The 24 year old Canadian qualified in 20th and ended the day in 16th overall.
“I am really happy to have made my first World Cup heats of the season…16th is one of my best ever World Cup results.” Beatty wrote in an email. “I would have loved to make the semis and was pretty close today but I will keep chasing that goal. My skis were amazing and the atmosphere was great, I made a few small mistakes tactically in my heat but hopefully I can have another shot next weekend in Otepää.”
U.S. Ski Team member, Hannah Halvorsen racing the women’s qualifier for the 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint in Dresden, Germany. (Garrott Kuzzy /LumiExperiences.com)
Also in her first World Cup start, American Hannah Halvorsen placed 35th with a time of 3:55.73. The 20 year old was 1.54 seconds away from scoring World Cup points and qualifying for the day’s heats.
The next U.S. finisher was Ida Sargent in 38th.
“Today was rough for me,” Sargent wrote in an email to FasterSkier after Saturday’s sprint. “I have been having an issue this year with my femoral nerve and I think the icy conditions really flared it up. I’m hoping to be able to manage it better tomorrow. My energy is good though so I’m looking forward to more racing.”
Another World Cup rookie, Hailey Swirbul of the U.S. Ski Team D-Team, finished 41st on Saturday.
“It was exciting to have a city sprint be my first World Cup experience,” Swirbul wrote in an email. “I thought I skied powerfully and as smoothly as I could for the conditions. Each race is an opportunity to learn something and I absorbed as much as I could from these incredible teammates and athletes around me. I can’t wait for another shot at the World Cup at some point!”
Hailey Swirbul racing the qualifier of the women’s 1.6-kilometer freestyle sprint in Dresden, Germany. (Garrott Kuzzy /LumiExperiences.com)
“[R]eally awesome to have some of our D Team girls here and have Julia get a top 20!” Caldwell wrote. “I’m really proud of them all and it should be a fun day of team sprinting tomorrow. I’ll be teaming up with Julia and I’m really looking forward to it! Ida and Hannah will also have a really strong team and Hailey will be cheering strong with her relay socks.”
The start of the men’s 15 k classic mass start at Stage 6 of the 2018 Tour de Ski on Saturday in Val di Fiemme, Italy, with (front row, left to right) Canada’s Alex Harvey, Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov, Kazakhstan’s Alexey Poltoranin, Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby, and Switzerland’s Dario Cologna. (Photo: Salomon/NordicFocus)
Beginning this Saturday in Toblach, Italy with a freestyle sprint is the 13th edition of the Tour de Ski (TdS). According to the International Ski Federation (FIS), over the course of seven stages the men will race 80.918 kilometers, the women 60.67 k.
The TdS has become both a staple and a spectacle of the annual World Cup calendar. With a jam-packed series of races primacy is placed on both the ability to recover well and wither less as the TdS transpires.
Prognostication can be tricky in a long-form template like the TdS. So much can go astray during seven races not to mention the travel and dicey germ-avoidance.
Last season’s winner on the women’s side, Heidi Weng of Norway, sits 18th overall in the World Cup standings (14th in distance). She has four top-20’s in the four distance events she’s contested with her best result an eighth in Lillehammer’s 10 k skate. Although featuring two sprints in the first three stages, the TdS remains a distance skier’s paradise.
Weng has skied solidly on the World Cup, but she has yet to show the form that made her a TdS overall winner in 2017 and 2018. Norway has won the last five iterations of the TdS: Marit Bjørgen won once in 2014/2015, Therese Johaug twice (2013/2014, 2015/2016), and Weng the last two years.
Austria’s Teresa Stadlober leads Norway’s Heidi Weng (2) and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, American Jessie Diggins (3) and others around a downhill corner during the women’s 10 k classic mass start at Stage 6 of the 2018 Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme, Italy. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
If Norway is to keep the streak alive, Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, last year’s TdS runner up, could be the heir apparent. She currently ranks second in the World Cup overall and 15th on the sprint list.
Johaug, having returned from an 18 month doping ban, has been on a distance race tear. She has won all five World Cup distance events this season. Johaug, however, will not be lining up for the TdS.
Only five different women have earned distance podiums this season — Johaug, Østberg, Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla and Ebba Andersson, and Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski. Along with Johaug, Kalla and Andersson are skipping the TdS. (Andersson sits third overall on the World Cup, Kalla fifth.) With the TdS missing three of the five top ranked World Cup distance skiers, daily stages and the overall podium are up for grabs.
Last season’s third overall finisher, Jessie Diggins of the U.S. Ski Team (USST), often cites the TdS as a point in the season when her form trends towards podium performances. She sits eighth in the current distance standings and could very well have a stout TdS.
Russia’s Natalia Belorukova and Yulia Nepryaeva look strong as does Sadie Bjornsen (USST), and Austria’s Teresa Stadlober.
With less than predictable distance stage podiums for the women, it may simply come down to a drag race on the Alpe Cermis final climb Jan. 6.
Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (c) celebrates his fourth Tour de Ski overall title. He was joined by Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby (l) and Canada’s Alex Harvey (r) on the podium in second and third, respectively. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
The men’s scene is also open to interpretation. Last season’s TdS winner, Switzerland’s Dario Cologna, was in fact a surprise victor. Prior to Cologna’s stage two win in last year’s TdS, it had been nearly three years since the four time TdS overall winner had won a World Cup. Cologna sits 21st overall on the World Cup currently. Given last year’s resurgence, anything is possible for the Swiss skier.
Then there’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby form Norway. He finished on the TdS podium the last three years. At thirty-four-years-old, Sundby is ranked first on the distance list, with a second, a third, and a fourth place in distance races this season.
Sundby won the TdS on two occasions – in 2013/2014 and in 2016. His 2015 win was stripped after he tested positive for excessive levels of Salbutamol. He placed second in the past two Tours.
In a field rife with talent, Sundby’s ability to race and rebound and race and rebound will be tested. Sjur Røthe, Emil Iversen, and Didrik Tønseth— all from Norway— look in form. And there’s Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo. The winner of last season’s overall World Cup has had flashes of his past explosive self. He could be a TdS protagonist.
The men’s field is notably tight. Along with the Norwegians, several Russians could pop a podium, a stage win, and the overall. Russia comes with a loaded team ready to exploit. Alexander Bolshunov leads the overall World Cup – he’ll turn twenty two on Dec. 31st. He’s backed by teammates Evgeniy Belov, Andrey Melnichenko, and Denis Spitsov.
Canada’s Alex Harvey placed third overall last year and he looked stronger as the TdS progressed.
The Stages
Stage 1: Dec. 29, skate sprint in Toblach, Italy.
Stage 2: Dec. 30, 10 k/15 k skate in Toblach, Italy.
Stage 3: Jan. 1, skate sprint in Val Müstair, Switzerland.
Stage 4: Jan. 2, 10 k/15 k classic mass start in Oberstdorf, Germany.
Stage 5: Jan. 3, 10 k/15 k skate pursuit in Oberstdorf, Germany.
Stage 6: Jan. 5th, 10 k/15 k classic mass start in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
Stage 7: Jan 6th, 9 k final climb skate pursuit in Val di Fiemme, Italy.
Teams
United States
Women: Sophie Caldwell, Sadie Bjornsen, Jessie Diggins.
Men: Ben Lustgarten, Simi Hamilton, Erik Bjornsen, Kevin Bolger.
U.S. Ski Team Head Coach Chris Grover noted in a text that Caldwell, Hamilton, and Bolger will likely cease the TdS after the stage three sprint. Additionally, this is a small team for the U.S. at the TdS. Several athletes turned down TdS nominations including Scott Patterson (USST), Andy Newell (SMS T2/Salomon), Kyle Bratrud (SMS T2), Rosie Brennan (APU), Rosie Frankowski (APU), Caitlin Patterson (CGRP), and Julia Kern (SMS T2). These skiers plan on racing U.S. Nationals this January in Craftsbury, Vermont.
Canada
Women: Emily Nishikawa, Dahria Beatty
Men: Alex Harvey, Lenny Valjas, Bob Thompson
Norway
Women: Ingvild Flugstad Østberg, Maiken Caspersen Falla, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, Kari Øyre Slind, Kathrine Rolsted Harsem, Heidi Weng, Lotta Udnes Weng, Tiril Udnes Weng Mari Eide, Anna Svendsen
Men: Martin Johnsrud Sundby, Hans Christer Holund, Emil Iversen, Didrik Tønseth, Simen Hegstad, Krüger, Sjur Røthe, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget, Eirik Brandsdal, Finn Hågen Krogh
Russia
Women: Yulia Belorukova, Lidia Durkina, Anna Zherebyateva, Mariya Istomina, Natalia Nepryaeva, Anna Nechaevskaya, Anastasia Sedova, Elena Soboleva
The photo finish for first between Switzerland’s Dario Cologna (near) and Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby at the 2018 Holmenkollen 50 k freestyle mass start in Oslo, Norway. Cologna got it by 0.01 seconds. (Photo: FIS Cross Country/Twitter)
Welcome to FasterSkier’s World Cup Preview, where we check in with the top-10 teams from last year’s FIS Cross Country World Cup tour before the season starts with the Ruka weekend in Kuusamo, Finland, on Nov. 24 with a classic sprint.
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Switzerland
Overall in Nations Cup Last Year: 6th
Women’s Ranking 2017/2018: 7th
Men’s Ranking 2017/2018: 4th
However lopsided Switzerland World Cup profile appears – think Dario Cologna prime time all the time – the team is more than a set of shoulders to carry its star. Certainly, Cologna can steal the show, as his return to form last season proved, but the Swiss collective of athletes proved their World Cup mettle in 2017/2018.
Twenty-five-year-old Nathalie Von Siebenthal arrived on the World Cup in-form. In Ruka, the start of last year’s World Cup, she placed sixth in the 10-kilometer freestyle pursuit. Between Ruka and the Olympics, Siebenthal raced to numerous top-10’s in distance events while placing eighth overall in the Tour de Ski (TdS).
Switzerland’s Nathalie von Siebenthal racing the second-fastest third leg of the women’s 4 x 5 k relay at 2017 World Championships on March 2 in Lahti, Finland. Her team finished seventh.
In PyeongChang, Siebenthal was able to bring the Swiss team near the front of the women’s distance race pack. In the 15 k skiathlon, Siebenthal placed sixth overall, 2.9 seconds behind fifth place Jessie Diggins (USST) who was dialed for a stellar Games. In the individual start 10 k skate, Siebenthal again was sixth.
Nadine Fähndrich, at twenty three years old, should help the Swiss women’s team build upon last year’s solid performance. By season’s end, Fähndrich was ranked 21st on the sprint list and 31st on the distance list. She finished 27th overall on the World Cup.
The Swiss women’s team gets deeper. There’s veteran skier Laurien van der Graaf who had several top-10’s on the World Cup and Olympics. She won the Lenzerheide, Switzerland and Seefeld, Austria skate sprints, was the fifth ranked sprinter in the world last season, and 21st overall.
Cologna is back: Second in the final overall standings, first in distance. Let’s just say he’ll round out an already well-rounded Swiss team.
Jovian Hediger, at twenty-seven, will take some of the pressure off Cologna when it comes to the Swiss men’s expectations. He finished the season ranked 19th in the sprint cup.
The women’s 1.4 k freestyle sprint podium at 2018 World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden, with (from left to right) Sweden’s Jonna Sundling in second, Sweden’s Hanna Falk in first and Norway’s Marit Bjørgen. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
FALUN, Sweden — Even the sky had predictions for Sweden. Without a cloud in sight, cerulean blue and a golden sun served as Falun’s backdrop for the opening race of the 2017/2018 World Cup Finals on Friday: the 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint.
Exactly nine weeks ago in the city sprint held in Dresden, Germany, Sweden’s Hanna Falk was showing shades of greatness. In the first race of the new year, the 28-year-old Swede claimed the Dresden freestyle sprint title for her first World Cup victory since 2010.
With the final sprint of the season taking place on the Falun ski trails, where Falk — a member of Sweden’s national team — spends most of her time training, the statistics were levied. All signs pointed to Sweden, in particular, Falk.
With one group of fans holding a banner that read “Falk för President” and still more waving the national flag, Falk won Friday’s Falun sprint final in 3:08.25 minutes, finishing the last sprint of the season the same way she started the new year: in first.
“This is just great to win here in Sweden. It’s my second victory this season and I am so happy that my parents are here to see it,” Falk said, according to an International Ski Federation (FIS) press release.
Falk started Friday with the fastest qualifying time of 2:59.88 (she remained the only woman to dip below the three-minute mark throughout the entirety of the day on the 1.4 k course).
Later, when Falk learned that the season’s overall sprint leader, Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla, would not advance to the final (American Sophie Caldwell and Norway’s Silje Øyre Slind snagged the two lucky loser spots in the final instead), Falk took a calculated approach for the final heat. She would be in control.
“With Maiken not in the final I knew that the pace might not be so high so I went for it on the second climb to make sure I had a good gap on the long downhill,” Falk told FIS.
From the start, Falk set the pace, leading through the first hill while Sweden’s Jonna Sundling and Anna Dyvik, Norway’s Marit Bjørgen, Slind, and Caldwell followed.
In the first descent, Falk maintained her position at the front, while Dyvik swung to her outside left and Bjørgen, Sundling and Caldwell clung just behind. Slind tucked in just behind in sixth.
Heading into the second uphill, Falk remained at the front with Dyvik matching her pace. Just before the crest of the hill, the eventual race winner visibly slowed, the rest of the field following suit. A half second later, Falk burst back to life, snapping over the top of the climb and putting close to two meters between herself and the group as they cornered back to the stadium.
Sweden’s Hanna Falk (r) smiles as she wins the fourth World Cup race of her career and first race in Falun, Sweden, with a victory in the women’s freestyle sprint at 2018 World Cup Finals on Friday. Her teammate Jonna Sundling (l) placed second while Norway’s Marit Bjørgen finished third. (Photo: Svenska Skidspelen/Instagram)
Chasing Falk on the descent was Bjørgen, then Dyvik and Sundling. Slind raced just behind them in fifth and Caldwell behind her in sixth. Coming into the final stretch, it was Falk in first, now at least three meters ahead. Sundling had moved around Dyvik and Bjørgen into second, leaving those two to battle for third.
Falk ultimately crossed first for her fourth-career individual World Cup victory, 0.53 seconds ahead of Sundling in second. Holding off a charge from Dyvik, Bjørgen crossed third, 1.4 seconds behind Falk.
In fourth was Dyvik (+1.72), followed by Slind in fifth (+4.30) and Caldwell in sixth (+6.99). The sprint finish marked Caldwell’s ninth World Cup top 10 this season. Additionally, the American finished eighth in the classic sprint at the Olympics last month in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Caldwell reached Friday’s final by qualifying in 16th, then winning the fourth quarterfinal and taking third in a photo finish with Slind (who followed in fourth) in the second semifinal. The top-four women from that semi all advanced to the final was fast-enough times.
Caldwell Achieves Goal of Top 3 in Sprint World Cup
While Falk’s win boosted the Swede from fifth to fourth in the final Sprint World Cup standings, Caldwell retained her podium position ahead of her in third. For the first time in her career, the 28-year-old Caldwell finished in the top-three of the overall Sprint World Cup.
Thinking back two years, Caldwell could remember a conversation she had with U.S. Ski Team Women’s Coach Matt Whitcomb about race goals. Whitcomb wanted Caldwell to write down goal in particular: to be in the Sprint World Cup overall top three.
“At the time I was like, ‘Eh, no, that seems pretty far off,’” Caldwell reflected in a post-race interview with FasterSkier.
“I remember she was a bit sheepish when we suggested it,” Whitcomb told FasterSkier on Friday.
The 2017/2018 women’s Sprint World Cup podium with Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla (c) in first, Sweden’s Stina Nilsson (l) in second and American Sophie Caldwell (r) in third. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
Yet on Friday, Caldwell looked on from the podium as an American flag rose in honor of her third-place finish in the overall sprint standings. With a total of 396 points, Caldwell claimed third behind Sweden’s Stina Nilsson, who had 495 points for second, and Norway’s Falla in first with 573 points.
“We were really psyched that she took after it because, all of us coaches, really believed it could be done,” Whitcomb said.
“I was of course thrilled to be up there today,” Caldwell said. “It’s been a good season with some really good results, but I think maybe what I am most proud of is just the consistency of my season — making it into the semifinals almost every sprint and skiing with confidence throughout the year.”
Though Caldwell expressed that results can be gratifying, they are not the be-all and end-all of her ski career nor what she attributes to her and the U.S. team’s momentum.
“My hope is that people back home see this team not only for our results, but also for the friendships we have and the atmosphere we have going on in this team,” Caldwell said. “I think this team has come so far … It started with Kikkan [Randall] sneaking into the top 30, then Kikkan finding herself on the podium, then Kikkan winning. She sort of showed us all that we could do it, too, and pulled us up with her, believed in us so that we could believe in ourselves. Now on any given weekend it could be any one of us on that podium, which is really cool.”
Falla, who finished Friday’s sprint in eighth after being eliminated in the semifinals, won the overall sprint title for the third-straight season, this time by 78 points over Nilsson in second after Nilsson missed Friday’s sprint due to illness.
“For sure I wanted to be able to fight for the podium today but I made a mistake in the semifinal and I wasn’t able to get back into position to advance,” Falla told FIS after finishing fourth in the first semifinal behind Falk, Sundling and American Jessie Diggins, respectively. “But I can’t be too upset as I have won my third Crystal Globe and I am very proud of that.”
Three Americans in Top 10
Rounding out the rest of Friday’s freestyle-sprint top 10 was Diggins in seventh, her U.S. teammate Sadie Bjornsen in ninth and Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter in 10th.
Sadie Bjornsen (4) racing in Friday’s freestyle sprint semifinal with her U.S. teammate Jessie Diggins (2) and Slovenia’s Anamarija Lampic (25) while chasing Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla (left, pink headband), among others. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
After racing to second place in the first quarterfinal behind Falk, Bjornsen automatically advanced to the first semifinal. Diggins won the third quarterfinal to advance to the first semifinal as well.
In the semis, Diggins finished third, 0.42 seconds behind Falk in first and just 0.08 seconds behind Sundling, who automatically advanced in second.
Bjornsen followed in fifth, 0.87 seconds out of first, behind Falla in fourth (+0.68). Aside from the top two in that first semifinal, no one from that heat advanced to the final.
American Sadie Bjornsen racing to fourth in the women’s 1.4 k freestyle sprint qualifier at World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden. She went on to finish the day in ninth overall. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus) (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)
To start the day, Diggins had qualified for the rounds with the second-fastest time, 1.65 seconds behind Falk, while Bjornsen qualified in fourth (+2.96).
“I definitely felt really good about how my body feels. I guess I was wishing for a bit more today,” Bjornsen told FasterSkier after. “For the last sprint of the year it was a fun way to end, leaving something to hope for.”
The last World Cup sprint of her career, American Kikkan Randall qualified for the heats in 18th before advancing to the same quarterfinal as Diggins. While Diggins gapped the field by the final downhill back toward the stadium and won the heat, Randall remained in contention to automatically advance in second until the last lunge to the line. There, Randall finished third, 3.14 seconds behind Diggins and just 0.1 seconds shy of second place, which went to Ingemarsdotter.
“I did not feel good in the first half of that heat; my body just wasn’t quite warm yet,” Randall told FasterSkier after. “I just tried to keep myself in there.”
Randall was disappointed not to advance past the quarterfinals in her last sprint, but when asked to reflect on the season as a whole, the 35 year old remained thoughtful.
American Kikkan Randall racing to 18th in the women’s 1.4-kilometer sprint qualifier at World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden. She went on to finish the day in 15th overall. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus
“I was really happy to be able to start a family and come back. I think that went as well as I could have hoped,” Randall said. “And even though it took some patience at times … and the season didn’t go exactly as I planned, with the foot injury mid-season, I came around big at the Olympics this year and happy that I was able to get back in form when I needed to.
“I’m glad I stuck with it this long,” she continued. “I’m just trying to enjoy the last bit of time with my teammates, my staff and all the World Cup friends.”
After the disqualification of Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva for her second yellow card (due to a false start in her quarterfinal), American Ida Sargent finished the day in 36th, followed by Rosie Brennan in 49th, Caitlin Patterson in 63rd, Liz Stephen in 66th, Kaitlynn Miller in 69th, and Rosie Frankowski in 75th. Emily Nishikawa was the top Canadian woman in 40th, Dahria Beatty finished 48th, Cendrine Browne 60th, and Zina Kocher 71st.
The women’s classic sprint podium at the World Cup in Drammen, Norway, with Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla (c) in first, Sweden’s Stina Nilsson (l) in second, and American Jessie Diggins (r) in third. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
DRAMMEN, Norway — Barring the spectators cheering from their apartment balconies, the most marked aspect of Wednesday’s 1.2-kilometer classic sprint course was the finish line. It crosscut the top of a 15-meter climb.
Throughout the day, no skier closed out Drammen’s uphill finish better than Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla. After winning the day’s qualifier in a time of 3:19.44 minutes, Falla won her quarterfinal in photo-finish fashion and outlunged Sweden’s Stina Nilsson to place first their semifinal.
In the final, Falla once again proved her form in the uphill. She strode past Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva and Nilsson to take the win in a time of 3:10.18. The closest any competitor came to the Norwegian was Nilsson, 1.39 seconds back.
Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla en route to her second-straight World Cup victory in Wednesday’s classic sprint in downtown Drammen, Norway. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
The first-place success in Drammen is Falla’s standard. From 2014 to 2016, she won three World Cup sprint races held in the city, all of them classic. (Falla missed qualifying by one place in 31st in last year’s Drammen classic sprint.)
“It’s my fourth win here and I am so happy with the way I am feeling,” Falla said, according to an International Ski Federation (FIS) press release. “I think my battery is finally fully charged. I was a bit tired after the Olympics and I haven’t trained very much. But I can feel that my body is back and it’s great to get another win here and almost secure my third Crystal Globe.”
Falla now leads the Sprint World Cup with 543 points, while Nilsson trails in second by 48 points. Only one sprint race remains this season, a freestyle competition that is featured in next weekend’s World Cup Finals in Falun, Sweden. With her second-place finish on Wednesday, Nilsson could still snag the Sprint Crystal Globe from Falla, as 50 points remain for a win in that race.
“I didn’t qualify so well so I was a bit worried about how today would go,” said Nilsson, who qualified in 17th, according to a FIS press release. “Maiken was just too strong for me today but I am happy that I felt better and better as the rounds happened today … and in the end I can say that I am satisfied.”
In a dramatic closeout, U.S. skier Jessie Diggins came from behind to claim third (+1.88), despite appearing out of podium contention with 150-meters to go. The American’s advancement to the final itself was up in the air until the jury ruled a technical violation for Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich.
Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla (l) winning the first semifinal of the Drammen World Cup classic sprint in Norway on Wednesday, ahead of Sweden’s Stina Nilsson (r) in second and American Jessie Diggins (c) in third. Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (behind Nilsson) finished fourth and Thea Krokan Murud (14) was fifth in that heat. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
After racing in semifinal 1, Diggins finished in third behind Falla and Nilsson. Semifinal 2 was the faster of the two semis, and produced the day’s two Lucky Losers before Fähndrich’s yelllow card. The Swiss skier lost her automatic qualification spot, giving Diggins a shot as the final lucky loser in the final.
At the start of the women’s final, the American was positioned in sixth, trailing Slovenia’s Katja Visnar in fifth, Finland’s Krista Pärmäkoski in fourth, Nilsson in third, Nepryaeva in second, and Falla in first. While she had burned off the front in the start of her quarterfinal, Diggins played a safer start in the final.
“Last year [in Drammen] I got swallowed up in the draft and then broke my pole,” Diggins told FasterSkier during an in-person interview after. “So this year I was trying to be really smart, be aware of where other bodies were and keep myself out of any tangles; just ski a smart, clean race.”
“In the final I started out in the back thinking ‘OK, just ski relaxed, stay in contact,’ ” she continued. “Then I was really able to go for it and put the hammer on in the last 50 meters.”
Taking the opposite tactic of Diggins, Falla forced a fast pace in the front. By the top of the first climb the Norwegian had a one-meter gap over Nilsson and Nepryaeva, who were positioned in second and third, respectively. Another half meter behind the Russian and Swede were Diggins and Pärmäkoski.
Heading into the descent, Falla held her capacious lead. About a meter behind the Norwegian, Nepryaeva slid ahead of Nilsson. Diggins, who had surged around Pärmäkoski on the hill’s crest, took a few double poles midway through the descent’s two twists in an attempt to close the gap separating her from the top three.
By the bottom of the hill, Nepryaeva had closed in on Falla. The Russian and Norwegian went head-to-head as they approached the course’s final hairpin turn. Chasing the backs of their ski tails was Nilsson. Fighting to hold onto Nilsson was Diggins.
Coming out of the hairpin, Russia had the lead, followed closely by Norway and Sweden. The American clung tenaciously, though now two ski lengths behind the finals top three leaders with less than 150-meters to go.
“Admittedly I have to say that while I will never count Jessie out, it certainly looked like she was on her way to fourth,” U.S. Ski Team Women’s Coach Matt Whitcomb told FasterSkier during an in-person interview. “I think she surprised just about everyone out there today.”
Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla leads Sweden’s Stina Nilsson (r) ahead of Russia’s Natalia Nepryaeva (third from left) and American Jessie Diggins (third from right) during the women’s 1.2 k classic sprint final on Wednesday at the World Cup in Drammen, Norway. (Screenshot: NRK broadcast)
In the final climb, Falla was the first to pass Nepryaeva on the left. Nilsson followed suit, and then Diggins. By a mere 0.44 seconds, Diggins edged Nepryaeva, earning her first World Cup classic sprint podium.
“It was so cool because classic sprinting — especially on a course like this, in deep sugary snow that is falling apart — is arguably my all-time weakest event; to be able to finally get a podium, that’s something I’ve been after for many years,” Diggins said.
Wednesday’s classic sprint was Diggins’s first race back since last month’s Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. Following the Games, she and her teammate Kikkan Randall returned to the U.S. for what Whitcomb referred to as essentially a “media tour” thanks to the duo’s Olympic gold medal in the team sprint. Both returned to Europe last weekend, though neither raced the World Cup races that took place in Lahti, Finland on Saturday and Sunday.
“Not for a minute, when we saw them after we arrived from Lahti, did we think that was a mistake,” Whitcomb said of the decision for Diggins and Randall to return to the U.S. “At the end of the day, had it been a mistake, we didn’t care. We wanted that story told.”
“I think it was really important that I had that rest. I clearly needed it and I was able to come back feeling snappy,” Diggins added.
Diggins is now ranked third in the Overall World Cup standings, 375 points behind Norway’s Heidi Weng in first and 179 points behind Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg in second. She is 35 points ahead of Pärmäkoski in fourth.
Following Diggins on Wednesday, Nepryaeva crossed in fourth (+2.32), Pärmäkoski fifth (+8.85) and Visnar sixth (+20.70).
Rounding out the top 10 was Sweden’s Hanna Falk in seventh, Østberg in eighth, Norway’s Tiril Udnes Weng in ninth, and Norway’s Thea Krokan Murud in 10th.
Sadie Bjornsen (9) racing to fifth in her quarterfinal for 21st overall in the women’s classic sprint at the World Cup in Drammen, Norway. (Photo: Fischer/Nordic Focus)
Two more Americans qualified for Wednesday’s classic sprints, with Sadie Bjornsen placing 21st after finishing fifth in her quarterfinal, 9.24 seconds behind Fähndrich in first. Sophie Caldwell raced in the first quarterfinal with Falla, where she finished sixth, 10.6 seconds back, for 27th overall.
U.S. skier Ida Sargent finished 47th in the qualifier, followed by Rosie Brennan in 48th, Randall in 50th, and Kaitlynn Miller in 53rd.
Canada’s Emily Nishikawa placed 52nd and Dahria Beatty 55th.
— Chelsea Little, Harald Zimmer and Alex Kochon contributed
Sophie Caldwell racing to 20th in the qualifier of the women’s classic sprint at the World Cup in Drammen, Norway. She went on to place 27th overall after finishing sixth in her quarterfinal. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
The women’s 10 k classic podium at 2018 U23 World Championships, with Russia’s Yana Kirpichenko (c) in first and Anna Zherebyateva (l) in second, and Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich (r) in third. (Photo: JWSC2018.ch)
(Note: This article has been updated to include comments from Americans Lydia Blanchet and Ian Torchia.)
U23 World Championships (Goms, Switzerland): 10/15 k classic
Russia put two in the top three in both the women’s and men’s races on Wednesday at U23 World Championships in Goms, and for the second-straight race, Canada’s Katherine Stewart-Jones landed in the top 30.
In the women’s 10-kilometer classic, Russia’s Yana Kirpichenko pulled out a 13.9-second victory over fellow Russian Anna Zherebyateva, finishing with the winning time of 27:46.1 minutes. Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich returned to the podium for the second race in a row (after placing second in Monday’s skate sprint), finishing third, 29.6 seconds behind Kirpichenko.
In Monday’s sprint, Kirpichenko qualified fourth and ended up fifth in the final. She is a bronze medalist in the 15 k skiathlon at last year’s U23 Worlds.
Stewart-Jones, of the Canadian National U25 Team and National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay, started relatively early on Wednesday in bib 19 and ultimately placed 29th, 3:07.3 out of first. She sped up as the race progressed, from 40th at 2.4 k to 32nd at 5 k and up to 30th at 7.4 k.
So far in all five races she’s competed in over the last two years at U23 Worlds, Stewart-Jones has finished in the top 30. Her best result is 21st in last year’s 15 k skiathlon, and at the Junior Worlds level, she had a best individual result of 14th in the 10 k skiathlon in 2015.
American Lydia Blanchet (Dartmouth Ski Team) started fifth on Wednesday and ended up 30th (+3:10.4) after skiing in the top 30 throughout the race. Her Dartmouth teammate Lauren Jortberg followed in 34th (+3:28.9) and Nicole Schneider was 49th (+5:23.8). Julia Kern did not start.
For Blanchet, a Dartmouth junior, this week marked her first time racing at the Junior/U23 World Championships level. So far, she has placed 32nd in the freestyle sprint and now 30th in the classic distance race.
“This is my first time racing internationally, and I tried to go into the races with no expectations,” Blanchet explained in an email. “I was excited to get as close as I did to qualifying for the sprint, but it was definitely bittersweet—missing heats by 0.3 seconds left me regretting some of the smaller details of my race. Still, it is really exciting to know that I can compete on the world stage!”
After the sprint, she made a goal of finishing in the top 30.
“I really like hilly, rolling courses—especially ones with very technical downhills—and this course definitely fit that bill,” she wrote of the classic distance course. “I am really happy with my race, all things considered. I didn’t feel great while I was racing – my legs flooded pretty hard a few km’s in – but I think I did a good job of holding myself together and staying strong mentally. I know I have the ability to do even better, which is motivating and exciting. I am looking forward to get to ski head-on against the whole field in the skiathlon, and I’m excited to try and pick my way forward from my bib number. I’m also really excited to go home and race carnivals with the Dartmouth team.”
Canada’s Laura Leclair finished 40th (+4:20.9), Sophie Carrier-Laforte was 43rd (+4:19.2) and Maya MacIsaac-Jones 47th (+4:47.3) out of 53 finishers.
Nicole Bathe of the Midwest-based Central Cross Country (CXC) Team, who races for Great Britain, placed 37th (+3:43.8), for her second top 40 of the week after placing 39th in the skate sprint.
Norway’s Mattis Stenshagen racing to the win in the men’s 15 k classic at 2018 U23 World Championships in Goms, Switzerland. It was his first gold medal and podium at U23 Worlds (he earned silver two years ago in the 15 k freestyle at Junior Worlds and also gold in the relay that year). (Photo: JWSC2018.ch)
In the men’s 15 k classic that followed, Norway’s Mattis Stenshagen edged Russia’s Denis Spitsov by 4.8 seconds for the win in 36:28.3. Also for Russia, Ivan Yakimushkin placed third, 35.2 seconds back.
Canada’s Alexis Dumas, of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH) was the top North American in 31st, 2:51.7 out of first. He worked his way up from 40th at 5 k to 35th by 10 k, and finally just 0.2 seconds outside of 30th at the finish.
American Ian Torchia (U.S. Ski Team D-team/Northern Michigan University) followed in 32nd (+2:55.9) and Bill Harmeyer (University of Vermont) finished 39th (+3:43.3). Also for the U.S., Thomas O’Harra placed 43rd (+4:17.3) and Zak Ketterson was 57th (+5:37.6).
Torchia, an NMU junior, has been to two Junior Worlds in 2015 and 2016, but this marked his first U23’s.
“The jump from juniors to U23s is quite a leap. I missed the first year of being a U23 last year due to mono so getting back into international racing was a shock to the system,” he explained in an email.
As for his goals for the 10 k, he was hoping for a top 15 or 20, but moreover “wanted to race smart and feel good out on the course technically and physically,” Torchia wrote. “This was the hardest course I have ever raced with 600m of climbing throughout the 15k and I was excited to showcase my striding ability out there…
“However, from the first km I was in the pain cave (even though I didn’t open that fast!) and it was a fight the entire way,” he continued. “I need to work on staying technically strong when hurting and I did not do a good job of executing that today. The eventual second place Russian started as I was looping around for my 2nd lap so I was able to see and feel what a podium performance looks like. Going to have that image in my head throughout the next year!”
For Friday’s 30 k skiathlon, Torchia wrote that he would be “throwing all place goals out the window and focusing on skiing technically well and racing smart. Looking forward to channeling my last skiathlon in Kazakhstan which went really well [he placed 11th in the 20 k at 2015 Junior Worlds] and moving up from my starting position.”
Canada’s Gareth Williams finished 41st (+4:00.2) on Wednesday, Philippe Boucher was 45th (+4:22.7) and Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier 47th (+4:24.3) out of 63 finishers.
Norway’s Tiril Udnes Weng (second from l) and Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich (l) battle for first down the finishing stretch of the women’s final for the gold medal in the U23 World Championships skate sprint in Goms, Switzerland. Weng won it by eight-hundredths of a second. (Screenshot: Swiss Ski livestream)
(This article has been updated to include comments from Canada’s Laura Leclair, Katherine Stewart-Jones and Maya MacIsaac-Jones, as well as American Julia Kern.)
U23 World Championships (Goms, Switzerland): Freestyle sprints
On the first day of U23 World Championships racing in Goms, Switzerland, Norway’s Tiril Udnes Weng tallied her first individual world title in the women’s 1.2-kilometer freestyle sprint, winning the A-final in 2:50.24 minutes, just 0.08 seconds ahead of Swiss World Cup regular Nadine Fähndrich in second. Another World Cup skier, Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia finished third, 4.78 seconds out of first.
Weng, 21, is no stranger to World Cups, either. Just two days ago, she qualified 11th in the World Cup skate sprint in Seefeld, Austria, and went on to place 17th overall.
On Monday, she qualified second, 0.2 seconds off Fähndrich’s top qualifying time of 3:03.51. Weng then placed second to Nepryaeva in the fourth quarterfinal, a heat that included Canadians Maya MacIsaac-Jones and Katherine Stewart-Jones, both of the Canadian National U25 Team. While Sweden’s Moa Olsson finished third in that quarterfinal and advanced as a lucky loser based on time, the two Canadians did not. MacIsaac-Jones had previously qualified in 19th and Stewart-Jones in 22nd. Overall, MacIsaac-Jones placed 18th and Stewart-Jones was 23rd on the day.
In an email, MacIsaac-Jones explained her goal had been to make the semifinals.
“My strategy was to stick behind the top two girls, and hang on as best I could,” she wrote of her quarterfinal. “As Canadians we tend to be pretty good at downhilling, so I tried to use that to my advantage. I wasn’t quite able to stick with the top girls over the crest of the big hill, but I was happy to be fairly competitive in the heat overall!”
Still, the top 20 was her best result in her fourth trip to Junior/U23 Worlds.
“I’m disappointed of course to have missed out on making the semi-final, but I feel I did the best I could with what my body had on the day so I’m happy with that,” she continued. “It was of course exciting to get my first top-20 , but also disappointing because I felt like my body wasn’t moving as well as it was at trials a few weeks ago (I got sick right after arriving in Europe which probably didn’t help with that).”
For Stewart-Jones, this marks her fifth Junior/U23 World Championships.
“Over the years I have learned that it’s just another race, and that I don’t need to treat it any differently,” she wrote in an email on Tuesday. “Coming into te race I knew that I was in the best shape I’ve been all year, but I also had only done one skate sprint qualifier and no heats) this year so I wasn’t sure what to expect.”
Her goal had been to reach the semifinals and finish in the top 12.
“I am happy with how I skied the qualifier. The quarterfinal was tough,” Stewart-Jones wrote. “My teammate Maya and I ended up being in a really fast heat. I felt like I skied well technically but I don’t think I skied it how I needed to to have a chance of moving on. I tried holding on to the top 2 girls over the top of the first hill and ended up losing time on the second… I think it would have made more sense to lay back a bit over the top of the first to save some gas for the end.”
Stewart-Jones as well as MacIsaac-Jones came incredibly close to making Canada’s 2018 Olympic team based on their results at NorAm trials earlier this month.
“Overall, I am happy with how the body feels but disappointed with how I skied tactically,” Stewart-Jones wrote. “Not making the Olympic team was definitely more frustrating than it was disappointing. The whole ordeal was a bit exhausting, with first missing out on the 4th spot by less than a second and then being 12th on the list of [11] quota spots, it was really as close as it gets. I’m doing my best to fuel that frustration into positive energy so that I can perform at my best here. I am really looking forward to the next 2 races!!”
Norway’s Tiril Udnes Weng (l) and Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich in a photo finish for first in the women’s freestyle sprint final at U23 World Championships on Monday in Goms, Switzerland. Weng won it by eight-hundredths of a second. (Screenshot: Swiss Ski livestream)
Fähndrich won both her quarterfinal and semifinal leading up to the final, and Weng won the second semifinal by 0.59 seconds over Nepryaeva. In the final, Weng had the edge.
“I dream about winning, that’s the goal of my season,” Weng said during a post-race interview in the arena. “So it felt good to win.”
Three Canadians made the heats, with Laura Leclair of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH) qualifying in 26th then placing third in her quarterfinal, 2.75 seconds behind German winner Nadine Herrmann. That put Leclair 15th overall on the day in her first U23 World Championships race.
“As it is my first time at Worlds and my first year in a big category (U23) I was coming here for experience,” Leclair wrote in an email on Tuesday. “Experience to ski internationally, in Europe and against the best. Of course, I was hoping to perform but I never anticipated a top 15.
“Since I was seeded 30th, I was a little skeptical of making it through the qualifier,” she continued. “Qualifying 26th was a very exciting moment.”
In her quarterfinal, she said the pace didn’t pick up until about halfway up a long uphill out of the start, a climb that lasted for about a minute and a half.
“I was in a strong position (4th) but it was hard to make my way to the top,” Leclair wrote. “At the top of the big hill, a girl broke a pole and I was able to pass her and push over the hill into the downhill in order to come closer to the two girls in front. The last uphill felt like it was just give or take. Obviously, I chose the give option and gave it all I had into the finish. My heat wasn’t one of the fastest so I wasn’t a lucky loser but I am very happy of how I skied that course.
“This season has been full [of] surprise,” she concluded. “Just qualifying for Worlds in Canada was one! I am very happy that all my efforts and my dedication to the sport are paying off. For the rest of the week, I want to have some strong races, especially in the skiathlon and maybe surprise myself again.”
Two Americans qualified in the top 30 as well, with Lauren Jortberg (Dartmouth Ski Team) in 14th and Julia Kern (U.S. Ski Team/Dartmouth/Stratton Mountain School T2 Team) in 21st. Jortberg went on to finish fifth in her quarterfinal, 7.28 seconds behind German winner Pia Fink, and Kern finished sixth in Fähndrich’s quarterfinal, 22.28 seconds out of first. Overall, Jortberg placed 22nd and Kern was 27th.
In an email, Jortberg, who competed at U23 World Championships last year at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, explained her goal was to qualify for the heats.
“I honestly had no idea what to expect in Goms this year because Soldier Hollow felt just like US Nationals and the Super Junior National Qualifiers I’d been going to for the past ten years,” Jortberg, a Dartmouth College sophomore, wrote on Monday. “Obviously the competitors from all over the world was different, but was easy to visualize what is going to be like. The venues are similar in many ways because there are very few trees making it very open and a great spectators course.
“A big difference between Goms and Soldier Hollow is the little towns everywhere,” she continued. “The first ski we did here, we skied through the roads and through a town. There are ski trails everywhere here, we could even ski from the venue to the hotel (which is pretty far)! For the ski courses, I think Goms is one of the most challenging ski courses I’ve ever raced on. There are huge climbs are incredibly technical downhills! Its a one of the most exciting places I’ve ever raced, I love it so much.”
As for her racing on Monday, she wrote that she was “really psyched because I felt really strong and smooth in the qualifier! I was a bit bummed because I had to scrub a fair amount of speed skiing behind a girl I caught on the really technical downhill. The heats were really fun!! I had a great starting position and skied really smooth up the big climb. Then I took a very gutsy move on the downhill to sling shot into first place on the inside corner around the downhill turn. Unfortunately right after that I got caught up in a tangle on the last climb, and then I lost contact with the lead group. I was bummed to get caught up in a tangle, but it was really cool to be able to ski with these girls!”
Overall, Jortberg described the day as “pretty incredible.”
“My motto has always been that sprints are funny because ‘anything can happen’ for the good and bad!” she added. “I’m pretty excited for the rest of the week of racing even though this race was my main target. These courses play really strongly to my strengths so it should be fun to see what I can do!”
Kern explained in an email that she’s been sick for the past month so her main goal was to start Monday’s race. But for a long time leading up to this race, she had envisioned a top 10.
“Regardless of how I was feeling, one of my goals was to ski with good technique because that is something you can always control,” Kern wrote. “I was pretty content with my qualifier, given being sick. Skiing out there today, I had no idea if I would surprise myself and my illness wouldn’t impact my skiing or if I was just going to feel absolutely terrible. I was happy with how I placed given how I felt.”
In the heats, she wanted to stay in contact with leaders up the course’s big climb, then try to “drop the hammer on the downhill and last uphill.”
“However, my quarterfinal did not play out that way,” she wrote. “The pace was hot from the start, with bib #1 [Fähndrich] gunning from the start. I stuck with the heat until part way up the first climb, where I started to lose the leaders. I did not feel good and I had no energy so I was not able to hold the pace of the other competitors. I had considered not doing the heats because I felt pretty wiped after the qualifier, but the competitor inside me couldn’t just walk away from my favorite thing—sprint heats.
“Given my current health state, I feel okay about my day, but I am obviously bummed because this was the race I was looking forward to most this season,” Kern added. “I am looking forward to getting healthy in time to race the 10k classic, or at the very least the skiathlon!”
Also for the U.S., Lydia Blanchet missed qualifying by 0.32 seconds in 32nd, as did Canada’s Sophie Carrier-Laforte, who was 3.68 seconds out of the top 30 in 34th. American Nicole Schneider finished 44th.
The all-Norwegian men’s freestyle sprint podium on Monday at U23 World Championships in Goms, Switzerland, with Erik Valnes (c) in first, Jan Thomas Jenssen (l) in second and Even Northug (r) in third. (Screenshot: Swiss Ski livestream)
In the men’s 1.5 k skate sprint on Monday, Norway swept the men’s podium, with Erik Valnes winning his first World Championships medal in 2:56.38, Jan Thomas Jenssen finishing 0.24 seconds back in second, and Even Northug placing third (+6.34).
For the 21-year-old Valnes, this marked his first U23 World Championships (or Junior Worlds for that matter). He’s competed in two World Cup sprints this season, placing 22nd in the skate sprint earlier this month in Dresden, Germany, and 27th in a classic sprint in December in Lillehammer, Norway.
Valnes started Monday by winning the qualifying round in 3:00.18, by 0.77 seconds over Sweden’s Anton Persson, then won his quarterfinal and semifinal, both by nearly half a second, before besting his fellow Norwegians in the final.
“Fun to take the gold medal at the end,” Valnes said during a televised in-arena interview after the final. “It was my biggest goal this year, so it means a lot, of course. A gold medal is always good to have.”
No North American men qualified for the heats. Canada’s Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier placed 40th, Antoine Briand was 41st, Philippe Boucher 42nd, and Olivier Hamel 60th.
For the U.S., Bill Harmeyer finished 46th, Andrew Egger was 47th, Thomas O’Harra 64th, and Zak Ketterson 65th.
The finish of the women’s 6 x 1.2 k freestyle team sprint final, with Sweden II’s Maja Dahlqvist (near) celebrating her win ahead of Sweden I’s Stina Nilsson (c) and American Sophie Caldwell (l), who placed second and third, respectively, in a photo finish. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
DRESDEN, Germany — Just over 15,000 people gathered at the Elbe River bank on Sunday, some donned in sunnies and carrying sauce-laden brätwurst from pop-up food carts, though all took pause around 11:14:59 a.m. It wasn’t to take in the Altstadt baroque-style buildings that make up the city skyline, nor was it to bask in the bright, mid-morning sun hovering on the horizon.
A new attraction had come to the capital city, and all eyes were on it: the start of the International Ski Federation (FIS) women’s 6 x 1.2-kilometer freestyle team sprint. The city race organizers had trucked nearly 5,000 cubic meters of manmade snow to the grassy green bank, creating a skiing venue where one had never previously existed before. (Dresden has never before hosted a World Cup; the closest place to find natural snow being around 95 kilometers away).
Though it was the first of its kind, the crowd was still on edge as racers anticipated the snap of the gun for the women’s final. Even amid artificial conditions, the scene was naturally mystifying for onlookers.
With the gunshot, life roiled back into those in the stands and competitors became absorbed in the race for the win. Leading out Lap 1 was Ida Ingemarsdotter, racing for Sweden’s second team with Maja Dahlqvist (who placed third in Saturday’s individual skate sprint).
Ingemarsdotter was closely followed by her compatriot, Hanna Falk, who had won Saturday’s sprint and was racing for Sweden’s first team on Sunday. Hanna Kolb, racing for Germany I, Ida Sargent racing for U.S.A. I, and Alenka Cebasek racing for Slovenia, were all in hot pursuit.
Also on course was Nadine Fähndrich of Switzerland, Giulia Stuerz on Italy , Jessica Yeaton of Australia, Caitlin Patterson (U.S.A. II), and Katharina Hennig (Germany II).
U.S. Ski Team members Sophie Caldwell (l) and Ida Sargent after placing third in the World Cup freestyle team sprint on Sunday for their World Cup second podium together in the event. (They finished third in the pre-Olympic World Cup freestyle sprint last year in PyeongChang, South Korea.) (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
Through the exchange it was Ingemarsdotter in first, Falk second, Kolb third, and Sargent fourth. Coming through in seventh was Patterson, of the Craftsbury Green Racing Project, handing off to Kikkan Randall (U.S. Ski Team).
“I think I tend to let myself accordion to much, so I had to watch that and really focus to stay in it,” said Patterson, who arrived in Dresden on Thursday after being crowned a four-time 2018 national champion last week in Anchorage, Alaska.
“Being efficient … keeping it together and keep[ing] it tight,” Patterson added, referring to her race strategy on Sunday. “Because I know Kikkan has so much experience in heats and she can really maneuver well; she did such a good move on the last leg of that semifinal to keep us in it.”
In the final, as Patterson handed off to Randall, while Sargent passed off to Caldwell (who had placed third in Saturday’s sprint). Still in the lead was Ingemarsdotter tagging to Dahlqvist, Kolb to her teammate Sandra Ringwald, and Falk to Stina Nilsson.
The women stayed in a close pack, but thanks in part to the cheers of a large fanbase behind her, Germany’s Ringwald had worked her way to the front. As the skiers approached their third exchange, Germany had taken over the lead. Following Ringwald was Caldwell in second and Slovenia’s Vesna Fabjan in third. Randall was also gaining ground and gave the race back to Patterson in sixth as the field headed into Lap 3 of 6.
Americans Sophie Caldwell (front r) and Kikkan Randall (14) racing together in the women’s 6 x 1.2 k freestyle team sprint final on Sunday at the World Cup in Dresden, Germany. USA I, with Ida Sargent (not shown) and Caldwell went on to place third, while USA II, with Caitlin Patterson (not shown) and Randall, finished eighth. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
“This is my first real racing weekend back and yesterday was a little frustrating because my body felt good but I just didn’t quite have the speed fully ready yet,” said Randall, who had pulled out of the Tour de Ski due to an ongoing issue with one of her foot tendons and has been working on recovering since. “So I am really glad I got the opportunity to race today.
“It was great to have Caitlin ski really strong and get into the final,” Randall added. “I just wanted to get six rounds and I did. It was fun, fast paced, and I am happy with the way I felt. Of course, it’s fun to have another team in the race, too, and kind of be working together a bit.”
Caitlin Patterson racing for USA II in the women’s 6 x 1.2 k freestyle team sprint on Sunday at the World Cup in Dresden, Germany. (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
As racers struck out into Lap 3, Switzerland’s Fähndrich was at the helm, which she held until she tagged off to her teammate Laurien van der Graff. The Swiss skiers had a smooth exchange and van der Graff was out front. Breathing down her neck behind her, however, were two Swedes: Nilsson and Dahlqvist. As the group approached the course’s most notable climb, Nilsson powered her way around van der Graff and to the front, Ringwald in tow.
With the fourth exchange coming into sight, the top two spots were with Sweden, Switzerland third. U.S.A. I was in fifth, U.S.A. II in eighth.
“It’s hard to pass, so we definitely wanted to stay toward the front,” Caldwell said of her and Sargent’s plan heading into the final. “It’s such a short and fast course that anything can happen and I think it is always fun to be right there in the mix.”
With just two laps to go, Falk, who came out of the exchange first, began to push the pace, while Fähndrich, Sargent and Ingemarsdotter chased her down. Though Falk had put a bit of a gap on the field by the course’s turn heading back to the stadium, it had closed by the course’s single climb. Here, Fähndrich made her move and maneuvered around Falk to the front.
After the fifth exchange and heading into the final lap, the two Swedes, van der Graff, and Caldwell tried to separate themselves from the rest of the teams in the final. But within a few meters three more teams — Slovenia, and Germany I and II — had rejoined them.
As they approached the aforementioned uphill, Nilsson went for it, propelling herself to the front. Dahlqvist went with her, and Caldwell dodged to van der Graff’s left, pulling a hard V1 to get around the Swiss skier. Approaching the finish, it was Dahlqvist to the far right, Nilsson in the middle and Caldwell to the left.
The women’s 6 x 1.2 k freestyle team sprint podium at Sunday’s World Cup in Dresden, Germany, with Sweden II’s Ida Ingemarsdotter and Maja Dahlqvist in first (c), Sweden I’s Stina Nilsson and Hanna Falk in second (l), and USA I’s Sophie Caldwell and Ida Sargent in third (r). (Photo: Fischer/NordicFocus)
Both Swedes appeared to have an edge on Caldwell, but the American made a gritty final few pushes and all three lunged for the line. Dahlqvist was just ahead and took it by 0.16 seconds over Nilsson, and Caldwell placed third for the second day in a row, just 0.07 seconds out of second place and 0.23 seconds out of first. Sweden’s No. 2 team had won it with a cumulative time of 13:33.40, about four seconds faster than the fastest semifinal.
“I was actually left wishing the finish was a little longer, which I don’t know if I have ever said about a race before,” Caldwell, who leans toward sprint disciplines, said after the race. “Ida skied awesome and I was proud with how I skied, so it’s really fun when you feel like both legs kind of do their best and you get a good result to celebrate that with.”
Finishing in fourth (+2.11) was Germany I, Slovenia placed fifth (+4.46), Germany II placed sixth (+4.62), Switzerland (+5.09) USA II eighth (+7.95), Italy I ninth (+10.89) and Australia 10th (+27.53).
To start the day, Sweden I, with Falk and Nilsson had won the first semifinal in 13:37.97, by 0.17 seconds over Sweden II’s Ingemarsdotter and Dahlqvist. The top-six teams from that heat qualified for the final, with Switzerland in third, Italy in fourth, Slovenia in fifth, and Australia in sixth.
The American teams took the top two in the second semifinal, with Sargent and Caldwell winning 13:46.51, and Patterson and Randall following in second, 0.11 seconds back. Germany I and Germany II qualified from that heat as well with fast-enough times.
Sunday marked the first and last team sprint of the season so far before the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea, where a freestyle team sprint will be contested on Feb. 21.
The World Cup has two more weekends of racing before the Olympics, with all-classic races next weekend in Planica, Slovenia (classic sprint and 10/15 k classic individual starts), followed by freestyle races in Seefeld, Austria, on Jan. 27-28 (skate sprints and 10/15 k freestyle mass starts).
— Ian Tovell and Alex Kochon contributed reporting
The women’s 6 x 1.2 k freestyle team sprint podium at Sunday’s World Cup in Dresden, Germany, with (from left to right) Sweden I’s Hanna Falk and Stina Nilsson in second, Sweden II’s Ida Ingemarsdotter and Maja Dahlqvist in first (c), and USA I’s Ida Sargent and Sophie Caldwell in third (r). (Screenshot: ZDF broadcast)
Sweden’s Stina Nilsson at 2017 World Championships, after she finished 13th in the women’s 10 k classic on Feb. 28. On Sunday, she won her first sprint of the season at Sweden’s FIS season-opener in Gällivare.
For the third and final day of International Ski Federation (FIS) racing in Gällivare, the home crowd would not be let down. Both the men’s and women’s 1-kilometer classic sprints were won by Swedes, one of whom has established herself as one of the world’s best sprinters, ending last season second in the 2016/2017 Sprint World Cup at the age of 23.
Stina Nilsson, now 24 and entering her fifth year of racing on the World Cup, tallied her first win of the season in Sweden’s season-opening sprint on Sunday. So did Oskar Svensson, 22, who competed at his first World Championships last season.
The day started with 1 k qualifiers, which Nilsson’s teammate Hanna Falk won in 3:58.86 minutes. Nilsson followed in second, 1.9 seconds back, and the two advanced through their quarterfinals and semifinals (with Nilsson winning both) before meeting head to head in the final. Also advancing to the final were Russia’s Natalia Matveeva (who won the other semifinal), Yulia Belorukova and Evgeniya Shapovalova, as well as Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich.
In the final, Nilsson held off two Russians for the overall win, finishing first in 3:53.75. Matveeva finished 1.89 seconds later for second place, while Belorukova claimed third (+3.16). Falk placed fourth (+5.50), followed by Shapovalova in fifth (+6.09) and Fähndrich in sixth (+6.58).
Rounding out the top 10 were Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter and Jonna Sundling in seventh and eighth, respectively, followed by Russia’s Elena Soboleva in ninth and Sweden’s Anna Haag in 10th.
The lone North American woman in Sunday’s sprint, Dahria Beatty qualified for the heats in 28th, 17.29 seconds out of first. She went on to finish fifth in her quarterfinal, 9.94 seconds behind Haag, who won that heat. Overall, Beatty ended the day in 23rd. She also raced the 5 k freestyle to start the long weekend in Gällivare and placed 56th in that race.
“There were parts of the course I felt I skied really well in my qualifier today and other parts that definitely need some work,” Beatty wrote in an email. “I was happy with how my striding and double pole felt and my body was moving a lot better today than on Friday in the 5k Skate. The snow was tricky today and I didn’t carry my speed very well through the transitions and up the double pitched herringbone/run section on the back of the course.”
Beatty, a 23-year-old member of Canada’s World Cup Team, flew to Sweden with most of her team on Nov. 11 to get some time on European snow and compete in some early FIS races before the start of the World Cup.
“I was really happy to be able to ski a heat and get that feeling of pushing head to head with others,” she continued. “It’s always good to see where you are losing time or keep up in the heats to figure out what needs to be worked on before the next weekend. I am hoping I can take what I learned today and make some improvements for the World Cup opener next weekend.”
Kikkan Randall of the U.S. Ski Team raced Friday’s 5 k skate and Saturday’s 10 k classic, but opted out of Sunday’s classic sprint. Sixty-seven women contested Sunday’s sprint qualifier.
Svensson Tops Men’s Sprint
Meanwhile, Svensson, a member of Sweden’s national A-team, topped a field of 114 in the men’s classic sprint. He started out by winning the qualifier by 0.76 seconds over Russia’s Anton Gafarov in 3:24.06.
In the first quarterfinal, Svensson placed second to Russia’s Andrey Parfenov, finishing 0.14 seconds behind him, and both advanced to the semifinals. There, Svensson won the first semifinal by just 0.01 seconds over fellow Swede Teodor Peterson. They advanced to the final, along with four Russians: Gafarov, Alexander Panzhinskiy, Nikita Kriukov, and Maxim Vylegzhanin.
Sweden’s Oskar Svensson leads Alex Harvey and others during their quarterfinal at the freestyle sprint at 2017 World Cup Finals in Quebec City last March. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
In the finishing stretch of the final, Svensson and Peterson again lunged for the win, which Svensson took by 0.4 seconds in 3:21.63. Kriukov finished third, 2.12 seconds out of first, followed closely by Panzhinskiy in fourth (+2.18) and Vylegzhanin in fifth (+2.84). Gafarov ended the day in sixth (+22.99).
Also in the top 10, Sweden’s Calle Halfvarsson placed seventh, Parfenov was eighth, Russia’s Alexey Vitsenko finished ninth and Sweden’s Johan Haeggström was 10th.
Of the six Canadian men who raced on Sunday, World Cup Team member Len Valjas was the lone qualifier in 24th (+8.69). In the second quarterfinal, from which two lucky losers advanced to the semifinal, he finished sixth, 3.85 seconds behind the heat’s winner, Halfvarsson. That put Valjas 29th overall on the day.
Julien Locke (Canadian U25 Team) raced to 39th in the qualifier, 12.32 seconds out of first and 2.36 seconds out of the top 30, for his best result of the weekend. He finished 72nd in the 10 k freestyle on Friday.
“It was a long, twisty course with a fairly gentle profile with the exception of two very short, punchy steep sections,” Locke, who recently earned World Cup starts at Frozen Thunder trials, wrote in an email. “With all of the fresh snow the last couple days, the track was a soft on the corners and broken up on the climbs.
“I felt that I skied well in the qualifier but was lacking tempo and glide speed on the climbs,” he continued. “The shape feels good and I was able to have a high output throughout the qualifier. I would have liked to race the heats as they would have been excellent race prep for the first World Cup on Friday.”
Another Canadian, Knute Johnsgaard (World Cup Team) followed in 40th, 0.48 seconds behind Locke and 12.80 seconds out of first. Russell Kennedy, last year’s NorAm winner who trains in Canmore with Team R.A.D., raced to 43rd (+13.30). On Friday, he finished 48th in the 10 k skate.
“It is always a bit hard with sprints, but the goal was to close really well,” Kennedy wrote in an email. “I felt strong and was much more happy with this sprint than my Frozen Thunder qualifier.”
With firm tracks and good skis, Kennedy described his Gällivare qualifier as “super smooth.”
“There was one pretty icy corner I thought it was kinda fun since there was a big berm you could ride but there were definitely some falls around that area,” he wrote.
Not wanting to overburden his body before some of the other races he is targeting in the upcoming weeks, Kennedy opted out of Saturday’s 15 k classic.
“I am trying to build my fitness a bit through these races so racing Friday was really good for my fitness and I took off Saturday to get some rest as I have a lot of races coming up that I want to perform well at,” he explained.
Two other Canadians raced Sunday’s sprint qualifier, with Jess Cockney finishing in 48th (+14.05) and Jack Carlyle in 105th (+33.44).
The women’s freestyle sprint podium at World Cup Finals on Friday in Quebec City, with Sweden’s Stina Nilsson (c) in first, Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla (l) in second, and Sweden’s Hanna Falk (r) in third. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
At the start of the season, Sweden’s Stina Nilsson had three individual World Cup wins to her name. Now, after taking Friday’s freestyle sprint title — and only two races left on this year’s World Cup calendar — Nilsson has quadrupled that number.
The 23-year-old Swede raced to her ninth victory of the season on Friday in Québec City, crossing first in the women’s 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint in a time of 3:01.87.
The closest competitor to Nilsson was Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla, who crossed 0.42 seconds behind in second.
The two went head to head from the start of the final, with Falla leading Nilsson into the first incline and through the first downhill. Norwegian Heidi Weng clung closely behind and by the second major climb, Nilsson was at the helm, but not for long. Falla forced her way to the front once again, forcing the Swede to pick up her pace. The two began to break away from the rest of the field with 500 meters to go.
As they made their way down the third major descent, Nilsson moved around Falla and back to the lead, giving herself an edge on the Norwegian for the final climb. The two entered the final finishing stretch together, but with 50 meters left, Nilsson had knocked the Norwegian off the top spot.
“I have had an amazing season,” Nilsson said during a televised interview with the International Ski Federation (FIS). “And I really like to compete in Quebec, so I am very happy with the race.”
Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla celebrates her second-straight Sprint World Cup Crystal Globe on Friday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Despite missing the final during last weekend’s sprint in Drammen, Norway, and narrowly sneaking into Friday’s sprint final — she was the second lucky loser in her semifinal after a photo finish with Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich — Falla’s podium secures her as the overall sprint leader and awards her with her second-straight Sprint Crystal Globe.
“When you have a really bad day as I did in Drammen, you’re very happy to be back on the podium,” Falla told FasterSkier during an in-person interview.
“It’s great to be here and take the crystal globe home,” she added in an interview with FIS.
Rounding out the final podium spot in third (+2.58) was another Swede, Hannah Falk, who had started the day with a qualifying win in 3:02.91. Despite breaking a pole early in her quarterfinal, she clawed her way back to second to automatically advance to the semifinal and ultimately reach the final.
“I tried to just stay calm and knew that I got high speed in the end,” Falk told FasterSkier about how she handled exchanging poles after hers broke in the second quarterfinal.
Falk finished the season ranked third in the Sprint World Cup, behind her teammate Nilsson in second and Falla in first.
“I’m top number three in the Sprint World Cup so it was my goal today to take that podium,” Falk said.
Also in the final, Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter was the third Swede in the top four in fourth (+3.02). In her first World Cup sprint final, Fähndrich finished fifth (+3.41) and Weng placed sixth after breaking a pole (+32.36).
“I think I made all the right tactical decisions today,” Fähndrich told Swiss broadcaster SRF, according to a translation.
Just by making the final, Weng essentially locked up the Overall World Cup title with a 325-point lead over Finland’s Krista Parmakoski in second. Norway’s Ingvild Flugstad Østberg another 73 points back in third and 123 points ahead of Nilsson in fourth overall.
“My goal right now is to be top three in the world overall,” Østberg told FasterSkier after a three-woman crash (with Slovenia’s Vesna Fabjan and Switzerland’s Laurien van der Graaff) ended their runs in the second semifinal. Østberg finished the day in eighth.
“I really have to fight for that because Stina is chasing me,” Østberg added of her overall podium goal. “The world champs in Lahti was not what I was hoping for so it will be a huge goal and really great if I could be third in the Overall World Cup.”
Diggins 9th; Kern 24th in First World Cup
U.S. Ski Team (USST) member Jessie Diggins was the top North American woman on the day, placing ninth overall after finishing fifth in her semifinal. Coming off of a silver medal in the freestyle sprint at this year’s Nordic World Championships, Diggins had high hopes for her performance in Friday’s final sprint.
Jessie Diggins (U.S. Ski Team) racing to 11th in the women’s 1.5 k freestyle sprint qualifier on Friday at World Cup Finals in Quebec. She went on to reach the semifinals and placed ninth overall. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
However, with Nilsson, Falla, Falk, and Fähndrich all pushing the pace in her semifinal, Diggins missed advancing to the final.
“My finishing speed has been good all season and especially from the last skate sprint we did in Lahti, so I had a lot of high hopes for today,” Diggins wrote in an email. “But in my semifinal there was a lot of fighting for position and it’s always frustrating when your whole heat finishes 1.4 seconds faster than the winner of the other semi! But, that is sprinting sometimes.”
Along with Diggins, who qualified 11th, four other Americans made the heats: Sadie Bjornsen (who qualified sixth), Sophie Caldwell (18th), Rosie Brennan (27th), and Julia Kern (19th). Bjornsen was the next top finisher for the U.S., placing 16th, just 0.12 seconds away from advancing to the semifinals.
“Sadie, in her quarterfinal, she did everything she wanted to do, she put herself in the absolute right position to be right here in second place coming into the finish straight and just barely missed, just got passed at the line,” USST head coach Chris Grover said.
Bjornsen had been positioned in second through the final turn, until she was eventually outlunged by Falk.
Sadie Bjornsen (U.S. Ski Team) racing to sixth in the women’s 1.5 k freestyle sprint qualifier on Friday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City. She went on to place 13th overall. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
“I just haven’t been able to find that perfect speed at the finishing stretch pretty much every sprint this year,” Bjornsen said. “I was trying to switch things up today and see if I could and I gave it my all and unfortunately didn’t take the draft right into the finish.”
After qualifying with the sixth-fastest time, 3.47 seconds behind Falk, Bjornsen indicated that even if this season’s World Cup sprints are done, her perfection over the art of sprinting is not.
“When I’m qualifying that well, I know I can sprint well, that’s like the most exciting part,” Bjornsen said.
Also left wanting a little more on Friday was Caldwell, who finished 21st. Caldwell had been positioned in third coming into the final turn before the finishing stretch, when she fell after a near-run in with Sweden’s Anna Dyvik. The Swede was relegated to last in that quarterfinal.
“Today was a really frustrating day for me and not the way I wanted to end the World Cup sprint season,” Caldwell wrote in an email. “My season has been solid and consistent, but I’ve had three crucial falls now and those bummed me out. Davos was entirely my own doing, but Toblach and today were pretty out of my control, which is frustrating because I don’t know what I could have done differently.”
Caldwell plans to race both of the final two distance days of the World Cup season, though the sprint had been her primary focus.
“I haven’t been able to do very much distance racing this year, so I have zero expectations and will hopefully be able to have some fun out there!” Caldwell wrote. “I am happy with the season and I feel like I’ve skied a little better than the results show due to some falls, but I’m eager to stay on my feet and accomplish more next season.”
Julia Kern (U.S. Ski Team D-team/SMS) racing to 29th in the women’s 1.5 k freestyle sprint qualifier on Friday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City. In her first World Cup race, Kern ended up 24th on the day. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
In her first World Cup race, Kern qualified for the heats in 29th and raced in the day’s first quarterfinal — the same as Diggins, sprint leader Falla, Ingemarsdotter, and Fähndrich.
“At the start line it almost felt like a dream because there I was at the start line next to some of the best skiers in the world, skiers who I have looked up to and watched race after race on my computer screen to learn and gain inspiration from,” Kern wrote.
Kern explained that though she was a little nervous about starting the sprint on Friday, she cited her recent performances at U.S. Junior Nationals in Lake Placid, N.Y., where she won all three individual races, as giving her confidence. Though getting into the heats would require what she referred to as “a killer day”, the 19-year-old USST development team member pulled it off, ultimately crossing in fifth in her quarterfinal for 24th overall.
“I felt like I had skied the qualifier pretty well technically, but I didn’t feel my extra spark I get when I am having a really good day so I was very surprised when Chris Grover told me I was hanging in 29th!” Kern wrote. “When it was confirmed that I was in the heats I was extremely excited and a little shocked. It has been something I have imagined over and over when I watch the World Cup sprints on my computer and for it to happen in my first World Cup was truly incredible.”
With two more World Cup races to go, Kern is coming into them with a newfound confidence.
“This is a huge confidence booster for me because it is easy to make a goal and have my teammates and coaches who believe in me tell me results like this are possible, but it is another thing to actually live up to it and believe it yourself too,” Kern wrote.
Rosie Brennan (U.S. Ski Team) racing to 27th in the women’s 1.5 k freestyle sprint qualifier on Friday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City. She qualified for the first time in a sprint, and ended up 28th overall on the day. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Advancing to the heats for the first time in her World Cup career was Brennan, who qualified 27th and finished the day in 28th.
“The quarters were not what I had hoped for, but I didn’t really have too many expectations, I’ve never done it before,” Brennan said. “So I’m glad to have gotten that out of the way before the season was over and I have a good list of things to work on this summer.”
Even with five U.S. women making the heats on Friday, the team was hungry for more.
“On the ladies’ side, a decent qualification, but not actually really one of our best,” Grover said. “Great for Julia to get in there as a junior athlete, that was really exciting for Rosie to get in there, because that may have been the first time this season she’s actually been in. She’s been just on the outside so many times. So excited for those two guys. Kind of an OK qualification for the other three ladies … all those ladies skied really smart, but it just didn’t come together.”
American Sophie Caldwell (18) chasing Slovenia’s Vesna Fabjan (8), ahead of Sweden’s Anna Dyvik, during their quarterfinal of the women’s freestyle sprint on Friday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City. (Photo: John Lazenby/Lazenbyphoto.com)
Eight other American women competed in Friday’s sprint, though did not advance beyond qualification with Ida Sargent placing 36th, Erika Flowers 48th, Kaitlynn Miller 50th, Caitlin Patterson 53rd, Becca Rorabaugh 54th, Chelsea Holmes 55th, Jennie Bender 57th, and Liz Guiney 62nd. Liz Stephen did not start.
Sargent explained that though she had been looking forward to this weekend’s races, a bout of pneumonia left her unable to compete at the level she had hoped to.
“I got sick in Lahti and just couldn’t figure out why I wasn’t getting better,” Sargent said. “They thought it was just a cold, but I kind felt like something was different and so, eventually I got diagnosed with pneumonia and I’m still on antibiotics for that. They said I was fine to race and that it wouldn’t do any damage. I didn’t have much hope for how it was going to go today, I was trying to stay optimistic, but there’s a reason with antibiotics and pneumonia.”
For Canada, Dahria Beatty finished 41st, Emily Nishikawa 45th, Cendrine Browne 47th, Andrea Dupont 51st, Sophie Carrier-Laforte 56th, Katherine Stewart-Jones 59th, Annika Richardson 60th, Sadie White 61st, Frederique Vezina 63rd, Laura Leclair 65th, Katherine Weaver 66th, Mia Serratore 67th, Alannah MacLean 69th, Annika Hicks 70th, and Lisle Compton 71st.
Alex Harvey of the Canadian World Cup Team racing to fourth in the men’s 1.5 k freestyle sprint qualifier on Friday at World Cup Finals in Quebec City. (Photo: Peggy Hung)
FIS Cross-Country World Cup Finals (Quebec City): Freestyle sprint
[UPDATED] Alex Harvey wins at home. That was the news buzzing across the Plains of Abraham on Friday in Quebec City, where Canada’s leading skier won the 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint final on Day 1 of World Cup Finals after taking control and delighting the crowd all day.
The win was the seventh of Harvey’s career and his 23rd World Cup medal, according to Cross Country Canada. Last year at the Ski Tour Canada stop in Quebec City, Harvey placed second in the freestyle sprint. He wasn’t going to let that happen again this year.
Chasing Norway’s Finn Hågen Krogh as he entered the finishing stretch, Harvey put his distinctive finishing kick to the test and beat Krogh by 0.31 seconds at the line in 2:44.92 minutes.
“It takes a lot of things to line up a good result in cross-country skiing,” Harvey told reporters after. “The equipment was great. I had a really good body, good tactics, a bit of luck, too, ’cause sprinting you need some luck. So just everything clicked together today.”
France’s Richard Jouve scored his fourth-individual World Cup podium (and second one in Canada) in third place, finishing 0.94 seconds back, just ahead of Simi Hamilton, the lone American man to qualify for the heats. Hamilton placed fourth, just 0.07 seconds off the podium and 1.01 seconds behind Harvey. Norway’s Sindre Bjørnstad Skar took fifth (+1.51) to lock up third in the Sprint World Cup, and France had two in the final as well with Lucas Chanavat in sixth (+1.72).
The Sprint World Cup podium was awarded on Friday, with Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo taking the Crystal Globe in first and the defending Sprint World Cup winner, Italy’s Federico Pellegrino placing second. On Friday, Klæbo won the qualifier but was eliminated in the semifinals for eighth overall. Pellegrino finished just ahead of him in seventh overall.
A total of five Canadians qualified for the heats, with Jess Cockney striking late in the finishing stretch to finish second and automatically advance to the semifinals. There, he finished fifth for 10th overall on the day. Len Valjas, Julien Locke and Bob Thompson also reached the quarterfinals and ended up 19th, 20th and 30th, respectively, overall.
In the women’s race, Sweden’s Stina Nilsson and Maiken Caspersen Falla duked it out to the finish, with Nilsson taking the lead over the second half of the race and holding it to the finish for a 0.42-second win over Falla in 3:01.87. By reaching the final, Falla secured her second-straight Sprint World Cup Crystal Globe. Nilsson came up 38 points short for second overall, and Sweden’s Hanna Falk finished the season in third overall in the Sprint World Cup — after placing third in Friday’s final (+2.58).
The third Swede in the top four, Ida Ingemarsdotter placed fourth (+3.02) in the final. Behind her, Switzerland’s Nadine Fähndrich finished fifth (+3.41) and Norway’s Heidi Weng sixth (+32.36) to secure her lead in the Overall World Cup standings, by 325 points over Finland’s Krista Parmakoski (who placed 22nd on Friday).
Jessie Diggins finished the day in ninth to lead five U.S. women in the heats. She finished second in her quarterfinal and fifth in her semifinal.
Sadie Bjornsen was the team’s top qualifier in sixth, and went on to place 21st overall after finishing third in her quarterfinal. Sophie Caldwell crashed on the final hill of her quarterfinal heat to place 21st on the day.
Fresh off winning three U.S. Junior Nationals titles, World Cup rookie Julia Kern, a 19-year-old U.S. Ski Team D-team member, placed 24th overall after qualifying 29th and finishing fifth in her quarterfinal.
Also for the U.S. Ski Team, Rosie Brennan placed 28th on the day after finishing sixth in her quarterfinal.
Five American women and five Canadian men (plus one American) qualified for the heats on Friday in the 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint, the first of three days of racing at World Cup Finals in Quebec City.
Quebec’s hometown favorite Alex Harvey raced to fourth, 4.14 seconds off the top qualifying time set by Norway’s Johannes Høsflot Klæbo in 2:39.44. Norway’s Finn Hågen Krogh qualified second, 3.43 seconds back, and France’s Lucas Chanavat advanced in third (+3.73).
Harvey led four Canadian men within 0.67 seconds of one another, all qualifying for the heats as well, with Len Valjas qualifying 24th (+9:28), Julien Locke of the Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) 25th (+9.39), Jess Cockney 28th (+9.90), and Bob Thompson of the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay in the lucky #30 spot (+9.95) as the final qualifier in the men’s race.
Simi Hamilton (U.S. Ski Team) was the lone American to qualify in the top 30 in the men’s race, and he clocked the 16th fastest time (+7.52).
In the women’s race, five Americans are continuing on to the quarterfinals. Sadie Bjornsen led them in sixth, 3.47 seconds off the fastest qualifying time set by Sweden’s Hanna Falk in 3:02.91.
Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla qualified second (+1.72) and Marit Bjørgen third (+1.89), ahead of Sweden’s Stina Nilsson in fourth (+3.3) and Norway’s Heidi Weng in fifth (+3.34).
Also of the U.S. Ski Team, Jessie Diggins qualified 11th (+5.86), Sophie Caldwell 18th (+7.97), Rosie Brennan 27th (+11.43), and Julia Kern, a 19-year-old U.S. development team member, 29th (+12.12).
As for those who placed outside the top 30, for the U.S. men, Andy Newell missed it by eight-hundredths of a second in 31st. Erik Bjornsen finished 33rd, Cole Morgan 34th, Paddy Caldwell 50th, Matt Gelso 57th, Scott Patterson 58th, Jack Hegman 61st, Brian Gregg 62nd, Ben Lustgarten 69th, David Norris 70th, and Noah Hoffman 73rd.
Canada’s Andy Shields was 35th, Russell Kennedy 36th, Devon Kershaw 38th, Knute Johnsgaard 41st, Evan Palmer-Charrette 47th, Joey Foster 53rd, Graeme Killick 64th, Ricardo Izquierdo-Bernier 71st, Brian McKeever 72nd, and Gareth Williams 74th.
Among the U.S. women, Ida Sargent placed 36th, Erika Flowers 48th, Kaitlynn Miller 50th, Caitlin Patterson 53rd, Becca Rorabaugh 54th, Chelsea Holmes 55th, Jennie Bender 57th, and Liz Guiney 62nd. Liz Stephen did not start.
For Canada, Dahria Beatty finished 41st, Emily Nishikawa 45th, Cendrine Browne 47th, Andrea Dupont 51st, Sophie Carrier-Laforte 56th, Katherine Stewart-Jones 59th, Annika Richardson 60th, Sadie White 61st, Frederique Vezina 63rd, Laura Leclair 65th, Katherine Weaver 66th, Mia Serratore 67th, Alannah MacLean 69th, Annika Hicks 70th, and Lisle Compton 71st.
This coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage, please contact info@fasterskier.com.
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