The 28-year-old Majdic claimed victory on the 1.2 km course in Otepää, ahead of Sprint World Cup leader Astrid Jacobsen (NOR). Overall World Cup leader Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) took third.
For Majdic, this was her sixth World Cup victory ever, and the third victory of this season — all in classical sprints. Jacobsen stood on the podium for the sixth time this season.
The top two were a repeat of the World Cup sprint in Canmore – where Majdic edged out Jacobsen at the line.
“It’s really hard to beat both Jacobsen and Kuitunen, but today it was my day. My skis were amazing in the final, my qualification skis were not so good,” said Majdic.
It sounds as though the waxing may have been difficult, as Kuitunen also had complaints about her skis – “I had a good day today, unfortunately my skis were not so fast. I had no chance in the final, because I was behind from the start.”
The temperature was reported at +3 centigrade and wet. The finish tracks were taken out due to standing water.
Aino Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) was fourth after finishing second to Kuitunen in yesterday's 10km classic race. Fifth place went to Seraina Mischol (SUI), who matched her season best result from the season opener in Germany. Pirjo Muranen (FIN) took the final spot in the A-final, capping a strong day for the finish team – a Norweigan-like three in the top six.
American Kikkan Randall qualified in 22nd place, 15 seconds behind the leader Kuitunen. Times were relatively slow, with Kuitunen crossing in 3:29.22, an impressive 2.5 seconds ahead of the second qualifier. Randall was eliminated in her quarterfinal, finishing 25th on the day.
Canadian Chandra Crawford, who won the freestyle sprint in Canmore, qualified in 13th and finished 12th. Crawford traditionally performs better in the freestyle events.
Laura Valaas was the only other American woman to compete, finishing 45th. Her qualifying time was 10 seconds slower than Randall's.
In the World Cup ranking, Kuitunen continues to expand her lead with 979 points. Second with 830 points is Charlotte Kalla (SWE), who finished today’s race in 13th place. Jacobsen is third with 770 points, and still leads the sprint rankings. Majdic is the second sprinter, now only 24 points behind the young Norweigan.
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