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Gallivare, Sweden marks the outer limit of the World Cup circuit. The latitude: as northern as it gets. The course: as “unrelentingly technical” as it gets. The weather: at 5℉ (-15℃) this morning, about as cold as it gets, too. Eleven years ago, Gallivare was the venue that saw the US Ski Team break in from the fringes of World Cup standings as a 21 year old Jessie Diggins rounded the final stadium corner and sprinted across the finish line with a dramatic ski toss, securing third place in a Team Relay: the first relay podium in modern US Ski Team history. “I had a lot of memories this week,” Diggins said today, “of that race, and digging deeper than I ever had in my life back then.” Eleven years later in Gallivare, there was less doubt. Diggins—now reigning World Champion in the 10 k Skate—skied each technical turn and bump of Gallivare’s 5 k loop faster than anyone else could, winning her first race of the 2023-24 World Cup season.
Diggins built a steadily-compounding lead over her nearest challenger, Sweden’s Ebba Andersson, that stretched from two seconds at the 2 k mark to a 23.1 seconds lead at the finish. On a course that featured tightly-wound corners and punchy uphills, Diggins pointed to her ability to take time in the spaces between as key to her success. “[There were] a lot of transitions, I tried to really find the flow in that course,” she said. “There’s a ton of thinking that can be done out there, and you always have to be working and pushing and sending it on the downhills. US Ski Team Head Coach Matt Whitcomb added that, “What makes [Jessie] so devastating on this course is her ability to ski into the hills, over the hills, and through the corners better than most, and better than anyone today.”
Diggins’ win provided a definitive cap on a day when Americans delivered strong results. Joining Diggins near the top of the standings was Rosie Brennan in sixth place, a performance that moved Diggins and Brennan into first and second, respectively, in the World Cup Overall standings. This marks the first time in World Cup history that Americans have held the top two positions at once. In all, five American women scored top 30 results, underscoring the early season momentum that was evident in Ruka last weekend. Those results included Sophia Laukli one-upping her 14th place from last weekend’s 20 k skate with a 13th today, a strong 18th place finish from Julia Kern, and Novie McCabe 29th, her third top 30 in as many distance starts this season.
“I’m really proud of my teammates and everyone behind us,” Diggins said of the American team’s strong all-around performance. “They’re putting their heart and soul into this, and it shows.”
Sweden’s Moa Ilar rounded out the podium in third place, a notable performance considering the bout of COVID currently sweeping through the Swedish team. The Swedish team’s situation kept the always-competitive Frida Karlsson out of this weekend’s racing; sill, there is the prospect of an exciting early-season 4 x 7.5 k Team Relay tomorrow as the dominant Swedish team meets the surging Americans.
“Amazing, Unexpectedly Good Start”
There were early signs that the American team was going to have a good day in Gallivare: starting in bib 4, Alayna Sonneysn set a top five split among the earliest starters. Sonnesyn skied to an eventual 40th place, but was followed in succession by Novie McCabe, Julia Kern, and Sophia Laukli who all showed top splits within their respective sections of the World Cup field.
Sophia Laukli’s 13th place solidified a strong start building off her 14th in the 20 k Skate in Ruka last weekend. Laukli said post-race that she, “[has] a bit more ambition when it comes to the World Cup, seeing how the running success from the summer has combined with early results, I’m starting to set some bigger goals in the back of my mind.”
The early pace-setting for Gallivare’s top finishers would come from Frenchwoman Delphine Claudel, who consistently took the top split at each early check point. Claudel would finish the day in fifth. At every check point of the winding, dipping, climbing Gallivare course, Andersson and Diggins marked one another. Andersson would top Claudel’s split, and then the question of whether Diggins would be able to match or top Andersson’s time would follow in short order. From the first 1.9 k split, Diggins continued to build her margin over Andersson. There was a consistent vector in Diggins’ growing margin of victory, as well. At 5 k, Diggins had a 13.2 second split over Andersson. At the finish, it was 23.1 seconds.
Jessie Diggins told FIS media that she was enjoying her “amazing, unexpectedly good start.” Those results have been interspersed with some on-the-edge moments, including the dramatic, final-kilometer pole break in last week’s 20 k skate race, and a moment during today’s 10 k skate where Diggins told FasterSkier she “almost flew off one of the corners, because I got pretty aggressive . . . [that’s] when I race best.” Likewise, the technical Gallivare course served to liven up the World Cup circuit. “This was a really fun course for me,” said Diggins. “I had a lot of fun skiing it all week.”
Women’s 10 k Freestyle RESULTS
Ben Theyerl
Ben Theyerl was born into a family now three-generations into nordic ski racing in the US. He grew up skiing for Chippewa Valley Nordic in his native Eau Claire, Wisconsin, before spending four years racing for Colby College in Maine. He currently mixes writing and skiing while based out of Crested Butte, CO, where he coaches the best group of high schoolers one could hope to find.
