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.
After a week and a half layoff, World Cup racing resumed today with renewed vigor and renewed focus. With the draining experience of the Tour de Ski behind them—and some nice recovery time absorbed—athletes now set their focus on the rest of the season, which for many of the women on team USA means focusing on World Cup Overall standings, or the hunt for other Crystal Globes.
At the start of today’s Classic Sprint in Oberhof, Germany, competitors have completed exactly half of the individual events which count toward Overall points. Starting the day, Jessie Diggins (USA) sat on top of the leaderboard in the Overall competition with a healthy lead of more than 300 points over Linn Svahn (SWE). Diggins also led in the Distance competition with a 95 point lead over second place which was occupied by her teammate Rosie Brennan. Brennan was also in third for the Overall competition, only 23 points behind Svahn. So, today was an opportunity for Svahn—who is leading the Sprint competition—to use her proven Sprinting prowess to gain ground on Diggins and establish a cushion on Brennan. But Svahn would face stiff competition from Kristine Stavaas Skistad (NOR), who has a remarkable streak of ten consecutive World Cup Sprint podium finishes, as well as from her teammate Emma Ribom.
When the results were in it was Linn Svahn taking the win to gain valuable points on Diggins. In a surprise, Frida Karlsson (SWE) was second for her first World Cup Sprint podium, with Jonna Sundling (SWE) taking third. Jessie Diggins finished ninth.
Other American finishers were Rosie Brennan in 21st, Julia Kern 27th, and Samantha Smith 28th. In her first ever World Cup competition, Ely Minnesota native Erin Bianco finished 35th.
The top Canadian finisher was Katherine Weaver in 41st. Sonjaa Schmidt was 48th, Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt was 49th, and Katherine Stewart-Jones was 51st.
Women’s Classic Sprint Quarterfinals
The first quarterfinal featured Sundling who qualified first, and Skistad, who qualified 16th. The two favorites finished first and second in a race—like many today—that featured a great deal of double poling.
The second heat was packed with power as Svahn faced off against Brennan, and Victoria Carl (GER). At the start, Brennan was quickly forced to the back of a congested pack and had difficulty finding a way through it. As the heat progressed it was Svahn and Karlsson setting the pace. Brennan had managed to push her way into fourth but was some distance behind the two leaders. At the end, it was Svahn and Karlsson taking the top two spots. Brennan finished fifth, and her day would be over. After the race Brennan said that, “I’m not really sure how I’m feeling after the Tour de Ski.” She continued that, “to be honest, I think it takes more time than this to fully recover from the Tour, you kind of hope you’re recovered enough to have some good races. I was happy with my qualifier … heats obviously didn’t go the way I wanted them to … making not the best tactical decisions out there; didn’t play to my strengths the way I should have. But I feel like I’m on the upswing from the Tour.”
Diggins and Kern were in the third quarterfinal, along with Tiril Udnes Weng (NOR). Today was Weng’s return to the World Cup after having missed the entire season with illness. As has been her Sprint strategy this year, Diggins went to the front, but was matched immediately by Jasmi Joensuu (FIN). The Finn quickly jumped in front of Diggins and set the pace throughout the race. Kern was thrown to the back and was never able to gain ground on the field. Joensuu continued to push the entire way with Diggins marking her. As they entered the stadium, Diggins jumped from behind Joensuu into her own track and put in a hard effort to nip Joensuu at the finish. Kern finished sixth. Due to the glazing Classic track, it was a challenging day for kick, “it was really tricky” commented Diggins. “Even though you knew you were just going to herringbone that last steep hill, there was still that power striding section in the middle, and I felt I needed enough kick to be able to ski well there, so it was a really tricky balance. I’m really proud of our tech team. I feel that I had the skis I needed.”
The fourth quarterfinal featured America’s 18 year old standout, Samantha Smith. She would go up against Moa Lundgren (SWE), Emma Ribom (SWE) and Katharina Hennig (GER). Ribom went to the front early along with her teammate, Lundgren. The pack remained tight throughout the half-way point with Smith hanging at the back. As the racers entered the steepest climb they transitioned to herringbone, and Smith was unable to match the pace. This opened a window for Tereza Beranova (CZE) who went to the front with Ribom. The pair established a nice cushion and easily double poled through the finish. Smith finished sixth. But for Smith, every day on the World Cup is an opportunity to learn, “I’m definitely feeling more and more comfortable every Sprint” said Smith. “It’s been really exciting getting into heats the last two Sprints, and hopefully I will have more opportunities as the season progresses!”
The fifth quarterfinal had Maja Dahlqvist (SWE) taking the victory and German favorite Laura Gimmler (GER) thrilling the crowd by taking second place.
When the quarterfinals were complete, Diggins ended up being the only American to advance to the semifinals, while five Swedes moved on.
Sprint Semifinals
Diggins landed in the first semifinal along with Sundling, Svahn, Karlsson, Skistad, and Carl. It was a very imposing field, but in a sense a fortunate one for Diggins who could keep an eye on her competition for the Overall Cup. The hometown crowd was clearly in Carl’s corner as they cheered her loudly during introductions. At the start Diggins found herself in the unusual position of being at the back of the pack with Svahn and Sundling going to the front. It appeared to be a strategic response to Diggins’ established tactic of going early to the front. Diggins was trapped behind Skistad as the pack remained tight. Then Diggins decided to jump into the outside lane to try and find some room, but the move did not pay off. She still remained at the back with Sundling, Svahn and Karlsson creating a Swedish wall at the front. As they entered the final stretch, the group stretched out a bit with Svahn taking the win. Karlsson was second. followed by Sundling and Skistad. Diggins finished fifth, two seconds back, and would not advance. Energy wasn’t an issue for Diggins coming off the Tour de Ski. Asked if she felt recovered from the Tour, she said, “yes.” She continued that, “it is always a little nerve wracking, because you don’t know until you race, so it was nice to feel some good race feelings today.” Diggins also acknowledged that the tight pack affected her race, “I definitely need to improve being a little more aggressive and protecting my space.” She added that, “I definitely felt like I had the fitness, and that was a really good thing, and that’s how I would like it to be. I feel like I could improve protecting my space a little more and really need to improve my double pole finishes.”
In the second semifinal Ribom faced off against Dahlqvist, Joensuu, Gimmler, Beranova and Anne Kyllonen (FIN). Joensuu took the lead early with Ribom following her. As they entered the herringbone section Ribom and Beranova put in a huge burst to jump to the front. Beranova continued the hard pace to go to the front, but she had gone out too soon. Ribom was able to sprint past her as they entered the stadium. The sparse crowd then erupted as seemingly out of nowhere Gimmler made a late push to finish second thrilling the German fans.
Sprint Final
The finals saw Svahn, Ribom, Karlsson, Gimler, Sundling, and Skistad taking the start line. The real surprise in this group was Karlsson, who has not had a strong Sprint history. Nonetheless, it allowed Sweden to continue their Sprint domination by placing four skiers into the finals.
At the start, Skistad went to the front immediately; a change of tactics for her. But Sundling did not let her stay out front for long as she passed Skistad to take the lead. Surprisingly, it was Karlsson who followed Skistad to the front along with Sundling and Svahn. The three Swedes began to pull away as Skistad’s initial burst had cost her and she was fading quickly. Svahn then took control with Karlsson right behind her. Svahn was able to sprint to the line first, and in the surprise of the day Karlsson was second. Sundling finished third for a Swedish sweep. It was an impressive showing for Karlsson who did something which she has not been able to do throughout her World Cup career; hang with the top Sprinters and capture a Sprint podium.
After the Sprints had concluded, Diggins remained atop the Overall standings ahead of Svahn. Brennan was still in third place, now 87 points behind Svahn, and only 17 points ahead of Ribom.
Women’s Classic Sprint RESULTS
