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With the winter solstice approaching, much of Period 1 racing takes place under the cover of darkness, and tonight was no exception. Stadium lights illuminated the snow-covered tracks while fiery bursts from barrels lit up the final turn. Under falling snow and hazy conditions, racers sped around the two-lap course, vying for the inside position on the corners and strategically surpassing fellow racers to cross the line in a qualifying position.
Following Friday’s team sprint—one of the most demanding disciplines of the World Cup season—racers returned to the start line this evening for another freestyle sprint in Davos, Switzerland. While many athletes arrived at the start line with sore legs from yesterday, some athletes hoping to have a strong performance in today’s sprint notably sat out. Only three of the 12 semifinalists in today’s sprint had competed in Friday’s competition.
If you caught FasterSkier’s report on last week’s freestyle sprint in Lillehammer, Norway, today’s results may not come as a surprise. Once again, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) delivered a masterclass performance, taking the top spot of the podium in the most predictable way and earning his 52nd sprint victory. Sprint specialists Lucas Chanavat of France and Erik Valnes of Norway rounded out the podium in second and third.
Sprint racing is as much about strategy as it is about speed. With six athletes on the start line and just three minutes to prove themselves, any mistake can cost an athlete the race. Any stumble can lose competitors their position – Norway’s Haavard Solaas Taugboel learned this the hard way after tripping over a pole in the quarterfinals. Similarly, a failed strategy or inability to move into a key position can eliminate even the strongest contenders, as seen with Federico Pellegrino (ITA), who missed his chance to defend his podium from last weekend. These high stakes are what make sprint racing so exciting: it’s a discipline where even the most experienced athletes can stumble and the podium positions are passed around each weekend – well perhaps the second and third positions are.
“It was amazing, so much fun racing here,” Klaebo reported, still breathing hard from the final sprint. “It was better than I expected. I was not lucky enough to join last year, so coming back this year and seeing the spectators and the atmosphere here is amazing.”
Jack Young out of Jay, VT finished with his second best freestyle sprint result of 12th place, after starting only his fifth World Cup today. This followed only his World Cup debut in the Canmore freestyle sprint last February, where he finished 23rd. Young shared, “It’s really hard to get better at World Cup level sprint heats without simply racing them and learning from them. I feel more confident and competitive than I came in feeling, and I hope to carry this energy into the rest of the year.”
The Americans had strong results with four athletes advancing into the heats. Ben Ogden (6) and Jack Young (12) advanced as they had in the same discipline last weekend, and were joined by teammates Gus Schumacher (11) and JC Schoonmaker (16).
Other American finishers included Michael Earnhart (43), Kevin Bolger (49), Zak Ketterson (50). Canadian skiers Sasha Masson (52) and Pierre Grall-Johnson (65) also finished today’s sprint competition.
Freestyle Sprint Quarterfinals
Heat 1 of the Davos quarterfinals featured a stacked lineup with Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, France’s sprint specialist Lucas Chanavat, and USA’s Ben Ogden. Ogden took an aggressive lead from the start, with Chanavat and Klaebo maintaining their position on either side of him through much of the race. Looking smooth and composed on the second climb, Ogden maintained his position despite Klaebo trailing closely behind. Heading into the finishing stretch, Chanavat and Klaebo overtook Ogden on either side, securing first and second place finishes. Ogden and his teammate Young, who finished close behind in third and fourth, clocked the two fastest times of the day (two full seconds ahead of the fastest qualifying time), comfortably earning advancement as lucky losers.
“Headed into the quarterfinal, I was really excited,” Young told FasterSkier. “It seemed clear that the only way through was to hammer from the gun. Because of this, I had a really clear way I wanted to ski the heat – go out hard and just keep hammering.”
Ben Ogden also surprised spectators today with a new strategy for the heats: hammering out of the start to establish an early lead. “Originally when I selected heat one, I figured it would be only Klaebo of the people who qualified above me, but then when Chanavat went in there I knew that my only hope was to go hard and make sure it was a lucky loser heat,” Ogden shared following the competition.
In quarterfinal 2, Finland’s Lauri Vuorinen took an early lead, racing alongside Vili Crv (SLO) through the first lap. Italy’s Federico Pellegrino, positioned at the back for much of the heat, tried to make a move on the second ascent, taking the lead alongside Norway’s Even Northug headed into the final stretch. However, a last-second and speedy come-back from Richard Jouve (FRA) across the line eliminated Pellegrino from advancing into the semifinal heats.
Sweden’s Edvin Anger boldly took the lead in quarterfinal 3, setting the pace for much of the race. Joined by teammate Marcus Grate at the front, the pair raced to defend Sweden’s strong sprinting record. Ultimately, Matz William Jenssen (NOR) outsprinted Grate to secure a spot in the semifinals alongside Anger.
In quarterfinal 4, China’s Qiang Wang established an early lead for the entire first lap. Approaching the second ascent, Haavard Solaas Taugboel (NOR) went to pass on the outside of the trail, but tripped over Wang’s pole, bringing him to fall into the side banner. This mishap allowed USA’s JC Schoonmaker to pull ahead through the final descent. Sprinting head-to-head, Schoonmaker finished in a three-way photo finish against Alexander Elde Holmboe (NOR) and Erik Valnes (NOR), just barely being eliminated.
In the final quarterfinal, Gus Schumacher (USA) found himself edged to the back out of the pack out of the starting stretch as Norway’s Harald Oestberg Amundsen (NOR) took the lead up the first ascent. Alongside Finland’s Niilo Moilanen, Amundsen controlled the pace through much of the race. Schumacher steadily worked his way towards the front of the competition, unleashing a strong push on the final climb to challenge for the second spot. In a dramatic finish, Schumacher outpaced Moilanen, Michael Hellweger (ITA), and Jan Stoelben (GER) to take second place and advance to the semifinals.
“I wasn’t in a super ideal position,” Schumacher shared when reflecting upon his position into this final sprint, “but I’ve been doing well carrying speed out of the corner and I think I did a pretty good job again. It was super fun to feel like I had momentum against those guys in the final sprint and go through a quarterfinal based on a strong last 500 meters which is not generally my strong suit. It definitely opens a lot of doors when you can do that.”
With Ogden and Young securing the lucky loser spots, Team USA advanced three athletes to the semifinals: Ogden, Young, and Schumacher.
Freestyle Sprint Semifinals
Young faced another highly competitive heat in the semifinal, lining up against Klaebo, Anger, Jouve, Chanavat, and Northug. Starting on the outside, Young came out strong, vying for the front position against Klaebo and Chanavat on the first climb. The pair repeated their performance from the quarterfinal, working in tandem (almost as if it had been planned) to control the pace through both laps and to advance to the finals in the first two positions.
Young was beaming after finishing only his 5th World Cup. “Moving onto the semi, I knew I had to do the same thing (hammer from the gun) if I wanted to get through, but I ran out of gas,” Young shared. “I’m not exactly surprised; my quarterfinal was quite taxing!”
The second semifinal was a Norway-versus-USA showdown. Ogden and Schumacher lined up against four Norwegian sprinters: Valnes, Amundsen, Jenssen, and Holmboe. Once again, Ogden wasted no time asserting himself at the front, demonstrating his bold strategy. Controlling the pace early, he even managed to open a small lead over the first hill. Meanwhile, the Norwegian skiers worked together as a tightly coordinated pack, sitting just behind Ogden. Coming out of the final descent into the finishing stretch, Ogden led the charge before he was overtaken in the final meters by the Norwegians, ultimately finishing in fourth.
However, his impressive performance and fast time earned him a spot in the final as a lucky loser yet again. After the race, Ogden shared that he approached the semifinal with the same strategy as the quarterfinal, explaining, “I saw that the first semi was five seconds slower, and Gus and I were in the same heat, so I knew it was time to employ the same strategy.”
Freestyle Sprint Final
In the final, for the third time today, Klaebo and Chanavat took an early lead together, battling for the top spot on the podium. The race followed a familiar script for Klaebo: sitting in behind Chanavat until he found the perfect moment to break free, overtaking on the final downhill. Carrying his momentum into the finishing stretch, Klaebo, the favorite heading into the day, claimed a comfortable victory, with Chanavat and Valnes rounding out the podium.
Ogden started conservatively in fifth but was unable to work his way back into podium contention. Satisfied with his performance, Ogden reflected on this strategy. “It worked well both times, but the cost was that after a large effort yesterday in the team sprint and three laps on the course full gas, I didn’t have much of an answer in the final. I think on a better day I can have more in the final.”
Men’s Freestyle Sprint Results, Davos
Kennedy Lange
Kennedy is a lifelong skier who competed on the Williams College ski team while earning a degree in Geosciences.
