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World Cup Nordic racing is a funny thing: so many of the race venues provide large grandstands at the finish lines, though almost no fans fill those seats. It’s not because too few fans attend the races; especially in Scandinavian countries—where fans really do know their cross country skiing—the most energetic and vociferous cheering sections are found on the significant parts of the race course where cheering can have the greatest effect on the skiers those fans root for. That’s why Ebba Andersson (SWE) may have experienced a different race from what most other skiers experienced today in Falun. On her way to a masterful victory in the Classic 10 k Interval Start, Andersson would have ascended the daunting Mordarbacken climbs amid a gloriously deafening wave of Swedish exhortation. The Swedes love Nordic skiing, and Andersson delivered just the sort of victory those fans hoped for.
Andersson had not won a World Cup event since 2023 (in Trondheim). So when she stormed through the race’s intermediate checkpoints with leads that continued to grow ahead of Norway’s Heidi Weng (ultimately second on the day) and Germany’s Victoria Carl (the final podium finisher), the crowd knew that Andersson’s long winless drought was over. She seems to be rounding into form just in time for the world Championships, set to begin in ten days in Trondheim where this same event—10 k Classic Interval Start—is on the championship schedule.
Jessie Diggins (USA) raced into tight contention with the leaders at all intermediate checkpoints on the Falun course, holding her pace and her technique to the very end where her efforts earned her an impressive fourth place. Naturally, all eyes were on her now-infamous left foot where she has dealt with issues of plantar fasciitis. Falun’s Classic course—one designed to reward skiers who stride most efficiently (rather than just those who can crank the double pole)—would pose a serious test for Diggins, a test she passed with flying colors.
With the FIS World Championships just days away, most national teams are coming into clearer focus. Other American finishers in Falun included Sophia Laukli 26th, Julia Kern 30th, Alayna Sonnesyn 34th, Kate Oldham 43rd, and Sydney Palmer-Leger 48th. Canadians were led by Alison Mackie (straight off her double medal performance at the Junior World Championships) in 31st, and Amelia Wells 60th.
Even so, significant starters were absent from today’s race. Norway’s Astrid Oyre Slind (leader in the FIS Distance standings) was a late-announced non-starter. Therese Johaug (NOR) is presumably at home training in anticipation of World Championships, as must be her Swedish rival, Frida Karlsson. Those are other likely contenders for World Championship medals in Trondheim, though it would’ve taken a lot for either of them to unseat an excellent and inspired Ebba Andersson on this cold, windy day in Falun.
Falun 10 k Classic Interval Start
With overcast skies and cold temperatures (minus 6.4 Centigrade at race time), Falun dawned chilly and windy. The waxing would be fair, but the conditions would continue to challenge as the tracks began filling with steadily falling snow.
“(It’s) a complicated course: 3.75 kilometer red loop, followed by a 3.75 kilometer blue, and finally a 2.5 kilometer blue,” explained US Coach, Matt whitcomb. “You have the small Mordarbacken, then you have the big Mordarbacken, And you don’t want to do those hills any more, so you go to the 2.5, which is just the field, plus the Sprint loop, and finish.”
