FasterSkier’s coverage of this week’s FIS World Championships stands as a proud tribute to an icon of American Skiing, Marty Hall who has generously supported our coverage of international cross country ski events. To learn more about Marty and Kathy Hall’s A Hall Mark of Excellence Award, please contact info@fasterskier.com. We’ll miss you, Marty.
Jessie Diggins (USA) always races with every ounce of her heart. Put her on some fast skis, and she can rival anyone in the field. Julia Kern (USA) orchestrated a terrific fifth place finish in the opening event of these World Championships (the Freestyle Sprint), and she’s shown great endurance and pack-racing acumen in recent mass start events. If Team USA’s ski technicians figure out the base prep for this Classic event, then Diggins and Kern really could have a chance in the Team Sprint. Granted, no one is likely to challenge Team Sweden (Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist), but silver and bronze medals could be up for grabs among numerous nations: Norway, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, and the USA.
There was one funny tactical circumstance that had the potential to re-shuffle the deck regarding the likely dominance of Team Sweden: they had chosen to have Sundling lead off, with Dahlqvist skiing the anchor leg. Dahlqvist has a habit of racing from behind; if she were to get tangled in traffic—or if some other team got away early—her partner, Sundling, could find it difficult to make up the difference. Team Norway elected to have its fastest Classic sprinter (Skistad) ski the final leg. If Dahlqvist is not well ahead of Skistad in the finishing leg, the Norwegian might just get past her . . . if Skistad has any gas left in the tank after three 1.3 kilometer laps, that is.
Team Sprint
This is not the same Team Sprint format made famous by Kikkan Randall and Jessie Diggins’ Olympic Gold in 2018. Back then, “qualifying” was a full length relay effort, followed by a full-length Sprint Relay final. It was particularly exhausting—hardly a suitable event for most pure sprinters—a circumstance that may have given the edge to an all ’round skier like Diggins in the final leg where she was matched up against Sprint specialist, Stina Nilsson of Sweden. At these World Championships, each team member races a 1.3 k individual qualifying distance. Then the Team Sprint progresses as a 15-team final round (wherein each teammate skis three 1.3k loops). This newer format wouldn’t create nearly the levels of exhaustion for which the old format was responsible, giving “sprinters” a slightly better chance of holding off the all ’rounders.
But some skiers have it all: in the 20 k Skiathlon staged earlier this week, one of the contenders who appeared strongest was Sundling (the eventual bronze medalist). Had she not taken took herself out of contention by tumbling on a sharp turn at the end of the penultimate lap, she might even have found herself the winner. As she demonstrated in winning the Freestyle Sprint at these World Championships, Sundling is the fastest sprinter in the field. She may also be one of the strongest endurance skiers. That’ll be tough to beat.
Not unexpectedly, Sundling just broke things apart right from the start. Only Diggins was able to stay close to her, and Sweden and USA entered the exchange zone first. Weng brought Norway through the exchange in fifth, perhaps biding her time, perhaps having been dropped by the pyrotechnics at the front of the race. Either way, the gap was left for Skistad to close.
By the end of the second leg, a lead group had established itself well ahead of the rest of the field: Sweden, Norway, USA, Finland, and Switzerland. Dahqvist’s pace allowed them to regroup, and they entered the stadium together for the exchange led by the rocket-fast skis of Skistad.
