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The news all week has been “The Russians are Coming! The Russians are Coming!” Well, no Russians, today. Even after all the headlines, even after certain Russian athletes had sent entries to the organizers of this World Cup event in anticipation of being cleared to compete (which they were) by the court of Arbitration for Sport, even after the Kingdom of Norway promised to expedite the visa applications of Russian athletes who had been offered entry into these World Cup races. Still, no Russian skiers on the starting line in Trondheim.
Norwegian fans are probably fine with that. Few of them wanted the Russians here in the first place. This is a ski-crazy nation that doesn’t want the Russians spoiling the party . . . and not just because Norwegian fans fear that the Russians will interrupt the Norwegian dominance of World Cup podiums, but also because Norwegian ski fans remain unconvinced that Russian athletes can be trusted to be clean competitors. Regardless, just because Russians are absent from this first World Cup opportunity doesn’t mean that Russian skiers—in the guise of Independent Neutral Athletes (AINs)—won’t make their way to numerous starting lines this season.
In Trondheim, all eyes were on Kristine Stavaas Skistad (NOR) who has shown that she may be the sprinter to beat when the event is contested in Classic technique. The Norwegian crowd (albeit a much smaller crowd that packed this venue during last year’s World Championships) expected to watch Skistad calmly and steadily dominate this Sprint field . . . but that’s not at all what happened. Skistad qualified rather slower than normal (in 22nd), and never showed the sort of dominance that epitomized her victory in Ruka just a week ago. She faded in her quarterfinal, finishing third and failing to advance to the semifinal. The steadying effect Skistad may otherwise have provided was eliminated from the field. Chaos ensued . . .
Out of the maelstrom skied Sweden’s Johanna Hagstroem, coasting to victory ahead of a haggard field that left unrealized aspirations and shattered pole fragments scattered across Trondheim’s Sprint course. Emma Ribom and Linn Svahn would complete Sweden’s sweep of the podium.
For the Americans, Jessie Diggins had qualified 14th ahead of her teammate, Julia Kern, in 27th. They would both exit after the quarterfinal, finishing 14th and 20th, respectively.
“I think today was a step in the right direction, said Kern. “And I’m hoping to continue to build from here. World Cup doesn’t leave much margin for error. Being on the Team sprint is definitely one of my top goals this season, but we are still months away from that. Right now, I’m doing the steps to be at my best in February, racing my way into form and working on both fitness and speed with various race efforts.”
“I was really psyched to be feeling good today,” said Diggins. “Got to spread a lot of glitter out there, and I’m really proud of how I skied!”
Among other Americans, Alayna Sonnesyn would finish 45th, Kate Oldham 54th, and Erin Bianco 52nd. No Canadian skiers were entered in Trondheim’s Classic Sprint.
Diggins delivered another absolutely solid qualifying performance, later commenting on her level of fitness and preparedness for the season ahead. “It’s nice to have some consistency right now,” said Diggins. “But at the same time I feel like I never take it for granted . . . It’s always been a goal to be a good all-around skier and a consistent skier (but) the priority this year is, for sure, the Olympics. That said, I know I’m an athlete that thrives off of a lot of racing; the best way to continue to improve is . . . to show up and do it on race day!”
“Racing a lot is a part of my training plan and peaking plan,” Diggins continued. “It’s nice to know that can be a way for me to race into highest levels of fitness.”
Women’s Classic Sprint
Sprint qualifying was won in Trondheim by Jasmi Joensuu (FIN) while last week’s Classic Sprint winner (in Ruka, Finland), Skistad, qualified only 22nd. Svahn showed that her return to racing also corresponds with a return to form; she qualified third. Obviously Svahn’s sprint speed has returned. It remained to be seen whether or not she would display the endurance needed to progress deep into the heats.
Kern drew Quarterfinal 1 against Joensu, Skistad, and Jonna Sundling (SWE). Top qualifier, Joensu, shot straight to the front, seemingly determined (as she was through all of last season when she won the Sprint World Cup) to exhaust her rivals by making the pace high. Skistad was perfectly content to let Joensu set the pace.
Joensu’s strategy allowed her to amass good points in every sprint last season, but she seemed each week to expend too much energy in the heats—often running out of gas in finals or semifinals. In Trondheim, Joensu remained committed to her strategy, taking the first quarterfinal ahead of Sundling who stormed up the straightaway to catch Skistad (whose wide line around the final turn saw her hopping over a V-board to maintain her line into the final straightaway). at the finish line. Kern would finish the heat in fourth.
Svahn continued to bolster her comeback in the second quarterfinal which she won over Coletta Rydzek (GER). The main impact of that heat, though, was the fast finishing time that displaced the prior heat’s lucky losers, Skistad and Kern.
Diggins led out her quarterfinal, but found herself overtaken by the faster skis of Hagstroem and Ane Appelkvist Stenseth (NOR) on the course’s downhill. A brief tangle with Hagstroem at the summit of the final climb seemed to steal Diggins’ momentum, and she was unable to recover in the finishing straightaway. Diggins would finish the heat in third, but would not advance as a lucky loser.
Reached for comment after the races, American Coach, Matt Whitcomb, described the tangle between Diggins and Hagstroem. “(Jessie) skied well in the quarterfinal, needed to be in the position that she was in,” said Whitcomb. “And then to be hacked on that final corner dropping down into the stadium by Johanna Hagstrom was really unfortunate. Johanna did get a yellow card for that; I think she should have been disqualified because it was deliberate. And, yeah, we shouldn’t be letting those moves happen, but that took Jessie out of the race. We spoke with the jury and had a respectful disagreement. Their argument was that because Johanna and Jessie were together when the incident happened—and then at the bottom of the long descent they were still together—that it didn’t really change the result. And I think that is true in a world where Lucky Loser doesn’t exist. But it absolutely changed the result today. And it’s not that Johanna went on (to win) the race, it’s that Jesse got eliminated because of—let’s see—unethical tactics.
Semifinals
The first semifinal featured Maia Dahlqvist (SWE), Svahn, Moa Ilar (SWE), Sundling, and Joensuu. Joensuu seems to have only one tactic as she sped to the front early. Ilar took the bait, and powered up the first climb in the lead. But the early speed detached no one from the pack, so a different tactic tookover with the pack slowing to a standstill at the summit of the final uphill. No one wanted to lead the downhill—no one wanting to provide the slipstream that would allow others to pass before the final corner. Ultimately, it was Svann who trusted her skis enough to dive down the final slope, carrying her speed into the finishing straightaway and across the line to advance to the final ahead of Sundling.
Having just watched skiing’s version of a cycling velodrome trackstand, the racers in the second semifinal would know that a quick pace would almost certainly result in four skiers advancing to the final (two automatic qualifiers, and two lucky losers). Stenseth set the fast pace, followed by Hagstroem and Ribom. Hagstroem bobbled through an awkward lane change on the final downhill, but still managed to weave her way through the straightaway crowd to finish third (advancing as a lucky loser) behind Laura Gimmler (GER) and Ribom.
Women’s Classic Sprint Final
Trondheim’s six-skier final would be dominated by four Swedes: Svahn, Sundling, Hagstroem and Ribom. The race would become purely tactical with no one wanting to take the lead and the field four-wide across the course. In the low-speed maneuvering, Gimmler stumbled, taking down Svahn and breaking Sundling’s pole. Suddenly, there chaos in the field, and a reason for the pace to accelerate. After an agonizing wait for a replacement pole, Sundling dropped back to fourth among the remaining contenders. Hagstroem found herself alone at the front, chased up the final hill by Ribom.
What an unnecessary mess the final was turning out to be; Sundling (who had gotten a new pole and skied back into contention) managed to tangle with Ingrid Bergene Aabrekk (NOR) at the top of the final climb, dropping to the snow and out of contention. Coming past her, Svahn powered back into contention. Svahn would finish third behind Hagstroem and Ribom.
Hagstroem expresed her own excitement and surprise in post-race interviews. “I heard something on the first downhill, she said. “I was like, ‘Am I alone?’ I’m in shock, kind of.”
Hagstroem exits Friday’s Sprint leading the World Cup Sprint standings ahead of Sundling and Joensuu. Racing continues in Trondheim with a Skiathlon on Saturday, and 10 k Interval Start on Sunday.
Trondheim Women’s Classic Sprint RESULTS
Trondheim Women’s Classic Sprint QUALIFYING
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John Teaford
John Teaford has been the coach of Olympians, World Champions, and World Record Holders in six sports: Nordic skiing, speedskating, road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking, triathlon. In his long career as a writer/filmmaker, he spent many seasons as Director of Warren Miller’s annual feature film, and Producer of adventure documentary films for Discovery, ESPN, Disney, National Geographic, and NBC Sports.
