Ebba Andersson’s Golden Redemption—Olympic 50 k

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TESERO, ITALY — Two weeks of Olympic cross-country ski racing all comes down to this . . . fifty grueling kilometers of this, to be precise; a distance that women have raced only a few times on the World Cup and/or World Championship schedule, but a distance at which they are able to truly show their skills, their tenacity, and their ability as cross-country skiers.

These Olympics began with lofty expectations—in some cases, outrageously lofty—placed upon many skiers: Karlsson was seen as likely to win four golds: she started strong (winning gold in both the Skiathon and the 10 k Freestyle), but found herself benched by illness in the 50 k. Ebba Andersson was seen as a threat to topple her Swedish teammate, Karlsson, only to find herself toppled in a famously awkward and memorably catastrophic fall that cost Sweden the gold medal in the Team Relay. Jonna Sundling was billed as the best sprinter in the world (and was seen as likely to steal a medal in the Skiathlon, as well). Her moment in the Sprint spotlight was stolen by her own teammate, the rejuvenated Linn Svahn.  And numerous mainstream reporters myopically favored Jessie Diggins to medal in all six events. After all, she’s the defending World Cup Overall Champion, right? And she’s currently leading the World Cup standings in both Overall and Distance, isn’t she? Reading those stats would seem to suggest that she’s the best skier in the world . . . and she may actually be that best skier, but the only skier who consistently lives up to such superlative headline predictions is the unmatchable Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (who won all six of the men’s events here in the Olympic Winter Games of Milano-Cortina).

Diggins would fight through an unfortunate ski change, and endure a long struggle in returning to the group of bronze medal contenders, only to find herself gapped on the final uphill. Diggins would finish fifth behind fourth place, Kristin Austgulen Fosnaes. Ahead of them, Andersson would ski brilliantly and tirelessly to claim gold, well ahead of of Weng, and minutes clear of the third place performance from an elated Nadja Kaelin (SUI).

“If you had told me even a year ago, I’d be in the fight for a bronze medal in a 50k classic, I would not have believed you,” said Diggins. “It’s taken so much work from so many people for so many years to get here, and I’m just really proud of it.”

Among other Americans, Rosie Brennan  would finish 16th. Hailey Swirbul would cross the line in her comeback Olympics to finish 20th while Kendall Kramer would finish 27th. Canadians would place all their finishers in the top 30: Jasmine Drolet 18th, Sonjaa Schmidt 26th, Katherine Stewart-Jones 28th, and Amelia Wells 29th.

Women’s 50 k Classic

Pre-race intel reported that Sweden’s Frida Karlsson had taken ill, and was choosing not to race in today’s 50 k. Without Karlsson’s singular presence to push the pace (as she did during her dominant victory in last season’s World Championship 50 k in Trondheim), the race was left without a known direction or strategy. Like Karlsson, Sundling was a DNS, reducing the chances that the medals would be decided in flat-out sprints. Weng hoped to duel it out with Diggins and Andersson down the final kilometers.

The Olympic 50 k is conducted in a mass start format, seven laps of 7+ kilometers/lap raced in the Classic technique. On an unseasonably warm day—40 degrees (Fahrenheit) and sunny skies—waxing and base prep were likely to play outsize roles in the results. Within the first three kilometers, a lead group of a dozen skiers—containing all the prime contenders—began to ease off the front. The early pace was made by Andersson, followed by Weng, Diggins, Teresa Stadlober (AUT), and Astrid Oeyre Slind (NOR). Val di Fiemme’s challenging hills quickly began whittling away at the lead group as Andersson continued driving the pace, stringing out Weng and Diggins in her wake. Slind inexplicably pulled up on a challenging climb, stalling other contenders behind her including Kerttu Niskanen (FIN), Johanna Matintalo (FIN), and Dariya Nepryaeva (AIN). Slind would drop out of the race only a few kilometers later, a frustrating result for a skier who had entered these Games with such high hopes..

By 8.5 kilometers, a solid chase group would form involving Fosnaes, Niskanen, Matintalo, and Karoline Simpson-Larsen (NOR). At the front, the lead group had been reduced to three—Andersson, Weng, and Stadlober—as Diggins began to show the strain of he early pace. Even Stadlober had begun to wobble as the chasers continued to concentrate their pursuit.

Diggins was the first of the contenders to switch skis (at the 14.4 kilometer mark at the end of the Lap 2). She immediately regretted her decision as her klister-waxed skis tripped her dramatically on her way out of the exchange zone. Stumbling along the track—gasping and yelping audibly—Diggins lost considerable time, finding herself dropping to ninth place, 1:11 behind the leaders. Diggins would need to rely on her new skis working their way into the conditions, in the hope that they would ultimately provide an advantage. But even more time had been lost to the leaders who, themselves, had not shown any dissatisfaction with their own skis.

“I knew I had to switch early,” said Diggins. “I’m so glad I did. It was just a really gritty race. Literally every muscle in my body started cramping with three laps to go. So I can confidently say I could not possibly have tried harder or gotten more out of my body.”

“After that first pair of skis, she switched pretty early,” said US coach, Kristen Bourne. “But we also had a lot of confidence in that second pair . . . so we also had a lot of confidence giving her the the go-ahead to switch.”

The race settled into a few slow-developing stories:

• Weng and Andersson were off the front, deciding gold between them.
• Stadlober raced on alone in bronze medal position, but she found the gap behind her being eaten into by Niskanen and Fosnaes.
• Diggins had fallen from contention, though her fortitude and pride were likely to prevent her from dropping out of her final Olympic event.

And then Diggins began coming back . . . maybe she began overhearing all of us commentators wondering if she might drop out of this race. That may be just the sort of motivation that Jessie Diggins needs. Diggins drove to the tails of Fosnaes and Niskanen. Together, they closed the gap to Stadlober who was pursuing better traction in the the snow outside the Classic tracks. While Diggins’ skis may have been a disaster in the first few meters after the exchange, it’s possible they were proving to have been a shrewd decision.

Andersson and Weng changed skis at the end of the fourth lap, where Andersson was pitched over her ski tips by her own sticky kick wax. At the end of lap four, Diggins had moved into  bronze medal position as the chase group entered the stadium. Fosnaes was the only skier who opted to exchange skis. Stadlober, Kaelin, and Niskanen continued in pursuit of Diggins.

Soon after 30 kilometers, Andersson found her skis to be an advantage over Weng’s. By 34.2 kilometers, Andersson had opened a 20 second gap. She was still 45 minutes from the finish line, but Andersson was beginning to stretch her advantage.

Now in a group with Niskanen, Fosnaes, Kaelin, and Stadlober, Diggins may have sensed that her best chance to claim the bronze medal was not to be found in breaking away (thereby risking  blowing up, herself) but to sit with this group in anticipation of a bunch sprint that would favor her own abilities. With two laps remaining, the chase group had decisions to make. Among those racers, only Diggins had already changed skis. Among this group, it was likely that someone would stop to make the change. If they did, they could find a late-race advantage, or they might find themselves giving up an advantage (in the time spent changing skis) that would be impossible to overcome. Kaelin, Stadober, and Niskanen all chose to change skis. Ultimately, all the chasing skiers would regroup, and immediately start considering their strategies. Diggins was the sprinter in the group; her advantage would be realized if the group came to the finish line together. Stadlober, Niskanen, Fosnaes—those are not sprinters—their only chance would be to drop Diggins and Kaelin before the finish line approached. Two laps to go . . .

And who the heck is Eliza Rucka-Michalek? The young Polish skier had been chasing all by herself for the last 40 kilometers. She finally connected with the chase group midway through he final lap, but would find that the efforts expendeded in reahing this group would be too costly to allow her to attack again. Rucka-Machalek would cross the line eighth.

The final kilometers were led out by Kaelin who was followed by an exhausted, but game, Fosnaes. Diggins shadowed them both, but the final climb would be excruciating for all. Kaelin had the best traction on the Zorzi climb; Fosnaes slipped a bit, as did Diggins who lost momentum when she stepped out of the tracks behind Fosnaes. Kaelin would maintain her advantage over the top of the climb, holding on for bronze, followed by Fosnaes and Diggins.

“I’m so grateful for our entire staff behind the scenes,” said Diggins. “They have been like, putting my body back together so that I could be out there today fighting. And I just, I wanted to do that for them. I wanted them to know like, ‘Hey, I am so grateful. Like, I’m gonna finish this. I’m gonna leave it all out there.’ And honestly, the most special thing was that I got to hug my mom on the side of the course before the race, and it’s just so cool to know that they were here for my last Olympics, and I got to end it on a beautiful day in a venue that I love so much. I’m just really proud of this last Olympics and really grateful and really happy, and I’m leaving here just full of joy and probably needing a new body.”

“I mean, we’re super proud of this team,” said Bourne. “And to walk away from this Olympics being like our most successful ever by having a variety of people—three different people—getting Olympic medals is, excuse my language, but #%&!@ insane! And I mean, man, we’re just super proud and stoked to keep the season going after a little bit of rest.”

Weng raced bravely and strategically in what may have been her final Olympics. She would claim silver, falling just short in her own quest for individual Olympic gold.

Andersson would continue extending her lead—20 seconds, 40, 60, 90—to claim a gold medal to go along with her three silvers earned at these Games. Here at the end of an Olympic campaign that found her hitting the deck again and again—including that spectacular somersault and subsequent one-ski scooter-pushing during the disastrous (though ultimately silver-medal-winning) Swedish relay—Andersson raced across 50 grueling kilometers to find glory at the finish line. Individual Olympic gold was finally hers, as well as respect and redemption after days of trials and tribulations.

Women’s 50 k Classic Mass Start RESULTS

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