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World Cup competition in Lillehammer, Norway continued today with the Freestyle Sprints. Notably, it also marked the return of Norway’s Kristine Stavaas Skistad after she missed the first weekend of competition recovering from abdominal surgery. Once again Norway’s list of starters was long—12 racers—due to the additional start spots it received from being the host nation. But among all of those skiers, it was Skistad’s return which was the most interesting story. No one is certain about what level she would be performing at, and there has been precious little information about the exact nature of her medical condition. With last week’s second place Classic Sprint finish by fellow Norwegian Julie Myhre, it would set up some interesting intra-team dynamics.
There were also some interesting sub-plots for team USA’s roster. Yesterday, Rosie Brennan revealed that she was dealing with an undisclosed injury. Given that revelation, it was a little surprising to see her name on the qualification start list. “I still don’t fully understand what’s going on,” Brennan stated after the race. “So I don’t know what the future looks like. I was able to ski with less pain today, but my skiing is far from where I want it to be so I’m not sure what my plan will be from here.”
Another American with a bit of a question mark around her is Julia Kern. She came into the season recovering from her own injury and is still rounding into form. Today’s Sprint would be a good barometer of how she is progressing. “I feel like the past two days is definitely a step in the right direction,” said Kern. “I hope with more races I can continue to race my way back into shape! Definitely a bittersweet day today where I felt like I had more in me but didn’t have the opportunity to show it, but in sprinting there isn’t much room for error out there with tight margins.”
And as usual, almost any of the six skiers from Sweden could find their way to the top of the podium, with Johanna Hagstroem (SWE) having taken home her first World Cup victory last week by winning the Ruka Sprint after having been a runner up four times. She would hope to continue with that winning momentum.
Part of the question surrounding Skistad’s fitness was answered early when she qualified in fourth place, slightly behind Diggins who qualified third. But Jonna Sundling (SWE), grabbed everyone’s attention when she won the qualifying round by over six seconds. It certainly grabbed Jessie Diggins’ attention, “I actually went and found her when we were warming up for the heats because I just wanted to tell her how amazing that is. I think sometimes we’re in danger of forgetting how incredible it is because she does it so often. That’s absolutely amazing and incredible.”
Sundling continued to dominate all day, and no one really came close to matching her performances as she took the victory by winning every heat and the finals. Hagstroem gave another good performance, finishing second with Myhre coming in third. Diggins made it to the second round and finished eighth.
Julia Kern and Rosie Brennan were the other American qualifiers. Brennan squeezed into the heats by finishing 29th in the qualifier, Kern qualified 13th. Brennan and Kern were unable to advance out of their quarterfinals finishing 29th and 17th respectively.
In what could be a harbinger for the rest of the season, Diggins was able to vault ahead of Therese Johaug (NOR) in the Overall standings since Johaug didn’t accumulate any Sprint points. There is an interesting possibility of a season long see-saw between Diggins and Johaug as they alternate between high placing Sprint and Distance finishes.
Other American finishers were Alayna Sonnesyn in 38th, Lauren Jortberg 40th, Erin Bianco 47th, Haley Brewster 53rd, and Renae Anderson 58th.
The top Canadian finisher was Liliane Gagnon in 24th. Sonjaa Schmidt did not start today.
The Lillehammer Freestyle Sprint-Quarter Finals
Skistad would be tested right from the get-go as she chose to race in the first heat, and she would not be able to dominate as she did last year. Sundling easily won the heat with Skistad finishing third. She would have to wait for a lucky loser spot. But the wait would be short lived. She received a yellow card and was relegated to last place in the heats. She would not be able to advance regardless of her time.
Brennan was in the second heat. She took an outside line at the start and remained toward the back of the pack but was still within striking range. As the race opened up Brennan remained in contact, but as the skiers went up the final climb, the group spread out and Brennan was unable to remain in contact. Coletta Rydzek (GER) and Emma Ribom (SWE) would take first and second. Jasmi Joensuu (FIN) and Lotta Udnes Weng (NOR) for now took over the lucky loser positions, and their times would have knocked out Skistad regardless of her disqualification. Brennan ultimately could not hang with the winning group and finished sixth. Her day was over with more questions than answers pending.
Kern was in the third quarterfinal. She immediately went out in the middle of the pack, but her race was quickly turned upside down when just a few seconds in she snapped a pole with an errant pole placement. She received a replacement quickly. Fortunately, the damage happened early in the race, and she would have a chance to recover. As she spent the next 30 seconds trying to get her new pole strap around her wrist, she bravely was able to stay with the pack and was somehow still in contention going up the second to last climb. “Kristen Bourne (USA coach) absolutely crushed the pole handoff,” said Kern. She continued that, “I think it went as smooth as it could have. I don’t feel like it took too much out of me, just a little extra leg energy to catch back up, but what impacted me more was losing the positioning and dropping back into 6th, a place you do not want to be on this course.”
But the last climb splintered the pack with Katerina Janatova (CZE) and Jasmin Kahara (FIN) finishing first and second. Kern finished fourth and her time was not fast enough to qualify as a lucky loser.
Diggins was in the fifth and final quarterfinal heat. She has clearly established a pattern of choosing to race in the final heat. It’s a bit of a divergent strategy from typical tactics as it affords the least amount of rest. She would face the Swedish duo of Johanna Hagstroem and Moa Ilar, as well as last week’s podium finisher Myhre. This field would not present an easy opportunity for Diggins to advance.
At the starting gun, Hagstroem false started and the field had to reset. She would have to carry a yellow card for the rest of the day.
At the second start Diggins, who was in the outside lane went into the lead right from the start. She quickly pressed her advantage and put initial distance between herself and the pack. Given the undulating course, it was a tall task to lead start to finish as there were too many opportunities for racers to slingshot past the leaders. “I was essentially riding on base fitness to get out of the quarters,” said Diggins. “I feel like my strength isn’t necessarily power and ultimate speed, it’s more pushing the whole time, so to push out of the quarters I wanted to try that strategy. I obviously reversed it in the semis because the slingshot was becoming astronomically important the further we got into the race. It was really cool to try opposite strategies and I feel like I learned a lot.”
About two minutes in, Hagstroem and Myhre closed in on Diggins, but she was able to maintain her lead up the final climb. Diggins led going into the stadium where the other skiers would now try and slingshot past her, which they did. Diggins put in a final surge to make it close at the end, but still finished third. However, her hard work paid off as she had set a fast enough pace that she was able to advance as a lucky loser. She would be the only American to advance out of the first round.
Semi-Finals
The second heat featured the novel composition of three Germans; Rydzek, Victoria Carl and Pia Fink all of whom made it through to the semi-finals. They were joined by Sundling, Ribom, and Janatova. Sundling went to the lead early, which had not been a winning strategy for any of the other racers. She was joined by her teammate Ribom. The two were able to create a bit of a gap, but Carl put in a hard burst up the final climb and moved into second place. Sundling was safely in the lead with the rest of the skiers strung out. Sundling easily took the win with Carl holding on for second. For the time being Ribom and Janatova were in the lucky loser positions.
Diggins was in the second semi-final. She was joined by Myhrvold, Hagstroem, Kahara, Hedda Oestberg Amundsen (NOR), and Myhre. Diggins started from the inside position and this time she immediately drifted to the back of the pack.
The initial pace was very relaxed. Myhre took the early lead and continued to lead for over the next minute. Myhre upped the tempo and created a bit of a gap which Hagstroem was able to close. Going up the second to last hill Diggins charged hard around the corner and went into third. There was a lot of jostling as the racers approached the home stretch with Diggins getting a photo finish in fourth place. However, her time was not fast enough for a lucky loser position and her day would end.
Again, the finals would see three Swedish women; Sundling, Hagstroem, and Ribom all advancing to the finals. Only one German, Carl remained. They were joined by Myhre and Janatova. Sundling had thoroughly dominated the qualification round and her heats. At the start of the finals, she immediately went to the front again. Sundling was the only racer all day—including Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (NOR) in the men’s races— who had been able to win racing from the front. It quickly became a Swedish wall at the front with Sundling pressing her advantage and Hagstroem and Ribom following. Today, Sundling was clearly in a class of her own. Hagstroem was hanging on for second with Myhre moving up to third. Sundling seemingly effortlessly glided to the finish line with a lead of over three seconds. Her teammate Hagstroem took second with Myhre finding the podium again to finish in third place.
It was as dominating a performance as is ever seen in the women’s Sprints. For Sundling today, she was simply untouchable from start to finish. She acknowledged as much after the race when she commented about how good she felt all day, and how the Lillehammer course required top form. For the Americans it was another difficult day with Diggins once again leading the charge, but the rest of the American team unable to get much traction.
Lillehammer Women’s Freestyle Sprints Results
Johanna Hagstroem (SWE), Jonna Sundling (SWE), Julie Myhre (NOR), (l-r) (Photo: NordicFocus)
