February 23, 2017 (Lahti, Finland) – Americans Jessie Diggins and Kikkan Randall led Team USA’s charge with an emphatic statement taking silver and bronze respectively in the women’s 1.4km F Sprint, the opening race of the 2017 Nordic World Ski Championships in Lahti, Finland. Teammate Sophie Caldwell joined them on the start line for the historic 3-strong A-Final finishing sixth.

Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla was unstoppable in her quest for gold making a high-tempo move on the final climb to drop the rest of the field. Diggins used a slingshot tactic down the final downhill to move around Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter who was fading, and put on a fast finishing sprint to comfortably secure the silver medal.

“I hope this inspires people back home,” said Diggins, thinking about the 10,000 skiers who will be competing in this weekend’s Slumberland American Birkebeiner in northern Wisconsin. “If a girl from Minnesota who just loves to dance and wear sparkles and be silly can do it, they can too.”

Randall skied in the back half of the final for the majority of the race, but made a very strong move in the finishing sprint to pass both Swedes, Ingemarsdotter and Hanna Falk, in the final 100 meters to take bronze at 3.8 seconds back.

“It’s very encouraging to know it’s only been 10 months and I’ve been able to come back to top form,” said Randall. “I was able to train well through my pregnancy and it’s great to see it all come together here.”

With about 15cm of snow falling the night before the race, and more falling throughout the day, the conditions were soft and challenging. Many of the top women made their moves on the final steep uphill, where slower tempo and tired legs dropped many skiers off the back.

In the opening quarterfinal, Caldwell skied a strong race against Sweden’s Stina Nilsson to finish second and advance to the semifinals. Randall, who qualified 10th to lead the USA, was slotted into the second heat where she faced a torrid pace from  Falla and Falk. Randall had been running fourth with about 400 meters to go when she made an inside move on third placed Swiss Laurien van der Graaf.

It was a narrow section of the course and Randall was unable to make the pass as Van der Graaf pinched her down. The American was unable to regain the momentum and finished fourth – still in a Lucky Loser position after two heats. But officials ruled that van der Graaf has obstructed Randall, relegating her to last in the heat and moving Randall to third. That bump allowed Randall to advance to the semis.

In her semifinal heat, Randall skied together with Caldwell. Coming into the stadium, the two were running fourth and fifth behind Nilsson and Russia’s Natalia Matveeva, but Nilsson cut down on Matveeva causing both to crash. Randall, who had been directly behind, had just moved inside to pass and was able to lead Caldwell through a gap to finish second and third with Caldwell surviving to move into the finals as a lucky loser.

Ida Sargeant was the fourth American starter, and qualified for the heats in 27th. However, Sargeant got tangled up in a key section of the course in her quarterfinal, ultimately finishing 24th on the day.

“I was pretty disappointed with my race but so excited for the awesome racing by the team! To have two on the podium and three in the final is amazing and I couldn’t be more proud of the hard work by everyone,” she added, “We have a really strong team and believed that a day like today was possible.”

Diggins, meanwhile, skied strong, winning both her quarterfinal and semifinal heats. “We’re not a country historically known for cross-country skiing. But we’ve created this women’s team together and worked so hard – and that teamwork really shows. We can be stronger together than we can as individuals.”

Indeed, it was almost unbelievable to see three stars and stripes suits where you would normally see at least three red suits of Norway.

Canada had three women on the start line as Dahria Beatty finished the qualifier in 37th at 3.67 seconds outside of a top-30 qualifying spot. Cendrine Browne finished in 48th (+20.42), and Katherine Stewart-Jones was 58th (+26.29) out of 107 starters.

“I was definitely way more nervous over the last 24 hours than I have been for any World Cup this year. It is just a bigger atmosphere,” said Beatty. “I felt really good in my race prep yesterday. When I got out there today I just didn’t have that extra snap, but it was still really exciting to have raced in my first World Championships.”

The impact of two Americans in the medals on day one set the mood for the Championships. “We had a great team moment with Matt (Whitcomb, coach), myself and the three women prior to the final,” said Head Coach Chris Grover. “We discussed strategy and the women were adamant that they all needed to ski aggressively but also look out for each other in the final. That’s the power of the team.”

“It’s a great boost to the athletes and especially to the service team,” he added. “This marks six years in a row where the women have been on the podium in a freestyle sprint in Lahti. It helps us set a tone for the Championships. We know people are fit enough to reach the podium on the right day and we know we can make skis here as great as any other nation.”

Results here.