February 11, 2016 (Stockholm, Sweden) – The USA’s Sophie Caldwell was just out of the top 10 as she finished 11th after winning her quarterfinal in the women’s Sprint in downtown Stockholm today as top qualifier, Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR), attacked from the gun to win her 4th consecutive sprint title at the popular stop on the FIS World Cup circuit.

“Today was my first time ever competing in the Stockholm city sprint,” said Caldwell. “It’s still a fairly gradual course, as most city sprints are, but I liked that the uphills were a little steeper and the flats were a little flatter than they were in Drammen.”

Falla was followed for silver by teammate and second place qualifier Ingvild Flugstad Oesteberg (NOR) while local favourite, Stina Nilsson (SWE), finished third. Caldwell qualified a strong ninth and then delivered savvy skiing that saw her mark third place qualifier, Jennie Oeberg (SWE), and then passing her just before the finishing lanes for the win. Later on, Caldwell would start strong in her semi, but faded and finished sixth, failing to advance to the final round and ended up 11th on the day.

“In my semifinal, I was feeling the fatigue from my quarter and was at the back of the pack for most of the race,” she said. “I opted to have great kicking skis, but may have given up a little glide in doing so.

“Classic city sprints are something I’m eager to work on in the future, but I was happy to make the semis today and think it’s a huge improvement over previous years,” she added.

Jessie Diggins (USA) qualified 21st and raced well in her quarterfinal, but finished third and did not advance.  No other North Americans qualified for the heats with Sadie Bjornsen (USA) qualifying 37th, Ida Sargent (USA) 49th, Andrea Dupont (Can) 52nd, Jennie Bender (USA) 56th, and Caitlin Patterson (USA) 58th.

Results

Qualification

1. Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR)
2. Ingvild Flugstad Oesteberg (NOR)
3. Jennie Oeberg (SWE)

9. Sophie Caldwell (USA)
21. Jessie Diggins (USA)
37. Sadie Bjornsen (USA)
49. Ida Sargent (USA)
52. Andrea Dupont (USA)
56. Jennie Bender (USA)
58. Caitlin Patterson (USA)

Final

1. Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR)
2. Ingvild Flugstad Oesteberg (NOR)
3. Stina Nilsson (SWE)

11. Sophie Caldwell (USA)
15. Jessie Diggins (USA)
37. Saide Bjornsen (USA)
49. Ida Sargent (USA)
52. Andrea Dupont (USA)
56. Jennie Bender (USA)
58. Caitlin Patterson (USA)

Full results here.