March 12, 2019 (Drammen, Norway) – The USA’s Jessie Diggins raced to a fab 5th-place finish in the women’s 1.2km CL World Cup city sprint in Drammen, Norway, on Tuesday. Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway took the win over teammate Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen in second, and Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia in third.

Diggins was the lone U.S. skier to advance beyond the quarter finals where she finished second. She won her semi final to end up fifth overall. Also in the points were fellow American Sadie Bjornsen in 21st and Sophie Caldwell who finished 24th. No Canadians competed.

“Drammen is kind of a funny course, and this year they took away the iconic uphill pitch at the finish, so it was even harder to determine the right moment to transition from double-poling to power striding on the gradual uphill,” said Diggins “It’s not a secret that I love workable downhills so my strategy each heat was to ski smooth and smart and get myself into an open lane heading into the finishing straight. In the final, I simply got tired from the short turnaround time you get from the second semifinal, but overall I was really happy with the whole day.”

In the men’s race Simi Hamilton (USA) finished 24th after just making the heats qualifying 30th. Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo (Nor) took the win over Eirik Brandsdal (Nor) in second with Richard Jouve of France in third.

The World Cup heads to Falun, Sweden, this weekend before heading back to North America for the Quebec City World Cup Finals.

Women’s qualifications here
Men’s qualifications here

Women’s final here
Men’s final here