February 09, 2019 (Lahti, Finland) – American Sophie Caldwell claimed another podium with impressive skiing as she finished second in the women’s 1.4km FR Sprint a mere 0.11 seconds behind Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla with Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist in third.

Caldwell qualified third with Canada’s Dahria Beatty 25th, Ida Sargent (USA) 26th, and Kelsey Phinney (USA) 27th as all advanced to the heats. Caldwell was second in her quarterfinal and won her semi besting Falla.

“I’m really happy with my race today,” said Caldwell. “The conditions were wet and fast and this course is always a fun one with how tactical it can be. I was happy to feel better as the day went on and to finish 2nd in the final was awesome. It was also really cool to watch my SMS T2 club team teammate, Kelsey Phinney, qualify for her first heats and finish in the top 20! Our service team gave us great skis and we’re all looking forward to some team sprinting tomorrow!”

“Sophie skied a technically brilliant race today and showed some uncharacteristically aggressive skiing,” said Coach Matt Whitcomb. “Considering she has just returned from a three-week training trip to the U.S., her second place today shows that she is clearly in good form.”

Beatty, the lone Canadian to suit up for the women’s skate-ski sprint race, ended up 24th and continues to make headway.”I was quite happy with my qualifier, I was able to execute my game plan well. I have raced here three times before, each time getting closer to qualification. Going into today I felt confident that if I took what I have learned from previous years and stuck to my plan I could make the heats. The course here in Lahti has a little bit of everything, it is a hard but fair.

The 24-year-old had good vibes heading into her quarter-final heat on the fast 1.4-kilometre track but came up short in advancing with the top-two athletes into the next round after a tight battle.

“I was happy with how my body felt skiing in my heat today but I kept putting myself in positions where I got a bit boxed out or block. Maybe not my best tactics today but I feel like my fitness is good again after our training camp in Davos and that gives me confidence going into Seefeld World Championships.

“The course conditions were fast today and my skis were good, with the conditions the heats stuck together. The final corner at the top of the big climb is always a decisive spot on this course, I tried to stay in contact there for the finish but it ended up a bit strung out over the top.

“Unfortunately my planned partner for the weekend Maya [MacIsaac-Jones] caught a small cold at our training camp in Davos before this so she didn’t travel here for the races. I’ll just have to wait until World Champs to do a team sprint,” she concluded.

No North American men advanced to the heats as Reese Hanneman came closest in 32nd followed by Simi Hamilton in 36th. The men’s 1.4km FR race was won by Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway, with Federico Pellegrino of Italy in second and Finn Haagen Krogh of Norway completing the podium.

Men’s results here.
Women’s results here.