February 21, 2013 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – Patience was on Marit Bjoergen’s side today as the Norwegian claimed gold in the women’s 1.5km CL sprint, the first title event of the 2103 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme. Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter put in a strong showing taking the silver but she was no match for Bjoergen, who was caught behind her teammate Maiken Casperson Falla early on, but then asserted herself passing all rivals for the victory as Falla took home the bronze.

Final women's CL Sprint podium (l-r) Ingemarsdotter 2nd, Bjoergen 1st, Falla 3rd © Nordic Focus

In a post-race interview Bjoergen modestly stated that she was ‘satisfied’ with her race. Her smile gave it away that she was more than happy with her first-place finish having lost to her long-standing rival, Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland, in the same event only two weeks earlier in Davos, Switzerland.

Kowalczyk suffered an unfortunate crash early in the final, in an unforced error (perhaps getting her ski tangled with another skier) in the tight quarters up the first climb. She got up quickly and managed to pull herself back into the race, but she was not able to contend for a medal.

For North American fans the contest ended early as only two American skiers, Kikkan Randall (28th) and Sophia Caldwell (30th), made it through to the quarter finals, while no Canadians raced in the heats. With all of the recent fanfare surrounding both teams expectations were high but it was not their day.

Kikkan Randall (USA) © Nordic Focus

“Our team did the best we could but it was kind of a gamble today,” said Randall in a post-race interview with SkiTrax. “The course was pretty tough.”

Randall had a good start, however her quarter final heat was noticeably slower than previous heats. But Randall dropped to the back of the pack on the first hill and from that point was in catch-up mode. She rallyed making a smart race move grabbing the inside lane around a tight corner and was suddenly in 3rd but the chasers fought back and Finland’s Lahteenmaki got by her as she ended up fourth and 19th on the day.

“My initial strategy had been to ski up in the top three and be ready to make a good sprint in the last 150m.  But when I found myself at the back I knew I couldn’t wait.  When we went around the fast downhill turn I felt everyone drifting left I stayed right and was able to get a better line to the corner.

“I am satisfied that I gave my best effort out there today.  The skis weren’t perfect and I’m not a perfect technician in classic.  I was aiming for a better result today and I know that if some things had gone a little different I could have skied closer to my goals. Regardless, today will be a great warm up for the team sprint,” said Randall.

Sophie Caldwell (USA) © Nordic Focus

For Vermont’s Sophia Caldwell it was an exciting experience racing at her first senior World Champs telling us the support of the team makes it easy to get excited for the race and forget about some of the nerves.

Caldwell raced the first quarter final, which was lead by German racer Denise Hermann, who was a tough one to beat as she raced a technically sound race. Caldwell skied strong and smart moving into third at one point but as in Randall’s q-final the pace picked up at the end and she finished 4th at 1.9 seconds down, having to wait and see if that was enough to proceed into the semifinals.

She described her move as she worked her way into 3rd during the quarter final. “I tried to stay relaxed in my quarter and not panic if I wasn’t in an ideal position. There were a couple places that I was able to move into a good position due to a combination of good tactics and luck!

“I took the 180 degree turn wide and was able to ski by some people who took it too sharp so I moved myself into 3rd place. Long double pole finishes generally aren’t my strength so I just put my head down and went as hard as possible in my finish stretch and got passed by one person.” Caldwell ended up 20th on the day.

“I’m very happy with my result! It was the first time I’ve qualified in the top 30 in a classic sprint and I was excited to be able to improve on my qualifying position in the heats,” she added.

Perianne Jones (CAN) © Nordic Focus

Canadian skiers in the classic sprints were “Dasha” Daria Gaiazova finishing in 42nd, Perianne Jones in 48th, followed by Andrea Dupont in 49th and Emily Nishikawa in 57th.

Jones, felt the tough conditions were working against her today. “The conditions were tough today, my body wasn’t quite where I wanted it to be, I just didn’t feel like I had the extra jam that I needed. The course was good and I thought it suited me well, but I guess without my usual snap my effort in the qualifier just wasn’t enough.

“It was a great day for our team, Alex skied so well, and our entire support staff did an amazing job supporting the entire team today. The championships are long, I was looking forward to this race for a long time, but now I can look ahead to Sunday [team sprints],” she added.

Sadie Bjornsen (USA) © Nordic Focus

American Sadie Bjornsen echoed Jones’ sentiment for the race behind her. “Today was a challenge. Conditions were hard, making kick hard, and in a World Championships… there is no room for any mistakes. I finished very close to qualifying again…it is sort of becoming a habit with this classic sprinting. Today there were a few things that could have been improved though, but most importantly, I know the fitness is there. Fortunately it is a long week, so there are more chances to come!”

Sadie Bjornsen finished 32nd, followed by Ida Sargent of the U.S. in 33rd.

The disappointment felt in the morning by the Canadian women not making it into the final rounds soon diminished; spirits were uplifted in the Canuck camp with a bronze medal win by Alex Harvey as Jones concluded, “It was a tough day out there for me for sure, but my spirits were lifted when Alex won a medal!”

Full results HERE.