December 13, 2009 (Davos, Switzerland) – Petra Majdic (Slo) prevailed to win the Davos women’s final 1.4km Sprint on Saturday and take over the sprint leader’s jersey under sunny skies and -5 degrees Celsius, while the USA’s Kikkan Randall showed great form to claim 7th and sits 20th overall in the sprint classification. Norway’s Marit Bjoergen placed second and Aino-Kaisa Saarinen from Finland was third.

“It was a long and tough course. Qualifying was solid in 17th place. In the quarterfinals I got into second position coming off the downhill and waited until the finish stretch to attack and win my heat to advance to the semis.”

“In the semifinals I was sitting in a good position going into the steep climb. I tried to make a move up the outside of the hill but two skiers in front of me got tangled up and our whole pack came to a halt as we all tried to get untangled. I definitely got the bum end of that deal as I was stuck and couldn’t move, dropping to last. Two skiers got away after the tangle up and were comfortably ahead. I charged hard over the top of the hill and made my way up into fourth. I followed Follis around the final turn and was able to overtake her before the finish line. I gave it everything I had in hopes of getting a lucky loser spot to the final. Unfortunately, our little traffic jam on the hill cost us too much time and I missed being the lucky loser by .6 of a second.”

“I definitely let out a big stomp into the ground when I heard the announcement. I was feeling stronger and stronger every round and was bummed not to have a shot in the final – 7th place was a decent consolation but I definitely wanted more out of the day. Today was good redemption for my poor distance race yesterday and a good sign that my sprinting fitness is coming up.”

“Next week we head to Rogla, Slovenia for the final weekend before Christmas break. Then I will return home to Anchorage to prepare for US National Championships in Anchorage.”

Norway dominated the men’s 1.7km race with John Kristian Dahl and Petter Jr. Northug going 1-2 with top qualifier Alexey Petukov (Rus) on the final step in third. Andy Newell (USA) finished in 22nd after qualifying in 7th followed by Canada’s Devon Kershaw in 23rd following his strong 9th place in the qualifications. Norway’s sprint king Ola Vigen Hattestad finished in 16th. Dahl takes over the sprint jersey from Petukov now in second with Hattestad in 3rd and Newell in 7th.

Qualifications
Italy’s Arianna Follis top the women’s 1.4km qualifications in 3:322.23 as the Randall was the only North American to advance as she placed 17th in 3:28.19. Claudia Nystad (Ger) was second and Majdic (Slo) was third. Perianne Jones (Can) was 50th, Liz Stephen (USA) was 51st, Chandra Crawford (Can) was 57th, Sara Renner (Can) placed 59th and Morgan Arritola (USA) was 77th.

Petukov (Rus) lead the men’s 1.7km qualifications in 3:43.34 as both Newell (USA) in 7th and Kershaw (Can) in 12th made the top 30 to advance. Torin Koos (USA) was just shy of continuing placing 32nd. Alex Harvey (Can) was 49th, Kris Freeman (USA) was 57th, George Gray (Can) placed 60th and Lars Flora (USA) was 73rd.

Women’s Qualifications here.
Men’s Qualifications here.

Women’s Final here.
Men’s Final here.

Women’s Sprint Standings here.
Men’s Sprint Standings here.