March 09, 2013 (Lahti, Finland) – In a dramatic match up in the women’s 1.55km FR Sprint World Cup final in Lahti, the last skate sprint of the season, the USA’s Kikkan Randall bested Norwegian star Marit Bjoergen at the line for the victory to clinch the Sprint Cup Globe, defending her title from last year.

It was the contest fans were waiting for and it was the first time Randall and Bjoergen, arguably the two best freestyle sprinters in the world, faced off in the skate sprints this year. With the series Globe on the line for Randall her triumph was that much sweeter. Alena Prochazkova (SVK) claimed the third spot on the podium

“It feels really good,” Randall told Trax in a phone interview. “Today was going to be a big day for me – it was my 100th World Cup start so I was hoping to make it kind of special. I was excited to go out and take advantage of the last skate sprint of the season and hopefully have a good day and wrap up the Sprint title. Things went really well and I’m super-psyched.”

So how did it feel to race against Bjoergen and come out on top…? “I hadn’t had a chance to race against Marit all season as she hasn’t been at any of the other skate sprints… it’s always fun when you get to line up against one of the sport’s best-ever skiers. I was really excited to go head-to-head with her in the final.

“It was cool that the second half of the race turned into a battle between the two of us and it was probably one of the closest finishes I’ve ever had – and in the end it felt good to come out on top.”

Randall locked up the title early last year as well in Drammen, Norway, but it was anti-climactic as she had a binding problem with her ski and ended up 11th which was still enough to give her the series title. This year’s climax winning against Bjoergen in a photo-finish was a more fitting way for the US star to lock up the title.

“Last year was a big breakthrough to bring home a title and it felt so good and I wanted to do it again. But with the injury this fall I wasn’t sure if I’d have to cross it off my list. I ended up flying over the first couple of months and was back in the hunt. Winning today like this was the best way to give legitimacy to our team, our staff… and bring everyone together for such a great effort,” said Randall – full audio interview coming.

Teammate Sadie Bjornsen also had a superb day placing 9th overall for a personal best. She advanced to the quarters after qualifying 13th where she faced off against Bjoergen and Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) placing third to make the semis as a Lucky Loser. Randall was in her semi and Bjornsen raced well, skiing in third place for most of the competition, but dropped to 5th at the finish – still a great day for the Alaskan skier.

“I went out there on mission today and the qualifier went well. In my quarter final I had a sprint-off with Kowalczyk which is always very special. In my semi it was going well until I got pinched out in one of the final corners… but all in all it was a good day with a personal best 9th,” shared Bjornsen post-race. – full audio interview coming where she talks about what it’s like racing against Bjoergen and Kowalczyk.

Jessie Diggins from Afton, MN, also made the heats but did not advance finishing 25th on the day. “I’m so proud of my teammates… it really turned a personally mediocre day into an awesome and inspiring cheer fest. Kikkan won gold on her 100th World Cup start, at the same time she locked down the crystal Globe for sprint, and Sadie got her first top 10 in her first Semifinal start ever! I’m so proud excited for them,” Diggins told Trax.

Also racing today but not advancing to the heats were Canadians Perianne Jones in 34th, Daria Gaiazova in 39th and Emily Nishikawa in 69th. For the USA Ida Sargent was 38th, Sophie Caldwell was 55th, Holly Brooks was 65th and Rosie Brennan placed 71st.

Matt Whitcomb the US Women’s Team coach was all smiles…”We had a good day today, we’re stoked. It came down to the better of two lunges and you couldn’t ask for a better more dramatic finish in which Kikkan clinched her second Sprint Cup Globe.

“Kikkan is blazing a really well lit path for our country right now and we saw people like Sadie marching right down it with her first top-ten World Cup result today… almost as remarkable as Kikkan’s performance.”  full audio interview coming.

The final word goes to USSA President and CEO, Bill Marolt, “Kikkan’s success is a credit to her perseverance and the continuity and consistency of the cross-country program. It shows the benefit of setting long term goals and sticking with it. She is an amazing role model for her sport and you can see that in the growing success of an entire team around her.”

Qualifications HERE.
Final results HERE.