January 18, 2015 (Otepaa, Estonia) – The day belonged to Sweden’s Ida Ingemarsdotter and Stina Nilsson who won the women’s 6×1.2km Team Sprint FR in Otepaa, Estonia but Team USA II’s Ida Sargent and Rosie Brennan turned heads as well with their feisty 6th place finish. Norway I’s Maiken Caspersen Falla, Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg settled for second while Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk and Sylwia Jaskowiec claimed the final podium spot.

Sweden's Nilsson (l) and Ingemarsdotter © Nordic Focus

A mishap during the semifinals meant Team USA I’s Sadie Bjornsen and Sophie Caldwell were playing catch up. Bjornsen went down when someone’s ski crossed hers and while they found their way back to the group in the end just just missed out making the final. Yet both were happy with their teammates advancing and cheered them on.

Kowalczyk tried to get away but could not shake Ingemarsdotter or Falla as the three emerged as the leaders while five teams including USA II, Finland I, Germany I, Russia I and Finland II battled behind with Sargent and Brennan holding their own.

Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) © Nordic Focus

On the final leg Sweden’s Nilsson surged to the front and was unstoppable in the finishing lanes as Oestberg could not counter ending up second with Jaskowiec third. Brennan, who’s last team sprint was at the Whistler World Cup back in 2009, showed her prowess and poise holding off Russia I for 6th.

This was the first team sprint of the season and will be the only one prior to the Falun 2015 Championships so it was a great opportunity to test strategy and legs making Sweden’s victory even more significant.

“It is great to win in the team sprint with Ida. We are very happy for the first place. It feels great to beat the Norwegian team. I knew Ingvild would be very strong and my plan was to attack on the home stretch. The victory today has given us a lot of confidence before the World Championships in Falun,” said Nilsson.

We caught up with Sargent, Brennan, Bjornsen and Caldwell for an inside look at today’s race.

Bjornsen (l) and Sargent battle with Kowalczyk © Nordic Focus

Ida Sargent

It was a really fun race. Team sprints are really hard but always fun and exciting so I was really excited for a chance to race another one today. It was raining and snowing off and on and by the final the track had completely broken down. The slush was so deep on the climb. With each heat the conditions were deteriorating so being in the second semifinal was a definite disadvantage.

With a team sprint you never know what to expect and anything can happen out there.  After a crash in yesterday’s qualifier I was just hoping to stay on my feet and I finally did that. I tried to stay conservative and relaxed and just stay towards the front of the pack on the first two laps and then go for it on the last lap and that worked well.
In the final there was a little gap in front of me when I went out for the final lap which I couldn’t quite close to the leaders but I was happy to still move up.

Rosie skied incredibly well today and I was very impressed with her. She had great sprint finishes in both heats! I think it was her first team sprint in six years or something like that – but she killed it!

Sargent (r) at the start © Nordic Focus

Rosie Brennan

This was actually my second team sprint on the World Cup. The only other team sprint I’ve done was in Whistler in 2009. Given that that was six years ago now, I didn’t have any expectations and didn’t even expect to be racing this race so I really just tried to make the most of the opportunity.

I just arrived here last Wednesday evening and we found out our teams last night so we didn’t really have any practice at all. Fortunately, we didn’t have any disasters. It was incredibly soft and slushy on course. The corners were all deep trenches making staying on your feet a challenge at times and also making it extra hard on the legs. I just wanted to ski with the pack, see how I felt and how things were going and then try to think about position more towards the end.

I think we both did a good job of getting into good positions and getting a bit of a draft on the downhill. This worked really well for us in the semi-final and we largely did the same in the final where the pack was smaller – but we were moving a little faster so it was easier said than done.

I surprised myself in both finishes by actually having a bit of some finishing speed so I am really happy with that. I think we both put solid efforts forward and raced smart so I would call it a good day.

Race action... © Nordic Focus

Sadie Bjornsen

This was the first time Sophie and I have gotten to race together, so we were pretty excited! Today was a tough day with the weather and snow conditions, with each lap getting slower than the one before. Since we were in the second heat, our strategy was to go as hard as we could, because we knew making lucky loser positions were going to be tough given the conditions.

Unfortunately someone crossed over my ski only 100 meters out of the start, and I found myself lying in the snow. From there, I worked hard to catch back up, but Soph had to finish closing the gap. From there we had two great laps in the mix. I tagged off in the front of the pack, and Soph did a great job holding on… but she led over the top of the final hill, which meant a nice sling shot for those behind her. As we predicted, lucky loser time was tough to catch, so sadly, Soph and I weren’t able to make the finals.

But, that is team sprinting, and we are looking forward to the next opportunity. I was really happy how I felt, and maybe on a more equal day for conditions, we could be in there racing the finals.

I am incredibly excited and stoked for Rosie and Ida. I have believed that Rosie is skiing at the same level as we are since the start of the season… and it was just so exciting and wonderful for her to feel and show that today! It brings tears to my eyes to see everything she has gotten through this year, and here she is on the World Cup, challenging the strongest skaters in the world. Ida and her were very impressive today, and even though Soph and I couldn’t be there ourselves, we were happy to watch those two throw down and impressive performance!!

It is fun to go into Russia looking for more… that’s what keeps you going in this sport – when you know you can find more!

Final podium © Nordic Focus

Sophie Caldwell

Sadie and I raced a team sprint together in Quebec City two winters ago, but we had not raced one together since then. We’re still hoping for a day when everything comes together, because I know we can make a great team, but today was not that day.

We practiced a couple tags before our race today. I think that’s always a good idea to do as tags can be important during the race.

I’m feeling good. My elbow doesn’t bother me anymore. They’re not back to full strength and probably won’t be for awhile, but I’m sure they’re getting stronger each weekend.

The conditions were pretty slow out there, but I think our team had fast skis. The uphill got really sugary, so that was definitely tough. Sadie got tripped up right out of the start and I caught back up to the pack on my first lap and then after that we were basically doing pack skiing.

Sadie tagged me off in a really good position for my last lap and then Germany and Poland took off and I wasn’t able to quite stick with them enough to get in their draft and was unfortunately leading a train down the hill, so Rosie zipped right by me in my draft. I was glad it was my teammate and it was really cool to see Ida and Rosie have such a strong day.

Final results here.