December 19, 2015 (Toblach, Italy) – American Sophie Caldwell led the US women’s team again placing seventh overall in the 1.3km FR Sprint with teammate Sadie Bjornsen 9th, as Noway’s Maiken Falla powered to victory in Toblach, Italy at round four of the FIS XC World Cup 2015/16. Falla finished first over teammate Ingvild Oestberg as Sweden’s Stina Nilsson, last weekend’s winner, settled for third.

Caldwell also led the team last weekend in the freestyle sprints qualifying for the finals and finishing sixth. “Pretty awesome day for team USA with three in the top 10 and Sim on the podium! The course here is really fun and tactical. I was happy with my quarterfinal and was able to slingshot into second in the finish stretch to move onto the semis. Our semifinal was really tight, and so was the other one, so Sadie and I both narrowly missed being the lucky losers and moving into the final.

“I felt better in the heats than I did in Davos and really focused on recovering between each one and skiing smart throughout the heats. Positions changed a lot throughout the heats and there was a big draft effect coming into the final stretch, so focusing on not panicking early on and positioning yourself well on the final hill was important. I was happy to be in the top ten again this week and it’s a good boost of confidence going into period two after Christmas,” commented Caldwell.

Bjornsen had her best qualification result and came very close to making the final. “It was an amazing day to be here in Toblach. It started with my best qualifier ever, and advanced into some fun heats and skiing. I felt really good out there, and just missed the finals by a touchable hair- but each week I am feeling more confident and excited about sprint racing. I didn’t have many expectations about today.

“Skate sprinting has always been a gamble for me in the past. 50% of the time I make the heats, 50% I don’t qualify… so skate sprinting is always fun, because I just see what happens that day. I have been really enjoying skating lately, so it was fun to feel strong and able to ski with the best today.

“Thanks to our techs for some amazing skis! And most importantly, congrats to Sim for a beautiful podium! I am so excited to see him where I know he belongs!! We are hunting those Norwegians down, one week at a time! I can’t wait for a fun 10 kilometer tomorrow and then some rest and recovery before an exciting tour de ski! I believe in our team, I think we are just getting started!

The U.S. women qualified four out of five in the qualifying round, including Bjornsen, Jessie Diggins, Caldwell and Ida Sargent (Orleans, VT). Diggins and Sargent went head-to-head in heat one of the quarterfinals but did not advance further after finishing fifth and sixth. Canada’s Emily Nishikawa did not start.

Full results here.