January 21, 2017 (Ulricehamn, Sweden) – Jessie Diggins led a strong day for the Americans finishing 7th in the women’s 10k freestyle at the new venue in Sweden. Also in the points were Sadie Bjornsen in 12th,  Liz Stephen in 16th and Rosie Brennan in 24th.

Norway’s Marit Bjoergen claimed her 104th individual World Cup victory at her first competition since La Clusaz prior to Christmas by 10.7 seconds over Finland’s Krista Parmakoski. Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla landed on the podium in third besting Norway’s Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen by a mere 0.8 seconds to the delight of the partisan crowd.

Ulricehamn is the home of Hanna Falk, who recorded her best-ever World Cup distance result with an 8th-place finish at 36.4 seconds off the lead. Canada’s Cendrine Browne also delivered a career-best 35th while the USA’s Kikkan Randall finished 40th followed by Elizabeth Guiney in 52nd.

Huge crowds turned out at the new FIS World Cup venue of Ulricehamn in south central Sweden Saturday in a spectacular event that drew widespread acclaim from athletes.

“I didn’t have the snappy good feelings I was hoping to have in my body today, but it was a solid race. It’s always hard when you know that on your best days you are capable of more, but at the same time we had great skis, and it was really fun for me to be able to ski with my teammates today,” said Diggins. “I lead Kikkan for a while on lap 1, and then we came through the stadium just as Sadie was starting her race so I skied behind her for the next 4km and was able to return the favor of leading before I went into the finish lanes. You always get a special boost of energy when you’re racing with your teammates around you and working together!

“I’ve been so impressed with the venue, the spectators and especially the enthusiasm and hard work from the organizers and volunteers here in Ulricehamn! We haven’t had a course this packed with energized fans all year long, so it was a really special atmosphere out there. I’m really looking forward to anchoring one of our TWO relay teams tomorrow! It’s really special for us to be able to field two teams and relays are my absolute favorite days. Time to break out the relay socks,” quipped Diggins.

Bjornsen agreed that it was a super fun race. “The fans were incredible, and the vibe was just so exciting and fun. It is nice to feel healthy again after a period of really struggling with returning colds and sinus issues. Bit of a bummer, but I have been trying to stay positive and believe I still have great fitness in the bank.

My racing was a little unpredicted today, because I went out of the start when Jessie and Kikkan were lapping through for second lap, which I didn’t realize was a possibility. I was thinking I would jump in behind Jessie, but I found myself setting the pace and pulling instead, which allowed me to have a faster start than my average individual starts. It was nice to lap through at 5k, and look up to have Rosie as the next motivation to chase. Once we started skiing together, I could feel her right behind me, which helped me keep pushing hard to the finish. I think we had some incredible skis as a team today as well, so that was a real pleasure!

Our team showed to be strong today, so I think tomorrow will be super fun and exciting for us to fight for a podium again. I am super, super excited for Canada. I love that course, and I love being in North America, so that is a great news,” added Bjornsen.

“The fans were amazing. I love being in Sweden, as the country feels so welcoming, and today really showed how much this country cares about Nordic skiing, for sure,” shared Stephen. “However, as I met many fans today who had never watched a cross country ski race, even on TV, I see it saying much more than just a show of support for their athletes in a sport they love. I see it as another way that this country supports each other, and is committed to a the goals that a fellow citizen or town has. Ulricihamn wants to host more World Cups, and they have done everything to show that they put on a good show.  I will look forward to the next time I get to race here, that is for sure.”

Brennan loved the venue and the course. “Ulricehamn is a new venue for everyone and I’m pretty certain we will be coming back. This is one of the most passionate places I have ever raced. The entire town has been involved and has a lot of pride for the town and for skiing. The fans lined every part of the course and were very loud. The volunteers are extremely nice and helpful. It’s been quite warm the part few days, but they still managed to get a 5k course and it cooled down nicely last night so the course was in great shape today. It is fairly flat for a World Cup course, but provided plenty of work, making for a challenging course, especially for those of us that prefer climbing,” said Brennan.

“I knew the flats were going to be my weakness so I was trying to focus a bit more on those sections and really try to ski as best I could. I also knew I would likely see Sadie out there somewhere and there is no one I would rather ski with so I just went out hard and skied my own race until Sadie caught me and then jumped on for an amazing ride home. I tend to struggle at the end of races when it’s so rolling so I was very thankful to have Sadie showing me how it’s done. I am very pleased with my result and psyched to show some improvement in flat skating, which has always been a struggle for me,” she added.

Canada’s Browne was also inspired.

“The venue was great. Everything was super well organized, the volunteers were so nice and helpful and the fans were awesome!!! It was loud, indeed! There were some people on every part of the 5k and they were cheering for everyone. It was great! It reminded me of the ambiance there was at some of the races of the Ski Tour Canada,” said Browne.

“As for the conditions, I thought it would be super icy because yesterday it was so hot outside and the temperature went under zero during the night, but the track was perfect. They did a really nice job. It was becoming a little sugary in some up hills but it wasn’t that bad.

“I loved the course. It was perfect for me. I have a strong one skate and the course was mainly one skate. Perfect! There were two big up hills so the course was still hard even if there was a lot of one skating. Also, my skis were great. I skied on white bases and my wax techs did an awesome job.

“I didn’t pace myself for this race. I tried going hard all the way. It started to be more difficult starting from the 8th km but I sticked with the Austrian who  had just passed me and tried to finish strong even if I was dead. I really wanted a top 30 so I’m a little disappointed but I’m also super happy of my race because I skied well and am so close to top 30,” she concluded.

Randall agreed it’s an awesome venue. “Competing in Ulricehamn was pretty awesome today.  The course was packed with some of the most enthusiastic fans I’ve ever seen!  It was a pretty cool course too.  Deceptively hard with a lot of gradual terrain and not many places to recover.

“I had great skis today and a couple of really good opportunities to ski with my teammates.  But unfortunately I wasn’t able to fully capitalize on those rides and had a lackluster day.  I had a decent race from about 2.5km to 7.5km but wasn’t able to keep the pedal down.

So fun to see my teammates ski well today which has us all fired up for tomorrow’s relays!  Really pumped that we are fielding two women’s teams. We are also all very excited about World Cup Finals coming back to Quebec!  A great opportunity to showcase our sport in North America and get a few more Americans on the start lines,” Randall told Trax.

Results here.