December 11, 2016 (Davos, SUI) – Afton, MN star, Jessie Diggins, delivered another top result for Team USA placing 5th in the women’s Sprint FR in Davos as Maiken Kaspersen Falla of Norway set a torrid pace for the win. Her teammate Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg was second with Sweden’s Hanna Falk taking home third.

“I was definitely carrying a bit of fatigue from the previous day’s race that caught up to me in the final, but mentally I was psyched and ready to go,” said Diggins.

Sophie Caldwell also had a strong day winning her quarter final heat and looked good in her semifinal but suffered a fateful crash in the final corner to finish 11th on the day.

“I was very happy with how I felt today and feel like it was a big step in the right direction. I didn’t feel my qualifier perfectly, but was happy with my result. Davos is funny because it never really feels good being at altitude. That said, I felt good considering nothing feels good here,” Caldwell told Trax.

Canada’s Dahria Beatty also enjoyed a solid outing, finishing in the points with a top-30 result for the first time this year. Part of Canada’s NextGen program, the 22-year-old Whitehorse native held her own in a lightening quick heat where she was fifth to cross the line, finishing 25th overall.

“It feels great to be back in the points and to make it to the heats. I felt good warming up and I was finally able to race a sprint without any major mistakes,” said Beatty, who turned heads with a 15th-place classic-ski sprint finish last spring on the World Cup at Ski Tour Canada. “I am definitely more confident in my skate-skiing right now so I went into today excited and determined to leave everything on the course. I did that and it was enough to put me through to the heats.

“The quarter final was lots of fun and I tried to hang on to the leader as long as possible. My goal was to have one top-30 in these pre-Christmas sprints. I knew the first couple weekends would be really hard, adjusting to the competition level, the extremely difficult courses and finding my race rhythm after the training season. The races this weekend confirm that I do belong at this level and I am really excited for the rest of the season,” added Beatty.

Diggins skied strong and stable in her opening heat finishing second to Sweden’s Falk. In her semifinal, Diggins was seeded with eventual winner Falla and came in fourth but advanced as a lucky loser.

“I’m so impressed with our hardworking techs and staff, and they delivered some awesome skis for us today. And I think it’s so important for me to learn how to ski with that confidence and be able to keep my focus during all the rounds since sprint days are so long! I was also so proud of my teammates getting in the rounds and it was fun to see Sophie skiing so smooth and powerful,” added Diggins.

As mentioned Caldwell won her opening heat with a crafty move on Finland’s Krista Parmokoski in the final turn to the finish. In her semifinal, she was in a challenging position on the final corner with heavy traffic at speed when she crashed.

“I feel like I skied my heats tactically very well, but I’m not sure what happened on that last corner. Maybe I hit a little ice or tried to cut the corner too sharp, but before I knew it I was on my back. It was a bummer, because I feel like I was in a position to move onto the final, but that’s ski racing and overall I’m very happy with the day,” she concluded.

Fans of Charlotte Kalla were pleased to see her back on the start line in Norway this weekend where she took the win at a regional race. The Swedish star has been out of the news lately suffering a heart palpitation recently but was given the green light by her medical team to race again.

The tour now heads to La Clusaz, France with a newly-modified race schedule. The originally scheduled skiathlons (both techniques) have been replaced with freestyle mass starts of 15k for the men and 10k for women. The weekend will also feature the first team event of the season.

Qualifications here.
Results here.