March 11, 2015 (Drammen, NOR) – As the season winds down there is still a lot of action to come as the final races take place in Norway starting with Drammen, a city in Buskerud County in Norway – check out these FIS pre-competition facts for today’s  women’s and men’s CL sprint in this fabled port and river city.

Drammen City Sprint course © FIS

LADIES

Bjørgen looking to be the first to win four sprint classical technique in Drammen

– The classical sprint in Drammen will be held for the 11th time as a World Cup event. Marit Bjørgen (NOR) could be the first athlete to win this event four times if she wins on Wednesday.
– Bjørgen is currently tied with Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) on three wins in Drammen. They are the only two female athletes to win more than once. Among the men only Jens Arne Svartedal (NOR) and Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR) have more than one win (two each).
– Kuitunen has a total of five World Cup podiums in the classic sprint in Drammen. Bjørgen is currently on four podiums and could equal Kuitunen on Wednesday.
– It has been 11 years since Bjørgen won her first sprint in Drammen, ahead of Virpi Kuitunen and Elina Hietamäki (FIN) in 2004.
– At least one Norwegian has finished on the podium in all sprints in classical technique in Drammen since 2007, when Virpi Kuitunen won ahead of Petra Majdic (SLO) and Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN).

Bjørgen and Kowalczyk have won 15 of the last 18 classic sprint in World Cup

– Marit Bjørgen (NOR) won the last sprint held in Classic style, in Östersund in February 2014. Bjørgen also won the WCh gold medal in the event in Falun.
– Marit Bjørgen (eight wins) and Justyna Kowalczyk (seven wins) have together won 15 of the last 18 World Cup events held in sprint classic, going back to the start of the 2011/2012-season.
– Ingvild Flugstad Østberg in Otepää 2015, Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR) in Drammen 2014 and Mona-Liisa Malvalehto (FIN) in Liberec 2013, are the only other winners of a sprint classic race in the last 18 World Cup events.
– Bjørgen has a total of 16 World Cup wins in sprint classics, which is two more than Petra Majdic (SLO) on 14. Justyna Kowalczyk and Bente Skari are tied on third place with nine wins. Bjørgen has only won more races in sprint freestyle (24 career wins).
– Marit Bjørgen (16) and Justyna Kowalczyk (9) are the only two active female skiers with more than one World Cup win in sprint classical technique.

Falla could equal Bjørgen and Kuitunen with two consecutive Drammen-wins

– Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR) won in Drammen last season, ahead of Marit Bjørgen and Stina Nilsson (SWE). If Falla wins again, she will tie Bjørgen (2010 and 2012) and Kuitunen’s (2007 and 2008) feat of winning two consecutive editions of the classic sprint in Drammen.
– The win in Drammen last season is Falla’s only World Cup win in sprint classical technique.

Nilsson back after illness to search for her first international senior win.

– Stina Nilsson (SWE) won the silver medal in sprint classic in WCh in Falun. Nilsson has qualified for the final in her last six sprint starts (classic and free) since missing the quarterfinal in Lillehammer in December 2014. Nilsson has six international sprint podiums, but she is still looking for her first win.
– If Nilsson wins she will be the 8th Swedish woman to win a sprint World Cup. None of the Swedish winners have won more than two World Cup sprint races.
– No Swedish female skier has won the classical sprint in Drammen. Lina Andersson came close when was second in 2005.
– The last Swedish woman to win a World Cup in sprint classical technique is Anna Olsson, who won in the World Cup final in March 2010.
– Nilsson was third in Drammen last season, her first ever World Cup podium.
– Bjørgen could win the overall sprint World Cup for the first time in nine years.
– The competition in Drammen is the final event of this season’s overall sprint World Cup.
– Marit Bjørgen (NOR) is leading the overall sprint standings with 550 points, ahead of Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (NOR) on 510 points, and Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR) on 412 points.
– Norway is the first country to take all three podium places in the overall sprint World Cup for women since the competition started in the 1996/97 season. The best non-Norwegian overall so far is Stina Nilsson (SWE) with 300 points, but she cannot catch Falla in third in the final event.
– Marit Bjørgen could win the sprint World Cup for the fifth time overall, equalling Bente Skari (NOR) on a record five wins.
– Bjørgen has not won the overall sprint World Cup in nine years, since the 2005/06 season. Bjørgen won in four consecutive seasons from 2002/03 to 2005/06.
– Bjørgen has only finished on the podium in two of the last eight editions of the overall sprint World Cup. She was 2nd in 2009/10 and 3rd in 2011/12.
– Caspersen Falla or Flugstad Østberg could win the overall sprint World Cup for the first time. Falla was 2nd in 2011/12, while Østberg was 3rd in 2012/13 and 2013/14. All three seasons they finished as the best Norwegian overall.
– Norway have the most wins in the overall sprint World Cup with nine, ahead of Slovenia (Petra Majdic) and USA (Kikkan Randall) with three wins each.
– The overall sprint World Cup for women has not been won by a Norwegian since Bjørgen won in 2005/06.

Federico Pellegrino © Nordic Focus

MEN

Norwegian men dominates at home, having won nine of ten in Drammen

– The classical sprint in Drammen will be held for the 11th time as a World Cup event. In the men’s event, Norwegian skiers have won nine of the previous 10 events held here. The only athlete to spoil the Norwegian party was Emil Jönsson (SWE), who won in 2010.
– Norway have recorded 19 of the 30 possible podium finishes in Drammen. The only other country to have more than one podium here are Sweden with five.
– Norway have always had at least one athlete on the podium in the men’s race in Drammen. Norway have won all the top three positions on two occasions, 2005 and 2006.
– The nine Norwegian wins in Drammen have been won by seven different skiers. Jens Arne Svartedal and Ola Vigen Hattestad are the only ones who have won twice.
– Ola Vigen Hattestad could be the first male athlete to win three times in Drammen. Marit Bjørgen and Virpi Kuitunen have three wins ahead of this year.
– Hattestad could be the first man to win consecutive races in Drammen.

Pellegrino to finally break Scandinavian sprint dominance?

– The sprint classical technique in Drammen is the final event of the overall sprint World Cup this season. Finn Hågen Krogh (NOR) is leading the overall sprint World Cup with 399 points, ahead of Federico Pellegrino (ITA) with 366 points and Eirik Brandsdal (NOR) with 342 points.
– Pellegrino is looking to become the first athlete outside Norway and Sweden to win the overall sprint World Cup. In the 18 editions of this World Cup Norway have 11 wins, while Sweden have won it seven times.
– Three Italians have previously finished in 2nd place overall, Fulvio Valbusa in 1996/97, Cristian Zorzi in 2000/01 and Renato Pasini in 2008/09.
– Krogh, Pellegrino or Brandsdal will win the sprint World Cup for the first time. Brandsdal was second in 2013/14, behind Ola Vigen Hattestad. Brandsdal was also third in 2011/12.
– Brandsdal won in Drammen in 2012, his only podium here. Krogh and Pellegrino have never qualified for the final in Drammen.
– Brandsdal is the only athlete to win more than once in the last seven World Cup sprint races held in classical technique. Brandsdal, Hattestad and Teodor Peterson (SWE) are the only three athletes who have finished on the podium more than once in the last seven World Cup races held in classical technique. They have two podiums each.
– Pellegrino has only qualified for one final in sprint classical technique in the World Cup, in Davos in February 2013, when he finished third. Pellegrino also qualified for the final in the WCh in Falun, finishing fifth.
– Nine sprint races have been held so far in the World Cup this season. Norway have won six times (Brandsdal and Krogh two each, Tomas Northug and Pål Golberg one), and Italy’s Federico Pellegrino has won three times. In addition Petter Northug won the WCh in Falun.