December 31, 2011 (Obertsdorf, Germany) – The USA’s Kikkan Randall was looking strong and poised to go head to head with Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) and Marit Bjoergen (NOR) at Saturday’s 1.2km classic sprint, round #3 of the Tour de Ski. The teams and TdS entourage made their way to Obertsdorf from Oberhof on Friday for the Sprints and the Skiathlon races. But an unfortunate slip up near the finish during her semi final ended Randall’s day early – read more her crash HERE.

Randall is leading the WCup sprint series and is the only American women to complete the Tour – and the second North American woman to complete it as Sara Renner was 15th overall in 2008/09 and 17th the next season. Randall was 21st last year at her inaugural TdS and will undoubtedly shatter that PB record this year – despite getting knocked out early in the sprints Randall is 5th overall in the TdS Standings HERE.

She posted her best classic result in the women’s 10km on Friday – 6th – and is looking stronger and more confident each season. We caught with Randall for a brief interview following her fateful crash in her semi final where she and Kowalczyk [the eventual winner] had a sizeable lead on the chasers…

Tough break today – you looked so good out there – what happened in that final section?
Kikkan Randall: OMG, I’m not even sure what really happened.  I think one of my skis may have grabbed and then crossed over my other ski and it just flipped me into the air. It was a total surprise.  My legs were feeling fine, I was just getting ready to stand up and start double poling.  It’s pretty frustrating because I was feeling really strong.

How do you like this course and how does it compare to others on the WCup…?  
KR: I do like this course. It’s got all the exciting elements for a sprint course.  A good wide open start, two solid climbs, a couple turns and a good finish stretch.  I think it’s pretty comparable to most courses on the WC.  A little on the faster side perhaps, but really fun!

Does the level of competition feel tougher than last year at the Tour…?  
KR: The level of competition feels pretty similar to last year.  Obviously Kowalczyk has prepared really well this year and is coming in really strong, but the others are still in the fight too. I feel a lot stronger than I did at this point last year, and so it’s exciting to be up in the mix.

Your classic technique has improved tremendously – what do you attribute this to ?  
KR: I’ve been working on my technique with my coach Erik Flora [APU] back home and with my husband a lot. I think having better fitness and strength this year has allowed me to get up on top of my poles better and be able to be more consistent in the variable conditions.

You look strong out there – how are you feeling after three tough days of racing…?  
KR: I am still feeling really strong after three days. That was perhaps the most frustrating thing today, is how strong I was feeling and then not to get a chance to use it in the final.  I hope I can continue to feel strong because I’m really looking forward to the next few races.

Happy New Year and all the best with rest of the Tour
KR: Thanks – Happy New Year to everyone.

It’s Kikkan’s birthday today so best wishes to her as well on this special day. Fans may remember last year at the Tour when the music in the stadium suddenly changed to Happy Birthday when Randall finished her Prologue. According to Holly Brooks…”Our team had a small New Years celebration complete with bottle rockets. Today is also Kikkan’s birthday so it was a festive occasion!”