February 15, 2015 (Ostersund, Sweden) – Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla turned heads with a resounding victory in the women’s 10km FR World Cup in Ostersund, Sweden, by a comfortable 36.4-second margin over top-ranked Marit Bjoergen (NOR) and her teammate Therese Johaug at 53.6s behind. Kalla’s last World Cup victory was in Falun in 2010.

Charlotte Kalla (SWE) © Nordic Focus

“It feels great to win a World Cup again. The crowd here in Ostersund was so encouraging. I know the courses here very well and I felt strong. The 15th of February is a special day for me,” commented Kalla, “I won Olympic Gold in Vancouver on this day and again last year in Sochi we won the relay on this day, and now a World Cup win today. I will travel to Falun on Tuesday and prepare for the Skiathlon.”

American Jessie Diggins was the top North American in 17th followed by her teammate Liz Stephen in 26th, Rosie Brennan in 32nd, Kikkan Randall in 33rd and Canada’s Emily Nishikawa in 36th.

“I raced on some brand spanking new Salomon boards that felt great thanks to our techs, and I thought the course was really fun. It had a lot of twists and turns and ups and downs, which made it exciting,” said Diggins.

Jessica Diggins (USA) © Nordic Focus

“One of my goals was to charge right from the gate, because I’ve been in the habit of taking it out too conservatively in most of my races this year. I definitely went hard, and perhaps a little too hard because the second lap I was hurting a lot, but it was good for me to dial in my 10km pacing strategy before Worlds.

“The fans on the course were so awesome and the energy was great out there! Anytime there’s a hot tub on the trail side and you’re skiing through bonfire smoke and tons of people in another country are yelling your name, it’s impossible not to be psyched,” she added.

We checked in with Liz Stephen, 26th today, post-race as well. “Good to be racing again, it’s been a long break.  The course was in pretty good shape, with some tricky spots of ice under a layer of crushed corn snow.  The course itself was hard, with lots of big climbs and fast descents, as well as some fun crowds and in Sweden, so it was a mix of really great ski racing things out there.

Liz Stephen ©

“I am feeling good, physically and mentally, though today I was not checked into race mode either in the body or the head, so I have a bit to work on over the next week, but I am really excited to be heading to Falun tomorrow and can’t wait to get the World Champs started,” shared Stephen.

Rosie Brennan just out of the points today in 32nd is headed to Falun for her first trip to the Worlds. “Today was a decent day. There were parts that went really well and parts that definitely could have been gone better. I am feeling really good about my fitness and training.

“After a few weeks off racing, it usually takes me a race or two to get back in my groove so it was great to race twice this weekend and figure out where the finishing touches need to be made to perform my best next week. They lost a lot of snow here last week so most of the course was fast man made snow breaking down into sugar like snow.

“This is my first World Championships and I am really looking forward to the whole experience. I am really happy with how my whole season has gone and feel like I still have more to give so I am excited to see how hard I can push in the races over the week.

Kikkan Randall © Nordic Focus

Kikkan Randall remains optimistic about her ability to perform in Falun. “It was a beautiful day for ski racing.  Sunny skies, moderate temps, firm tracks and just a slight wind.  We raced two laps of a challenging but fun 5km course.

“I started well and found a smooth rhythm on the first lap.  However, I felt like I got stuck a little bit in that rhythm and found it hard to really kick it into full race gear. The remainder of the race was solid but not raw.  I ended up 33rd, four seconds out of the top 30.

“While the pace was not as aggressive as I had hoped to find today, the feelings were a lot more positive than earlier in the season. This confirms that my preparation over the past month has been productive. Now it’s just a matter of getting my body back into race mode.

This weekend should be a good boost going into the World Championships sprint on Thursday. Please help spread the word that all World Championship races will be streamed live through www.usskiteam.com, brought to you by L.L. Bean – click here.

Full results here.