January 14, 2012 (Milan, Italy) – With four American women on the start line for the FIS WCup freestyle sprints in Milan, Italy on Friday, the Sprint Cup leader, Kikkan Randall, was in good company. Randall is stoked to see the US women’s team blossoming and recently told SkiTrax, “It’s so encouraging to see our team more and more respected and more competitive each year.”

And there’s more to come she added, “There’s incredible momentum right now and still climbing.  We finally have the makings of a real team and we have some big team goals over the next two years!”

Randall herself is blossoming with a stronghold on the Sprint Cup lead with 484 points followed by Natalia Matveeva (RUS) in second with 310 points and Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla in third with 276 points. With six of thirteen sprint events remaining the pendulum in swinging in Randall’s favour but she’s still got lots of skiing left to ensure she reels in the big prize.

Last year Randall finished third overall in the Sprint Cup with a very brief stint in the red leader’s jersey. Prior to that she had never been in the top ten so clearly the Alaska native has done her homework and likes the colour red.

While Sunday’s Team Sprint doesn’t count for the individual Cup standings it’s another opportunity for the Americans to strut their stuff. In Dusseldorf Randall and Sadie Bjornsen scored historic silver together and this time with Jessie Diggins the podium is the target once again.

Former US and Canadian Head Coach and SkiTrax columnist, Marty Hall, is bullish on both the Americans and the Canadian duo of Chandra Crawford and Perianne Jones landing on the final podium. Crawford and Gaiazova scored bronze in Dusseldorf last year and Crawford/Jones were 7th there this year.

“Will we see history tomorrow – two NA teams on the podium in the ladies team sprint!. The potential is there!,” posted Hall on our Milan sprint report. The Team Sprints are only hours away so we’ll soon find out – meanwhile here’s Randall take on today’s individual freestyle sprint race in downtown Milan.

How are you feeling overall since the TdS…?
KR: I’ve definitely been feeling pretty wonky all week, kind of like being on an energy rollercoaster.  Slept a lot and just did some light training.  Our team went up to Seiser Alm for the break and it was the perfect place to relax and recover for a few days. Thankfully I had my post-Tour experience from last year to remind me that this week was going to feel this way but I would still be okay to race this weekend.

Talk about the Milan course – similar to Dusseldorf or…?
KR: Kind of similar to Ddorf but twice as long and at least Ddorf has one small hill and more change in elevation. This course was pretty flat which meant you had to be working the whole time.

With no hills does it suit your style of skiing… was it tough to move up ?
KR: With no hills this definitely wasn’t my ideal course.  While the track was mostly narrow there still were a couple of good places to pass and it really tested everyone to see who still had a punch left at the end.  It was satisfying to be strong on a flat course.

Were you expecting a challenge from Ida Ingemarsdotter…?
KR: I didn’t know that she was the one coming up beside me until we were on the finish straight.  I hesitated for a moment in making my final lane choice and I think taking the inside lane that had been skied in more may not have been the right choice.

Can you describe the final as there was no Eurosport coverage…
KR: I got off to an ok start and was able to tuck in behind Maiken who went straight for the lead. Mari Eid was skiing the outside line. I got my glasses knocked off by someone’s pole off the first turn. Everyone started getting antsy off the back stretch on the 2nd lap and I decided I didn’t want to get stuck behind so I accelerated to the outside and made my move for the win.

I was ahead enough to get the inside line on the final corner and got the lead for the straight away. That’s when I hesitated and choose the lane directly ahead. That moment cost me a little bit of momentum and that’s where Ida made up the ground on me.  I fought to get back up on my skis, but couldn’t close that half a stride before the line.  My energy was still good, just a little technical error that cost me the win.  Still psyched with my 2nd place and more points toward the overall sprint cup.

It’s great to see lots of US gals racing w/you…
KR: Really sweet to have a full girls team here and a strong one too!  It was fun to have Jessie [Diggins] in my quarter today, you can tell she’s absorbing everything and really learning a lot.

Who’s your partner in the Team Sprints and now that you know the course any thoughts on your strategy…?
KR: It’s going to be Jessie.  We will try to get ourselves in a good position, try to conserve a little early and then come on strong in the final laps.  If we can stay in a good position and avoid crashes, I feel good about our chances!

Good luck tomorrow.
KR: Thanks