December 16, 2008 (Davos, Switzerland) – Here’s an insider’s view from a World Cup XC ski sprint race at round #3 in Davos, Switzerland last weekend by top US skier Kikkan Randall, who is also a contributor to our SkiTrax Diaries. Randall gives a personal account of the women’s 1.4km Skate Sprint.

Cliff Notes
A few days after traveling south from Finland to Central Europe, I was able to jump into an invitational international show sprint in Grenoble, France. I started off well, qualifying in third position, but couldn’t manage to stay on my feet in the rounds. Two crashes cost me a trip to the final, and I ended up in 9th place.

Next up was a World Cup weekend in Davos, Switzerland. I chose to sit out Saturday’s distance race in order to be fully rested for Sunday’s skate sprint. The course we raced here in 2006 had been extended by an extra 200m, with two additional climbs, and I needed to be 100%. Conditions were great for a full day of sprint racing, with moderate temps and sunny skies.

My qualification round was solid with an eleventh place finish. I started in the first women’s quarterfinal. My start was quick, but I got boxed out and had to tuck into fourth leaving the stadium. I was getting ready to make a move going into the first uphill when a Swedish skier (Charolette Kalla) skied over my ski and took me down. By the time I got back up, the others were 50m ahead. I tried to catch back up, but the gap proved to be too difficult, and I ended up sixth in my heat for 26th place overall.

It was disappointing to fall, and miss out on a chance to go for the medals in my favorite event, but at least I get another shot at a World Cup skate sprint next weekend in Dusseldorf, Germany.

The Full Story:
While I had only been in Northern Finland for a week, it was exciting to leave the darkness and travel down to Central Europe following the Kuusamo World Cup races. I spent a couple wonderful days in Davos, Switzerland before loading up the Canadian team to travel over to France for a show sprint in Grenoble. The city of Grenoble is hoping to be a candidate for the 2018 Winter Olympics and as part of their bid, they have been organizing big winter show events to generate support.

The course was a flat 600m loop of trucked in snow, lit up in a big city park. To one end of the stadium was a giant scaffolding, erected for a snowboard jumping contest and at the other end, in the middle of the loop, was a carnival with ice skating and sledding stations. Even though it was pouring rain for the sprint, there were still plenty of spectators and a high-level, World Cup quality field of racers.

I qualified third, but got tangled up with a French skier in my semi-final and missed advancing to the A final. In the B final, I was sitting comfortably in second place at the end of the 1st of two laps when I stuck my pole between my legs and took myself down. I was able to catch back up to the pack but couldn’t quite catch the leaders. I finished in 9th place. It was frustrating to miss out on a chance to test out my fitness and speed, but I figured I was getting my bad sprint luck out of the way early. Little did I know…

After the Grenoble sprint, I traveled back to Davos for a week-long training camp.

Davos had been gifted with several great early season snow-falls, and the conditions were pretty amazing all week. I did some intervals around the sprint course and worked on testing skis. Midweek however, my feet really began to bother me. After skating especially, I was getting deep aches in both of my feet, just above my arches. I consulted with our physical therapist and he recommended that I take a few days off skiing to let my feet recover. I also talked it over with my coach Erik, and we decided maybe a few days of classic skiing would help, but not let my body fall asleep too much before the races. So, I classic skied for several days in a row and didn’t get back on my skate skis until the day before the race.

A size adjustment in my skate boots helped a lot and I had a good pre-race workout on the sprint course. I watched Saturday’s distance race on TV and couldn’t help but feel a little anxious that I wasn’t racing. It was a hard decision not to race the 10km classic, especially after my break-through distance race in Kuusamo. But the sprint course was going to be one of the longest, and most challenging, skate sprint courses I had yet encountered on the World Cup, and I wanted to be fully rested and ready to perform at my best.

1.4km Skate Sprint
The qualification round didn’t begin until 1:00pm so I had a long wait the morning of the race. I went out for a short jog to wake my body up and then occupied myself with a PEOPLE magazine cross-word puzzle until it was time to head down to the venue.

I skied a few laps around the stadium to get my body warmed up before jumping into ski testing with my wax tech Peter. We each took a few runs on the three different pairs and unanimously decided #494 was the pair to go with. Ski testing quick and easy, just the way I like it! The rest of my warm-up went smoothly and I headed to the start revved and ready to go. I started bib #28 and several skiers had already made their way around the course as I stepped up to the gate.

The course traveled out of the stadium area along an ever-so-gradual straight corridor for about 400m before taking a 180 turn up and over a short steep and heading back in. My strategy was to ski quick and relaxed over this section, conserving a little energy to be ready to charge up the two hills on the second half of the course. As I rounded the 180 turn and headed back towards the stadium, I was still feeling fresh and relaxed. I jump-skated up and over the middle hill and held a low tuck going towards the final climb. I rounded the corner and charged into the hill.

I jump-skated madly, working my legs as fast as they would go. I was surprised to find that the first part of the course had taken more out of my legs than I had anticipated, and I had to dig deep to keep the tempo going. It didn’t feel pretty, but I managed to make it up and around the top before sailing down into a fast, tight, right-hand turn. My legs were pretty wobbly, but I held myself together and sailed into the final 100m and threw my foot across the line.

The course had taken me two minutes and fifty seven seconds and my body was hurting!! For a few minutes I was walking pretty stiff and not sure whether my breakfast was going to stay down. I put on my warm-ups and skied off on the warm-up track to try and work out the lactic acid. It took me a good fifteen minutes before I felt halfway normal again. It’s good that the brain quickly forgets how bad an all-out effort hurts, or it would have never agreed to doing it again an hour later!

Once I got my body sufficiently warmed down, I went to the athlete’s tent to change into dry clothes, grab a snack and lay down for a short break. When the official results came out, I had finished in 11th place, putting me in the first women’s quarterfinal with the qualification leader, Petra Majdic. The time flew by and soon I was back out on course warming up for a second go. Race strategies and possible scenarios were running through my mind the entire time.

I had third lane choice in my heat and decided to go for the far right hand lane that was a little uphill from the rest. It had the straightest shot to the first bend and I figured going uphill a little at first would be an advantage once we got up to speed. There was one false start before the gun shot clean and we were off.

I reacted well and got off to a good start. I felt like I was a step ahead as we came out of the start lanes, but as the corridor narrowed I found that a train of skiers had formed to my left and I was blocked in. Wanting to stay calm and avoid trouble, I slipped into fourth and focused on skiing relaxed.

Approaching the 180 degree turn, I began to set myself up for a good burst into the steep. But just as we rounded the turn, Swedish racer Charolette Kalla, tried to pass on the outside and stepped on top of my left ski, immediately spinning me around. For a split second I almost recovered. With Kalla still on top of my ski however, I crashed to the ground. The other skiers sped away as I scrambled to get back up. I charged hard after the group, but after a few hundred meters I hit my limit and couldn’t close the gap. Kalla passed me just before the big climb and I couldn’t respond. I crossed the line in sixth place, thereby ending my day for a 26th place finish. Our quarterfinal ended up being the fastest by two seconds, and included the eventual 1st and 2nd place finishers. Tough luck and tough draw!

It was a hard day for USA. My teammate Andy Newell had qualified third and was sitting comfortably in qualifying position coming into the final downhill, until he crashed around the final turn and failed to advance. He also finished 26th for the day.

Kalla came up to me and apologized after the finish. While it was frustrating to fall, that’s just what happens sometimes in sprint racing! I was definitely disappointed to be done so early. The course suited my sprint skills with the big climb near the end of the course and I was bummed that I didn’t get a chance to try and make a move there like I had in Rybinsk last year. I was at least satisfied with my qualifying round, proving that I can be a contender at the longer skate sprints too, and yet again I gained valuable experience.

Over the last week I’ve had three falls in sprint races, and so now I figure I’m done. Bad luck comes in three’s right?

Thankfully I will have another shot at a World Cup skate sprint this coming weekend in Dusseldorf before I head home for Christmas. The course will be shorter and I’ll be coming down from altitude, so I’m excited to test out my speed and go for the podium.

I hope everyone is enjoying a wonderful holiday season. Until next week!

Cheers,
Kikkan 🙂