March 16, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – There was no shortage of Norwegians paying a visit to Sweden’s royal family in the snowy courtyard of that dynasty, but after dominating the World Championship in Oslo, they were decidedly outnumbered in Stockholm – and would have to take a backseat. Sweden’s Emil Joensson qualified with the 4th fastest time, then won his quarter and semi rounds, to captured gold in the final, as if he were the King of Sweden.

Norway’s Petter Northug was not able to overcome his Swedish rival as he unleashed his trademark finish but with less guston, still taking the silver, while teammate Ola Vigen Hattestad rounded out the top three with the bronze. The Scandinavians continued their dominance with Sweden’s Jesper Modin taking 4th but it was Team USA’s Andy Newell who broke their Nordic stronghold with a powerful 5th place in the final, followed by Italy’s Fulvio Scola.

Canada’s Alex Harvey who qualified 13th, just missed advancing to the semi-finals, as he placed 3rd in his quarter-final heat to finish 14th overall. Teammate Devon Kershaw, saw some improvement over Lahti as he qualified 26th, but as luck would have it he drew the same quarter-final heat as Harvey, where he finished 5th and ended up 27th overall.

Team USA’s Kris Freeman did not make the top 30 to advance coming in 37th at 12:93 seconds back while Canada’s Ivan Babikov was 49th at 18:22 seconds behind of Hattestad, who had the fastest qualifying time of 2:07:71 on the 1 km course.

Newell’s 9th place in the qualifications put him in a quarter final heat pitted against Northug and his teammate Eirik Brandsdal, Russians Evgeniy Belo and Ilia Chernousov and Italian Giorgio Di Centa – a situation that would seem to lend itself to team tactics, but the Stockholm course is more like a six lane time trial with only the corners providing any real tactical moments.

It was also a course where many double poled like the Norwegians, choosing to go without grip wax, while an equal number appeared to wax and combine diagonal stride and double pole techniques to take command on the hills – particularly at the finish.

Northug took his quarter final, but did not dominate the race. The pack hung together and Newell played it safe, staying close to Northug, but not unleashing his dynamite speed until the last 150 metres of climbing followed by a short flat before the finish. Newell was tactically perfect finishing a well earned second in his heat at 0:2 seconds behind Northug.

In his semi Newell had to contend with a strong Scandinavian contingent as Sweden’s Modin and Caile Halfvarsson lined up. Modin had the 3rd fastest qualifying time. Norwegians Northug and Eldar Roenning also made it to the semis, as did Finnish skier Matias Strandvall.

It was an all-Scandinavian cast with the exception of Newell, who took command from the start, flying out of the gate and into the lead, and staying there will into the first corner.

But the Swedes were on him and as they came out of the cornere they took over. The next curve, situated at the bottom of the  downhill saw some squeezing tactics, pushing two skiers out to the fence, but no one crashed. It was time for the Norwegians to answer the Swedes, but Newell moved up with them.

The sprint put Modin across the line first, Northug following 0:4 seconds back and Newell third, one second behind. It was a fast heat and with his savvy skiing Newell moved into the final as a lucky loser. The other semi put Joensson first, Hattestad second and Italy’s Fulvio Scola in the mix as the second lucky loser.

The final proved there was no question who was in charge at the Swedish palace. The Swedes bolted from the start. They would eke out some revenge from the World Championships where Norway dominated. Newell stayed with the speed, but said afterward he made a waxing mistake.

“I chose to double pole [no wax] and the guys who went with wax were stronger on the up hills.” In the end Joensson took the final with 0:7 seconds on Northug, who was half a second ahead of Hattestad. Sweden could celebrate and celebrate they did as Joensson skied back and forth to the crowds – truly a royal sprint.

“I had a pretty good feeling when I came here that I would make the final,” Newell told SkiTrax immediately after the race. “I usually feel good at this time of year – it could be time for a podium finish.

“It wasn’t quite there, but I still felt good that the race went well. I knew I had a chance at the podium, but I got caught with my double poling. With the exception of the qualifier I double poled – I wanted to save my arms for the heats. But probably I should have gone with wax. I was in a podium position going into the hill [just before the finish] and I was passed by guys with wax.”

Still, Newell was all smiles. After a bit of a disappointing Worlds, he knows he back.

Qualifications HERE.
Final results HERE.
Final Sprint Standings HERE.