March 13, 2011 (Lahti, Finland) – Norway’s Marit Bjoergen was back on form on Sunday looking unbeatable again as she took the women’s 1.4km Classic sprint victory at the FIS World Cup in Lahti on Sunday.

On the flip side World Cup Sprint leader, American Kikkan Randall, had to deal with a topsy-turvey day as she qualified strong in 5th just behind Bjoergen only to meet disaster in her quarter final finishing 5th and was out early in the match.

It was a lucky loser day in the final as top qualifier, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen (NOR), and Petra Majdic (SLO) both landed on the podium after advancing to the final as lucky losers. Jacobsen and Majdic were 3rd and 4th in the semi won by Bjoergen in a photo-finish over Follis. In final they both advanced one spot as Jacobsen claimed the silver and Majdic the bronze.

Majdic out-skied Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) for the final podium spot as Charlotte Kalla (SWE) ended up fifth and Arianna Follis (Italy) 6th. With her 60-point podium score the Slovenian star wrestled the Sprint leader’s jersey from Randall now third overall behind Follis in second.

The final series outcome will be decided on a shorter classic sprint in Stockholm, Sweden on Mar. 16.

The Lahti sprint course is one of the toughest on the circuit starting with a grueling uphill climb followed by a bit of downhill relief leading to a second smaller climb and then a fast dowhill with a challenging final right hand turn dropping skiers into the chute into the stadium to the finish. It was on this corner that the course delivered an unusual number of crashes throughout the day – moreso in the men’s race.

Randall, who began slipping after a strong start in the quarterfinal, could not keep pace and fell back to finish fifth. She wasn’t the only one who had difficulties with the tough snow conditions and demanding course as others like Bjoergen and Kowalczyk both experienced some slippage.

“It was a real bummer after a strong qualification,” said Randall in a phone interview with SkiTrax. “My skis were fine thru the qualification and start of the quarter final and I was in contention but soon after they slicked up – I was slipping with less glide than the others as well and lost ground. We think that perhaps my skis picked up some ice along the way that slowed them down.”

Randall concurred that the Lahti course is long and tough. “It’s precarious in some parts and perhaps has the most sustained sprint climb I’ve experienced. The qualification times were over 3:30 that tells you something.”

Four other North Americans did not qualify including Holly Brooks (USA) in 34th, Daria Gaiazova (CAN) in 48th, Chandra Crawford (CAN) in 55th and Perianne Jones (CAN) in 56th.

“Tough day today,” said Canadian Head Coach Justin Wadsworth in a brief email to SkiTrax. “Chandra and Dasha will head back to Canmore for XC Ski Nationals.”

dDespite the lackluster results for North America the day had some positives.

“Holly Brooks almost qualified for the rounds and Kikkan blazed her qualifier as if classic sprinting had been her strongest event. And perhaps it will be,” US Coach Matt Whitcomb told SkiTrax post-race.

“Kikkan struggled in her quarterfinal, finishing 5th. While her skis were great in the qualifier, they were not as competitive in the heats. The wax was the same as we used for Andy [Newell] who had great skis – both athlete and tech liked them in testing, but they didn’t roll as well as expected when the gun went off.

“It is classical racing in variable conditions. We own the choices we made and were confident in them, and own that it didn’t go as planned. When you miss by a little on the World Cup, you’re missing by a little against the best teams in the world.”

With only 29 points separating Randall from the Sprint jersey she’s keen to get another crack at it in Stockholm. “It felt good wearing it today and I’m looking forward to having the chance to take it back,” added Randall, who sits 10th in the overall WCup standings.

The US team heads to Stockholm on Monday and begins their final preparation for the remaining four WCup events in the series.

Qualifications HERE.
Final Results HERE.

Overall Sprint Standings HERE.
Overall WCup Standings HERE.

February 12, 2011 (Beitostølen, Norway) – American Sadie Bjornsen from Alaska was only 4.7s off the podium claiming 4th in the women’s 5km classic today in Beitostølen as Norwegian Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen skied for the win in 15:02. Morgan Arritola (USA) was 8th another 11s behind Bjornsen while Canada’s Chandra Crawford, who just arrived in Norway, claimed an impressive 12th as she continues to show gains in her classic skiing.

“Today was super cold out there in the morning – so they postponed the start for 30 mins. There were about 890 starters, so they sent us off in 15 second intervals, which made things more exciting,” said Bjornsen in a post-race email to SkiTrax. “Astrid Jacobsen, who I knew would be the potential winner stated 45 seconds behind me – so it was my goal to stay ahead of her… and if she passed me, I would stick on her like glue. I was able to hold her off though, which was nice.”

Liz Stephen (USA) finished in 17th, Ida Sargent (USA) was 20th, and Canada’s Brooke Gosling placed 37th. For Crawford it was a good result as part of her final prep before Oslo.

“I’ve been in Norway for less than 48 hours but it felt good to get the bib on and go for it,” Crawford told SkiTax by email. “Today’s race was an opportunity Justin [Wadsworth – head coach] organized for athletes who felt a need to race to get ready for Drammen World Cup and World Champs so Brooke Gosling, Ivan Babikov, Lenny Valjas and I cruised over here from Lillehammer where the team is training to do the race.

“I’m impressed with Astrid Jacobsen who is a great person and skier and just met Sadie [Bjornsen] today but am impressed with her speed. Feels good to be back in Scandinavia where the love of skiing and thousands of kilometers of groomed trails are my kind of paradise.”

In the Junior women’s race the USA’s Jessie Diggins placed 5th at 29.5s behind winner Norway’s Ragnhild Hana with a time of 15:21.8. Diggins time of 15:51.3 put her in 15th overall when considering all categories and times merged.

Bjornsen said she hasn’t skied a 5km in a while but felt good out there knowing she had to ski hard the whole way.

“The course was rolling at the beginning and then it had a really long climb that went into a gradual climb on the top at about 3km… so you had to pretty much charge the entire time. A 5km classic is a good race for me, so I was determined to ski the course really hard.

“It was nice to finish knowing I can ski right in there with some of these top Norwegians. I haven’t seen the results, but I do know that Jacobson won and I was within like 35 seconds of her or something. Skis were good, and the rest of the US girls skid strong races as well – so it was good fun,” she commented.

Full results HERE.
All categories merged HERE.

Results (brief)

1. Jacobsen, Astrid Uhrenholdt (Heming, IL – Ski) 15:02,0
2. Staver, Tuva Toftdahl (Heming, IL – Ski) +00:25,0
3. Berg, Ella Gjømle (Lyn Ski) +00:33,2
4. Bjornsen, Sadie (USA) +00:37,9
5. Slind, Astrid Øyre (Oppdal IL – ski) +00:39,0
6. Flugstad Østberg, Ingvild (Gjøvik SK) +00:39,6
7. Harsem, Kathrine Rolsted (Fossum IF) +00:47,3
8. Arritola, Morgan (USA) +00:48,0
9. Gjeitnes, Kari Vikhagen (Henning Skilag) +00:48,3
10. Grønvoll, Maria Nysted (Furuflaten IL) +00:48,8
11. Monrad-Hansen, Marte (Heming, IL – Ski) +00:49,7
12. Crawford, Chandra (Can) +00:51,2