March 09, 2015 (Lahti, FIN) – American Sadie Bjornsen took home a solid 14th with teammate Jessie Diggins in 17th in the women’s 10km CL at the World Cup in Lahti, Finland, part of the Lahti Ski Games. Canada’s Emily Nishikawa had a good day at the office as well taking home a personal best 23rd.

Women's 10km CL podium © Nordic Focus

Norway’s Marit Bjoergen appears to be unstoppable claiming her second victory of the weekend. Fellow Norge Heidi Weng was second at 17.3s back with Swedish star, Charlotte Kalla, in third at 25.3s behind the winner. “My goal is to take all three crystal globes this season,” commented Bjoergen.

SkiTrax caught up with Bjornsen for her take on day two in Finland. “It was a challenging and wet day here in Lahti, Finland. It was a fun mix of soft spring conditions combined with ice that made for a race of perseverance. I just kept trying to tell myself that conditions were similarly hard for everyone. I had a great first lap, and then spent the second lap trying to hold my technique together as the tracks become more challenging to kick in.

Sadie Bjornsen (USA) © Nordic Focus

Over the course of this winter we have been doing more races in the soft klister conditions than we have been on hardwax. In the past, cold hard tracks have always been my strength- so I am being forced to find some new skills and strengths this winter,” commented the Alaska star.

Nishikawa was pleased to nail a career-best result. “Yes this is my best World Cup result and I am really happy about it. I had great skis today and the tracks held up pretty well throughout the race. I’ve been feeling really good since Worlds, I had a bit of a rest after the 30km CL there and felt ready to go this weekend,” she told Trax.

Emily Nishikawa (CAN) © Nordic Focus

With the season coming to an end Bjornsen shared her plans going forward.

“Since that was my last classic distance race on the World Cup, I have decided I will spend more time this summer on the glacier working on herring bone, and the change of technique that you need with the warmer sloppy conditions.

“Yesterday was a frustrating day for me. I felt good, but I struggled to use my strength in the super icy conditions. I crossed the line feeling like I hadn’t even had the chance to get going. So, I was happy to have more of an opportunity today!

“Next we head to Drammen, which is one of my favorite classic sprint races on the World Cup. And then I will finish off with the 30k Skate at Holmenkollen…. just to see what can happen,” she concluded.

Full results here.