March 16, 2018 (Falun, Sweden) – The USA’s Sophie Caldwell landed third on the final Sprint Cup podium after finishing 6th in final 1.4km FR sprint of the season as the World Cup series came to a close in Falun, Sweden on Friday. Caldwell became only the second American to finish on the final World Cup sprint series podium.

Sweden dominated the last race of the season with Hanna Falk taking the win over teammate Jonna Sundling while Norway’s Marit Bjoergen was third.

The USA’s Jessie Diggins was seventh, Sadie Bjornsen was ninth and Kikkan Randall finished 15th for four Americans in the top 20. The top Canadian was Emily Nishikawa in 40th.

“Even though this course is only just over three minutes, it’s brutally hard, with a lot of climbing and a working downhill and flat section into the finish. Conditions were cold and firm and made for beautiful skiing today,” said Caldwell. “It’s a dream come true to be third in the sprint overall. I’m proud of how consistent my season has been and look forward to working in some weaknesses after a little break this spring.”

In the women’s quarterfinal heats, Bjornsen opened it up finishing second in the first heat. In heat three, Diggins went up against Randall, who was skiing in the final sprint race of her career, and advanced. Randall, however, made a strong lunge at the finish but just missed finishing second and was not quite fast enough for a lucky loser spot. In heat four, Caldwell skied a smart race, waiting for her time and passing on the final small climb and sprinting up to the lead in the final hundred meters to win and move on to semifinals.

“My strategy in the heats was to conserve energy in the beginning and try to be in the top four going into the downhill to take advantage of the draft, but not leading. It worked out perfectly in my quarter and I was lucky to advance as lucky loser in my semi,” said Caldwell.

In the semifinals opening heat, Diggins and Bjornsen were paired together. Both battled heavy traffic through most of the heat as the field only broke up in the final few hundred meters. Bjornsen was able to work to the front by midway but Diggins was boxed in and unable to thread her way through the field. As the pack broke up coming into the stadium, Bjornsen dropped back and Diggins moved up with a powerful sprint, narrowly missing second with Sweden’s Hanna Falk taking the win. In heat 2, Norway’s Marit Bjoergen set a much faster pace to take the win with Caldwell third and grabbing a lucky loser spot.

“I felt great today, and my skis were running fast thanks to our awesome team! I got to lay down a solid qualifier and in my quarterfinal I got to just hammer away,” said Diggins. “My semifinal, I got stuck behind people as the course was only 2 people wide on the uphills and unfortunately, we were basically walking out there, which meant there wasn’t going to be a lucky loser time from our heat. I kept looking for ways to get around but was blocked in until the course opened up in the final 800 meters, but unfortunately it was too late for me to be able to make any solid moves.”

“Fortunately, I had a really strong quarter final, so we skied really hard from the start, and I was able to use my good feelings to qualify into the semi finals. The semi finals turned into a tactical war, and I was feeling good coming into the final part of the course, but unfortunately got bobbled a bit on the final decent, and struggled to pick up the killer sling shot from there… and then things ended up turning into a drag race sprint at the end, which didn’t work out ideal for me. I certainly left the last sprint of the season dreaming of more, but feeling really confident in my skiing. I am excited to work on some more specific things this summer,” said Bjornsen

In the finals, Caldwell was on tails of Falk and Sundling, but eventually, she dropped back and finished sixth. “The final was very tactical and we basically came to a stop on top of the second hill and then there was a big surge that accordianed me off the back. I was also feeling the fatigue from a tough course and a long season, so I was happy to be in the final,” added Caldwell.-

Falla the Sprint crystal globe winner 2018 said, “For sure I wanted to be able to fight for the podium today but I made a mistake in the semi final and I wasn’t able to get back into position to advance. But I can’t be too upset as I have won my third crystal globe and I am very proud of that.”

Qualifications here.
Final results here.