January 19, 2019 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Jessie Diggins led Team USA on Saturday in Otepaa, Estonia, with a 12th-place finish in the 1.3km CL Sprint in Otepaa won by Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway with Natalia Nepryaeva (Rus) in second and Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist in third. A mid-race crash marred the final.

World Cup overall sprint leader Stina Nilsson of Sweden did not start the final due to a potential injury. American Ida Sargent finished 15th with teammate Sadie Bjornsen in 22nd. The lone Canadian was Dahria Beatty in 44th followed by Rosie Brennan (USA) in 45th.

“Today was a lot of fun, and I was really happy with how I skied,” said Diggins. “I ran out of gas a little in the second half of my semifinal, but given how stacked the semifinal one was, I’m taking a lot of confidence from today and in my classic sprinting. The steep herringbone technique on the big climb has always been a challenge for me, and I still have some work to do.”

“Today was a good day for me. The conditions were pretty firm at first though broke down with traffic and a little snow in the morning,” said Sargent. “I think I went for too much kick in the qualifier but had great skis in the heats. I felt really good striding but unfortunately there was only one striding hill so I lost some time at the end with the herringboning and into the double pole. I’m feeling good and excited to race a 10km tomorrow.”

“A bittersweet day one of the classic weekend,” said Bjornsen. “After a qualifier that seemed a bit off, I went into the heats excited to find a better place and tried to hang in a smart position through the whole heat. As I came into the final corner, the tails of my skis got a little clicked by the Slovenian, which caused me to lose balance and find myself on the ground…not the way I had expected it.”

In the men’s race Andy Newell and Erik Bjornsen advanced to the heats but were both eliminated in their quarter finals. Newell finished 15th overall while Bjornsen was 23rd. The top Canuck was Len Valjas in 43rd.

The men’s race was dominated by the Norwegians who held five of the six start positions in the finals. World Cup overall leader Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway took the victory, followed by Alexander Bolshunov of Russia in second, and Norway’s Paal Golberg in third.

“I hate to get bumped out in the quarter final but today was a good step in the right direction. The course here is really fun because it encompasses a little bit of everything, big striding, herring bone, and double pole. And the conditions were really solid with from tracks and easy kicking snow so it felt great to stride in those conditions,” said Newell.

“I had to pause for a few minutes when choosing heats, thinking about different strategies, and I ended up choosing heat 1 to try to ski with Klaebo and Goldberg.. very close to lucky loser but in the end got bumped out. Happy to be back in the top 15 in a classic sprint though,” he added.

“I was happy to qualify well today. This season hasn’t gone as well as I hoped but I think I can turn things around before world champs. Today was a step in the right direction. Positioning was quite important in the second half of the course. Unfortunately I wasn’t where I needed to be before the steep climb,” shared Bjornsen.

Women’s Results here
Women’s Qualifications here.

Men’s Results here
Men’s Qualifications here.