Kuusamo, Finland – World Cup sprint champion Kikkan Randall, of Anchorage, Alaska, skied into second place in the cross-country sprint World Cup opener Friday, earning the best classic World Cup sprint result of her career as Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk pulled out the victory.
Randall battled her way up the course’s tough uphill sections and into the top three after qualifying 12th. Her next best classic World Cup sprint results were a pair of fifth-place finishes in Lahti, Finland and Drammen, Norway last season.
“I felt really strong all day and my skis were excellent in every round,” said Randall. “There is a big climb near the end of the course and my strategy was to save some energy to come over the top strong and carry the speed to the finish. I got caught behind a fall midway through the final and had to work my way back up through the field on the climb but had good speed in the end.”
Sadie Bjornsen, of Winthrop, Wash., qualified third for Friday’s sprint, her career best, but did not advance past the quarterfinals.
Friday’s race served as the sprint portion of the three-day Ruka Triple. In the men’s sprint opener, Andy Newell, of Shaftsbury, Vt., took the top spot for the men’s U.S. Cross Country Ski Team in 24th as Norway’s Eirik Brandsdal came out on top in a three-way photo finish.
“We are really excited for Kikkan,” said U.S. Cross Country Ski Team head coach, Chris Grover. “Getting her first podium in classic sprint was a major goal of hers, so it’s so gratifying to see her meet that goal in the first World Cup of the season. She looked increasingly strong throughout the day. Both her striding and her double-poling looked very powerful and efficient.
“We also had great races out of our other three qualifiers for the rounds: Sadie Bjornsen, Ida Sargent, and Andy Newell,” Grover added. “Sadie had a breakthrough day in qualification, laying down the third fastest time of the day. Ida missed going through to the semis by a boot length. Andy ended up in the fastest men’s quarterfinal of the day and just missed out on being a lucky loser. Simi Hamilton and Sophie Caldwell missed qualifying for the rounds by a second. Jessie Diggins looked technically very good but suffered a crash in the qualification round. We are all looking forward to having another great day in tomorrow’s 5k and 10k individual classic.”
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Cross-Country Ski World Cup
Kuusamo, Finland – Nov. 29, 2013
Women’s Classic Sprint
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 8 | KOWALCZYK Justyna | 1983 | POL |
| 2 | 12 | RANDALL Kikkan | 1982 | USA |
| 3 | 2 | HERRMANN Denise | 1988 | GER |
| 4 | 4 | SHAPOVALOVA Evgenia | 1986 | RUS |
| 5 | 9 | BRUN-LIE Celine | 1988 | NOR |
| 6 | 23 | INGEMARSDOTTER Ida | 1985 | SWE |
| 7 | 26 | VISNAR Katja | 1984 | SLO |
| 8 | 14 | OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad | 1990 | NOR |
| 9 | 10 | SMUTNA Katerina | 1983 | AUT |
| 10 | 15 | JOHANSSON NORGREN Britta | 1983 | SWE |
Men’s Classic Sprint
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 7 | BRANDSDAL Eirik | 1986 | NOR |
| 2 | 1 | GAFAROV Anton | 1987 | RUS |
| 3 | 26 | PETERSON Teodor | 1988 | SWE |
| 4 | 8 | HATTESTAD Ola Vigen | 1982 | NOR |
| 5 | 9 | KRIUKOV Nikita | 1985 | RUS |
| 6 | 13 | POLTORANIN Alexey | 1987 | KAZ |
| 7 | 5 | USTIUGOV Sergey | 1992 | RUS |
| 8 | 11 | HALFVARSSON Calle | 1989 | SWE |
| 9 | 12 | CHEBOTKO Nikolay | 1982 | KAZ |
| 10 | 14 | NORTHUG Petter Jr. | 1986 | NOR |