Sweden dominates, Brennan Shines – FasterSkier.com
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10K Interval Start Ladies:
Today began a new chapter in World Cup racing as women and men competed over the same distances on the same track for the first time ever. This also marked the first distance race since Therese Johaug retired. With that competitiveness no longer dominating the races, it would be left to the field to decide who would lead it into the future.
The results:
The race was won by Ebba Andersson from Sweden, followed by Frida Karlsson from Sweden and Katharina Henning from Germany. Top American was Rosie Brenan who finished in seventh place, 29 seconds from first. Jessie Diggins was the other American, finishing 21stSt, 1:18:0 from first place. Rounding out the field for the Americans was Novie McCabe at 39Th, 2:03.4 back. Sophia Laukli in 45Th2:26.2 back, Alayna Sonnesyn at 49Th 2:38.4 back, Julia Kern 51St2:49.7. The top Canadian was Katherine Stewart-Jones, followed by Dahria Beatty and Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt.
The race:
The women’s individual race in Ruka, Finland was held this morning in cold, overcast conditions. The athletes competed on a five kilometer course with a mix of natural and artificial snow with temperatures around 17 degrees Fahrenheit (-8.0 Celsius) at the start. The humidity was 93%. Conditions were favorable as skiers used a mixture of glue and hard wax for kick.
First out for the American was Alayna Sonnesyn with a start of 18Th place, followed by Novie McCabe in 22ndn.dSophia Laukli in 23rdJulia Kern in 25ThJessie Diggins in 38Thand Rosie Brennan in 42n.d.
Karlsson jumps out to the lead:
The steep slopes of Ruka proved challenging as many skiers stepped off track to take advantage of loose snow moving up the hills. Most took to fishbones on the second lap. Karlsson asserted himself early and took the lead at the 3.1 kilometer interval by ten seconds over Andersson by 6.5 seconds. Despite that, Ebba Andersson took a 2.7 second lead over Karlsson after 6.1 kilometers. Henning was in third place, 9.5 seconds back. At this point, Rosie Brennan was 21.9 seconds back in sixth place.
Andersson takes a narrow lead:
At the 8.1K mark, Andersson’s lead had been reduced to the tiniest of margins, leading Karlsson by just 0.6 seconds. Henning had dropped back to fourth place, 8.5 seconds back. Brennan was in fifth place, just behind Heidi Weng who had a very fast second half.
Karlsson crossed the finish line and had to wait to see how it would go for Andersson. Karlsson had looked very strong when she finished, but would it be enough to hold off the surging Andersson? As it turned out, Karlsson’s time in the winner’s seat was short-lived as Andersson violently attacked the final hill to gain time on Karlsson. Anderson had an incredible final two kilometers and ended up beating his teammate by 5.7 seconds to give Sweden first and second place.
Today’s surprise was Anne Kjersti Kalva from Norway. Kalva missed the Olympics with Covid, but on this day she battled back to a fourth-place finish, falling just two-tenths of a second off the podium.
Full results are available at: http://live.fis-ski.com/cc-2215/results-pda.htm