By Adele Haeg
Are my eyes deceiving me or are the hills in Ruka steeper than they were last year? Even if they are somehow growing like they seem to be through thes screen, today they were no match for Frida Karlsson.
The Swede ran — or rather herringboned — away with her first wheel of cheese of the winter, finishing the Ruka 10-kilometer course in just over 25 minutes for Friday’s interval-start classic race. She had 46 seconds on second-place finisher Therese Johaug. Astrid Øyre Slind took third, nearly a minute back from Karlsson; Diggins finished 7th (+1:13) and Brennan 9th (+1:20).
“It was maybe my best race ever,” Karlsson remarked to a reporter in Ruka.
Karlsson struggled with injury and illness last season, and as recently as the start of this month was dealing with a foot injury that saw her training on a road bike and talking about not returning to World Cup racing until the Tour de Ski or even later. Her recovery has clearly been quicker than expected.
Last season, despite challenges, Karlsson still finished third in the World Cup overall and won the Holmenkollen 50-kilometer classic. She was not really in contention for the overall last season, but her and Johaug’s performances today portend a season of fierce competition for distance dominance between the Swedish, Norwegian, and American women: Karlsson, Johaug, and Diggins are evidently each in top form this season.
For her much-anticipated return from hiatus, Therese Johaug started in bib 24. Her trademark tempo was there and she had an early lead at the 3.1km mark, until Karlsson, who started in bib 46, caught up with her. Karlsson quickly supplanted Johaug as leader, though Johaug did enjoy some time in the fur-draped winner’s chair before Karlsson crossed the finish line ahead of her. Today, Johaug earned her 172nd World Cup podium.
It wasn’t just the Scandinavians eating those Ruka hills for breakfast though. Jessie Diggins, who started the day in the yellow World Cup leader’s bib, looked solid up the monster climbs this morning. Last year she finished 11th in this event; today’s seventh-place finish is already an improvement from that. Going back more broadly, as Ryan Sederquist notes at SederSkier, “Here are [Diggins’s] other 10k classic finishes in Ruka, starting in 2014: 38th, 38th, 12th, 10th, 14th, 13th, 22nd, 18th, 21st, 11th.”
Diggins was proud of her performance today: “I think this might have been the first time in 13 years of Ruka that I was able to actually stride all the way up the North Hill on my first lap,” she said in comments shared with multiple media outlets. “Definitely not on my second lap because I went out really hot and I got kind of tired. But I will say I was super grateful to the techs. I felt like I had awesome kick.”
In the past Ruka has been kind to Rosie Brennan, and it seems like Brennan likes Ruka too. Last year she placed second in this event, and she has historically skied very strongly in Period 1 after coming off as much as six weeks’ worth of on-snow time in Alaska.
Commenting on today’s race, Brennan said, in official USSS audio, “Knowing that I’ve had some really good results in this race and this course before, I aimed high and wanted the best.” Brennan did not podium today. She said, “I felt strong but not quite sharp or fast.” That characteristic Rosie grit was there this morning; the sprint events tomorrow will put her off-season speed work to the test.
Sophia Laukli finished 31st today. She told USSS, “I think this year I switched gears and mentality towards skiing a bit earlier, so I’ve been ready to get things going and start ski racing. I had a tougher running season so I decided to switch focus earlier in the fall to focus on skiing and make sure I could have a ‘come back’ via skiing instead. Plus the motivation for skiing was made easier because of World Champs and knowing I wanted to be dialed for those later this winter.”
As for the rest of the American women, Alayna Sonnesyn (Team Birkie) finished 48th, Julia Kern 49th, Sydney Palmer-Leger 56th, and Haley Brewster 57th.
It’s only the first distance race of 30 this season. There were surprises today: Karlsson had a gap to second that would be surprising anywhere for anyone, and perhaps somewhat surprisingly there were no Finnish women in the top ten today. Only Jasmi Joensuu [ETA: and Krista Pärmäkoski] broke into the top 15. That was not for lack of cheering from the locals. In the men’s race, Klæbo didn’t podium. So it was a fun start to a year about which all we know is that few predictions will be accurate.
It is also unsurprising but still very exciting that Americans report that spirits are high on Team USA right now. Diggins commented, much in the spirit of Thanksgiving: “I just feel like we’re starting the season in a really great place. And I’m really grateful for that.” Ben Ogden is grateful for not only his team but for the World Cup community: “It’s so fun being back with everyone team USA and beyond. I really missed chumming with the whole World Cup squad. Cross country skiing is a small community and sometimes I don’t appreciate how awesome everyone from all the nations are until I have to leave them for a while.”
The sun has set on the first day in Ruka. Actually, it was down by the time Iivo Niskanen finished first in the men’s race. But there is more cheese yet to come.
Tune in for more coverage tomorrow! Saturday is classic sprint day in Ruka. Brennan, Diggins, Kern, and Sonnesyn are scheduled to race again for the American women, joined tomorrow by sprinters Erin Bianco, Lauren Jortberg, and Alayna Sonnesyn.
You’re reading this on Nordic Insights, one man’s labor of love dedicated to publicizing American nordic skiing. Last season’s GoFundMe is literally the only reason why I turned a profit in years one and two of Nordic Insights, and in turn the only reason why there is a year three of Nordic Insights for you to be reading now: I was okay with working for very little money to get this love letter to American cross-country skiing off the ground, but I didn’t want to lose money for the privilege of doing so. If you would like to support what remains a brutally shoestring operation, last season’s GoFundMe may be found here. Thank you for your consideration, and, especially, for reading.
Parmakoski was 12th
Oof, good catch. Thanks.