By Angie Kell
Another day (night), and another Johannes Høsflot Klæbo win, this time in the men’s skate sprint in Davos, Switzerland, Friday night. Klæbo marking his territory by peeing on the proverbial tree was not so much the big story as was Team USA flying their flag and advancing their team in the heats, with four Americans making it to the quarterfinals and three to the semifinals. Particularly notable was Ben Ogden’s “Jesus take the wheel” approach of controlling the pace in his heats and hoping his legs could sustain the aggressive pace he set for the entirety of the two laps of each round.
Along with Ogden, teammates JC Schoonmaker, Gus Schumacher, and Jack Young advanced from the qualification round to the quarterfinals.
Ogden had the fourth-fastest qualification time of 2:23.77, 1.51 seconds back from leader Klæbo and less than one second behind second and third places, secured by French sprint specialist Lucas Chanavat and Swede Edvin Anger. Schumacher placed 20th in the qual, Schoonmaker was less than a half-second back in 22nd, and Jack Young slid in to advance by placing 28th in a time of 2:27.44.
Young has now reached the heats in three of the four World Cup skate sprints he has contested in his, well, young career, including two starts this month against notoriously deep Period 1 fields. Young, a senior at Colby College, will celebrate his 22nd birthday on Tuesday.
Americans who didn’t advance beyond the qualification round included Michael Earnhart, who was 43rd, and Kevin Bolger and Zak Ketterson, who were 49th and 50th, respectively.
Heat one of the quarterfinals was full of action. The heat contained top contenders Klæbo and Chanavat, but also featured two (mustachioed) Americans, Ogden and Young. Ogden set the tempo from the start gun, and had a clean start to reach the front of the pack while Klæbo watched the race unfold from the rear over the first lap. On the second lap, however, Klæbo predictably advanced his position on the punchy climb where he overtook Chanavat, who continued to follow Ogden’s tempo.
Klæbo’s characteristically fast skis and peerless line choices allowed him to overtake Ogden and Chanavat via the inside line on the final turn to win the heat, but Ogden followed Chanavat’s heels to place third.
Teammate Young trailed and seemed to struggle with the furious pace, but as the heat was blazing fast, was able to advance to the semifinals, with Ogden, as a lucky loser. As if viewers were somehow puzzled as to Ogden’s strategy, Ogden flashed the cameras a smile at the finish as if to assure people that, yes, that was in fact the plan all along.
Ogden confirmed such a strategy to Nordic Insights, saying, “My strategy was certainly to go as fast as needed to ensure that my heat had the lucky losers. In the quarterfinal that was my best hope with Klæbo and Lucas (Chanavat).”
Young was privy to the strategy and echoed Ogden’s statements. “Both Ben and I knew that we were going to have to go fast to get through that heat, so we did exactly that,” he told Nordic Insights.
Young also spoke to the experience he gained on the day. “As for skiing a quarterfinal with Klæbo and Chanavat, it was pretty much as expected,” he said. “It was hard to comprehend how fast Klæbo came around me on the second lap, but at the end of the day, the composition of the heat was probably the reason I got into the semis.”
The strategy was undoubtedly a success, as no other quarterfinal heat matched the pace set forth by Ogden. Hoping to ski well on his home turf, Swiss skier Valerio Grond was visibly frustrated at the finish as he was unable to advance as part of the second heat. Grond would finish 17th overall on the day, and his display of frustration cost him 250 CHF in monetary fines for a violation of ICR 223.1.1, unsportsmanlike behavior.
Schumacher, in the fifth heat of the day, found himself in what appeared to be a fast heat, as Norwegian all-around star Harald Østberg Amundsen drove a furious tempo from the start and never looked back, ultimately winning the heat. Schumacher played a game of excellent strategy equipped with an “A” grade for lines on the descent and final turn to the sprint; with a ski throw at the finish, he was able to advance to the semifinals. Despite Amundsen’s efforts, the heat still finished a mere four seconds slower, though the falling snow may have played a role in what could have been slower skis.
Schoonmaker did not advance to the semis in his heat and finished in 16th place for the day, somehow the lowest finish of the four American men in the heats today.
In the first heat of the semifinals, Young once again found himself amidst an experienced bunch comprised of Klæbo, Chanavat, Frenchman Richard Jouve, Anger, and Norwegian Even Northug. Young fell back on the first uphill of the first lap as Chanavat and Klæbo charged to advance themselves along with Northug. Young finished 12th for the day, a World Cup career best by far (he was 23rd in Canmore in February and 25th in Lillehammer last weekend).
Young reflected on the experience when we asked about the mid-altitude venue and any challenges in a what was positive step forward in his young career.
“I felt great tonight!” he enthused to Nordic Insights. “I really liked racing at night. It was an awesome scene at the venue today with the lightly falling snow and the pyrotechnics. As for the altitude, I wasn’t thinking about it and I don’t think it affected me in by qualifier or quarterfinal. It may have caught up to me in my semi.”
“A key takeaway from Davos is a good reminder that sometimes the best strategy in a heat is to just charge from the gun.”
It was Ogden who once again advanced from the semifinals to the finals, in the second semifinal of the day, featuring four Norwegians and two Americans — Ogden and Schumacher.
Here Ogden again played his hand with a clean, fast start out of the gate. He drove the pace for the entire first lap with the Norwegian train of Amundsen, Matz William Jenssen, Erik Valnes, and Aleksander Elde Holmboe trailing on his heels. The Norwegians utilized their fast skis and sprinting prowess to descend upon a fading Ogden in the final meters to the finish, but Ogden finished fourth and was able to advance to the finals in the lucky loser position.
Ogden said of the semis, “In the semifinal with Gus in there as well, we agreed that (going as fast as I needed to ensure the heat contained the lucky losers) was the best option.”
Schumacher did not advance to the finals and placed 11th overall.
Klæbo, in the final, again tracking with our “he has that dawg in him” analogy, unleashed a full bladder on every tree and every available fire hydrant to claim his territory over his final two sprint laps of the weekend. Ogden positioned himself to stay with Klæbo and Chanavat early in the first lap, but faded as the final progressed. Klæbo’s skis on the descent were visibly fast and it was to no one’s surprise that he charged fully on the second lap’s ascent to open a gap that never closed for another sprint win in a time of 2:22.8. Chanavat finished in second place with a time of 2:24.2, and Valnes rounded out the podium in third a full second back from Chanavat.
Saturday marked the 52nd sprint win of Klæbo’s career.
Ogden finished sixth, one of three Americans in the top 12. Did he like his strategy for the day? “That didn’t leave me with much in the tank for the final but that’s a problem to sort out another day,” mused the 24-year-old.
“Key takeaways are that I can still ski a fast sprint with a big load in my legs. I was feeling cooked from yesterday but was proud to lay down a good one despite feeling a bit heavy all day.”
Racing continues tomorrow in Davos, with the men’s 20km interval-start classic race. The Team USA start list includes Ben Ogden, Zanden McMullen, Gus Schumacher, Michael Earnhart, Zak Ketterson, and Hunter Wonders.
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