By Devin L. Ward, Ph.D.
After some races at World Championships that were sparsely populated by American entries, we saw seven women entered in the 10-kilometer interval-start skate race earlier Sunday at Holmenkollen, the famed venue on the outskirts of Oslo.
Interviewed before the start, Julia Kern commented on the technical aspects of this course, noting that the downhills and corners would be key to success. This course was slightly shorter than the 6.2-kilometer loops from yesterday’s interval-start classic race, with two loops of 5 kilometers each. The sun and heat made for beautiful views, but variable snow conditions. Read on to see a wide range of opinions from athletes about the snow, likely influenced by their starting position and skis.
The post–World Championships period delivers storylines against a backdrop of World Cup consistent performers. Who left everything in the Trondheim slop, and will end their season with a relative whimper? Who mistimed their peak or managed to find fitness in the pressure cooker that is the World Championships, emerging with world-beating fitness one week later?
Appearing from a seemingly infinite supply of fast Swedish women, Moa Ilar crushed the race today to take gold. Ilar finished ahead of Heidi Weng of Norway in second (+1.6) and Victoria Carl of Germany in third (+10.0).
Weng has been fighting for podiums throughout the past few weeks, but has yet to convert her opportunities into her first win of the now rapidly aging season. When asked about Ilar’s performance and her own, she responded, “Of course I would have liked to have won when you have been close both in Lillehammer and, even though it was 11 seconds behind the rest there, but when you have been quite close to getting a win, it is always bitter when you have not managed it.”
She added, “I would have liked to have gone 1.7 seconds faster, but Moa was stronger and I wish Moa that she is always so happy for others and is the one who always runs into her teammates. … It was okay that it was Moa. … She’s always so happy for others, and that’s why I’m very happy for her today.” (translated from the Norwegian by Lukas Pigott, who was on site for Nordic Insights throughout the weekend)
After the race, Victoria Carl spoke about how much she prefers an interval-start race: “Today I am very happy about this because I do it by myself,” she said. “[It was] very different [with the interval start]. The track was really good, only on two or three parts it was a little bit soft, but the rest was really hard. For me the next goal is the overall cup, this is very good that today I have good points. This is the first time that I have had two podiums in one weekend.”
When asked how she felt about the possibility that these races could be Johaug’s last, Carl responded, “I think it’s good for me because I don’t like to start so fast in the mass starts. I struggle a lot with this, but it’s also okay when she’s here.” This said, Johaug’s vicious starting pace failed to materialise today, and she went through the first timing point only 2.3 seconds ahead of Carl.
Carl was followed by Ebba Andersson in fourth (+16.3) and then Therese Johaug in fifth (+17.8). Johaug started first of the seeded athletes, acting as a (perhaps unwilling?) rabbit to the seeded athletes behind, and making it easy to compare other athletes to her splits along the course.
Diggins was ahead of Johaug around the 7km mark, but then fell just behind in the finishing stretch, finishing sixth (+24.7). Maybe this was an attempt to gain speed throughout the race, but then Diggins ran out of gas? Or maybe Johaug had an uncharacteristically fast finish?
In the mixed zone Diggins was positive about her performance, but noted challenging snow conditions.
“It was pretty hot,” she said. “The sun was making it pretty slushy out there, so I had to try to adjust my technique and try to ski smart, but it was a great atmosphere. … I feel like we’ve been making steps in the right direction over the past couple of weeks and so it was really nice to be in the mix and I was really proud of how I was mentally tough. I was so zoned in on the moment and fighting for every second and I’m super proud of that. Energy felt good. I’m also really thankful for the techs. It’s also [Jason] Cork’s birthday” (Happy Birthday!)
“It was a nice confirmation that my fitness and my body are still there,” she added.
Diggins has now mathematically secured the overall World Cup title for the second season in a row. She also previously took home the crystal globe in the 2020/2021 season. Diggins joins Therese Johaug and Marjo Matikainen as three-time overall winners. Among women, only Yelena Välbe with five titles, and Marit Bjørgen, Bente Skari, and Justyna Kowalczyk, all with four, have more. (Bjørn Dæhlie leads these all-time standings with six titles, though Klæbo should wrap up his fifth in Lahti next weekend.)
Diggins is also poised to bring home a third career distance globe, barring a DNS or all-time meltdown in the Lahti 50km next weekend plus an Astrid Øyre Slind victory. Only Johaug (5) and Kowalczyk (4) have more.
Julia Kern was the second-fastest American today in 24th (+1:09.3), and was followed by Rosie Brennan in 35th (+1:31.5).
Nordic Insights also caught Katherine Stewart-Jones (Canada; 32nd +1:28.0) after the race. “It felt better than yesterday for sure,” she said. “A bit more ability to push hard, but it’s a tough race out there, it’s a hard course. It’s fun to be able to push hard, whether it’s a good result or not. It’s [a] fun course because you have a decent amount of rest, so you can push really hard on each climb and play with the different terrain.”
Kate Oldham, 44th (+1:53.7), who had just returned from a quick trip stateside for NCAA Championships at Dartmouth, told Nordic Insights, “Spending one week amount of time for adjusting and the long flight after racing on both ends is really hard on my body, but having that week [after arriving in Norway] to adjust and just really take it easy and try to absorb the travel and training was helpful.
“It’s hard to say how much of a toll it takes on you, but it’s definitely something. I have only been here since January and you know, most of the team is here from November on. Not having that break between races and periods to go home and spend time with your family, be in your home, I think makes a really big difference in terms of recovery and having that reset between races.”
Commenting on today’s race specifically, Oldham said, “It was really fun. The courses are hard, but we’ve been able to train on them a bit this week and that was a good time. [The conditions] were quite variable. Some places were still nice and firm and some places were really breaking down and had been sitting in the sun all day. … I’ve had the great privilege of being in Trondheim and now Holmenkollen and it’s a really cool thing to witness as a nordic skier in general, specifically an American nordic skier.”
Alayna Sonnesyn finished 49th (+2:14.2), just ahead of Sydney Palmer-Leger in 50th (+2:19.0).
Palmer-Leger told Nordic Insights, “That was a really hard one. I think it went okay, like feeling-wise. It’s getting pretty soft and slushy out there though. From when we were warming up to when we raced, it was definitely getting a lot softer and there were parts when you had to pick up your feet as quickly as you can because you’ll sink. It’s definitely going to get harder the later you start.
“I think it really is [a good course for Jessie]. We ski a similar course that we train in the summer. We have some really good hills and so I think this is a good day for her. I have also been training in Vermont [with Jessie], I trained all summer with her for the past three years until I got injured this summer. I had tendonitis in both achilles, so I was out kinda cross-training for two to three months.”
Speaking about the end of the season as well as looking forward to next year, Palmer-Leger added, “I’m getting ready to be done. I raced a ton this year and with travel, my body is feeling it. Getting back from injury, it’s just kind of been a tough season to begin with. It’s been a good season and a bad season so [I’m] just learning from my mistakes and hopefully take that and be better for next year. I [want to] try and try to stay healthy and injury-free. I’m definitely going to make changes training-wise and hopefully incorporate some biking back into my training. I used to compete in biking and I think that really helped with some endurance. I love doing it.”
Sammy Smith ended up in 56th (+3:30.2) after a difficult run. She said her race was, “Not good. I don’t know, it just wasn’t a good day. Conditions were good, it was fun, but I just didn’t ski well. It’s a great venue.”
With only two racing venues remaining, we move to Tallinn for an evening skate sprint on Wednesday in the Estonian capital. The qualifying race begins at 16:30 EET (10:30 EST and 6:30 in Anchorage), with finals from 19:00 EET (13:00 EST and 9:00 in Anchorage).
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