By Angie Kell
As the World Cup season winds down in this post–World Championships period, it was to the credit of the FIS organizers to throw the Tallinn city skate sprint back into the circuit after a one-year hiatus following the course debut in 2023. For athletes not too fatigued/ill/injured to race, the venue was located in the Tallinn Song Festival Grounds in Estonia’s capital city. The sprint quals occurred at dusk under full lights with flames lining the final turn of the finishing chute towards the amphitheater.
While the course was similar to that from 2023, the start and finish corridors were slightly changed, and the conditions were warm and soft, yet fast, owing to organizers having salted the course yesterday. The winding, narrow nature of the two-lap, 1.4-kilometer course remained the same from 2023, ensuring that tactics were one key to success.
Unique, compelling features of the single-day race included the ability to view the entire course from the grandstand area, and more importantly, universal ski preparation amongst the contenders. This meant that all athletes’ skis were collectively waxed in the same room with spray-applied Swix paraffin wax, with a limit of two skis per racer. For the American team, who has infamously struggled with skis over the latter parts of this season, this was plausibly a compelling feature. It could be argued that this night was finally a test of true fitness, not of supreme ski wizardry where which the Norwegians and Swede have reigned supreme this season. (Okay, it could also be argued that the night was a testament to the depth of an individual athlete’s ski fleet.)
It was to no one’s surprise that Team USA’s Jessie Diggins opted to forego the race after securing the overall World Cup Crystal Globe title last weekend, and likely desiring to rest in preparation for next week’s 50km classic in Lahti, Finland. Fellow teammate and veteran Rosie Brennan was also missing from the start list, though Brennan’s health remains something of an open question even at this point in the season.
Of the five remaining American women in the field, Julia Kern was surely the star of the day, skiing like one of the best sprinters in the world. Kern, looking to best her results from 2023 in Tallinn where she placed 17th, started the day with a strong qualification round. She finished in 6th with a time of 2:44.86, after Swiss superstar sprinter Nadine Fähndrich took the win in 2:40.27. Stanford’s 19-year-old Sammy Smith advanced to the heats in 17th (2:47.14).
Kate Oldham of Montana State, Alayna Sonnesyn of Team Birkie, and Lauren Jortberg of CNEPH placed 39th, 43rd, and 45th, respectively, and did not advance to the heats.
Sonnesyn reflected on the day to Nordic Insights. “I didn’t quite feel like myself as I’m still feeling the effects of a big week of racing in Trondheim and overall, a long season. I’m hoping to finish things on a strong note this weekend,” she told us.
Kern, who opted for the first heat in the quarterfinals, started with temperatures in the upper 30’s (F) and wind gusts up to 30 mph, and handily won this heat in 2:44.56. Kern notably bested Norway’s Kristine Staväs Skistad, the 2023 champion of this course, who came in second to advance to the semifinals in 2:46.27. As a testament to the challenging conditions out there today, the bottom three athletes fell on the fast descent of the sprint loop, which ensured Kern’s position.
Sweden’s Emma Ribom (2:41.17) and Matilde Myhrvold (2:41.53) of Norway advanced to the semifinals out of heat two. Maja Dahlqvist (Sweden) and Germany’s Coletta Rydzek took the top two spots in the third heat. Heat four, the fastest quarterfinal of the day, featured heavy hitters such as Fähndrich, World Cup sprint leader Jasmi Joensuu of Finland, Sweden’s Moa Lundgren, and Kateřina Janatová of Czechoslovakia.
While Lundgren’s skis appeared fast on the first descent, tactically it was Fähndrich who left little to chance and took charge on the second descent to advance to the semifinals in a time of 2:40.03. Joensuu remained at the front of the pack throughout the entirety of the heat, but in a final move, Janatová slipped past Joensuu on the inside of the final turn to secure the second spot to advance, with a time of 2:40.36. Owing to the blazing speed of the heat, however, both Joensuu (2:40.77) and Anja Weber of Switzerland (2:41.13) snagged the two lucky loser spots to advance to the semifinals.
Smith of Team USA raced in heat five alongside notable sprinters Johanna Hagström of Sweden, Gina Del Rio of Andorra, and Germany’s Laura Gimmler. Smith remained in the pack throughout the heat, albeit in the back, and was never able to overcome Hagström’s aggressive pace which allowed the Swede to grab the win with a time of 2:42.31, nor the back-and-forth positioning of Del Rio and Gimmler. Through masterful tactics in the final descent, Del Rio advanced past Gimmler and into the semifinals54. Smith finished 6th in the heat with a time of 2:44.03 and finished in 27th overall for the day.
As sheer darkness fell, the first women’s semifinal featured Kern, Dahlqvist, Ribom, Staväs Skistad, Myhrvold, and Weber. Staväs Skistad was the first out of the start gate area and Kern fell to the back on the pack in sixth position.
Dahlqvist, known for her keen racing tactics, edged ahead of Staväs Skistad at the crest of the first hill, and the ensuing descent found Staväs Skistad vying for space on the turns. The jockeying allowed Kern to advance herself within the group as she took the outside line on the final climb to edge herself alongside Myhrvold and behind Dahlqvist and Staväs Skistad.
On the last descent, Kern was forced onto the outside line by Myhrvold but was able to hold her line, and to subsequently challenge Staväs Skistad for a final sprint to the finish. As Dahlqvist won the heat in a time of 2:45.33, Kern’s timely boot throw to the finish line awarded her the second-place position with a time of 2:45.55 and astonishingly sent the women’s defending champion of this course, Staväs Skistad, home prematurely.
The second semifinal contained Fähndrich, Del Rio, Joensuu, Rydzek, Hagström, and Janatová. As the start gun fired, Fähndrich and Hagstroem drove the field to a fast approach of the first hill. Fähndrich appeared to have superior skis on the descent and pulled ahead.
On the second approach to the climb, Joensuu positioned herself side-by-side to Fähndrich but once again, Fähndrich’s skis allowed her to pull away on the descent to form a large gap. Fähndrich eased her pace on the way to the finishing chute to win the semifinal. Del Rio emerged from the pack to challenge Joensuu to a sprint finish and secured the second position. Joensuu and Rydzek were able to snag the lucky loser spots to advance to the finals.
Prior to the women’s final, viewers saw organizers repairing some parts of the course, as the warm temps continued to take their toll on the manmade snow. As the women made their way to the start, the temps had lowered to 37oF and the winds had slightly abated to 11mph, though with gusts of up to 20mph.
As the final started a great start by Joensuu placed her temporarily at the front, but Fähndrich and Del Rio soon matched her pace and attacked the first hill to lead the way.
Dahlqvist soon followed, leaving Joensuu behind. Kern found herself towards the back of the pack for the first lap, but on the second time up the steep climb, Kern accessed another gear while on the outside line to advance ahead of Del Rio. Kern was able to keep herself on Dahlqvist’s heels in the third position at the crest of the hill and ensuing descent. The order would remain to the finish, as Fähndrich sped ahead of the field on the descent to win in a time of 2:42.37. Dahlqvist and Kern sprinted to the finish line in second and third to round out the podium in 2:43.35 and 2:43.67.
Fähndrich spoke to cameras at the finish and stated, “(The final) was really hard. It’s a really tough track but I really liked it and tried to go as fast as I could.”
With today’s results, Fähndrich moves into second place with the World Cup Sprint Standings, behind Joensuu who retained the leader’s jersey.
photo: courtesy USSS
Pure joy emanated from Kern at the finish line, which was echoed in her post-race sentiments.
“It feels really good,” said Kern in a USSS press release, “especially after over five years since my first individual podium. I never stopped believing, and I felt like coaches and teammates close to me as well, and it feels good that how I imagined I can ski finally all came together today. I feel like I’ve had a lot of injuries and obstacles along the way that have often disrupted my training, so even in a year where I still experienced major training disruptions, it means that it’s still possible with enough patience and persistence!”
Kern further spoke to Nordic Insights on how she’s feeling at this point in the season. “My body feels great going hard, and terrible going easy,” she stated. “I’m definitely in good race shape, but of course the usual aches and pains are accumulating now and it’s harder to recover. I’m both excited for the season to be over and get some rest, but at the same time excited for a few more races.”
When asked her thoughts on the universal waxing philosophy of tonight’s race, Kern told us, “I think it’s a smart move given the tight turnaround for the techs and the limited course access. It would be too hard on the service staff to bring full trucks and full testing here. That being said, it makes the actual skis matter more, which could be seen as good or bad.”
She concluded, “Our staff did a really good job given the tight ski testing parameters and course access to make me some great skis today, and they brought the biggest energy on course, so big shoutout to them!”
Smith, not exhibiting much personal disappointment in her early career, told Nordic Insights about the day, “It was a really exciting day of racing! Getting to race under the lights with music made for such a fun race atmosphere! The best part of course was getting to see Julia get back on the podium!”
Oldham too, spoke positively about the day, despite not advancing to the heats, telling us, “I think it would have been awesome to qualify and race more at the venue, but it was fun to watch my teammates too.” She concluded, “I am still enjoying the last few races in Europe while also looking forward to being stateside again.”
Racing continues the day after tomorrow on the other side of the Gulf of Finland, as Lahti hosts the final weekend of World Cup competition for the 2024/2045 season. Another skate sprint, the last of the season, kicks things off on Friday.
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