By Angie Kell
This is a reader-funded website. Virtually all of my income (for perspective: I took home less than $5,000 from Nordic Insights last year after paying staff) comes from reader contributions, which I sincerely appreciate. If you would like to support the site, including helping us get to the Olympics in February, you may do so here. Thank you.
In an unfortunate turn of events for a venue located well above the Arctic Circle, race day in Ruka, Finland, for the women’s classic sprint was unseasonably warm and wet — a departure from recent days when top American Jessie Diggins was forced to perform her interval session running on a treadmill because of the extreme cold.
Owing to the weather, conditions for the 1.4-kilometer course were tricky, with new, wet snow. Success in Saturday’s race was therefore contingent on all of great ski preparation, racer tactics, a keen knowledge of the racecourse, and, of course, fitness level.
In the qualification round, times were predictably slower than previous years. Swede Johanna Hagström, looking for a repeat of last year’s overall sprint win, took the top time in this round in 2:55.26. Diggins, along with fellow American Rosie Brennan, advanced to the quarterfinals, in 13th and 26th places, respectively (+6.44s, +9.81s).
Julia Kern (42nd in the qual), Kate Oldham (48th), Alayna Sonnesyn (51st), and Erin Bianco (52nd) started the day but did not advance.
Finland advanced seven skiers to the heats, no doubt owing to an understanding of the famous Ruka sprint racecourse and the key areas to make decisive moves. Instrumental among this was positioning on the long descent preceding the final climb of the course, and then navigating the climb itself, a varied-pitch 22-meter ascent where ski grip and effort management were fundamental to ensuring optimal positioning for the final left-handed hairpin turn to the sprint finish.
Among these homeland favorites was Johanna Matintalo, who was all smiles after the qualification round. The Finn told the FIS livestream that her goal for the day was, “of course, the final, when we’re racing classic sprint and in Ruka, it’s my favorite classic sprint course in the World Cup.” Matintalo held the third-fastest time of the qualification round, 1.60s behind that of Hagström.
In the first heat, Brennan tested her early-season fitness after an unconventional summer and fall training build, along with Swedish heavy hitters Jonna Sundling and Emma Ribom plus famous Norwegian sprinter Kristina Staväs Skistad. Ribom, after a disappointing 30th in the qual, appeared ready to avenge her early-round performance.
Skistad led the heat out of the starting area with her supremely powerful doublepoling. Brennan brought up the rear into the first, fast descent but was able to advance her positioning within the first climb and kept a steady pace just behind Ribom, who led the charge, along with Sundling and Skistad.
Skistad, calm and cool in the ensuing long, final descent, began the final climb steadily as Ribom and her fast tempo created a little space ahead of Skistad at the crest of the hill. This small gap, which remained to the finish line, was key, as Ribom won the heat in 2:52.89 with Skistad in second, 0.04s behind. Sundling finished just behind the pair in third (+0.18s) and was able to secure the first lucky loser spot to advance. Brennan maintained her position in fourth at the finish, 2.51s behind Ribom, and did not advance to the semifinals.
“I’m really happy with today”, Brennan stated to multiple media outlets. “I was in a tough heat and am happy with how I skied it. Without a proper build into the season, I definitely feel I am missing some form and fitness, but doing back-to-back races was a huge win for me and each time I get to race, I am getting some good stimulus to build with moving forward.” Brennan would finish the day in 15th place overall, improving her performance by one place from last year’s sprint at Ruka.
Ribom, who today turned 28 years old, was able to celebrate her birthday earlier than planned after she was disqualified for a second yellow card this season after a technique violation in this heat. On the bright side, she now has a clean slate heading into the next stage of the season.
Matintalo and Swedish sprint specialist Maja Dahlqvist advanced from the second heat, with times of 2:54.53 and 2.55.36.
Diggins elected for the third heat for her last Ruka sprint quarterfinal of her career, along with 2024/2025 overall Crystal Globe sprint winner Jasmii Joensuu of Finland and Moa Lundgren of Sweden.
Diggins secured great positioning immediately in the first downhill with the group and kept it throughout the heat. The test of the final climb found Joensuu losing grip while Diggins kept her high tempo to lead the group up the hill. Diggins maintained her position at the crest of the hill and secured the first position in a photo finish with Joensuu. Diggins ultimately won the heat in 2:52.50, with Joensuu second (+0.19s). The heat was fast, with the second lucky loser spot coming from this heat and taken by Finnish skier Hilla Niemala (+0.19s).
The fourth heat was won by Norwegian Mathilde Myhrvold (2:53.89). Swiss superstar Nadine Fähndrich took second, +0.30s behind first.
The fifth and final heat, featuring two falls within the race, was led by the two women who steered clear of any disaster — Hagström and Norway’s Ane Appelkvist Stenseth — and both advanced to the semifinals in times of 2:55.7 and 2:57.1, respectively.
In the first semifinal, a stacked field toed the start line: Sundling, Skistad, Matintalo, Diggins, Dahlqvist, and Moa Ilar. Diggins, who started the lap in the rear, gained ground on each descent, but the final climb shook the order up, as Matintalo surged ahead of the Swedes and Skistad, and Diggins fell to the rear.
But the final stretch ultimately determined the fate of this lap, as Skistad remained cool, calm, collected, and fast, and secured the top spot in 2:54.08. Dahlqvist surged late, but could not overtake Skistad, and finished 0.11s behind the Norwegians. Diggins, who gave it her all on the final hill, finished fifth in the heat (+1.22s) and ultimately finished in tenth overall for the day. Matintalo and Sundling would secure the two lucky loser spots to move to the final.
Diggins told press, “I was really happy with today! And it was a really fun way to have my last ever Ruka classic sprint and for me, getting to the semi-finals is a really big deal, so I’m psyched.”
As a harbinger of what might come yet this season, Diggins continued, “Energy feels good, body feels good, and I think this is a wonderful way to get things rolling.”
The second semifinal was heavy on usual suspects Norway, Sweden, and Finland — Hagström, Myhrvold, Stenseth, Joensuu, and Niemela all featured — but Fähndrich secured her rightful spot amongst this group.
Joensuu charged to the front almost immediately at the gun in an attempt to secure her spot in the final alongside fellow Finn Matintalo, but her skis were slipping mightily on the first hill, and against the high, strong tempo of Hagström on the final hill, she could not keep her positioning in the front. Hagström and Fähndrich charged the flat sprint finish and took the two spots for the final.
In the sprint star–studded final, the lone Finn, Matintalo, stood amidst Hagström, Dahlqvist, Sundling, Skistad, and Fähndrich. The start of the race looked similar to Skistad’s others for the day, as she found herself in front at the gun, but seemed to deliberately slow into the first climb in a calculated manner.
Dahlqvist and Hagström were never too far from Skistad, however, and Dahlqvist led into beginning of the last, long descent. Skistad ultimately drafted past Dahlqvist to the pole position, and shortly thereafter, Hagström deployed her signature up-tempo stride on the final climb.
Skistad, sensing a tactical victory, sprinted past Hagström at the crest of the climb to ultimately demonstrate her doublepoling prowess one last time for the day for the victory, in a time of 2:53.22. Sundling and Dahlqvist sprinted side by side behind Skistad as Hagström faded in the final stretch for a photo finish for second and third places, respectively (+0.20 for both women).
The full results from the day can be found here.
In a post-race interview, Skistad wore an uncharacteristic smile as she was asked how the day was. “It was a good start and good to beat the Swedish girls.” But when asked how the first week felt, Skistad turned to her legendary stoic, woman-of-few words-character in her retort of: “Very good.” Did you like the course? “Yes.”
The final day of the Ruka opening weekend of the 2025/2026 World Cup season occurs tomorrow with the women’s 20km mass start skate. The start list for Sunday can be found here, and includes American starters Jessie Diggins, Sophia Laukli, Julia Kern, Kendall Kramer, Kate Oldham, and Alayna Sonnesyn.
You’re reading this on Nordic Insights, one man’s labor of love dedicated to publicizing American skiing. We started with nothing and now we’re going to the Olympics. You can read more about our first three years here, and donate to the Olympics fund here. Thank you for consideration, and, especially, for reading.
