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.
By Peter Minde
There’s a rock ’n’ roll lyric for every occasion. For the men’s skate sprint in Oberhof, Germany, held earlier Saturday, we’ll quote B.B. King, chairman of the board of all the blues singers: “Never make your move too soon.”
Lars Heggen, NOR, age 20, won today’s sprint in Oberhof, Germany, with a time of 2:25.83. He edged the ageless Federico Pellegrino, ITA, age 35, by .32 of a second. Third came Even Northug, NOR, in 2:27.39. Rounding out the final, from fourth to sixth respectively, were Lauri Vuorinen and Emil Liekari, both of Finland, and Valerio Grond of Switzerland.
Heggen won the qualifying round, 0.19 second ahead of Switzerland’s Roman Alder. The top 10 in the qualifier were separated by 2.2 seconds. Less than five seconds separated the top 30. Earlier in the week, Heggen won the classic sprint at the Norwegian national championships. Today’s victory moved him into fifth place in the World Cup overall standings, and second in the sprint standings behind one Johannes Høsflot Klæbo.
For the U.S., Zanden McMullen, Jack Young, and J.C. Schoonmaker advanced to the heats. Kevin Bolger, Zachary Jayne, Owen Young, and Michael Earnhart did not. For both Jayne and Owen Young, this was their first World Cup start. Both had notable results at the recent national championships in Lake Placid, garnering them starts in Germany today.
Among the Americans, McMullen finished 20th on the day, followed by Schoonmaker in 23rd and Jack Young in 24th. Earnhart was 35th, Bolger 44th, Owen Young 54th, and Jayne 56th.
As the heats began Saturday afternoon, the air temperature was a bit over 33 degrees (0.7 C). Snow temperature was 32.4 (0.2 C). The air was humid and the snow in the start area appeared quite granular.
Oberhof’s 1338-meter sprint course isn’t a pushover. From the start, there’s a hard left turn, approximately a 40-degree angle, into a downhill. From the next flat, there’s a short climb followed by a longer climb up to the midpoint of the course. At the top, there was a demanding right-hand turn into a long downhill. A bit of flat, and another climb to the finishing straight. Shorter than the climb to the midpoint, this second large climb would prove to be the crux point in the men’s heats.
Interviewed by FIS before the race, a German skier observed, “There are a lot of turns where you have to be in a good position.” Alder told the same reporter, “The second part of the track is important. You want to have something left for that.” Telling words, as we shall see.
In the first quarterfinal, Schoonmaker left the start in second place, with McMullen in, I think, fourth place. Alder led over the midpoint climb, but faded slightly afterwards. Heggen and Northug pulled ahead to take first and second respectively. McMullen and Schoonmaker were fourth and fifth.
At least for the men, this was the day’s storyline. With one exception, the men who led over that midpoint climb in the heats finished out of the running. On the women’s side, Jonna Sundling, SWE, led over that hill in all of her heats and made it stick. Sundling can often seem capable of skiing a sprint heat only one way, as fast as she can every time, and that was on display today. She also won the race; when it works, it works.
Speaking of the women’s side: in her quarterfinal heat, Samantha Smith was DFL over that climb before she stormed to the front to win decisively (slide two below). Never make your move too soon.
Back to the men: In the second quarterfinal heat, Jack Young was second at the start, close behind Noe Näff of Switzerland. In fourth or fifth place on that hill, Federico Pellegrino skied a savvy race. With a high-tempo V1, he took control of the heat up the last climb. Positioned nicely on the inside of the last corner, he won over countryman Simone Mocellini. After a strong start, Young finished fifth.
Third heat, same as the first two. George Ersson of Sweden tried to gap everyone to the top of the midpoint. As they skidded around the nasty righthand corner into the descent, Ersson had about a 10-meter lead. Charging up the outside of the final climb, Sweden’s Johan Häggström pulled himself into second place. Going into the final corner, he cut off Jiří Tuž of Czechia. Häggström was relegated to last place with a time penalty for obstruction. Finland’s Lauri Vourinen and Tuz finished first and second. Ersson stumbled and faded to fifth. Never make your move too soon.
Fourth heat: Jesper Persson led from the start to the top of the midpoint climb. Simen Myhre, NOR, took the lead in the descent. Going into the final climb, all six were tightly grouped. Italy’s Michael Hellweger moved into second place. The final corner apex, however, again reared its ugly head. Hellweger and Myhre collided in tight quarters and finished off the back. In the incidente, Hellweger broke a ski and came to the finish on one ski. Liekari and Grond ended up in first and second places.
As the fifth quarterfinal came around, the sun was going and the shadows got longer. Lights around the track went on. The temperature dropped; the snow began to refreeze. Emil Danielsson of Sweden, led at the start. But Davide Graz, ITA, took charge going up the midpoint climb. Into the descent, Graz snowplowed a bit, and everyone’s skis chattered and skittered over the snow. Filip Skari, NOR, V2ed all the way up the final climb, eclipsing Graz. Jaume Pueyo, ESP, also found a way around Graz. Pueyo and Skari duked it out to dang near a photo finish, with Pueyo winning by 0.05 second
Filip Skari’s mother is the legendary Bente Skari. The elder Skari had a stellar career, with 42 World Cup wins, and a dozen Olympic and World Championship medals. Bente Skari’s father, Odd Martinsen, also had multiple Olympic medals to his name. The third generation, today was Filip Skari’s second World Cup start. In the 2025 World Junior Championships, he won the classic sprint. Second there was one Lars Heggen.
Pueyo hails from Badalona, just north of Barcelona in Spain. He competed in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Semifinals
On to the semifinals. The first semi was a photo finish, with Pellegrino taking the win, followed by Vuorinen and Heggen. They were separated by 0.06 second. Heggen was first over the midpoint climb, and still led at the base of the final climb. Content to be further back, Pellegrino took the same inside line he’d used in his quarterfinal for the win.
In the second semifinal, Grond, the 30th-place qualifier, led ahead of Pueyo at the start. Liekari led over the midpoint climb, but Grond marked him and moved up front. Leading at the base of the final climb, Liekari went full gas. Liekari had the hole shot and a clear lead. Grond reeled him back in, only to run out of real estate at the finish. Liekari for the win, in the day’s only heat where the midpoint leader won the heat. Grond was second, 0.30 second back.
Final
Both of the lucky losers came from the first semifinal: Heggen and Northug. Lined up for the final were Heggen, Pellegrino, Northug, Vuorinen, Liekari, and Grond. By now, it was fully dark; the men raced under the lights. Heggen led Pellegrino from the start. Another tight group. Liekari nipped past Pellegrino.
With a huge effort, Grond moved from last to the front on top of the midpoint climb. As they tucked in the downhill, Grond maintained about a one-ski-length lead. Then Heggen and Pellegrino moved around him. Grond faded badly. Never make your move too soon.
Heggen V2ed the whole final climb. Pellegrino marked him, then switched to his trademark high-tempo V1. With Heggen owning the inside line, Pellegrino was forced to move outside, and this may have cost him the win. Pellegrino couldn’t find a way around Heggen, who took his first World Cup victory in just his second month of World Cup racing.
After the race, Heggen told a TV reporter, “I was lucky loser in the semi; in the final, I was ready to give it all I had at the bottom of the last hill.” Asked about the possibility of a spot on Norway’s Olympic team, he deflected: “I don’t know, but it’s nice to win ski races.”
Asked about his day, McMullen wrote to us, “This was probably one of the hardest sprint races I’ve ever done. Conditions were a little soft, but a lot better than in training yesterday. The nature of the course really limits any rest, and the final section is brutal with a long gradual uphill section. I was very happy to qualify (one of my weaknesses) and be able to improve through the heats.”
“I wanted to get to the front and control the heat,” Jack Young wrote in an email. “I didn’t quite have what I needed energy-wise to accomplish this.”
Asked about the climb to the midpoint, he wrote, “I loved that climb. Long and steep but not too long. I think someone could have held a lead over the top, but no one decided to do that. The draft wasn’t too big a factor.
“The conditions were surprisingly good. They were always a little choppy on the climb, but the organizers did a good job of regrooming and the course held up very well into the heats.”
Owen Young wrote to us of his day, “World Cup debut was pretty sick! Didn’t end up with quite the result I was hoping for, but I’m happy to be here and get experience of racing at this level. The most different thing to racing in the U.S. is the amount going on and schedule to the race morning.
“With much more in depth ski testing, waxing, and course closures, it was definitely a different warmup feel. Race wise, it felt pretty in line with a standard qualifier for me. I took it out pretty hard and ended up not quite having the gas in the last 200 meters. Stoked on the learning experience, though, and hopefully I can throw down a better race [next time]!”
Of his first World Cup race, Zachary Jayne wrote, “I didn’t make the heats and I’m disappointed in that. I believe I’m capable of qualification at my very best. I was nervous because it was my first start, which is understandable.
“The main difference [between domestic racing and] the World Cup is that there’s a lot more going on logistically. More cameras, more walking, and of course, more V-boards.
“Getting my first start was cool but it doesn’t mean anything to me unless I do something with it. Getting to see the next level is the best part of the experience, as now I know what the rest of the world is capable of and it gives me something farther to reach towards.”
Racing continues tomorrow with a classic, interval-start 10-kilometer race. Don’t touch that dial.
Due to technical issues, the article on today’s women’s race will not go up until tomorrow. I apologize. –Ed.
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.
