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By Devin L. Ward, Ph.D.
While it did not rain during the women’s skate sprint in Oberhof on Saturday, course conditions were rough. Literally. As the sun went down and temperatures dropped, ruts in the course were increasingly visible.
This didn’t hinder some great racing. With some well-known sprinters resting in the run-up to the Milano–Cortina Olympics, the field was a mix of the usual bunch of strong sprinters and some newer names. This included a much fuller complement of six U.S. entries (a welcome sight after Jessie Diggins and Julia Kern were the only American women to make it past stage one of the Tour de Ski), with five qualifying for heats.
Jonna Sundling was dominant throughout the entirety of Heat 1, consistent with her qualifying race win, and I’m honestly not sure if she was even breathing that hard after the line. Lauren Jortberg flew out of the starting gates in Heat 2 and took an immediate lead, leveraging high tempo on the climbs. Maja Dahlqvist stuck hot on her heels. Unfortunately Jortberg fell back towards the finish. The veterans Dahlqvist and Julie Myhre took first and second, with Hailey Swirbul finishing in fifth.
Starting fast wasn’t really Jortberg’s plan for this race. When I asked her what her strategy was, she said, “So my strategy for the course today, well, I wasn’t necessarily [intending] to go out and lead my quarterfinal. I wanted to make the move on the second half of the major first climb to slot myself in a good position not to be leading, but I had a really fast start and I just felt like in the past I’ve been like really having a hard time to find space to move around and heats before. So I was like, well, I guess I’ll just go. And then unfortunately I got a bit tangled up with the German girl in the corner to the last finish.
“And I lost all of my speed and unfortunately got passed there, but I’m really happy with how I skied. And of course I would love to change how the finish went, but I feel like my qualifier wasn’t like that representative of how I know I can ski. So I was happy to feel like in the quarter I was able to show a bit more of what I can do out there.”
This is Swirbul’s first World Cup race since March 2023. She retired at the end of the 2022/2023 season, unretired in late summer 2025, and is back to professional skiing on more of her own terms.
In comments to Nordic Insights, Swirbul said, “It was actually really fun to be out there today. I think I used to feel so much pressure and almost fear associated with racing at this level before I retired and today I was able to really enjoy it for what it is and get to be part of the big spectacle of ski racing. I smiled and it was genuine. I was able to try … to race my own race and be in the mix in the heat so it was really such a surprise and a treat coming back for me. So I’m excited to see where it goes from here.”
By Heat 3, we started to see athletes take less-than-intuitive lines (as viewed from my couch) to avoid deteriorating snow conditions. We saw Moa Ilar take some tactically wide lines and stay at the front of the heat. Ilar did not win the heat, however, as Italian Iris de Martin Pinter pulled ahead at the line. You may remember de Martin Pinter from the Val di Fiemme classic sprint on January 3rd. She was fighting for a spot in the final there, but ended up relegated to last in her semifinal due to obstruction, after a crowd-up at the finish that involved Jessie Diggins. de Martin Pinter has shown rapid improvement over the past couple of months and could be one to watch for the Olympic classic sprint.
In Heat 4, Moa Lundgren took the same approach as teammate Sundling and led from start to finish, looking strong the whole time. Tiril Udnes Weng and Coletta Rydzek tried their best to fight for the lead towards the end of the heat, and both progressed to semifinal 1. Rydzek, who skis domestically for SC Oberstdorf, was a huge home-crowd favorite throughout the day.
Smith demonstrated smart and strategic pacing in Heat 5, holding back until the climb back up into the stadium, at which point she charged up past Diggins (who had led to that point) and Mila Grosberhaugen Andreassen (Norway). This move pushed Diggins into third and out of semifinal progression.
If you read Gavin’s recent piece summarizing certain and uncertain Olympic spots, you’ll know that Smith came into today without a sure spot for the Olympics, in spite of winning the U.S. Nationals classic sprint qual by a dominant 6+ seconds. But she then went ahead and punched her (presumptive) Olympic ticket, ranking in the World Cup top-50 sprint standings after just a single race. This should place her on the team under selection criterion three.
Semifinal 1 was, as you might expect, a Swedish Showdown, with Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist controlling the group. I almost saw what looked like team tactics up the last climb in the course, where they skied side-by-side and passively prevented anyone from sneaking around them. This was the faster semifinal and produced both lucky losers, Laura Gimmler and Iris de Martin Pinter.
Coletta Rydzek and Moa Ilar (who is continuing to have a great season) took the top spots in the second semifinal, resulting in a no-Norge final with no red suits. Smith hung on until the end and finished in 12th overall, a career-best individual World Cup result and first semifinal appearance.
Smith was very happy with this result, saying, “[This is what] I’ve definitely been working toward for the last couple years. So it’s really exciting to finally make it in today. I was happy with my results at U.S. Nationals. And coming here I feel like there’s always a lot of stress and pressure on the first World Cups of the year, especially given the broader situation with everything right now [with Olympic selection]. But it was really fun to be out there racing and have a chance to compete.”
Continuing to talk more broadly about her thoughts about the day, Smith added, “I love to race. I love to compete. And so, you know, between soccer and skiing, I feel like I live a very full life. And I love playing hard on the field. And I love giving everything I can on my skis. So for me, it’s just been about staying present in the moment. And I’m racing each opportunity and trying to give myself a little bit of grace as I make the transition from one to the other. But I’m really excited with where I’m at right now and definitely looking forward to more racing.”
This excitement was echoed on the finish line of the heat, with a joint celebration between Diggins and Smith. Jortberg is in the background of this screenshot, mirroring their emotions.
Sundling was dominant as expected in the final, taking the win. Rydzek finished second (+0.71) and Laura Gimmler in fourth (+3.55), both excellent results on home snow for the Germans. Dahlqvist is also looking in good shape for the Olympics in third (+2.54). Hope for a career-first podium for de Martin Pinter fell (along with de Martin Pinter herself) on the climb and she ended up sixth overall.
Alayna Sonnesyn was on the start list for the qualifying race, but is listed officially as DNF (did not finish).
Rosie Brennan raced the qualifying event, but finished 37th. When asked about her race, Brennan told Nordic Insights, “I felt very slow! I haven’t been able to do anything more than L1 in skating so I guess I shouldn’t say I expected much more than some sluggish feelings. I was able to do some good training while I was home so I do hope to build back some speed and comfort back on the race course over time.”
Sunday brought a 10-kilometer interval start classic race beginning at 12:55 local time (6:55am EST 2:55am AKST). American women on the start list include: Alayna Sonnesyn, Kendall Kramer, Rosie Brennan, Novie McCabe, Sammy Smith, and Jessie Diggins.
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