Oslo 2011 Day One: Skate Sprint

It was an emotional day at Holmenkollen, but the source of that emotion depended greatly on what continent you call home. 

Randall after the fall, behind the pack

The racers today were fast and aggressive, exactly what you would expect for the first day of the biggest competition of many of the athlete's careers. That aggressiveness paid its price, though. The heats were full of near-falls, tangled skis, and full-out crashes that (unfortunately) weeded out some very strong contenders. Among those, sadly enough, was Kikkan Randall.

Kikkan qualified with the ninth fastest time, and was looked strong during the prologue. She started her quarterfinal out in good position, a steady third, keeping her kick until the end. Unfortunately, the end came much before she planned when she tangled up with Swedish sprinter Ida Ingemarsdotter and came to a complete stop. She finished the round 12 seconds behind the field.

With amazing maturity and perspective, Randall told FasterSkier: "You know, a race like this is too hard to pin all of your hopes on. I gave it what I had today. It's unfortunate, but that's what happens."

Chandra Crawford, Canada's foremost athlete and Olympic Gold medalist from Torino, had her own mix-up with fellow racer, and it happened to be right below where I was standing. Here is a picture (no zoom) of Chandra Crawford's quarterfinal. Below that one is a zoom of the same photo, so that you are able to see the ski-on-ski action. Laure Barthelemy (Bib 8) from France skis right over Crawford's ski, resulting in a few missteps that cost her the chance in the semifinals. Like they say: This is sprint racing- anything can happen.

You can guess that this didn't go well.

Norwegians Celine Brun-Lie and Maiken Caspersen Falla met the same fate due to falls. Italian racer Renato Pasini took a face-first digger right before the finishing stretch and was also eliminated.

But there were a few bright spots in the crash-filled afternoon. First and foremost, from an American perspective, I was quite proud that three US women moved into the quarterfinals! Jessie Diggins, a 19-year-old standout who is making her World Cup debut this season, was one of them. She proved that she can run with the big dogs as she progressed out of the qualifiers and stuck with the pack in her quarterfinal. Sadie Bjornsen also moved on to the quarterfinals after qualifying in 28th place.

Petra Majdic brought home the bronze. Arianna Follis of Italy took second. The gold went to Marit Bjørgen, and the spectators couldn't have been happier. In a post-race interview with NRK, she said that she could hear the crowd chanting her name. "It was incredibly fun to meet their expectations." 

Northug and Modin in the semifinals

The hero on the men's side is Marcus Hellner. After qualifying with the fifth fastest time, the Swede flew through his quarter- and semifinals, right into the (stacked) final. Although Hellner was definatly considered a major contendor for the win, I think that the other men in the final took away some of the spotlight and allowed him to ski without a huge target on his back. He was going up against two Norwegians: the favorite, Petter Northug, and the returning 2009 World Champion in the sprint, Ola Vigen Hattestad. Two teammates joined him in the final: Emil Joensson, who won the sprint in Drammen last weekend, and Jesper Modin, who had the fastest qualifying time of the day. Peeter Kummel of Estonia rounded out the field.

Hellner, dominating his quarterfinal

Hellner smashed the final into pieces. He extended his lead continually along the 1.4K course and put on his boosters with half a kilometer to go. His speed was unmatched by the other five racers and he proved to be untouchable in the event. His teammate Emil Joensson placed third, placing Norwegian star Petter Northug in an uncomfortable Swedish sandwich on the podium. Northug openly dislikes losing to Swedes, but in an uncharacteristic graciousness said that "Marcus was so strong today. He deserved to win."

Exciting, heart-wrenching, and energizing would be how I would describe today's races at Holmenkollen. And in the words of the new World Champion Marcus Hellner, "This is only the beginning!"

Links:

Here are the women's and men's results.

Video of Marit Bjørgen's win.

Videos of the various women's crashes.

Article in English about Hellner and Bjørgen's wins.

My recap of the Opening Ceremonies.