Last Updated: 07.Mar.2014

City sprints are always exciting, bringing the drama and upsets of World Cup sprinting to the streets. The classic sprint in Drammen, Norway on Wednesday was no exception. A windy, mostly flat course that ends at the top of an absurdly steep climb, Drammen is always thrilling for the spectators. In the men’s field there is an interesting interplay between the skiers who choose to double pole the entire classic course on skate skis and those who choose to use kick-wax. This made for some spectacular comebacks on the final climb, when the double-polers, tired and full of lactic acid, had to push through while the striders came on strong. The women all used classic skis, however there were still some great comebacks and almost all of the heats were close.

The US only qualified two women for the heats, with Kikkan Randall in 17th and Sadie Bjornsen in 21st. Once again, Ida Sargent just missed out on qualifying in 35th, a little less than 3 seconds out. While Sadie was eliminated in her quarterfinal, Kikkan was able to move on to the semifinals where she just missed a lucky loser spot and ended the day in 7th. Being so close to the A Final must have been disappointing for Kikkan, but luckily she had some good news. Placing 7th gave her a mathematical clinch on the Crystal Globe for the best sprinter on the World Cup for the 2013-2014 season, with only one sprint remaining on the schedule. It is her third year in a row winning the Globe, representing remarkable consistency in sprinting.

The World Cup stays in Norway for the weekend, with the famous Holmenkollen 30k/50k classic on Saturday and Sunday. Ida is currently ranked 48th overall in the World Cup standings, and she has to stay in the top 50 in order to race the World Cup finals in Falun, Sweden next weekend. She’ll be looking for a good result in the 30k in order to keep ahead of her competitors. 

We recommend checking out the video from the Drammen sprints, there are some great finishes! Crosscountryski.us has full video of the whole season of World Cups.

Also, check out results from the qualifier here.