Stockholm, Sweden – American cross country ski racer Kikkan Randall wrapped up an historic FIS World Cup title season in Stockholm’s historic old city today, finishing eighth in the classic sprint finale. Teammate Andy Newell matched his season best seventh in a men’s race won by Norway’s Erik Brandsdal in front of some 15,000 spectators, including Sweden’s King Karl Gustav in front of his palace steps in the Swedish capital.
Randall’s title was the first for an American since Bill Koch won in 1982. Norway’s Marit Bjoergen won the opener of a mini-tour to boost her World Cup overall title lead over Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk. Randallwon her quarterfinal heat today but was fourth in the semifinals, just missing a lucky loser pass to the finals and remaining fourth in the overall standings even though the Anchorage, Alaska resident gave up 10 points to Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla and now has just a slim 17-point margin with only two points-scoring events remaining in the season.
“The semi final didn’t go quite as well as I would have liked,” Randall admitted. “I felt like I had the energy to be competitive on that stretch but I just can struggle technically in these conditions so I just spun the wheels a little bit there and was too late. Overall I’m pretty happy on the performance today. I’m still feeling strong. Eighth is my best finish here in Stockholm, so it’s still a success.”
Newell, of Shaftsbury, Vt., turned on the heat near the end but it wasn’t enough.
“I tried to relax across the back stretch and save my energy for the last hill and that worked great. I did exactly what I wanted to do, but I think if I had like two more meters I would have caught [Nikolay] Morilov. I was gaining on him,” he explained. “Having to change lanes midway up the hill was an issue. That’s a risk you have to take coming in fourth place to the hill. You may not get an open lane, but I was lucky that the lane was open and that I was able to switch to it. I would have really liked to have been in the final.”
World Cup cross country action continues Friday in Falun, Sweden.
OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Cross Country World Cup
Stockholm, Sweden – Mar. 14, 2012
Women’s Classic Sprint:
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation |
| 1 | 12 | BJOERGEN Marit | 1980 | NOR |
| 2 | 6 | IVANOVA Julia | 1985 | RUS |
| 3 | 18 | FALLA Maiken Caspersen | 1990 | NOR |
| 4 | 8 | KALLA Charlotte | 1987 | SWE |
| 5 | 3 | VISNAR Katja | 1984 | SLO |
| 6 | 7 | SMUTNA Katerina | 1983 | AUT |
| 7 | 9 | FABJAN Vesna | 1985 | SLO |
| 8 | 21 | RANDALL Kikkan | 1982 | USA |
| 9 | 2 | KOWALCZYK Justyna | 1983 | POL |
| 10 | 20 | INGEMARSDOTTER Ida | 1985 | SWE |
Men’s Classic Sprint:
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation |
| 1 | 7 | BRANDSDAL Eirik | 1986 | NOR |
| 2 | 3 | PETERSON Teodor | 1988 | SWE |
| 3 | 30 | VALJAS Len | 1988 | CAN |
| 4 | 1 | HATTESTAD Ola Vigen | 1982 | NOR |
| 5 | 5 | POLTORANIN Alexey | 1987 | KAZ |
| 6 | 6 | MORILOV Nikolay | 1986 | RUS |
| 7 | 16 | NEWELL Andrew | 1983 | USA |
| 8 | 19 | DAHL John Kristian | 1981 | NOR |
| 9 | 22 | RETIVYKH Gleb | 1991 | RUS |
| 10 | 24 | HELLNER Marcus | 1985 | SWE |