Nordic skiers hit the trails in Sochi

Skiathlon

The skiathlon is a mass-start race with the first half skied classic and second half skate technique. At the mid point, racers ski to a numbered grid where their skate gear has been placed, quickly get out of one set and into the next set of gear. The transition usually takes less than 30 seconds.

U.S. women had the nation’s best ever results in the 15k skiathlon. Jessie Diggins placed eighth and Liz Stephen (East Montpelier) 12th. Both skiers suffered in the classic portion, leaving the transition in 27th and 31st places respectively. To pass 19 Olympic-caliber skiers in the skate portion is a huge accomplishment.

Also for the United States, Sadie Bjornsen placed 31st and Holly Brooks 47th. Norway took gold and bronze, with Sweden taking silver. Complete results can be found at the schedule and results link on the main Sochi website: sochi2014.com/en.

The U.S. finishers in the 30k men’s skiathlon were Noah Hoffman (31st), Erik Bjornsen (42nd), Brian Gregg (47th) and Kris Freeman (54th).

Switzerland took the gold, Sweden the silver and Norway the bronze.

Biathlon sprints

Susan Dunklee (Barton) came tantalizingly close to a podium finish in the 7.5k biathlon sprint race. She missed her 10th and last shot, skied a required penalty loop (about 30 seconds) and placed 14th, a scant 20 seconds from third place.

The second biathlon race for women is a 10k pursuit, and Dunklee will start 14th, just 40 seconds behind the first skier and winner of the sprint, Slovakia’s Anastasiya Kuzmina.

Morrisville’s own Hannah Dreissigacker, a true hometown hero, placed 65th in the sprint, just outside the top 60 finishers who advance to the pursuit.

Also advancing for the U.S. women were Sara Studebaker (44th) and Annelis Cook (53rd).

History was made in the men’s 10k pursuit when Norway’s 41-year-old Ole Einar Bjoerndalen won the race, getting his 12th Olympic medal. This ties him with Norwegian cross-country skier Bjorn Daehlie for the most medals from a winter Olympics. With four more biathlon races, Bjoerndalen could pass Daehlie.

Austria took the silver and the Czech Republic the bronze.

The top U.S. finisher in the men’s sprint was Tim Burke in 19th. Other U.S. entrants were Lowell Bailey (35th), Leif Nordgren (45th) and Russell Currier, who just missed the cut for the pursuit by 2 seconds, placing 61st.

The biathlon pursuit races take place later in the week.

Cross-country skate

I really had hoped to begin this column with the word “gold” in giant font, but it was not to be. Kikkan Randall was a heavy favorite to win the United States’ first gold medal in cross-country skiing in the skate sprint race, but she was eliminated in the quarterfinals and finished in 18th place.

The surprise was Vermonter Sophie Caldwell (Peru) advancing to the finals. She had a real chance at a medal but caught a tip, fell and finished sixth, the best-ever finish by a U.S. woman in an Olympic Nordic competition. Jesse Diggins placed 13th and Ida Sargent (Barton) placed 19th.

Norway took gold and silver and Slovenia the bronze. Norway superstar Marit Bjoergen placed 11th.

Vermonter Andy Newell was the best U.S. men’s finisher in 18th place.

The back story on the sprints was the warm weather and the havoc it wreaked on the courses. Since the temperatures were above freezing for several days, the courses turned to mush early in the qualifying rounds. The net effect was that many heats looked more like roller derbies, with skiers falling, crashing into each other, breaking poles and so on.

The men’s final was the most bizarre sprint race anyone has ever seen. At the top of the first climb, Sweden’s Joenssen pulled up and began skiing like he had eaten six Big Macs after the semis. On the following downhill, skiers from Sweden and Norway got caught in the slush and fell, and a skier from Russia skied right over the top of the Swede, leaving all three skiers in a tangled heap. Joenssen, still limping along, shot by and was in place for a bronze. The lead two, Norway’s Hattestad and Sweden’s Peterson duked it out at the end, with Hattestad taking the gold. Joenssen managed to hold on to third and fell in a heap a centimeter beyond the finish line. He actually required assistance to get up and leave the course.

Check back next week for more Olympic Nordic coverage.

Dave Hosmer of Stowe is a Nordic and alpine skier who teaches and coaches cross-country skiing.