Falun World Cup – Women’s Freestyle Sprint – Preview

On Saturday, March 18, the world’s top female cross-country skiers will converge on Falun, Sweden for the women’s sprint freestyle event. The current World Cup standings show Maja Dahlqvist trailing Nadine Fähndrich by just five points. While Dahlqvist has not won a sprint event this World Cup season, she has finished on the podium five times, with four second-place finishes and one third-place finish. In the 2020/21 season, Anamarija Lampic won the sprint crystal globe without having won an individual sprint World Cup event.

In fact, no female cross-country skier has recorded more than four second-place finishes in sprint events in a single season without claiming at least one win. Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen claimed four second places without a win in women’s World Cup sprint events in 2007/08. Only Maiken Caspersen Falla finished runner up in more than four women’s sprint events in a single World Cup season than Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen and Dahlqvist.

Dahlqvist has not won a World Cup sprint event since winning five in a row from February to December 2021. However, Jonna Sundling won the previous women’s World Cup freestyle sprint event in Toblach on February 3. Sundling has finished on the podium in seven of her last eight World Cup sprint starts, including four wins and a first-place finish in Falun last season. The only exception was a seventh-place finish in Les Rousses last January.

Sundling has won seven individual World Cup sprint events, putting her in a tie with Linn Svahn for the second-most individual World Cup sprint wins among Swedish women. Stina Nilsson holds the record with 18 wins. It’s worth noting that Swedish women have won nine of the 12 individual World Cup freestyle events since the start of 2021, with Switzerland and the United States each winning one.

It’s not just Dahlqvist and Sundling in the running, though. Nadine Fähndrich is leading the World Cup sprint standings and can become the first Swiss woman to win a crystal globe. Fähndrich has won three individual World Cup sprint events this season, more than any other woman. Kristine Stavås Skistad has won two of the last three individual sprint World Cups, but those are her only podium finishes in individual sprints.

Finally, Johanna Hagström and Tiril Udnes Weng are still searching for their first ever World Cup individual sprint win. Hagström has four second-place finishes and two third-place finishes, while Weng has one second-place finish and four third-place finishes.

In summary, the women’s sprint freestyle event in Falun, Sweden, on March 18, promises to be an exciting competition. While Dahlqvist and Sundling are strong contenders, Fähndrich, Skistad, Hagström, and Weng could surprise everyone with a win.

Saturday, March 18: Sprint Freestyle (Find more details here)

• 10:50 CET: Sprint Quali F, Men
• 10:50 CET: Sprint Quali F, Women 
• 13:20 CET: Sprint Final F, Men
• 13:20 CET: Sprint Final F, Women

START LIST WOMEN

See below the complete program with facts, start lists, and results for the World Cup in Falun.

FACTS Falun World Cup Season 2022/2023

• When: Friday, March 17, to Sunday, March 19
• Who: Elite national skiers
• Where: Falun, Sweden
• What: FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Falun, Sweden

PROGRAM

Friday, March 17: 10km Individual Classic (Find more details here)

• 12:00 CET: 10km Individual C, Women
• 13:45 CET: 10km Individual C, Men 

Saturday, March 18: Sprint Freestyle (Find more details here)

• 10:50 CET: Sprint Quali F, Men
• 10:50 CET: Sprint Quali F, Women 
• 13:20 CET: Sprint Final F, Men
• 13:20 CET: Sprint Final F, Women

Sunday, March 19: 4x5km Mixed Relay C/F (Find more details here)

• 11:15 CET: 4x5km Relay C/F, Mixed Team 

New this season is the same race distances for women and men in all World Cup events, as the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) decided in May. Several other changes have also been introduced to the World Cup.

Read More: Cross-Country Skiing Changes And World Cup Calendar For The 2022/2023 Season

Also Read: New Distances At The Cross-Country Skiing World Cup