Industry News
The FIS Cross Country World Cup has moved to North America, and Team USA’s Jessie Diggins took home her 20th World Cup victory and her 58th World Cup podium on Friday, February 9. It is the first time in five years that a Cross Country World Cup is held in North America, so it was only fitting that the continent’s most sparkling superstar claimed the victory. The atmosphere in Canmore, Alberta, was infectious, with hundreds of fans who had traveled across the border chanting: “USA, USA, USA”
The starting list in Canmore featured a staggering 24 U.S. athletes. Aside from Diggins, the women’s side featured Sophia Laukli, Rosie Brennan, Julia Kern, Sydney Palmer-Leger, Margie Freed, Mariah Bredal, Lauren Jortberg, and Emma Albrecht.
Diggins led the 15km mass-start from the get-go, getting into the front of the pack at the 6.7km and 10.5km marks, thus picking up the maximum of 30 sprint bonus points. She was in the leader’s pack of 18 with Laukli, Brennan, and Kern, taking turns with international skiers for the leadership position for the first half of the race. Then Sweden’s Ebba Andersson took the leadership position and started picking up the pace, separating a group of five from the remaining 13. The group of five was made up of Andersson, Diggins, Laukli, France’s Delphine Claudel, and Norway’s Heidi Weng.
The breakaway was short-lived as on the downhill section another handful of skiers caught up again with the five leaders, but it was ultimately a pack of only 10 women ahead of the rest of the competition. “I knew it was going to be a sprint finish, so I had to be smart, but I wanted to play it tactically,” Diggins explained, “The entire time, I had a pretty fluid race strategy. I knew it was going to be fast, especially on this really hard course, so the entire race I was making myself be patient, which is not my strong suit, but I kept telling myself to ‘be smart, be smart, be smart’ and trust my sprint finish,” and trust she did. It was anyone’s game going into the final sharp corner into the stadium but Diggins put down a strong spring, coming into the final stretch in the lead with a huge smile on her face, knowing she had just claimed her 20th career victory. Laukli ended up in eighth place and Rosie Brennan in 15th, while Julia Kern finished in 19th place. Sydney Palmer-Leger finished in 25th, Margie Freed in 29th, Mariah Bredal in 30th, Lauren Jortberg 35th, and Emma Albrecht in 40th place.
With Diggins’ win today, she has now surpassed fellow Olympic champion Kikkan Randall for most wins in one single season, with her fifth individual win this season in Canmore.
For the men, Patterson led the way for the Americans, crossing the line in eighth place. In a race similar to the women’s, where the pack hardly broke until halfway through and there were various leaders throughout every major checkpoint, no one knew who would take the win. At 8.9km, Patterson was in fifth place, skiing with a group of Norwegians and Swedish athletes, putting himself in a good position for a top 10 result in Canmore. Alongside Patterson, there were more new faces to the World Cup, including Reid Goble of Bridger Ski Foundation’s Pro Team, Braden Becker of Craftsbury Green Mountain Project and Graham Houtsma of Bridger Ski Foundation’s Pro Team.
At the end of the day, Patterson was back into the top 10 in eighth, with Gus Schumacher and Zanden McMullen in 22nd and 23rd, respectively, and David Norris rounding out the top 30 in 27th. Peter Wolter was 36th, Luke Jager 39th, Hunter Wonders 40th, Goble 44th, Becker 45th, Michael Earnhart 47th, Graham Houtsma 49th and Ben Ogden 54th.
“I felt like this course has an edge. If you bump it over, you’re hurting really bad, but if you stay under it, you’re going to be okay. On the third lap, and seeing how the women’s race went, I knew that I needed to make some pretty hard moves to move up. On the fourth lap, I had to give everything to stay in the top. It’s been a while since I’ve been in the top 10 and I’m psyched to do it in front of almost a home crowd. My parents and here, my friends from Alaska – it’s just amazing to be here.”
—Scott Patterson
