Nordic SkiingWorld Sprint Series
9 November 2019: a day that could represent a historic turning point for cross-country skiing. Today in Östersund were inaugurated the World Sprint Series - the first international circuit of supersprint on narrow skis (with a distance of just 100 meters) - which saw the first seasonal duel between the Scandinavian superpowers of Norway and Sweden, staged with home athletes who had to bow to the subjects of King Harald V.
Saturday 9 November 2019 6 minutes reading time
Having been placed on the calendar at a crucial time for the preparation for the World Cup, these two races have been snubbed by the big calibers of the discipline, so the speed specialists, a large number of Swedish cross-country skiers and a pair of biathlete. Finally to celebrate the successes of the day were the Norges Ludwig Søgner Jensen and Marte Nordlunde.
At the men's level, in the morning Italy was the protagonist thanks to Emanuele Becchis who with a time of 11'89 achieved the best performance of a very tight qualification, ahead of a tenth of the threesome formed by Ludwig Søgner Jensen, Karl-Johan Dyvik and the Olympic silver sprint of Sochi 2014 Teodor Peterson.
In the long series of elimination rounds the first to succumb were the Swedes Dyvik and Peterson during their respective quarters, while in the semifinals it was the Italian Becchis (5th final) who had to raise the white flag, when in the last meters of his performance the light has gone out almost giving the impression of getting up again. In the final came the great favorite Jensen along with compatriot Ragnar Bragvin Andresen - 10th in qualifying - and the hosts Marcus Grate and Johannes Hortlund - respectively 5th and 7th in the morning.
In the epilogue of the men 's test Jensen made the big voice after not having stolen the eye in the previous rounds, printing a 12''02 (best time of the final phase) that brought him in a dowry a clear historical triumph. The excellent Grate won the honor, while for the third place Bragvin Andresen won over Hortlund only at the photofinish.
WORLD SPRINT SERIES - ÖSTERSUND
1. JENSEN Ludwid Søgner (NOR) 12'02 2. GRATE Marcus (SWE) at 0’’27 3. BRAGVIN ANDRESEN Ragnar (NOR) at 0’’38 4. HORTLUND Johannes (SWE) at 0’’45
If the men's competition has been high phatos, the same cannot be said for the female one: since qualifying, Marte Nordlunde has been the real star, having been the only one able to constantly express herself below the threshold of 14 seconds with consequent first square in each elimination round. Even in the final, which saw her opposed to only Swedes, the Norwegian did not hesitate, crossing the finish line victorious with a time of 13'49.
Second place finish for the expected hostess Linn Sömskar, who often appeared in difficulty during the start, which preceded Lina Korsgren and Jackline Lockner. Curiously, the athlete who climbed the third step of the podium scored the worst time in qualifying with more than 11 "delay from Nordlunde, his luck that at the start there were less than 32 cross-country skiers and therefore was not" cut "by the test early morning.
The female biathlete Elisabeth Högberg and Enora Latuillière, who came out in the second round and quarter-finals respectively, are a note of color for women. The transalpine, who just a few days ago had expressed her willingness to devote herself only to cross-country skiing, gave interesting signals during the qualification having achieved the sixth time: who knows that she can't take satisfaction in the sprints of the World Cup.
WORLD SPRINT SERIES - ÖSTERSUND
1. NORDLUNDE Mars (NOR) 13'49 2. SÖMSKAR Linn (SWE) at 0’’23 3. KORSGREN Lina (SWE) at 0’’32 4. LOCKNER Jackline (SWE) at 0’’44
The next appointment with the World Sprint Series is scheduled for January 10th, 2020 in Dresden, when the 100-meter supersprint will be the prologue to the Sprinter World Cup stage. Probably in the Saxon city you will see in action in this new race format also some big caliber of the discipline.
#WORLDSPRINTSERIES #SCIDIFONDO
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