The penultimate event of the 2006-2007 World Cup season, classical-technique individual sprints around the Royal Palace in Stockholm, yielded breakaway winners in both the men's and the women's finals. The races, from the qualification rounds at the end of the workday through the finals around 8 p.m., were very well attended, and Swedish skiers claimed exactly half of the medals up for grabs - though no golds.
Half of the racers in the men's final (YouTube video) were Swedes, including Emil Jönssen and Mats Larsson. These two wound up second and third, respectively, in a great photo finish. But both finished well behind newcoming Russian Mickael Devjatiarov, the 2007 sprint champion of Russia and the son of a star Soviet racer from the 1980s. Devjatiarov took advantage of the first climb of the race to open a big gap on the rest of the field, stretched that lead on the long descent, and then double-poled like mad to keep out front. His win was the first World Cup gold of his young career. Though he didn't feature in the final, the leader of the men's World Cup sprint standings, Jens Arne Svartedal of Norway, earned enough points to win the men's World Cup sprint title - his goal since last summer.
The women's final (YouTube video) included only one Swedish racer, but Anna Dahlberg managed to hold off the young Norwegian Astrid Jacobsen to take the bronze medal. Ahead of her, the expected duel between Finn Virpi Kuitunen (the winner of the World Cup overall, distance, and sprint titles) and classical-technique specialist Petra Majdic (Slovenia) never quite developed. Having posted the fastest qualifying time and swept through her heats, Majdic was primed for either a blowout win or a massive collapse. She chose the former, opening up a lead almost from the starting gun, getting the pole position through the tight and messy corners, gaining ten meters on the field by halfway, and then coasting to an easy victory ahead of Kuitunen. If Majdic can find any kind of freestyle form over the offseason, she will be a formidable contender for any or all of the World Cup titles next season. In fact, if she can do well in the last individual race of the season, she could finish second in the overall standings, the same position she earned in the spring standings.
With all of the season's sprint events now concluded, the American team can take some satisfaction in its accomplishments. Kikkan Randall, the only American woman to compete throughout the season, finished 12th in the sprint standings, a good spot that will be better next season as her classical-technique racing improves. Torin Koos, who earned one podium finish on the year, finished 19th in the men's sprint standings; Andy Newell, who didn't make a podium but did finish in the top 15 in every race this season, finished sixth - the best American sprint result since sprinting was added to the World Cup circuit more than a decade ago.
The season's final races take place at Falun, Sweden, this weekend: men's and women's pursuit events on Saturday and relays on Sunday. he races will also be the finales for Katerina Neumannova of the Czech Republic, an excellent competitor with numerous medals to her credit. The races will also be the last World Cup events for my favorite skier, Norwegian Frode Estil. He has enjoyed a great year and ends his career as arguably the most successful racer of the 2000s, having earned three individual Olympic medals (one gold and two silvers) and six individual World Championship medals (one gold, two silvers, three bronzes), as well as a number of relay medals. My picks:
men's pursuit: 1) Tobias Angerer (Germany), 2) Petter Northug (Norway), 3) Frode Estil (Norway)
women's pursuit: 1) Katernina Neumannova (Czech Republic), 2) Kristin Størmer Steira (Norway), 3) Virpi Kuitunen (Finland)
men's relay: 1) Germany I , 2) Sweden I, 3) Norway I
women's relay: 1) Norway I, 2) Finland I, 3) Sweden I