"Did you know" Sprint finals Quebec
Aug 31, 2018·Cross-Country
World Cup - Sprint Freestyle - Quebec - 17 March, 2017
LADIES
Falla and Nilsson to battle for sprint globe
Maiken Caspersen Falla is leading the sprint standings prior to the last World Cup sprint race of the season. Falla has 512 points, Stina Nilsson is second on 470 points.
Falla can become the fifth woman to win the sprint World Cup in consecutive seasons, after Bente Skari (1998-2002), Marit Bjørgen (2003-2006), Petra Majdic (2008-2009) and Kikkan Randall (2012-2014).
Nilsson will finish at least second in the sprint World Cup this season, the best result ever by a Swedish woman in this event. Anna Dahlberg (Olsson) finished third in 2004 and 2005, while Nilsson herself finished third in 2016.
Nilsson has won in her last three World Cup starts in sprint free, and in four her last five. The exception being a 31st finish in Davos in December 2016.Maiken Caspersen Falla (5) and Stina Nilsson (6) have combined for 11 wins in the last 12 World Cup races in sprint free. Natalia Matveeva is the only exception in this run as she won in Toblach last January.
Matveeva’s victory is the only for an athlete outside Norway (10) and Sweden (7) in the last 18 World Cup races held in sprint free.
Nilsson has won six of her 10 World Cup victories in sprint free.
Since the start of last season, Falla has finished in the top-2 in 12 of her last 13 starts in sprint freestyle races. She claimed six wins, six second places and a 45th place (Planica).
Marit Bjørgen has won a record 24 World Cup Sprint Freestyle races. Kikkan Randall follows with 12 victories. Bente Skari and Falla are in joint-third place with seven wins each.
Nilsson could join Skari and Falla on seven World Cup wins in sprint free. She now shares fifth place with Petra Majdic and Arianna Follis.
Falla and Nilsson won one sprint free race each during the Ski Tour Canada held in March 2016. Falla also won the sprint classic race held in the Tour last season.
Falla has won three of the last four sprint races held in Canada, also winning in Canmore in December 2012.
Falla has finished on the podium in all her five sprint starts in Canada, no other athlete has more than three podiums here.
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MEN
Klæbo aiming to be youngest ever overall sprint champion
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is leading the overall sprint standings with 369 points, ahead of Federico Pellegrino (331) and Sergey Ustiugov (322). The freestyle race in Quebec will be the last sprint race this season.
Høsflot Klæbo, who turned 20 years last October, could become the youngest winner of the sprint World Cup. This record now belongs to Teodor Peterson who won the crystal globe in 2012 at 23 years and 318 days of age.
Pellegrino could become the first athlete to win the sprint World Cup in consecutive years since Emil Jönsson in 2010 and 2011.
Skiers from Norway and Sweden have won a combined 19 of the previous 20 editions of the sprint World Cup. The only exception is Pellegrino's win last year.
Of the 104 previous sprint freestyle races, Norwegian athletes have won 43, Swedish athletes 23 and Italians 16. Russia are in fourth place with 10 wins - no other country has managed more than three.
Non-Scandinavian athletes have won 12 of the last 16 races held in the World Cup in sprint free, with Federico Pellegrino (8) and Sergey Ustiugov (3) as the most dominant athletes.
Tor Arne Hetland, winner of the first ever sprint freestyle race, has claimed most victories in sprint free events (9). Pellegrino and Jönsson have eight wins each.
Pellegrino won this event at the World Championships in Lahti. Jönsson has not won a sprint free since March 2013 in Lahti.
Pellegrino has won nine World Cup races in all sprint events, equal to Petter Northug. Only Jönsson (16), Ola Vigen Hattestad (13), Hetland and Jens Arne Svartedal (11) have more.
Pellegrino has claimed a total of 13 World Cup podiums in sprint free, one more than any other Italian (12, Cristian Zorzi). Only Hetland (20), Thobias Fredriksson (18), Alexey Petukhov (15) and Hattestad (14) have more.
The last six Norwegian wins in this event have been claimed by six different athletes. Pål Golberg, Finn Hågen Krogh, Eirik Brandsdal, Emil Iversen, Sindre Bjørnestad Skar and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo.
Sweden has gone 25 races (World Cup, World Championships and Olympic Games) without a win in sprint free, since Calle Halfvarsson's victory in the Tour de Ski on 29 December 2013. This is Sweden’s longest streak without a victory in this event.
Prior to the Ski Tour Canada in March 2016, Emil Jönsson had won the last five World Cup sprint races held in Canada (three free and two classic). In the Ski Tour Canada, Sergey Ustiugov and Baptiste Gros won in free technique, while Federico Pellegrino won in classic.
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