Seefeld Sprint F Preview

*Some athletes listed in the statistics will not compete in Seefeld

PREVIEW Ladies SPRINT FREE TECHNIQUE – Saturday 27 Jan 2018

·  Stina Nilsson (SWE) is the only athlete to have won multiple sprint World Cup events this season (3). She won the sprint classic in Ruka (3-Days Tour), the sprint free in Davos and the sprint classic in Planica last week.

·  Nilsson, who is now on a total of 12 sprint World Cup wins, could claim back-to-back sprint victories for the first time this World Cup season.

·  With her win in Planica, Nilsson equalled Kikkan Randall (USA, 12) in joint-fifth place all-time among women for most sprint World Cup victories (including Tour stages). She needs two more wins to join Maiken Caspersen Falla (NOR, 14) in fourth place.

·  Nilsson has reached the final in five of the six sprint World Cup events this season, most of all women. Nilsson did not participate in Lenzerheide (Tour de Ski). The last time Nilsson failed to reach the final was in Davos on 11 December 2016.

·  Seven of the last nine sprint World Cup events have been won by Swedish women. In this run only Falla and Laurien van der Graaff (SUI) avoided Swedish success.

·  No athlete has claimed more World Cup victories in sprint events (classic and free) since the start of 2012/13 than Falla (13). Nilsson and Marit Bjørgen (NOR) are next with respectively 12 and 10 wins in this span.

·  Falla has reached the podium in 23 of her last 26 sprint World Cup appearances. This season, she only failed to reach the final in the sprint classic in Ruka (3-Days Tour) on 24 November 2017.

·  For the first time since 19 December 2002, a sprint World Cup race will be held in Austria. Back then, Pirjo Muranen (FIN) won the sprint free in Linz.

·  Krista Pärmäkoski (FIN) won the 10km classic in Planica last week to hand Finland their first World Cup win since 4 December 2016, when Pärmäkoski won the 10km pursuit in Lillehammer (3-Days Tour).

·  Finland's last World Cup win in a ladies' individual sprint event came on 12 January 2013, when Mona-Liisa Nousiainen (FIN) won the sprint classic in Liberec.

·  Pärmäkoski has finished twice on a sprint World Cup podium, both in the classic style as she finished second in Dramman (March 2017) and in Lillehammer (December 2017).

PREVIEW Men SPRINT FREESTYLE – Saturday 27 Jan 2018

·  Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR) has won four of the six sprint World Cup events this season (free and classic).       Sergey Ustiugov (RUS) and Federico Pellegrino (ITA) both managed to claim one victory.

·  Only Pellegrino in 2015/16 (5), Emil Jönsson (SWE) in 2010/11 (6) and Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR) in 2008/09 (6) have ever won at least five sprint events in a single World Cup season. All three won the sprint crystal globe that season.

·  Klæbo has recorded a top-two finish in seven of his last eight sprint World Cup appearances, with an eighth-place finish in the sprint free in Quebec (World Cup Final) on 17 March 2017 as the only exception.

·  Klæbo has claimed nine podium finishes in sprint World Cup events since the start of 2016/17, most of all athletes and three more than Ustiugov (6).

·  Klæbo is on a total of eight World Cup wins this season (incl. Tour stages and overall Tour wins). Only Sundby in 2015/16 (16) and Petter Northug (NOR) in 2009/10 (10) and 2012/13 (10) ever managed to claim more wins in a single World Cup campaign.

·  Pellegrino is on 10 individual sprint World Cup victories (classic and free) and needs one more win to equal Tor Arne Hetland (NOR, 11) and Jens Arne Svartedal (NOR, 11) in joint-third place all-time (incl. Tour stages). Only Jönsson (16) and Hattestad (13) are on more sprint World Cup wins.

·  Pellegrino is the only athlete to have reached the podium in all three sprint free races this World Cup season. In 2015/16, he won the opening four sprint free events of the season.

·  Pellegrino (9) needs one more sprint free victory to break the all-time record for most sprint free World Cup wins among men (including Tour stages) as Hetland is also on nine victories in the sprint free.

·  Emil Iversen (NOR) finished in second place in the sprint classic in Planica last week and is aiming for his first World Cup win in a sprint event since 20 February 2016, when he won the sprint free in Lahti.

·  Teodor Peterson (SWE), third in the sprint classic in Planica, last won a sprint World Cup race on 14 March 2014, when he won the sprint classic in Falun (World Cup Final).

·  The last athlete from Sweden to claim a sprint World Cup victory was Calle Halfvarsson (SWE), who won the sprint classic in Lillehammer (3-Days Tour) on 2 December 2016.

·  For the first time since 19 December 2002 a sprint World Cup race will be held in Austria. Back then, Mikael Östberg (SWE) won the sprint free in Linz.

·  Vincent Vittoz (FRA) won the last World Cup race held in Austria, as he won the 30km free in Ramsau am Dachstein on 18 December 2004.