Pre-competition facts Drammen

Tuesday, 12th March 2019

Pre-competition facts sprint C

Ladies

Maiken Caspersen Falla

• Maiken Caspersen Falla has won four of the last five individual sprint World Cup events in Drammen, all in the classic style. In that run, Falla only failed to win in 2017 (31st).

• Falla has claimed four career World Cup victories in Drammen (all events), more than in any other venue (3 in Lahti). She can become the first woman to win five WC individual sprint events at a single ski resort.

• Only Marit Bjørgen (40) and Petra Majdic (20) have won more individual sprint World Cup events than Falla (18).

• Falla has won the last two individual sprint World Cup events she participated in. She can now claim three straight victories for the first time since February-March 2016, when she won four in a row (including the sprint classic in Drammen).

Stina Nilsson

• Only Stina Nilsson (4) and Maiken Caspersen Falla (2) have won multiple individual sprint events this World Cup season.

• Nilsson has won 16 career individual sprint World Cup events and needs one more victory to join Bente Skari (17) in fourth place all-time on the women's side.

• Nilsson finished in sixth place in the sprint classic World Cup event in Otepää on 19 January and can now fail to reach the podium in consecutive sprint World Cup appearances for the first time since December 2016.

• Nilsson has only claimed more sprint World Cup podium spots in Davos (4) than in Drammen (3). Nilsson won the sprint classic in Drammen in 2017.

Other contenders

• Russia's Yulia Belorukova and USA's Jessica Diggins are the only female athlete not hailing from Scandinavia to have won an individual sprint event this World Cup season.

• Belorukova won this season's World Cup opener in Ruka on 24 November (classic style). She could become the second woman representing Russia to claim multiple individual sprint World Cup event victories after Natalia Matveeva, who won in Düsseldorf in 2007 and in Toblach in 2017.

• Diggins won the last sprint World Cup event in Cogne (freestyle). Diggins can now become the second non-European female athlete to win consecutive individual sprint World Cup events after Kikkan Randall in January 2014 and December 2011.

• Maja Dahlqvist has recorded five podium finishes in individual sprint events this World Cup season, joint-most along with Stina Nilsson. Dahlqvist has yet to claim her first individual World Cup win.

• Dahlqvist is the only athlete to have reached the podium in both previous classic sprint events this World Cup season. Dahlqvist finished third in Otepää (19 January) and second in Ruka (24 November).

Men

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo

• Only Emil Jönsson (16) has won more individual sprint World Cup events than Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (13), Federico Pellegrino (13) and Ola Vige Hattestad (13).

• Klæbo is on five individual sprint victories this World Cup season. He could become the first man to win at least six individual sprint World Cup events in multiple campaigns. Klæbo (7 in 2017/18), Hattestad (6 in 2008/09) and Jönsson (6 in 2010/11) all achieved this once.

• Klæbo won the classic sprint in Drammen last year. He could become the second man to win successive individual sprint World Cup events in Drammen after Jönsson in 2010-2011.

• Since the start of 2017/18, Klæbo has won five of the six individual sprint World Cup events in the classic style, with the only exception of the event in Ruka 2018 where he finished second behind Alexander Bolshunov.

• Klæbo has won five individual sprint World Cup events in the classic style, joint-fifth all-time along with Nikita Kriukov. Eirik Brandsdal and Hattestad are in joint-third place on seven wins.

• Klæbo has won nine World Cup events this season (all events, including Tour stages and overall Tour wins. Holmenkollen 50km World Cup event not included), more than any other male athlete. Last term, Klæbo claimed a season-high 11 World Cup victories.

Federico Pellegrino

• Federico Pellegrino won the sprint freestyle in Cogne on 16 February. He could now become the first man other than Johannes Høsflot Klæbo to win successive individual sprint World Cup events since Sergey Ustiugov won in December 2016.

• Only Emil Jönsson (16) has won more individual World Cup sprint races than Pellegrino (13), Klæbo (13) and Ola Vige Hattestad (13).

• Of his 13 sprint World Cup victories, Pellegrino claimed only one in the classic style (Ski Tour Canada, 8 March 2016).

• Pellegrino could reach the podium in three successive individual sprint World Cup events for the first time in his career.

Other contenders

• Thirteen of the previous 15 individual sprint World Cup events in Drammen have been won by Norwegian athletes. Only Sweden's Emil Jönsson in 2011 (freestyle) and 2010 (classic) avoided Norwegian success.

• Norway has claimed 12 of the possible 15 podium spots in the last five individual sprint World Cup events in Drammen (all classic style). The only exceptions were third places in 2014 (Maicol Rastelli), 2017 (Sergey Ustiugov) and 2018 (Alexander Bolshunov).

• Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (6), Federico Pellegrino (5), Alexander Bolshunov (2) and Lucas Chanavat (2) are the only men with multiple podium spots in individual sprint events this World Cup season.

• Klæbo and Bolshunov are the only athletes to have reached the podium in both previous individual sprint events in the classic style this World Cup season. Bolshunov finished second in Otepää and won the opener in Ruka.

• Bolshunov can become the second athlete from Russia with multiple individual sprint World Cup victories in the classic style after Nikita Kriukov (5).

• Chanavat has claimed six podium finishes in individual sprint World Cup events, but has yet to claim his first victory.