Svahn seals season's first victory with Sprint statement in Sweden

Last year's Sprint champion Linn Svahn (SWE) has had a challenging season and not competed in the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup Sprint since the Tour de Ski in the first week of the year.

On Friday she was back in her first World Cup race since 5 January to test her shape ahead of the FIS Nordic Ski World Championships in Trondheim, Norway, that start in less than two weeks.

And in the Women's Sprint Classic on home snow in Falun, Sweden, she got the best possible answer.

The 25-year-old, who had the fastest qualification time, claimed clear victories the quarter- and semifinal before beating runner-up Nadine Faehndrich (SUI) by 0.8 seconds in the final to take her first victory this season.

Kristine Stavaas Skistad (NOR), who has won the past two Falun Sprints, finished third, 2.60 seconds behind the winner.

"It was amazing. It's always fun to compete here in Falun and I've been home for some weeks now so I really needed this before the main goal this year," Svahn said.

Svahn's only previous podium this season had been a second place in the Sprint Classic in Val di Fiemme, Italy, on 3 January. Last time the Sprint specialist won an individual World Cup race had been in the same event in Canmore, Canada, one year and a day ago.

After finishing 24th in her last World Cup race – Tour de Ski's Final Climb – Svahn said she had spent the past weeks at home in Oestersund, Sweden. There, she had taken time to rest and train well rather than much. And winning the last sprint before the world championships, Svahn was confident she had done the right thing.

"I've been a little bit tired actually," she said about her absence from the World Cup circuit.

"I've been home, just collecting energy and doing some good training, but not so much training. This was probably what I needed for the future also."

A minute and 20 seconds into the final, Svahn took the lead and for the remaining two minutes of the race, only Faehndrich managed to get close to her.

Knowing the home tracks well, Svahn managed to keep the Swiss Sprint star behind her and had time to raise her fist and celebrate before crossing the finish line, Faehndrich having to settle for the second place and a fourth podium this season.

Svahn's tactics to finish in 3:12.22, the fastest time of the day, sounded simple:

Sweden's main Sprint name, Olympic champion Jonna Sundling, had taken a rest this weekend, but with 13 days to go before the world championships sprint, in Freestyle, Svahn showed that she will also want to compete for the medals.

"I went here to get a good feeling in the skis and that's what I've been having today," she said.

"It is nice that it has taken me up to the first place."

Maja Dahlqvist (SWE), who win the Sprint Classic in Cogne, Italy, two weeks ago, had made one of the Friday's most impressive comebacks in her quarterfinal. The 30-year-old, who had the third best qualification time, had started the race by having her pole broken and was far behind the rest of the pack when she got a new one.

She got back in touch with the rest just before the home straight, where she pushed her way to a second place and celebrated in relief in front of the home fans. She won her semifinal but had to settle for a fourth place in the final, having used up much more energy than her competitors earlier in the day.

Jasmi Joensuu (FIN) finished fifth as the third home skier in the final, Johanna Hagstroem (SWE), struggled to keep up and crossed the line in sixth place almost 17 seconds behind the winner.

Without Sundling in competition, Joensuu's fifth place extends her lead in the women's Sprint World Cup. With two Sprint races left of the World Cup season, the Swedish runner-up is 148 points behind the Finnish leader on 680 points. Faehndrich is fourth, 157 points behind, and Dahlqvist in fourth place. Svahn, who has won the Sprint Crystal Globe twice, is in 36th place.

The World Cup in Falun continues on Saturday with the 10km Interval Start Classic.

Click here for full results from the Women's Sprint Classic and here to follow FIS Cross-Country on Youtube.