2007 World Championships
Sapporo, Japan
1.2km Classic Sprint

Every season there is always one race in particular that I look forward to the most. This season, for me, it was the classic sprint at World Championships in Sapporo. Having finished consistently in the top-30 at the world cup level both at the end of last season and this season, I had big goals for today's race. I wanted to test myself against the best skiers in the world!

The last few days leading into the opening day of competition had gone smoothly. Yesterday we waited patiently until 4pm to get on the sprint course at the Sapporo Dome. It was my first real good look at the course, and the layout. The course starts and finishes in the dome (which has a covered roof), while the other 2/3rds lay outside in the open air. It was snowing steadily when we arrived, making ski testing and wax testing difficult. The best I could do was learn a little more about each pair of skis, to be prepared for whatever weather it decided to be.

With race time not until 4:30pm it was a relaxed morning, fueling up on carbohydrates and chatting on Skype with friends. It was a relief to finally leave the hotel at 2pm and head for the venue. Teammate Laura Valaas and I arrived a bit early, just in case there were delays with traffic or weather, so we spent another half an hour waiting around in the wax cabin before it was time to start testing skis.

The weather was much more cooperative today, with no new snow and warmer temperatures. I took several laps on different pairs of skis, each waxed a little differently. The snow was wet and mushy in places and glazed in other parts. Eventually I found a pair that felt both fast and had good kick. By that time I was plenty warm having skied up both major hills on the course several times at high speed. I dashed back to the wax cabin, pulled on my Speedo suit and headed to the start.

I was a little anxious waiting for my skis to come from the wax techs. I got my timing transponders strapped to my ankles and with about ten minutes to go, Matt came running up with the skis. I jogged down a long corridor to the start, feeling the wind die down as I made my way into the dome. The snow was quite soft and I had to clean out my boots before clicking into my bindings. I had bib #3 so I waited for 1 and 2 to line up before taking my turn at the wand.

The boom of the announcer's voice was echoing off the walls of the dome as I took my first few strides. Once I had built momentum, I switched to double-poling. I pushed a hard pace up and over a short rise and then glided onto the outdoor section of the course. There was a short flat leading into the first uphill. I took a few quick double-poles into the bottom of the hill and then strided up the track on the right side of the hill. I settled into a quick rhythm, trying to get powerful pushes off each foot. I changed tracks one more time over the top of the hill as I felt my skis start to give way underneath me. A headwind pounded into my chest as I double-poled into the next downhill.

I stayed low and used aggressive step turns to get around the sweeping turn to the left. I carried good speed out the other side and burst back into a hurried double-pole. My momentum carried me up the first few meters of climb #2. "It's go time," I thought to myself. I pounded my feet up the track as fast as I could go. Not feeling totally confident in my kick, I was floating between power and finesse to get over the top. The coaches were screaming encouragement as I double-poled into the downhill. There was a sharp turn to the right, with a slush-burm right in the middle. I took the turn wide and then cut to the inside, keeping my hands out front for stability. I made it out the other side with a burst of speed and lowered into a tight tuck to ride across the next flat. As the free speed started to slow I popped out of my tuck and started double-poling with big, powerful strokes.

Re-entering the dome, the snow was warmer, softer and slower. I kept double-poling at top speed, throwing my hips down the track as quick as possible. My poles were sinking into the snow and my body was burning with effort. After 100m, the course turned to the left around a sweeping turn, before the final stretch. I powered around the turn with jump-like step turns and poured my last bit of energy down onto my poles. The announcer's voice was booming in the background as I slid across the finish line. It wasn't my best performance ever, but solid enough to get in to the heats!

Out of breath and heavy with lactate, I staggered out of the finish area to find my warm-ups. I had to negotiate my way through a line of media people and race officials to get out of the dome and back to the wax cabin. Just as I made my way out of the maze, I heard the announcer say Laura had skied her way into the top thirty as well. Awesome, two American women in the quarterfinals!

With the men racing their qualification round on the course, I grabbed my running shoes to jog my cool-down. I'm always surprised at how awful I feel after just under three minutes of racing. It takes me a good fifteen minutes to start feeling normal again. Once I got my body back into a relaxed state, I headed back into the dome to an athlete rest area until it was time for the quarterfinals.

The opening ceremonies were being held in between the qualification and the heats, so it was a long wait! I passed the time by refueling with Powerbars and sports drink, and listening to my iPod. So many thoughts were running through my head. "How was I feeling." "What was the strategy for the course." "What was the weather doing outside." I went from totally relaxed to super anxious, and back, several times.

I would be starting in the first women's quarterfinal, so at 6:45pm I headed back out on course. It was dark and the temperature had cooled off so I needed to test skis again. Two pairs felt almost identical, and it took several laps to pick one over the other. I asked Per-Erik to add a little more kick to my race pair before heading to the start.

With ten minutes to go, I didn't have my skis yet. I jogged around to stay loose and with eight minutes remaining Per-Erik came running up with my skis. It was in plenty of time, but close enough to make my heart flutter a bit! Skis in hand I headed to the start. The stadium had filled up considerably since the qualifying round, now close to full at it's 30,000 seat capacity. Definitely one of the biggest crowds I have ever skied in front of!

Lining up for the start, I realized it was going to be a difficult heat. Both the top qualifier, Virpi Kuitunen, and classic star Petra Majdic, were there, along with Britta Norgen, Nicole Fessel, and Nobuko Fukuda. I was the fifth fastest qualifier in my heat so I got second to last lane choice. I chose the far right. The TV camera came by each of us during the introductions and I gave a happy wave to the crowd. Then the starter called us to the line. I planted my poles and readied on my toes for the gun... Silence... BANG!

As I put my weight onto my poles to lung out of the gate, my left pole suddenly slid backward, hitting nothing but air. My weight fell forward and I almost toppled onto my face. I was able to recover quickly, digging my poles back into the snow, but the other racers were already away. I double-poled frantically after them. Coming out of the dome, I had to face the headwind alone, fighting to get back up to the train of skiers. Kuitunen and Majdic were pushing a fast pace.

I knew I would have to hammer up the hill to try and regain contact, so I burst into the climb at full speed. After a few strides I caught up to Fessel and followed her up the hill. She was kicking snow of the back of her skis and it was flying into my face. I thought about changing tracks to try to pass, but I was afraid of loosing momentum in the soft snow. So I sat on her tails, eating more snow all the way up. I dropped into a low tuck around the turn, hoping fast skis would bring me closer. But the pace continued to be fast and I was still only hanging on to the back of the pack at the top of the next hill.

Going into the sharp turn, I saw one of the racers ahead go sailing off the course, reminding me not to let up. I made it around the turn safely and continued trying to make up ground on the skiers ahead. Kuitunen and Majdic were far off the front, so I focused on Fessel and Fukuda. Despite double-poling as hard as I could I was only able to gain a few meters and crossed the finish line in fifth. It was Norgen who had gone down, she came in for sixth. Majdic and Kuitunen advanced, and would go on to finish second and third in the A-final respectively.

Disappointed to not be moving on to the semi's, I grabbed my warm-ups and gave a couple post race interviews. I lingered in the finish area to watch Laura in the fifth quarterfinal. She skied well, staying tight with the pack the whole way around, and only lost contact in the last bit to end up fifth. Both done for the day we made our way back to the wax cabin for a cool-down spin on stationary bikes.

Before heading back to the hotel we watched the women's and men's finals live from the middle of the stadium. We got to cheer on our American teammate Andy Newell, the men's fastest qualifier, as he skied in the men's A Final for fifth place overall. It's great to be able to watch a teammate do well. My final place was 22nd.

Personally, especially having skied closely with many of the women that advanced to the semi-finals and then finals, it was a bit of a let down to have been knocked out in the quarterfinals. However, I'm satisfied that I gave my best, and this race was an incredible learning experience. It was another solid example that I can be competitive on the world stage.

Now I move on to my second event, the freestyle team sprint. Just 24hrs from the conclusion of the individual sprint, I am teaming up with Laura, to try to pick up where Wendy and I left off last year. We will be racing at the Sapporo Dome once again, at night, under the lights.

Go USA!

Cheers,
Kikkan :)

If you are interested in watching coverage of the World Cup races, be sure to check out the World Championships Sports Network, a new website that offers international race footage to North American audiences for the first time. Go to www.wcsn.com/skiing and click on the x-country tab to see what races are available for viewing! (I've been using this site and it's awesome! I highly recommend!).