Team USA had an incredible successful weekend at Ruka, Finland, finishing the weekend with valuable FIS points and three podiums. The FIS Cross Country World Cup in the Scandinavian resort was held in perfect, yet bitterly cold conditions. Temperatures this weekend were around 2°F to 11°F (-12°C to -17°C). The area gets only about six hours of daylight this time of year, making for cold and often gloomy days, but making the area entirely snow-safe.
The three-day event in Ruka started with the sprint races on Friday. The sprint in cross country skiing runs through qualification rounds, followed by quarter-finals through to semi-finals, wittling down contestants to the final six racers. Jessie Diggins, Julia Kern and Rosie Brennan progressed through to the semi-finals but narrowly missed out on the final, coming 7th, 8th and 9th respectively. The sprint event was won by Sweden’s Emma Ribom, followed in second by her teammate Jonna Sundling and Norway’s Kristine Stavaas Skistad in third place. Team USA cross country skiers NovieMcCabe from finished in 43rd place and teammate Lauren Jortberg in 45th place.
The men’s sprint was won by Norways Erik Valnes, followed by Richard Jouve from France in second place and Johannes Klaebo from Norway in third. Team USA’s Ben Ogden finished in a strong 11th place, having made it all the way to the semi-finals. His teammate James Clinton Schoonmaker finished in 22nd, Gus Schumacher in 37th, Luke Jager in 47th, Kevin Bolger in 48th, Zak Ketterson in 49th place, and Zanden McMullen in 56th place.
On Saturday, the 10km (6.25 miles) cross-country race was held. Team USA’s Rosie Brennan put down and incredible run, shining especially in the uphill bits. The race was won by Sweden’s Ebba Andersson whilt third place went to her teammate Frida Karlsson. American cross-country legend Jessie Diggins finished in 11th place while Novie McCabe finished in 30th, earning her valuable FIS points. Sophia Laukli finished in 44th while Julia Kern came 50th. The men’s race was won by Norways Martin Loewstroem Nyenget, second place went to Iivo Niskanen from Finland, while third place went to Norway again with Erik Valnes, the winner of the sprint race the previous day. Gus Schumacher finished in 22nd, Ben Ogden in 39th, Scott Patterson in 53rd, Luke Jager in 56th, Zanden McMullen in 58th, John Steel Hagenbusch in 66th, and Zak Ketterson in 71st place.
Sunday saw the 20km (12.5 miles) cross-country race, and this is where Team USA really came into its form. Jessie Diggins is always very strong in long distance races, having won Olympic Silver in the 30km race in Beijing, China, in 2022. Diggins pushed her way into the lead early into the race, with Rosie Brennan close beside her. The Scandinavians are as always incredibly strong in cross-country and the leader pack with Diggins at the helm took off in a pack of 15 women from the rest of the field.
With less than a mile to go, Diggins was leading the leaders’ group into the finish, when Diggins tripped on an uphill bit. It is not clear if her right ski pole suffered some damage in this tumble or if it happened right after, but as the pack made its way around the uphill bend, Diggins was suddenly at the back of the leaders’ pack without a glove and pole, which the athlete had discarded to free her hand up for a new, inatact pole. Unfortunately as her team tried to pass a new pole to her, the athlete got struck in the face by the handle, suffering an injury that caused considerable bleeding. There was no time for a new glove, and the athlete continued her push for the finish, having fallen back to 12th place during the pole incident.
All hope seemed lost in this incredibly tightly packed leaders’ group, but incredibly, Diggins managed to push her way back into second place. As she entered the finish arena for the final half lap, the American cross country skier gave it everything to best Sweden’s Moa Ilar, but could not quite catch up to the Swede. Jessie Diggins finished a mere 0.3 seconds behind Ilar. It is the first World Cup victory for Moa Ilar in the 20km discipline. Third place went to Team USA’s Rosie Brennan, just 1.4 seconds behind Ilar and 1.1 seconds behind her teammate.
The double podium for Team USA nicely rounded out the women’s performance this week. Sophia Laukli finished in 14th, Novie McCabe in 21st, and Julia Kern in 26th place. The American women’s team showed incredible stamina in this exhausting three-day event in tough conditions. The women’s team’s strength was particularly evident in the uphill bits of the undulating Ruka course.
The men’s 20km race saw Norwegian Jan Thomas Jenssen in first place with Czech Michal Novak in second and Harald Oestberg Amundsen from Norway in third. American Gus Schumacher came in 16th, Scott Patterson in 20th, Zanden McMullen in 28th, all earning important FIS points for the FIS ranking.
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