Tallinn World Cup – Women’s Freestyle Sprint – Preview

On Tuesday, March 21, 2023, the women’s sprint freestyle race in Tallinn is set to take place. Here are some of the athletes to watch out for during this event:

Nadine Fähndrich, a Swiss skier, has the chance to become the first Swiss woman to win a crystal globe. Dario Cologna is the only man who has won crystal globes for Switzerland (four overall and four distance). Fähndrich has already won three individual World Cup sprint events this season. However, her last podium finish in a World Cup sprint was on December 31 in Val Müstair during the Tour de Ski.

Maja Dahlqvist is also a top contender for the sprint crystal globe. If she wins, she will be the first Swedish woman to win two individual World Cup crystal globes. Stina Nilsson and Linn Svahn have each won one crystal globe in the sprint. Although Dahlqvist has not won a sprint event this World Cup season, she has finished on the podium six times (four second places and two third places). In 2020/21, Anamarija Lampic won the sprint crystal globe without winning an individual sprint World Cup event that season.

Kristine Stavås Skistad has won three of the last four individual sprint World Cup events. These are also her first podium finishes in World Cup sprint events. She won the last three sprint World Cups she started in. The last woman to claim four successive sprint World Cups in which she competed was Maja Dahlqvist (five from February to December 2021). Skistad has won as many sprint World Cups this season as Nadine Fähndrich (three).

Jonna Sundling has finished first or second in 11 of her last 12 starts in individual sprint events at major competitions (from the 2021 World Championships onwards). The only exception was seventh place in Les Rousses last January. Sundling is level with Linn Svahn on the second-most individual World Cup sprint wins among Swedish women, behind Stina Nilsson.

Tiril Udnes Weng has claimed four podium finishes in World Cup sprint events this season. Her only career World Cup win in an individual event was in the 10km pursuit classic style in Val Müstair on January 1 during the Tour de Ski.

Jessie Diggins has two podium finishes in individual World Cup sprints this season. In 2018/19, she achieved more top-three finishes (three).

Germany’s Laura Gimmler and Coletta Rydzek are eyeing a podium finish in an individual sprint World Cup event. The last German to claim a podium finish in a sprint was Sandra Ringwald in Cogne in February 2019 (second place). The only win for a German woman in an individual sprint event was by Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle in Garmisch-Partenkirchen in December 2001.

Tuesday, March 21: Sprint F (Find more details here)

• 16:00 CET: Sprint F Qualification, Women
• 16:35 CET: Sprint F Qualification, Men
• 18:30 CET: Sprint F Final, Women
• 18:57 CET: Sprint F Final, Men

START LIST WOMEN

See below the complete program with facts, start lists, and results for the World Cup in Tallinn.

FACTS Tallinn World Cup Season 2022/2023

• When: Tuesday, March 21
• Who: Elite national skiers
• Where: Tallinn, Estonia
• What: FIS Cross-Country World Cup in Tallinn, Estonia

PROGRAM

Tuesday, March 21: Sprint F (Find more details here)

• 16:00 CET: Sprint F Qualification, Women
• 16:35 CET: Sprint F Qualification, Men
• 18:30 CET: Sprint F Final, Women
• 18:57 CET: Sprint F Final, Men

New this season is the same race distances for women and men in all World Cup events, as the International Ski & Snowboard Federation (FIS) decided in May. Several other changes have also been introduced to the World Cup.

Read More: Cross-Country Skiing Changes And World Cup Calendar For The 2022/2023 Season

Also Read: New Distances At The Cross-Country Skiing World Cup