Sweden: Siltanews – News Desk
Jessie Diggins (USA) always races with every ounce of her heart. Put her on some fast skis, and she can rival anyone in the field. Julia Kern (USA) orchestrated a terrific fifth place finish in the opening event of these World Championships (the Freestyle Sprint), and she’s shown great endurance and pack-racing acumen in recent mass start events. If Team USA’s ski technicians figure out the base prep for this Classic event, then Diggins and Kern really could have a chance in the Team Sprint. Granted, no one is likely to challenge Team Sweden (Jonna Sundling and Maja Dahlqvist), but silver and bronze medals could be up for grabs among numerous nations: Norway, Finland, Germany, Switzerland, and the USA.
There was one funny tactical circumstance that had the potential to re-shuffle the deck regarding the likely dominance of Team Sweden: they had chosen to have Sundling lead off, with Dahlqvist skiing the anchor leg. Dahlqvist has a habit of racing from behind; if she were to get tangled in traffic—or if some other team got away early—her partner, Sundling, could find it difficult to make up the difference. Team Norway elected to have its fastest Classic sprinter (Skistad) ski the final leg. If Dahlqvist is not well ahead of Skistad in the finishing leg, the Norwegian might just get past her . . . if Skistad has any gas left in the tank after three 1.3 kilometer laps, that is.