The third stage of the cross-country skiing World Cup continued in Davos, Switzerland on Saturday with the women's and men's sprint free events. Qualification races kicked off the day and culminated in competitive and surprising finals for both the women and men.
Sweden's Jonna Sundling sprinted to victory with a time of 2:31.86 to win her 14th individual World Cup.
Mathilde Myhrvold of Norway finished less than a second behind Sundling to take second and claim her fourth World Cup sprint podium.
Swiss skier Nadine Faehndrich celebrated the final spot on the podium in front of her home crowd, after she clinched a "lucky loser" spot to advance to the final. The third-place finish was Faehndrich's 17th individual World Cup podium.
While the men's sprint free event came down to a photo finish, the real drama of the day was who didn't make the final of the competition. Norway's Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, the top skier in the world known for his domination in the sprint, did not advance to the men's final after stumbling in the quarterfinal qualifier earlier in the day. Klaebo's unexpected absence left the field wide open, and his competitors seized the opportunity.
France's Lucas Chanavat battled with Italian skier Federico Pellegrino down to the last stride. The two crossed the finish line neck-and-neck, but after a photo finish Chanavat was deemed the winner by 0.03 seconds and was fired up to claim his fifth World Cup sprint win in 2:17.60.
Pellegrino took runner-up for his 48th individual World Cup podium.
Norway's sole representation in the sprint final was from skier Oskar Opstad Vike. Vike clinched the final podium spot after he finished 1.23 seconds behind Pellegrino. The third-place finish was just his third individual World Cup podium.
For the Americans, it was a banner day in Davos. Jack Young and Ben Ogden finished fourth and fifth, respectively, just over four seconds behind the winner. Team USA was the only country to have two finishers in the top six of the sprint final, and they were honored during the victory ceremony after the race.
The race was Young's first-ever sprint final and his fourth-place finish was the best of his career. In fact, it was Young's first top-10 finish ever. The sprint final was Ogden's 100th World Cup start and his best finish of the season so far.
After the race, Young talked about how much the result meant to him. "It really feels like proof that I can make it to the top in this sport. If I told myself just three years ago that I would have a fourth place on the World Cup, I would have thought I was insane. I still don’t think today has really set in," Young said.
Competition heats up again tomorrow in Davos with the men's and women's 10km interval start free events.