Kikkan Randall comes up short in bid for sprint medal

Maiken Falla outskated Ingvild Oestberg to the finish on Tuesday to claim sprint. (GEPA/Christian Walgram)

KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia – This wasn’t the way the day was supposed to end for Kikkan Randall. Not in the quarterfinals of the women’s cross-country sprint. The U.S. skier came into the Sochi Games on a short list of gold medal favorites.

The medals in the women’s sprints went instead to Norwegians Maiken Falla, who got the gold, and Ingvild Oestberg, silver, and Vesna Fabjan of Slovenia, bronze. The gold medal in the men’s event also went to a Norwegian, Ola Vigen Hattestad, followed by two Swedes, Teodor Peterson and Emil Joensson.

As it turned out, the day’s highlight for the U.S. would be Sophie Caldwell’s spirited run into the sprint finals. She took a fall after tangling with another skier and finished sixth, though it still qualified as her best result in a major international competition as well as the best Olympic finish in the individual sprint by an American woman ever.

But the buzz, on a warm, overcast day at the Laura Cross-Country Ski and Biathlon Center, was that Randall fell short in her bid for the first U.S. cross-country medal since Bill Koch’s silver in 1976.

In a tough quarterfinal heat that included Norway’s Marit Bjoergen and Denise Herrmann of Germany, Randall wound up fourth, and was just five hundredths away from being one of two “lucky losers,” skiers who don’t finish in the top two of their heats, but qualify based on time relative to other non-qualifiers.

“I certainly drew one the toughest quarterfinals today,” said a clearly heart-broken Randall. “That’s always kind of the crazy thing about sprints. Really tough competitors, but I got off to a really good start, got in a good position up the hill, was able to make a couple of good moves over the top, and felt like I’d conserved enough energy to come off that final corner with some power.

“Unfortunately, the gear that I’ve had in a few other races this season wasn’t quite there. It’s a really tough finish on a such a hard, fast course with no rest. So, unfortunately I fell apart just a little bit before the finish line, and I know I’ll be reliving those last few meters a few times. But the most important thing is that I wanted to come in prepared, and it’s been incredible to be a considered a medal favorite. And, yeah, sprints are just kind of a crazy race.”

She said she was glad that this wasn’t the end of her Olympics, that she has  “a couple more races to look forward to, especially team events. I think this race today will certainly kind of help me sharpen for those next couple and I’ve still got some teammates to cheer on in the rounds here, so, yeah, a disappointing day, but when you give it everything you had, that’s the most important thing in the end.”

All four American women in the sprint qualified for quarterfinals – Ida Sargent and Jessica Diggins were the others. But Caldwell was the only one to survive to the semis. She finished second in her quarterfinal heat, and then lost a photo finish for first in her semifinal, by one hundredth of second, to eventual silver medalist Oestberg.

On the men’s side Torin Koos and Erik Bjornsen failed to make it out of the qualifying round (they were 37th and 39th, respectively). Simeon Hamilton and Andy Newell both were eliminated in the quarterfinals; in his quarter, Hamilton broke a pole early, but while he wound up getting back in contact with the leaders, he still finished out of the money.

For Sophie Caldwell, the disappointment for her teammate was somewhat assuaged by the general success of the team. Only two other countries, Norway and Slovenia, qualified four skiers for the quarterfinals.

“I think any day that all four of us qualify for the heats is a good day,” Caldwell said. “And even though we only start four, we have a really deep team, and have another three girls who probably could have been in the heats if had they had start positions. Even if there were some individual disappointments on the day, it was really a strong day.”

She said she missed having Kikkan with her in the final. “I think we were all a little heartbroken, but she’s a tremendous competitor and teammate and she’s extremely supportive,” Caldwell said. “And she handles it well. She came up to me [before the final] and gave me a big hug, and that meant a lot.”

For her  part, Randall was doing her best to find something positive to take away from such a bitter disappointment. “It’s tough. That’s sport, right?” she said. “You prepare your whole life for something like this and it’s over in two and a half minutes. But I gave it everything I had and my career up to his point has been amazing. So even to come into these Games as a medal contender is pretty incredible, and we’ve still got a couple more shots. So I’m just going to put today in a box and move on the next one.”

See more photos from today’s sprint races in our gallery.