Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) battled through a semifinal mishap and soft snow conditions to finish sixth in the FIS Cross Country World Cup Finals freestyle sprint Friday in Quebec City, Canada.  

Bjornsen was the fastest U.S. qualifier in fourth, followed by birthday girl Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.) in seventh and Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) in 15th. In the semifinals, Bjornsen was held up after Diggins and Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla crashed. But she was able to recover and take one of the lucky loser positions to advance to the finals.

“It looked like Jessie and Kalla collided and my skies were stuck under them, so I had to just stand there and really hope they got up fast,” Bjornsen said. “It was a huge surge to get back on the group. In the finals, I was definitely feeling that effort and just barely had anything left.”

Sweden swept the podium with Stina Nilsson winning the race, Maja Dahlqvist in second, and Jonna Sundling in third.

“Believe it or not I really love these conditions,” said Bjornsen. “It is what I train on all summer, so I have a lot of practice, but it was very soft.”

“It was really tough conditions out there and really hard on the legs,” said Caldwell. “I was really exhausted after the semi-finals, but the quarters felt good.”

Two U.S. men qualified for the heats with Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Co.) in 11th, and Logan Hanneman (Fairbanks, Alaska) in 29th.

“I’m definitely satisfied with how today went, but also a bit frustrated for sure,” said Hamilton. “I’ve been feeling really good as of late and I’ve had some good successes sprinting here in Quebec before, and it’s always so incredible to race in front of a giant home crowd with tons of family, friends, and North American supporters out there. But the conditions were really tough for me today. The course broke down so much throughout the day, and I always struggle when it’s even remotely soft and slow.”

Hanneman crashed in the same spot on the first turn as Diggins and Kalla and did not advance. The men’s race was won Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway, followed by Federico Pellegrino with Sindre Bjoernestad Skar completing the podium.

The World Cup Finals continues Saturday with mass starts in the men’s 15k classic and a women’s 10k classic.   

RESULTS
Men’s sprint
Women’s sprint

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

Saturday, March 23
9:15 a.m. - Women’s 10k mass start - Quebec City, CAN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
11:00 a.m. - Men’s 15k mass start - Quebec City, CAN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
5:00 p.m. - Women’s 10k mass start - Quebec City, CAN - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, March 24
9:30 a.m. - Women’s 10k pursuit - Quebec City, CAN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
10:45 a.m. - Men’s 15k pursuit - Quebec City, CAN - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
4:00 p.m. - Women’s 10k pursuit - Quebec City, CAN - Olympic Channel-TV*

Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) skied a tactical race with fast skis to finish fifth at the FIS Cross Country World Cup classic sprint in Drammen, Norway, Tuesday.  

Qualifying for the heats in addition to Diggins was Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.), who finished 21st, Sophie Caldwell (Peru, Vt.) in 24th, and Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Co) qualifying in 30th and finishing 25th overall. Diggins was the only U.S. skier to advance beyond the quarterfinals.

“Drammen is kind of a funny course, and this year they took away the iconic uphill pitch at the finish, so it was even harder to determine the right moment to transition from double-poling to power striding on the gradual uphill,” said Diggins “It’s not a secret that I love workable downhills so my strategy each heat was to ski smooth and smart and get myself into an open lane heading into the finishing straight. In the final, I simply got tired from the short turnaround time you get from the second semifinal, but overall I was really happy with the whole day.”

“I have been feeling really good in double pole this season, which helped me have a good qualifier here to start the day out,” said Bjornsen. “Unfortunately, I kind of struggled to find position over the top of the climb, and then really struggle with that super gradual striding in sprint speed right there at the finish. I was trying to push the DP as far as possible because I know that is my strength, but I just couldn't keep up in that unique striding.”

The women’s race was won by Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway with fellow countrywomen Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen in second, and Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia in third.

Norway went 1-2 in the men’s race with Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo taking the win and Eirik Brandsdal in second. Richard Jouve of France in third.

The World Cup heads to Falun, Sweden, this weekend before heading back to North America for the Quebec City World Cup Finals.

RESULTS
Men’s sprint
Women’s sprint

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Wednesday, March 13
1:45 p.m. - Cross Country Junior Nationals individual classic sprint - Anchorage, Alaska - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Friday, March 15
1:45 p.m. - Cross Country Junior Nationals classic mass start - Anchorage, Alaska - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Saturday, March 16
9:30 a.m. - Men and women’s sprint, Falun, SWE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:45 p.m. - Cross Country Junior Nationals individual freestyle relay - Anchorage, Alaska - U.S. Ski & Snowboard Streaming

Sunday, March 17
6:30 a.m. - Women’s 10k - Falun, SWE - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:30 a.m. - Men’s 15k - Falun, SWE - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Women’s 15k - Falun, SWE - Olympic Channel-TV*

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.
 

The Cross Country Junior Nationals take place March 11-16 at Kinkaid Park in Anchorage, Alaska.  All events will be broadcast through a free live stream created by a unique partnership between CXC and U.S. Ski & Snowboard.  

This prestigious end of season event pits some of the nation’s top junior skiers against one another, not only for individual championships but also for coveted points for the Divisions’ top ranking team and the coveted Alaska Cup.

“We have brought multiple high profiles events to Kincaid and to the city of Anchorage. We are a well-oiled machine running this,” U.S. Junior National Cross Country Championships Event Chair Joey Caterinichio said. “Even more so now that Kincaid has snowmaking equipment that it lacked 10 years ago. There are new, improved courses and Anchorage rocks as a strong Nordic community.”

Skiers ranging from ages 14-19 will be in Anchorage competing not only for a podium here, but also earning team spots for elite U.S. Ski Team camps, college identification, and individual pride.

SCHEDULE:
Monday, March 11      
Individual start freestyle

Wednesday, March 13    
Classic sprint

Friday, March 15            
Mass start classic

Saturday, March 16        
Freestyle relay

Additional race information is available on the official event website.

Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska) skied with the lead pack the entire race and posted the top U.S. result in 19th at Saturday’s FIS Cross Country World Cup 50k classic in Oslo Norway. David Norris (Fairbanks, Alaska) also skied into the points with a 24th-place finish, and Adam Martin (Wausau, Wis.) skied to a World Cup personal best of 31st.

“I chased pretty hard with about 14k to go to make the split for the lead pack,” said Patterson. “I hung on to the group quite well for the last time up to Frognesetern, but when we went back to the stadium with 3k to go, I was struggling. While I fought with the 3 others who were struggling, I didn’t manage to outsprint any of them.”

Russian Alexander Bolshunov becomes the youngest winner of the legendary 50k race at Oslo's Holmenkollen. He shared the podium with his teammates Maxim Vylegzhanin in second and Andrey Larkov in third.

“We had four guys staying with the lead pack for a good part of the race with Scott, David, and Adam putting together some strong results,” said U.S. Cross Country World Cup Coach Matt Whitcomb. “With about 3k to go, Scott in the lead group popped a bit and was not able to fight for a top 10. David had a strong race and we were super excited to see Adam come so close to a to 30 finish.”

“The first three laps went really well for me,” said Norris. “During the fourth lap, I started to struggle a bit and dangled off the lead group a few times. Starting the fifth lap I did a ski exchange and lost contact with the leaders. My skis for the last two laps were really good, but I couldn’t close the gap to the lead pack. I felt pretty tired today, but overall the race went pretty well and I’m happy with my performance.”

On waxing for the day, Whitcomb said, “we woke up today expecting to see perfect klister conditions, but instead it just snowed all day. It went from straight klister to hard wax, wetter in the stadium and dryer up top. I was super encouraged by the was staff today with a complex schedule that included feeds and ski exchanges. We also had two additional snowboarder cross techs join us today and help with the gliding out and feeds.  Interestingly, they test wax for their snowboard athletes on cross country skis.”

The action continues Sunday with the women’s 30k classic where starters include Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.), Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.), Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah), Rosie Frankowski (Minneapolis, Minn.) and Kaitlynn Miller (Craftsbury, Vt.)

RESULTS
Men’s 50k classic

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

Sunday, March 10
6:45 a.m. - Women’s 30k mass start - Oslo, NOR - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Women’s 30k mass start - Oslo, NOR - Olympic Channel-TV*

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.

It’s the final weekend of the FIS Ski World Cup season with Mikaela Shiffrin (Avon, Colo.) leading the women’s U.S. Alpine Team back to where it all started in Spindleruv Mlyn, Czech Republic. Shiffrin made her first career World Cup start in Špindlerův Mlýn eight years ago, finishing 32nd in the slalom and 43rd in the giant slalom.

Shiffrin is shooting for World Cup victory number 58 in Friday’s giant slalom, and again in Saturday’s slalom. She is currently tied with Vreni Schneider’s World Cup season win record of 14, and could very likely surpass that record this weekend. Both races will be streamed live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold, and the Olympic Channel - Home of Team USA - will broadcast the second run both days. Also starting in the slalom at Špindlerův Mlýn is veteran Resi Stiegler (Jackson Hole, Wyo.).

 

 

 

 

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Ahoj! How do you correctly pronounce “Špindlerův Mlýn”?! Let’s try (Shhpindleroov Mleeeen) // How’d I do, @esterledecka?! Third time’s a charm?? 😂🙊🥴😊😅🤪Looking forward to Špindlerův Mlýn this weekend!! It was my very first @fisalpine World Cup in 2011, so it’s a special place for me with good memories. The Czech fans have always been wonderful and I can’t wait to go back to @skiworldcupspindl at @skiareal.cz. 🇨🇿 Check out the full video in my IGTV. Děkuji!! #weareskiing #sheskis

A post shared by Mikaela Shiffrin ⛷💨 (@mikaelashiffrin) on Mar 5, 2019 at 2:02am PST

On the men’s side, Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, hosts giant slalom and slalom events Saturday and Sunday. Tommy Ford (Bend, Ore.) and Ted Ligety (Park City, Utah) will be leading the charge along with newly crowned giant slalom Junior World Champion River Radamus (Edwards, Colo.) on Saturday. Other U.S. Starters in the giant slalom include Ryan Cochran-Siegle (Starksboro, Vt.), Brian McLaughlin (Waitsfield, Vt.), Nick Krause (Northboro, Mass.). Sandy Vietze (Warren, Vt.) will make his World Cup debut in Sunday’s slalom.

The World Cup Finals are scheduled for Soldeu, Andorra, March 11-17.

More than 50 members of the U.S. Ski & Snowboard freeski and snowboard teams are at California’s Mammoth Mountain Ski Area for the final Toyota U.S. Grand Prix, which also serves as a FIS Snowboard and Freeski World Cup, this week. The current schedule has snowboard slopestyle and freeski halfpipe finals taking place Friday, snowboard halfpipe finals on Saturday and freeski slopestyle finals Sunday. However, another big storm rolling through central California this week and has already rearranged the qualifying schedule.

The networks of NBCSports.com, NBC Sports Gold, and NBCSN will provide live, and same-day coverage from Mammoth both Friday and Saturday.

Fresh off her fourth-place finish at the FIS World Nordic Championships 30k freestyle last week, Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) leads the U.S. Cross Country Ski Team into Oslo, Norway, as the FIS World Cup circuit resumes with a men’s 50k classic mass start Saturday, and a women’s 30k classic mass start on Sunday.

Other U.S. starters are: Kaitlynn Miller (Elmore, Vt.), Sadie Bjornsen (Anchorage, Alaska), Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah), Rosie Frankowski (Minneapolis, Minn.), Kyle Bratrud (Eden Prairie, Min.), David Norris (Fairbanks, Alaska), Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska), Adam Martin (Wausau, wis.), Ben Lustgarten (Burlington, Vt.). Both races will be broadcast on the Olympic Channel and streamed live on OlympicChannel.com and NBC Sports Gold.

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

ALPINE
Friday, March 8
4:30 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom run 1 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Women’s giant slalom run 2 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
12:00 p.m. - Women’s giant slalom run 2 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - NBCSN*

Saturday, March 9
3:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 1 - Kranjska Gora, SLO  - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
4:30 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 1 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:30 a.m. - Men’s giant slalom run 2 - Kranjska Gora, SLO  - Olympic Channel-TV, Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Women’s slalom run 2 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
6:00 p.m. - Women's slalom run 2 - Spindleruv Mlyn, CZE - NBCSN*

Sunday, March 10
4:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 1 - Kranjska Gora, SLO  - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s slalom run 2 - Kranjska Gora, SLO  - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

FREESKIING
Friday, March 8
4:00 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s slopestyle - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, March 9
12:30 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s halfpipe - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, March 10
12:30 a.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s halfpipe - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSN**

CROSS COUNTRY
Saturday, March 9
4:00 a.m. - Men’s 50k mass start - Oslo, NOR - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, March 10
6:45 a.m. - Women’s 30k mass start - Oslo, NOR - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Women’s 30k mass start - Oslo, NOR - Olympic Channel-TV*

SKI JUMPING
Friday, March 8
1:30 p.m. - Raw Air Tournament, men’s qualifying - Holmenkollen, NOR - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, March 9
8:30 a.m. - Raw Air Tournament, men’s team - Holmenkollen, NOR - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:00 p.m. - Raw Air Tournament, men’s team - Holmenkollen, NOR - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, March 10
5:00 a.m. - Raw Air Tournament, women’s individual - Holmenkollen, NOR - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
9:30 a.m. - Raw Air Tournament, men’s individual - Holmenkollen, NOR - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
3:00 p.m. - Raw Air Tournament, women’s individual - Holmenkollen, NOR - Olympic Channel-TV*
4:30 p.m. - Raw Air Tournament, men’s individual - Holmenkollen, NOR - Olympic Channel-TV*

NORDIC COMBINED
Saturday, March 9
3:00 a.m. - Men’s HS134 - Oslo, NOR - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - Men’s 10k - Oslo, NOR - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

SNOWBOARD
Friday, March 8
12:30 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s slopestyle - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold

Saturday, March 9
7:30 a.m. - Men and women’s parallel giant slalom - Scuol, SWI - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
4:00 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s halfpipe - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSports.com & NBC Sports Gold
11:30 p.m. - Toyota U.S. Grand Prix men and women’s halfpipe - Mammoth Mountain, Calif. - NBCSN*

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.

David Norris (Fairbanks, Alaska) skied a personal best in the 50k freestyle on the final day of the 2019 FIS Nordic World Ski Championship in Seefeld, Austria. Norris skied the entire first lap of the six-lap race between third and fourth place, and was consistently in the main pack the entire race, eventually finishing 20th.

“I felt good and my skis were working really well,” said Norris. “It almost seemed easier to position myself in the top 15 as best as possible and just try to stay out of trouble. Then I came into 700 meters in medal contention but at that point I had no more juice left and just tried to survive.”

Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska) was 23rd on the day, Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Co.) was 34th with Adam Martin (Wausau, Wis.) in 45th.

“I was in for the hunt, but I felt like I wasn’t skiing the downhills well and I missed the move on that last lap,” Patterson said. “I was thinking I need to go, need to go, but it was too late. I felt like if I had made that split, I could have fought with guys.”

“David was in the mix from the beginning,” said U.S. Cross Country World Cup Coach Matt Whitcomb.  “On the last climb at 49.5k he was still charging with the Bronze within reach, and for him to be in that pack is just next level. He led a very strong performance for the team today with Scotty finishing 23rd and in the mix all the way for 98-percent of the race, super proud of all the guys today. It’s fun when coaches in the feed zones are saying hey, the American’s are having a good day today. We are proud and leaving Seefeld with our heads high.”

The U.S. Cross Country Team team now heads to Oslo, Norway, for a women’s 30k and men’s 50k March 9-10.

RESULTS

Men’s 50k freestyle

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

Saturday, March 9
4:00 a.m. - Men’s 50k mass start - Oslo, NOR - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sunday, March 10
6:45 a.m. - Women’s 30k mass start - Oslo, NOR - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - Women’s 30k mass start - Oslo, NOR - Olympic Channel-TV*

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold and OlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.

Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) skied a gritty race on Saturday to finish fourth in the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship 30k freestyle in Seefeld, Austria.  

Diggins was pushing the pace from the second position to pressure eventual winner Therese Johaug (Norway) to peel off the front during the second of four laps.

“That was really fun and we had some of the best skis out there,” said Diggins. “I went to the front to take the lead as I could see that the chase group was starting to make time. I started working there and was steadily pinning it at the max I could sustain. I was working with Ingvild which was fun, but she started to go, and my body said nope, as I was struggling a bit with cramping.”

Working together, second-place finisher Ingvild Flugstad Ostberg and third-place finisher 19-year-old Frida Karlsson of Norway pushed the pace late in the second lap.

“When Ingvild started to go, my body said nope, as I was struggling a bit with cramping, continued Diggins. “I was trying to ski as technically well as I could at about 2k to go and put all my energy into the snow. I was thinking I have got to make it to the finish line.  When I crossed the finish line it was such a good feeling because I know I couldn’t have given it anything else.”

“It was really exciting to see Jessie be so competitive and it was interesting at the beginning of the race as she was trying to cover Johaug’s move,” said U.S. Cross Country Head Coach Chris Grover. “Jessie was skiing in second for much of the race and never further back than that lead group until the split came. The wax techs made some incredible skis today allowed us to be really competitive all day”.

Grover continued, “Sadie and Rosie have been skiing rock solid and we’re in the mix today. All four or out starters executed the race really well, no missed feeds, no broken poles and made the smart choices about ski exchanges. That veteran experience goes into creating really good races.”

Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) finished 15th, Rosie Brennan (Park City, Utah) finished 16th and, Caitlin Patterson (Craftsbury, Vt.) finished 34th.

“It was a day for toughness out there,” said Brennan. “We started out at a very fast clip and with some fatigue from a week of racing, I was not feeling like I could sustain that pace for 30k. I settled back and found a good group of girls to race with and things slowly turned around. We were able to pick up a few people that faded from the group in front and I was able to have a strong sprint finish. I am really proud of my finish, but wish I had it in me to stick with the group in front.”

The Championships continue Sunday with the final race of the event, the Men’s 50k freestyle.  Starters will be Scott Patterson (Anchorage, Alaska), David Norris (Fairbanks Alaska), Adam Martin (Wausau, Wis.), and Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Co.).

RESULTS
Women’s 30k

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast

Sunday, March 3
5:30 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men’s 50k - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) and Jessie Diggins (Afton, Minn.) skied to a hard-fought fifth-place finish in the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship classic team sprint in Seefeld, Austria, Sunday.

“My goal was to be in a good position on the first lap and then push the pace on the next two laps to try to give some room for Jessie, but off the start I was in the back row and it was super hard to get to the front,” said Bjornsen, who was the lead-off skier for six-lap race on the 1.2km course. “At the start of my final lap I was a little separated and tried to use the downhill to get back with the group, but it was so high speed it was really hard to make any distance out there.”

“It wasn’t a course that suits our strengths, it wasn’t very long or overly challenging and we did the very best we could,” said Diggins. “It was hard because we both found ourselves stuck without a window to move so we weren’t able to use our best assets. You won’t find a team who wanted it or worked harder for it more than we did. It didn’t work out for us this time but it has in the past and it can again in the future. We are moving forward with a lot of positivity and preparing for the rest of the races.”

The race was won by Sweden, followed by the surprise Slovenia team in second, with Norway completing the podium in third.

“There were a couple of challenges out there, one was the curvature of the climbs so if you were on the inside line it was really hard to have enough speed to go outside and pass,” said U.S. Cross Country Head Coach Chris Grover. “The other was there were no big climbs and that makes it challenging for Jessie and Sadie, who have big engines, to find the space let it run.”

The U.S. men’s team of Simi Hamilton (Aspen, Colo.) and Erik Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash.) finished eight in the strong World Championship field. Hamilton was the lead skier tagging off to Bjornsen on the six-lap, 1.6k course.

“It was tough out there, but we had great skis,” said Hamilton. “The pace was pushed out of the start and I was just thinking I didn’t want to burn up the match, I know I had a few more legs to ski.”

“I felt a bit better in the semis and in the finals, I let a little gap open up on the second lap thinking some of these guys are going to blow up, but they didn’t, so that was unfortunate,” said Bjornsen. “I didn’t have a very good corner on the second lap and went from a gap of a few meters to a gap of about 10 meters.”

“The big climb was so big and the course was so hard when you add six of those together it is very taxing,” said Grover.  “The guys were getting a little tired and we got gapped while the front group was turning up the heat and there is just not that many people that can stay with them at a World Championship level.

“I am really proud of the efforts of everyone,” Grover added. “The service team pushed really hard and made great skis with a great plan. The athletes pushed as hard as they absolutely could all day. Both teams easily qualified for the finals and put themselves in the right place, it just wasn’t our day in the end.”

The men’s race was won by Norway with Russia second, and Italy in third.

The World Championships continue Tuesday with the women’s 10k classic.

RESULTS
Men’s Team Sprint
Women’s Team Sprint

HOW TO WATCH
All times EST
*Same-day broadcast
**Next-day broadcast

Tuesday, Feb. 26
9:00 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s 10k - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
1:00 p.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s 10k - Seefeld, AUT - NBCSN*

Wednesday, Feb. 27
8:00 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men’s 15k - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Thursday, Feb. 28
1:00 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men’s 15k - Seefeld, AUT - NBCSN**
7:00 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s 4x5k relay - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

Friday, March 1
7:15 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men’s 4x10k relay - Seefeld, AUT - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men’s 4x10k relay - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV*

Saturday, March 2
6:15 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s 30k - Seefeld, AUT - OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold
7:30 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships women’s 30k - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV*

Sunday, March 3
5:30 a.m. - FIS World Cross Country Skiing Championships men’s 50k - Seefeld, AUT - Olympic Channel-TV, OlympicChannel.com & NBC Sports Gold

All streams are available via desktop (NBCSports.com/Live, NBCSports.com/Gold andOlympicChannel.com) as well as mobile, tablet and connected television platforms. The NBC Sports app, NBC Sports Gold app and Olympic Channel app are available on the iTunes App Store, Google Play, Windows Store, Roku Channel Store, Apple TV and Amazon Fire. Exclusive commercial-free coverage will be available for subscribers of the NBC Sports Gold Pass.