For the first time this season, Kikkan Randall (USA) will sit out a World Cup on Saturday, a 10 k freestyle mass start in Rybinsk, Russia. While in Ramsau, Austria, where the U.S. Ski Team trained for the break between Period 2 and Period 3, she came down with a stomach bug. She is now healthy again, but decided to skip Saturday’s race in order to save up for the skiathlon on Sunday.
“I decided to sit out tomorrow’s race,” she told SkiTrax. “Since I’m just coming back from being sick I felt that one sprint and one distance race would be sufficient this week. While I’m a little sad to be breaking my streak of having done all the World Cup races so far this season, I felt this was the best move to make sure I can continue to be plenty strong for the season. Plus I know now that my teammates are plenty capable of taking on the world for the team!!”
During her semifinal on Thursday in Moscow, where Randall finished seventh, she didn’t have her usual finishing speed. She skied in second behind teammate Jessie Diggins for much of the heat, but in the final meters got out-sprinted by Russia’s Natalia Korosteleva—not a sight seen often this season given Randall’s dominant sprint racing.
Randall currently sits at the top of the World Cup sprint rankings by 109 points. In the overall, she ranks fourth with 964 points, 91 points behind Therese Johaug (NOR) in third.
Contributed by www.fasterskier.com
