Saturday, December 3, 2011

Better Than Kikkan

Kikkan Randall delivered the win in Düsseldorf today, confirming her status both as the best freestyle sprinter in the world and one of the overall best skiers in the World Cup.

This is a big "duh," of course. We knew that. Bearing with me for a minute, I'm interested to see who has beaten Kikkan in a more-or-less head-head-to-head way so far this season. Counting the two sprints, the Sjusjøen and Kuusamo individual races, and the second leg of the Sjusjøen relay, and taking the finish order of the Kuusamo pursuit (not the "stage win"), only eight women have beaten Kikkan this year. They're a talented bunch, which means that our Kikkan is, too.

Like I said, "Duh."

Sjusjøen skate 10k
1 Bjørgen
2 Kalla
3 Skofterud
4 Berger
5 Steira
6 Kristoffersen
7 Johaug
Kikkan 8th

Sjusjøen 4x5k relay (second leg)
8 Kowalczyk
Kikkan 2nd on leg

Kuusamo classic sprint

1 Bjørgen
2 Kalla
3 Skofterud
Kikkan 4th

Kuusamo skate 5k

1 Bjørgen
3 Skofterud
2 Kalla
7 Johaug
Kikkan 5th



Kuusamo classic 10k pursuit
1 Bjørgen
7 Johaug
3 Skofterud
2 Kalla
8 Kowalczyk
Kikkan 6th overall in the Ruka Triple




2 comments:

Craig said...

Her tactics today really impressed me, especially in the final. On that short and tight of a course there isn't a ton of room to maneuver, but she seemed to know where she wanted to be and just went there.

Carrie said...

The FIS-page is a little weird concerning the Kuusamo skate 5k, Kikkan was actually 12. http://www.fis-ski.com/pdf/2012/CC/2311/2012CC2311RL.pdf or http://www.fis-ski.com/pdf/2012/CC/3428/2012CC3428STC.pdf

But it's still awesome:)