PRE-COMPETITION FACTS

DRAMMEN, NOR

Ladies’ / Men‘s Sprint Classic

COMPETITION COURSE WEATHER FORECAST

LADIES

• (NOR) could win the sprint World Cup standings.

• Falla can win the sprint World Cup overall standings for the third time, equalling Petra Majdic (SLO) and (USA) in joint-third place all-time. Only Marit Bjørgen (NOR, 5) and (NOR, 5) have won it more often.

• Falla won two individual sprint events this season, one in classic style and one in freestyle. Her freestyle win came in the last World Cup race in .

• The last athlete to win consecutive individual sprint events in the World Cup was (SWE) from February - November 2017 (four in a row), including a classic style sprint race in .

• No athlete has claimed more World Cup victories in individual sprint events since the start of 2012/13 than Falla (14). Nilsson (12) and Bjørgen (10) are next in this span.

• Falla finished on the podium in 25 of her last 28 individual sprint World Cup appearances. • This season, Falla only failed to reach the final in the sprint classic in Ruka (3-Days Tour) on 24 November 2017.

• Falla has won three World Cup races in Drammen (any discipline), the most for her in a specific city.

• Stina Nilsson has won a season-high three sprint World Cup events in 2017/18. She won the sprint classic in Ruka (3-Days Tour), the sprint free in Davos and the sprint classic in Planica.

• Reigning Olympic champion Nilsson (sprint classic) has won a total of 12 individual sprint World Cup races (classic and free). She is in joint-fifth place all-time among women for most sprint World Cup victories (including Tour stages), alongside Kikkan Randall.

• Last season, Nilsson won the World Cup classic sprint race in Drammen. The only non-Norwegian to win multiple World Cup classic style races in Drammen is Virpi Kuitunen (FIN, 3).

• Laurien van der Graaff (SUI) has claimed two podium finishes in individual sprint events this World Cup season, a victory in the sprint free in Lenzerheide on 30 December 2017 () and a victory in the sprint free in Seefeld on 27 January 2018.

• Van der Graaff can become the first female athlete from to claim at least three top-three finishes in a single World Cup season (all disciplines). Evi Kratzer (SUI) also reached the podium twice in both 1984/85 and 1986/87.

• Sophie Caldwell (USA) is hoping to become the second female athlete from to claim multiple sprint World Cup victories in a single season, after Randall (on four occasions, most recently in 2013/14). MEN

• With two more sprint races to go, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (NOR) has already secured the sprint crystal globe. He tops the leaderboard on 590 points, 165 points clear of (ITA, 425 points).

• As the final sprint in is part of the mini Tour and only counts for 50 points, there are only 150 sprint points remaining to be won this season.

• Klæbo won the sprint World Cup crystal globe for the second season in a row.

• The last athlete before Klæbo to win the overall sprint title in back- to-back World Cup campaigns was Emil Jönsson (SWE) in 2010- 2011.

• Klæbo became the second athlete from to successfully defend his sprint World Cup title, after (NOR) in 2008-2009.

• Klæbo won five of the eight individual sprint World Cup events this season. Pellegrino (2) and (RUS, 1) won the other three.

• Only Jönsson in 2010/11 (6) and Hattestad in 2008/09 (6) won at least six sprint events in a single World Cup season. Both athletes won the sprint crystal globe that season.

• Last weekend, Klæbo finished third in the sprint freestyle event in Lahti behind Pellegrino and Gleb Retivykh (RUS). It marked his seventh top-3 finish in sprint events this season. • Klæbo could now join Hattestad on a record eight podium finishes in sprint events in one World Cup season. Hattestad did so in 2008/09.

• Taking into account all World Cup events (individual and team events), Klæbo has won nine World Cup races this season.

• Only two men won 10 or more World Cup races in a single season: (NOR) won 10 in 2009/10 and 2012/13 and (NOR) won 16 races in 2015/16.

• With his victory in Lahti last weekend, Federico Pellegrino joined Arne Hetland (NOR, 11) and (NOR, 11) in joint- third place all-time for World Cup individual sprint race victories among men (incl. Tour stages).

• Only Jönsson (16) and Hattestad (13) are on more sprint World Cup wins than Pellegrino.

• Of his 11 World Cup sprint race victories, Pellegrino claimed only one in the classic style (Ski Tour Canada, 8 March 2016).