Brennan Fourth, Career-Best 12th For Ogden In Davos Sprint

Rosie Brennan led four Davis U.S. Cross Country Team athletes into the points as she continued her torrid early-season World Cup pace, finishing fourth in the freestyle sprint in Davos, Switzerland. 

Ben Ogden posted a World Cup career-best result in 12th. He was 13th-fastest in qualifying and advanced into the semifinals for the first time in his career as one of two Lucky Losers. Jessie Diggins was 19th and Hailey Swibbul was 24th.

"Fun stuff," Ogden said. "I felt really good out there today, especially in the qualifier."

After posting the fifth-fastest qualifying time on a course where she earned her first career World Cup victory last season, Brennan won her quarterfinal heat and finished second in her semifinal heat to advance to the finals.

Sitting like a cat at the back of the pack ready to pounce on the first of two laps in the finals, Brennan moved up on the outside at the start of the second lap, and into the lead heading up the climb. Sprinting up the climb, she crested the top and, unfortunately, caught some loose snow and stumbled, which allowed Sweden’s Maja Dahlqvist, Switzerland’s Nadine Faehndrich, and Slovenia’s Annemarija Lampic to pass.

"What an absolute bitter-sweet day...I am so crushed to have found myself face-first in the snow on the last lap after making my move," Brennan said. "It was a little tricky snow with some fast patches and some slow patches and I think I just got ahead of myself. It was no fault but my own and is definitely hard to swallow.

"I felt great all day and felt strong about my tactics and strength, but it's sprint racing and anything can happen," she continued. "Sometimes you're the windshield and sometimes you're the bug, and today I was the bug."

Brennan recovered quickly, however, Dahlqvist, Faehndrich, and Lampic were too far ahead and finished 1-2-3. For Dahlqvist, it was her third-straight World Cup Sprint victory this season after winning in Ruka, Finland, and Lillehammer, Norway. 

Through seven World Cup starts so far this season, Brennan has four-straight individual top-five results, and currently sits third in the overall World Cup standings. She is also seventh in the World Cup sprint standings and third in the World Cup distance standings.

Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won Saturday’s sprint. Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov was second and Richard Jouve of France was third. With his 12th-place finish, Ogden moved up to 18th in the World Cup sprint standings and 30th in the overall World Cup standings.

The FIS World Cup cross Country season continues Sunday in Davos with a 10k freestyle individual start for the women, and a 15k freestyle individual start for the men.

"The good news is that my fitness is there and my shape is holding up through this very busy Period 1, so I'm doing my best to put that mistake behind me and move forward to tomorrow," Brennan said. 

RESULTS
Women’s freestyle sprint
Men’s freestyle sprint

STANDINGS
Women’s World Cup overall
Men’s World Cup overall
Women’s World Cup sprint
Men’s World Cup sprint

HOW TO WATCH 
All times EDT
Sunday, Dec. 12, 2021
5:40 a.m. FIS Cross Country World Cup Men’s 15km Freestyle - LIVE, Davos, SUI, Streaming Peacock
8:00 a.m. FIS Cross Country World Cup Women’s 10km Freestyle - LIVE, Davos, SUI, Streaming 

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