Three in the Top 15 in Ruka Classic Sprint
A warm, wet snowfall turned Saturday’s classic sprint in Ruka, Finland into a grind, with saturated tracks and noticeably slower qualification times than the 2024-25 season. On a day when skis mattered more than ever, athletes had to fight for every inch on one of the World Cup’s most demanding sprint courses. Jessie Diggins led the way for the Stifel U.S. Ski Team, in 10th, with Ben Ogden in 12th, Rosie Brennan in 15th and Gus Schumacher in 25th.
Ruka’s sprint track is considered a “classic” for a reason: the final climb rises the equivalent of a 10 to 12-story building—22 meters of vertical and positioning on the hill is everything. Skiing over the top cleanly to carry momentum into the long double-pole finish straight is key, and races are often decided by fractions of a second.
All eyes were on the four U.S. athletes who advanced to the heats. Rosie Brennan, who has had an unconventional and interrupted summer of training due to illness, took an important early-season step by qualifying for the sprint heats. In her quarterfinal heat, Brennan skied confidently, sitting between third and fifth throughout the course. Her tempo up the final climb matched the leaders, but despite a powerful double pole to the line, she narrowly missed advancing. Still, Brennan walked away encouraged.
“I’m really happy with today,” Brennan said after finishing 15th. “I was in a tough heat and am happy with how I skied it. Without a proper build into the season, I definitely feel I am missing some form and fitness, but doing back-to-back races was a huge win for me and each time I get to race, I am getting some good stimulus to build with moving forward.”
Jessie Diggins delivered, following the 10k classic fifth-place result the previous day. In the semifinals, Diggins lined up with a stacked field, finishing fifth in the heat, just outside of the top two that automatically advance to the finals, and wrapped up the day in 10th overall—an impressive start to her classic sprint season.
On the men’s side, Ben Ogden showed his "Benny Shuffle" in real time and advanced through to the semifinals before his day was cut short. However, a top-15 result is a positive metric this early in the season.
"Definitely happy with today on the whole," said Ben Ogden. "I thought the qualifier wasn’t the best, but I felt good in the heats -- it was definitely a tricky quarterfinal to get through. And it's only the first week on the snow, so too early to know how I'm feeling, but good to be racing again."
Gus Schumacher also landed in the top 30, placing 25th and adding another World Cup points-scoring race to his resume.
“Feeling pretty good after qualifying in classic for sure!” Schumacher said. “Definitely a tough ski weekend to start with near-freezing conditions and precipitation… made yesterday fairly rough, but my body feels strong. Excited for tomorrow! That race has been pretty good to me in the past. I think if I can stay relaxed and near the front I can compete up there with the leaders. We’ll see!”
The dominant Norwegians led the podiums of the day. For the men, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo claimed his 99th individual World Cup victory, with teammates Erik Valnes in second and Ansgaar Evensen in third. Kristine Stavaas Skistad took home another sprint victory, with Sweden's Jonna Sundling in second and Maja Dahlqvist in third.
For the rest of the Stifel U.S. Ski Team, Julia Kern was 41st, Kate Oldham 47th, Alayna Sonnesyn 50th and Erin Bianco 51st. For the men, Kevin Bolger was 35th, Jack Young 39th, Zak Ketterson 53rd, and JC Schoonmaker was 65th.
With two race days now complete, the World Cup field will take to the start line one more time in Ruka on Sunday for the 20k skate, a race historically strong for several U.S. athletes.
Watch LIVE on skiandsnowboard.live, with men kicking things off at 4:00 a.m. ET and women at 5:45 a.m. ET.
