Vittozzi Sprints to Victory in Canmore

Italy’s Lisa Vittozzi closed her fifth standing target, left the shooting range 1.9 seconds behind France’s Lou Jeanmonnot, flying into the lead by the 6.2 km split to win this morning’s Canmore Women’s 7.5 km Sprint. Vittozzi’s dash in the final 1300 meters gave her the 19:38.2 victory, not missing a shot on the range. Vittozzi’s fourth win of the season, broke a long dry spell without a sprint victory; her last sprint win was 5 years, 2 months and 4 days ago when she won at Oberhof in 2019.

“Finally…win a sprint”

Vittozzi was quite pleased to claim a sprint win after such a long time. “Finally, I made it to win a sprint, maybe the last time was four (five) years ago. I am really proud; I did a perfect race, so I am really happy.”

“Pushed with everything I had”

The 29-year-old sealed the win with the second fastest ski time of the day, gaining the crucial second in the last loop. “I went out of the shooting range one second behind, so I tried to push hard. I felt good. I wanted this win so much and pushed with everything I had. I am really satisfied.”

Jeanmonnot shot clean like her Italian rival but finished second, 5.5 seconds back with her 11th podium finish of the season. Switzerland’s Lena Haecki-Gross, also perfect on the range finished third, 8.6 seconds back.

Jeanmonnot’s teammate Julia Simon, with one penalty, finished fourth, 19.4 seconds back. Sweden’s Hanna Oeberg shot clean in fifth place, 20.7 seconds back. Austria’s Anna Gandler earned her second-ever Flower Ceremony finish in sixth place, with one penalty, 27.7 seconds back.

Tandrevold Wins Sprint Score Globe, Retains Yellow Bib

Despite finishing seventeenth, with two penalties, 1:01.6 back, Norway’s Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold won the Women’s World Cup Sprint Score crystal globe for the first time in her career. Tandrevold’s only previous discipline score victory was taking the 2021 World Cup Mass Start Score.

Tandrevold retained the Yellow Bib going into Saturday’s pursuit but her hold on the top spot in the Women’s World Cup Total Score dwindled to a mere 7 points over Vittozzi, 988 to 981, with two competitions remaining.

Perfect Conditions

Perfect conditions prevailed at the recently renovated Canmore Nordic Centre for the season’s final women’s sprint: a sunny and virtually windless, -7C morning with fast tracks. Jeanmonnot cleaned prone easily, setting the bar for the rest of the field. Haecki-Gross did the same 3 seconds slower. Simon shot fast and clean, taking the lead from her teammate, while Vittozzi started the day with five perfect shots, 3.5 seconds back.

Top Three within 1.9 Seconds

Jeanmonnot came to standing, promptly going to 10-for-10, retaking the lead. Haecki-Gross matched, 1.3 seconds slower, with Vittozzi doing the same another .6 back.