It was the expected hard work, but the German cross-country skiers did well at the World Cup in Canada. But it wasn’t enough to be at the front in the mass start on Friday (February 9, 2024). Katharina Hennig finished tenth when Jessica Diggins won.
Katharina Hennig achieved a good tenth place in the freestyle mass start in Canmore. Her team sprint Olympic champion Victoria Carl finished two places behind her. After 15 strenuous kilometers, Hennig was 15.2 seconds behind the American Jessica Diggins, Carl was 16.6 seconds behind. For World Cup leader Diggins it was the 20th individual success in the World Cup. Second place went to Delphine Claudel from France ahead of Norway’s Heidi Weng.
At first there’s not much going on on the difficult route
The race initially looked like a typical mass start: no one wanted to do too much work too early, the pace only increased gradually. Every now and then it was other athletes’ turn to take the lead on the difficult route in the Canadian Rocky Mountains at an altitude of almost 1,300 meters. Little by little, however, an 18-strong top group emerged, in which Hennig and Carl were also represented.
Action from half the route
The race only really started after just over eight kilometers. The American Sophia Laukli picked up the pace on the climb; initially only four opponents could follow her, the others had to temporarily tear off a section – including Hennig and Carl. Before the last round, Hennig and seven other athletes were able to catch up again. Carl, on the other hand, was still a few seconds behind the group.
At the front, however, the pace was kept up by Laukli, and the group spread out a bit again. Hennig and Carl were almost 15 seconds behind two and a half kilometers from the finish, so an attack was no longer possible.
Lisa Lohmann finished 1:54.4 minutes behind in 20th position, four places ahead of Katherine Sauerbrey (+2:19.3 minutes). Lena Keck (+4:51.3 min) and Anna-Maria Dietze (+4:53.6 min) were 39th and 40th.
Men’s race follows live stream
After the women, the men also set off later. The race will be available in the Sportschau live stream from 8:45 p.m.