Lessons In Sprint Racing Tactics
By Cory Smith

February 19, 2002

In recent days, many journalists have referred to cross country sprint races as the short-track speedskating of nordic skiing. Indeed, there are many parallels between the two sports. Both are shorter, arguably more exciting, versions of their older sister sports. Just as we have seen this week in short-track, sprint races are very tactical and unpredictable. Anything can happen in a 1.5K sprint and the fastest skier does not always win. The Olympic event at Soldier Hollow was a textbook example of how important race tactics are in this event.

Neumannova takes the lead too early

This was evident in the first heat of the day. In that heat, Katerina Neumannova, who is regarded as the world's best sprinter and had the fastest qualifying time, tried to simply out ski her three opponents. She led right from the start and was still leading when the four returned to the stadium for the final 100 meter sprint. It seemed as if Neumannova was so sure she was the best sprinter that she could win the sprint even after letting the other skiers draft the whole way. But coming around the last turn, the other skiers made their moves and left Neumannova behind. She finished last in the heat and was eliminated. The same thing happened to the men's preliminary winner, Haavard Bjerkeli of Norway. He too tried to lead too much in the first heat and was outsprinted by everyone else in his heat.

Beckie Scott also took an early lead, but held on

In the second women's quarterfinal, Beckie Scott did the same thing, leading from the start. Beckie was strong enough to hold off the late charge from the other skiers and she and Anita Moen advanced. But many of us watching the race wondered how much energy she would have left for the next couple rounds.

In the last women's quarterfinal, we had our first crash, or take-down depending on how you saw it. As they came over the top of the last hill, Evi Sachenbacher of Germany was leading and Sara Renner and Elina Pienimaeki of Finland were fighting for the coveted second spot. Next thing we knew, Pienimaeki was on the ground and had taken Maj Helen Sorkmo of Norway down with her. Sachenbacher and Renner cruised home to move on. Sorkmo was allowed to advance also since she was impeded by Pienimaeki. A similar thing happened in the last men's quarterfinal. Swede Peter Larsson and Polish skier Janusz Krezelok were fighting for position, when Larsson stepped on Krezelok's pole and broke it. Larsson was disqualified and Krezelok was allowed to advance despite finishing last. Part of having a smart tactical race is just staying out of trouble.

Renner and Sachenbacher ski away from the other two tangled skiers

The events of the first round raised an important tactical question. Is is better to lead and avoid fighting for position, or should you take your chances in the pack and hope to get into a good position without getting tangled up? After only eight heats we had seen both of these tactics fail at least twice. There is no easy answer. The ideal situation is to spend the first three-quarters of the race in the back, avoiding mayhem and drafting. Then move up to second coming into the final turn, and use the turn to shoot out and around the leader to win the sprint. But obviously that is easier said than done when everyone else is trying to do the same thing. The best sprinters are those who are aware of the situation and the skiers around them, make lightning fast decisions based on how the race transpires, and then have the skill to execute those decisions.

But even good decisions don't always work out in sprinting. In the first women's semifinal heat, Beckie was a bit smarter. After going very hard in her first heat, this time she held back and was in third place going up the first hill. But then she got impatient with the slow pace and charged to the lead. The other skiers hopped in behind her and coming back into the stadium she was still leading the pack. Coming down to the last turn, Beckie wisely wanted to rest up for the final sprint, so she did not make an attack when one of the skiers tried to make a pass. Instead she waited to take the second spot. But what she hadn't counted on was that all three skiers were able to get by, and they squeezed Beckie to the inside of the turn where she had no room to skate to gain momentum. As they exited the turn, Beckie was last and carrying significantly less speed than the others. She used her amazing finishing kick to catch back up, but she ran out of track before she could make the pass and was eliminated. This heat was proof that even a fairly good game plan won't always work.

Beckie did go on to win the B Final in commanding fashion to take 5th place overall. It was frustrating to see Beckie destroy the other three racers in the B Final because it was obvious that she belonged in the A Final.

Tchepalova destroys the field in the final

The finals were fine examples of using the lessons of earlier rounds to maximum advantage. Coming into the final, Julija Tchepalova had been very smart and lucky. She had quietly advanced through the rounds by hanging back, then getting in perfect position to make a final kick, exerting just enough energy to advance. In the women's final, Tchepalova correctly guessed that she had more energy left than her competitors and dropped the hammer right from the start. Before they had even left the stadium, she had a 10 meter lead. The other skiers were clearly caught off guard. Near the end of the sprint, Tchepalova began to run out of steam, but she had timed her effort perfectly and was able to cross the line just before the other women got too close.

Zorzi leads while Hetland waits in third place

While the women's final was a perfect display of well-timed power, the men's was a much more tactical race. Tor Arne Hetland, like Tchepalova, used experience from previous rounds to win the gold. In his semifinal round, he hung in third place until the final sprint in which he moved up and stayed right with Cristian Zorzi to advance. In the final, Hetland knew that Zorzi was his main competition, so when Zorzi took the early lead, Hetland settled into third behind Peter Schlickenrieder and waited. Again in the final sprint, Hetland shot around the corner and blew past Zorzi to take the win. Schlickenrieder also used his draft to outsprint Zorzi for the silver. Zorzi may be one of the fastest sprinters in the world, but this was second time in two days that he had been outsprinted by a tactically superior Norwegian.

Unfortunately, none of the American men and women advanced out of the preliminary heats. Torin Koos, who had been groomed by the US Ski Team for a year specifically for this race, finished 37th (just ahead of Lars Flora) in his brief Olympic appearance. Carl Swenson was the only American who looked like he was skiing well, finishing in 31st place. It is too bad that Carl did not advance because he is one of the world's greatest tactical racers and probably could have done well in the heats.

After watching all these amazing heats, I wish I could tell you exactly how to race a sprint. But the fact is that sprinting is so unpredictable, the same strategy will not only work. Ideally you should stay in the middle of the pack, but keep out of trouble, then look for a place to make a move in the last 200 meters. But my best advice is to stay alert and aggressive and be ready to take advantage of whatever situation presents itself. Because in sprint racing, anything can, and usually does, happen.