(L-R) Silje Oeyre Slind of Norway, Anamarija Lampic of Slovenia and Ida Sargent pose on the podium for the ladies' 1.4-kilometer sprint classic at the FIS Cross-Country World Cup on Feb. 3, 2017 in PyeongChang, South Korea.
Ida Sargent earned her first world cup podium in the women’s cross-country sprint Olympic test event with a hard-fought third-place finish Friday in PyeongChang, Korea.
The 2014 Olympian from Orleans, Vermont, won her quarterfinal heat by 0.03 seconds, then was second with a slightly faster time in her semifinal. She held a lead in the final but was overtaken on the hill climb before battling back to reach the podium with a time of 3:43.76, 1.79 seconds off the winning pace of 3:41.97 by Slovenia’s Anamarija Lampic. Norway’s Silje Oeyre Slind was second, just a ski length ahead of Sargent.
A five-year national team veteran, Sargent posts her career-best finish just one week after her 29th birthday. Her previous best individual result was fifth in a sprint event in November 2014 in Ruka, Finland. The Dartmouth College graduate also has three fifths in team events, most recently a team sprint in January 2016 in Planica, Slovenia.
Andy Newell reached the final in the men’s competition and finished sixth.
