In glorious, sunny weather the freestyle sprints in Cogne were held on a glider course with a long, but not too steep descent. This time, the ladies had to complete the identical, 1650 meters long, track as the men, so that even distance skiers in the weaker starter field could seek their chance - the mild temperatures and the altitude of about 1600 meters make the fairly easy course significantly heavier and some athletes had to realize that also the regeneration takes longer at this altitude. Eva Urevc (SLO, Fischer skis and bindings) was able to fight through all heats for the first time after the second fastest time in the prologue. In the final, however, then she had not enough energies, so that she finished sixth. In the men's final Lucas Chanavat fought for the victory, but then was beaten in the final sprint by two local heroes. Simi Hamilton (USA, Fischer skis, bindings and boots) finished fourth. The unknown Swede Marcus Grate (SWE, Fischer skis and bindings) finished sixth but cheered like a winner. He benefited in both the quarter and semifinals from "making Bradbury" - like Australian short tracker Steven Bradbury once in Salt Lake City in 2002, who became Olympic Champion out of the blue when in the semi-finals and finals all other skaters crashed.
