Cross-country skiing: a U23 world final for Ivan Essonnier
On Tuesday, 21-year-old Ivan Essonnier took part in the classic sprint at the U23 cross-country skiing world championships in Schilpario (Italy). For the Savoyard, who has discovered the World Cup in recent weeks at Les Rousses (Jura) and Cogne (Italy), this was a vital event.
“It was my goal for the year and I knew that a medal was within my grasp,” he told Nordic Magazine. But he didn’t achieve it, finishing sixth in the final. Right from the start of the day, the signs were not good for Ivan Essonnier.
“Qualifying is something I’m used to doing well, but this time I wasn’t up to my usual standards. I was disappointed with my qualifying. Even if I got through with the seventeenth time, it wasn’t physically right,” he says. It didn’t give me any confidence for the rest of the tournament, and I just felt average.
No final energy
Remobilised for the few dozen minutes before the finals, the Féclazien then managed to get through the quarter-finals, despite a tactical scare, and then the semi-finals, by playing his part. Unfortunately, Ivan Essonnier was unable to finish in the final.
I was really tired, I didn’t have much energy,” he regrets. I didn’t have much grip on the climb either. That’s where I normally feel good. I fought more with my body than with the others in this final. Sixth place in the world is good enough, but there are a lot of regrets about not having been there physically for this one-day event.
“There’s a lot of frustration in this sprint because I’m not at my real physical level. This sprint doesn’t represent my physical qualities and the talent I showed this winter in the FESA Cup and the World Cup,” he continues. Reaching the final with so little energy shows that I was capable of going even further.
- The full programme for the Junior and U23 World Championships in Schilpario from 3 to 9 February
- Schilpario: Iselin Bjervig Drivenes dominates qualifying for the classic sprint at the World Junior Championships, all the French women in the quarter-finals
- Schilpario: Filip Skari qualifies for the classic sprint at the Junior Worlds, Quentin Viguier is the only Frenchman to qualify
- Schilpario: Malin Hoelsveen takes the world title in the junior classic sprint ahead of two other Norwegians, Annette Coupat stops in the semi-finals
- Schilpario: Filip Skari becomes world junior classic sprint champion
- Schilpario U23 World Championships: Julie Pierrel, Justine Gaillard, Léonie Besson and Clémence Didierlaurent pass the classic sprint qualifying round
- Schilpario: Ivan Essonnier and Victor Cullet Calderini qualify for the quarter-finals of the classic sprint at the U23 World Championships
- Schilpario: Maerta Rosenberg becomes U23 world champion in the classic sprint, while France remain stuck in the quarter-finals
- Schilpario: Anton Grahn takes the U23 world title in the classic sprint, Ivan Essonnier sixth in the final
- Schilpario: a look back at the golden day for Sweden’s Maerta Rosenberg and Anton Grahn in the classic sprints at the U23 World Championships
- Schilpario Junior Worlds: Milla Grosberghaugen Andreassen takes gold in the mass start classic, Annette Coupat fourth, Margot Tirloy eighth
- “It’s incredible”: Forézienne Annette Coupat’s satisfaction after her fourth place in the mass-start classic at the Junior Worlds
- Schilpario: Lars Heggen Junior World Champion in the Mass Start Classic, Romain Vaxelaire eleventh
