Winthrop siblings Sadie and Erik Bjornsen each failed to medal in the men’s and women’s cross-country individual sprints early Tuesday morning, getting knocked out in quarterfinals.
Sadie Bjornsen placed third in her quarterfinal heat, and Erik Bjornsen placed fifth in his.
The top two finalists from each heat continued to semifinals, as well as the two skiers with the fastest times who did not come in first or second. Sadie Bjornsen finished several seconds after the "lucky losers" in quarterfinals.
The Bjornsens were each one of two Americans to qualify for individual sprint quarterfinals. American Simi Hamilton also did not make it past the men’s quarters, but USA’s Jessie Diggins came in sixth in the women’s final.
In the men’s race, Norway’s Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won gold, Italy’s Federico Pellegrino took silver, and Olympic Athlete of Russia Alexander Bolshunov got bronze.
For the women’s sprint, Sweden’s Stina Nilsson won gold, Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla got silver, and Olympic Athlete of Russia Yulia Belorukova took bronze.
Individual sprint was the second Olympic race in PyeongChang in which Erik Bjornsen failed to medal – he took 42nd in the skiathlon Saturday.
Sadie Bjornsen is scheduled to compete in the women’s 10 kilometer individual Thursday night, and Erik Bjornsen will compete in the men’s 15 kilometer individual Friday night.
