Cross-country: Lucas Chanavat’s improbable World Cup sprint win: “How could I?”

France’s sprint specialist Lucas Chanavat says his victory felt “impossible” just weeks after he was sidelined by a series of injuries.

Two and a half months ago, Chanavat suffered a shin stress fracture along with back, knee, and shoulder problems. He halted all training, even considered ending his career, and feared he wouldn’t reach a World Cup podium this season.

He returned a week earlier at the Trondheim classic sprint, where he was eliminated already in qualification and felt “awful” afterwards. Despite still feeling poor on race day in Davos, he produced a remarkable performance to win the freestyle sprint.

“I only started training again 20 days ago… it felt impossible — how could I?” he told SVT Sport. The win is the fifth World Cup victory of his career. The result also boosts his confidence for the upcoming Olympic Games, where he says he likes the course and believes “anything is possible” if his body and mind are right.

On the podium behind Chanavat were Italy’s Federico Pellegrino in second and Norway’s Oskar Opstad Vike in third.