Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway sealed the sprint title with victory in Drammen ©Getty Images

Maiken Caspersen Falla of Norway moved to the brink of claiming the International Ski Federation Cross-Country World Cup overall women's sprint title as she took victory at the city event in Drammen today.

Falla needs only to finish the last event of the season in Falun to end the campaign at the summit of the sprint standings as she clocked a time of 3min 10.18sec on home snow in the Norwegian city.

The 27-year-old beat Olympic champion and closest rival Stina Nilsson of Sweden, who finished 1.39 seconds adrift of Falla in the final.

It was the second consecutive victory for Falla over Nilsson since the two athletes returned to action after last month's Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.

American Jessica Diggins, who won an historic team sprint gold medal at Pyeongchang 2018, was third.

Falla now has a total of 543 points but was unable to seal the title today as Nilsson is 48 points behind with 50 available from the last sprint race of the season later this month.

Sweden's Stina Nilsson can mathematically still catch the Norwegian but is likely to finish the sprint season in second place ©Getty Images
Sweden's Stina Nilsson can mathematically still catch the Norwegian but is likely to finish the sprint season in second place ©Getty Images

The Norwegian only needs to finish in the Swedish city to clinch the overall sprint crown.

"There is something about this atmosphere and experience here," said Falla.

"The atmosphere along the way will beat every other race I go during the season, including the World Cup and the Olympics."

Falla's compatriot Johannes Høsflot Klæbo took the men's sprint honours in 2:44.69, beating team-mate Eirik Bransdal, who was 1.04 seconds behind in second place.

Russia's Alexander Bolshunov was third.

Klæbo, who marked his Winter Olympic Games debut by winning three gold medals, had already wrapped up the overall sprint crystal globe.