New second place for Jonna Sundling.
After the superb Kristine Stavå’s Skistad’s new show, now comes a sour fit from Norway.
– The Swedish ladies need to work now, says expert Petter Skinstad.
During Therese Johaug’s year of total dominance in cross-country skiing, Sweden has at least been able to enjoy an equal dominance on the sprint side. Skaters like Stina Nilsson, Jonna Sundling, Maja Dahlqvist and Linn Svahn have completely dominated in various sprint competitions year after year, and at the same time it has been Norway’s weak side.
Norwegian victory again
During this year’s WC, there was once again a Swedish gold success in sprinting. Sweden first came first, second and third – and when it was time for the team sprint, it was another gold. But after the WC, Norway, and above all Kristine Stavås Skistad, has woken up. And now no one seems to be keeping up.
The Norwegian sprint star has had a giant breakthrough during the winter, and on Tuesday came the next success. Stavås Skistad won her first World Cup competition before the World Cup, and with the win in Tallinn, she has four (!) consecutive victories in the World Cup. Jonna Sundling had to settle for second place, again, and it’s a worrying development with blue-yellow eyes.
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The warning to Sweden
It is worth remembering that stars like Linn Svahn are still missing from the World Cup squad, but in Norway people are overjoyed at the success of Stavås Skistad. The four straight victories also cause experts to send a sour pass in Sweden’s direction.
– Kristine Stavås Skistad is quite simply the best sprinter in the world today. After the WC, she has been in insanely good shape, and she does every race almost perfectly tactically. She is the ladies’ answer to Johannes Hösflot Kläbo, and now the Swedish ladies really have to work hard if they want to beat her next year, says TV2 expert Petter Skinstad.
On the men’s side, it was an honorable fourth place for the young talent Edvin Anger, who also had a big breakthrough this season. He smoked together with Petter Northug’s little brother Even during the final, but no one had a chance to challenge the completely superior Johannes Hösflot Kläbo.
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