HONEYMOON.
Before the opening of the Skiing World Cup, Norway was the biggest talking point internationally Therese Johaugin return to World Cup competitions after almost a thousand days.
In the opening race, Johaug suffered a knockout loss to Sweden Frida Karlsson against, when the Norwegian beat the Swede in the traditional ten by no less than 46.5 seconds.
Karlsson was even close to Johaug’s winning record, because only Johaug has taken a more overwhelming victory in the women’s ten-kilometer intermediate starts. That happened in Otepää, Estonia in January 2019.
On Sunday, Johaug, on the other hand, fell outside the podium places in the 20 km freestyle skiing together. Johaug was fourth when he was still overtaken by the United States Jessie Diggins number one, Sweden Jonna Sundling second and Norway Heidi Weng third.
Norwegian women’s head coach Surr Be Svarstad revealed on Friday that Johaug had been nervous before his return to the World Cup.
Norwegian Viaplay expert, former top skier and three-time World Cup medalist, Niklas Dyrhaug saw on Sunday that Johaug’s return went very well.
– Friday’s competition showed that Frida Karlsson has improved. I believe that this loss will give Therese more motivation to work really well for the World Championships in Trondheim, Dyrhaug described to Urheilu.
In the World Championships held in February-March, Johaug has named the final distance, 50 kilometers in freestyle skiing, as his main goal.
Inside information about Kläbo
If there was a bit of uncertainty around Johaug, the men’s number one star John Hösflot Kläbon was expected to dominate in Ruka. For example, MTV’s skiing expert Jari Big forest your linethat Kläbo wins all three races in Ruka. However, the opposite happened.
Kläbo was even outside the podium positions in the traditional ten, when Ivo Neck took a clear victory. On Saturday, Kläbo was in his element on his parade trip, being clear number one in the traditional sprint.
However, Sunday morning dawned again with sadder news.
Kläbo opted out of the 20-kilometer joint start race on free skiing, citing mild flu symptoms and the fact that he has more important races ahead of him at the end of the season.
Are we in Norway worried about Kläbo, Niklas Dyrhaug?
– I don’t think we are there yet. I think it was reasonable to miss the race when it’s a bit sore. It was also humid and quite cold here in Ruka. When the women reached the finish line, they were frozen, Dyrhaug recalled.
Dyrhaug had time to talk to Kläbo, who had already left Ruka on Sunday, about the decision.
– Johannes showed here and in Beitostölen (ed. note. Norway’s season opener a week ago) that he is in really good shape for the start of the World Championships. However, Johannes must stay healthy. He had the same challenge last year as well, Dyrhaug describes.
Kläbo had to miss the Tour de Ski, for example. He finished second overall in the World Cup when Harald Östberg Amundsen was number one.
– We’ll see if Kläbo starts next week in Lillehammer in the next World Cup. The situation is a bit 50-50. When I talked to Johannes, he said that he is not really sick. However, he was not in 100 percent shape, Dyrhaug revealed.
Iivo Niskanen convinced from close range
Iivo Niskanen was now able to celebrate the World Cup victory after a break of more than two and a half years.
Niskanen put on quite a show in honor of the victory and made headlines in Norway as well, because he had talked about being sick while preparing for the World Cup in Ruka.
Dyrhaug liked Niskanen’s showman antics.
– We make entertainment. Iivo is a big name, and cross-country skiing doesn’t have as many similar profile names as before, Dyrhaug reminded and underlined Niskanen’s great importance for the whole sport.
Norway’s star skiers were ready to hand over the mantle of champion favorite to Niskanen after Friday’s victory in the traditional ten for the World Championships.
Niskanen himself described in Olos at the beginning of November that his goal for this season is to take three medals in a row at the World Championships. In the traditional ten, in a pair print and in a message.
Dyrhaug believes in the goal in the traditional ten and in the traditional pair relay, while still Lauri Mountainous dazzled in his podium position on Saturday in the Ruka sprint. However, the relay medal goal makes you think.
Cross mat HakolaIivo Niskanen, Perttu Nice one and Niko Anttola took World Cup silver in this skiing order at the previous World Championships in Planica 2023. At that time, Finnish men returned to the relay medals after a 14-year break.
Now Hakola has had a hard time with that foursome, Hyvärinen is injured and Anttola had to miss the Ruka World Cup due to illness.
Of course, Lauri Vuorinen has now joined the message speculations with his top performances. In contrast to the previous message, shorter sections are skied in Trondheim. Now there are four times 7.5 kilometers in the program, while previously the ten kilometer sections were skied.
On Sunday, Dyrhaug had talked with Niskanen for a couple of minutes and witnessed Finland’s number one star up close in the warm-up for the joint start of the 20-kilometer freestyle skiing.
Niskanen led the race at his best and grabbed 15 World Cup extras from the bonus point position as the top man, but according to his own words, he experienced a death in the middle. Niskanen was 17th in the final results.
– Iivo seems to be in good shape. He has trained well before the start of the season. I believe that the medal will come from the traditional sprint and pair sprint, but for the relay medal they need more athletes back, Dyrhaug sums up the situation.