Kerttu Niskanen caused the crash – the cameraman dodged the crash at the last moment

Johannes Hösflot Kläbo was again undefeated in the men’s sprint. Norway’s Kristine Stavås Skistad beat Sweden’s Jonna Sundling, who won the World Championship gold, in the final stretch.

The cross-country skiing world cup continued with the city sprints in Drammen, Norway, in the traditional way of skiing. There was enough drama in the heats for both men and women.

Kerttu Niskanen, who was 11th in qualifying as the best Finn, fought to the finish line for a place in the semi-finals. However, he remained in the USA Julia Kern and Sweden Maja Dahlqvist’s behind, and the time was not enough for the top 12 from the time comparison.

Niskanen also came under the threat of being dished out. At the end of the straight, he changed lanes directly to Italy Nicole Monsornon in front of. The Italian fell. For example, a Viaplay expert Sami Jauhojärvi according to the situation, there was no ambiguity that Niskanen acted wrongly.

– Let’s go skiing. There is no doubt that this would lead to overreaching, Jauhojärvi said.

At the finish, Monsorno spread his arms and looked at Niskas in wonder.

If Niskanen had received a red card for the situation, he would have dropped to the last stage of the heats, in 30th place. It would have been a hard setback considering the overall race of the World Cup, where Niskanen is third, ahead of Tiril Udnes Weng and Jessie Diggins.

In the final results, however, Niskanen was declared in 13th place. That means 56 World Cup points, while falling to 30th place would have brought 22 points. However, the official final results will be available later.

The men’s second quarter saw a wild situation when Norway Sindre Björnestad Skar tripped and fell facing France Jules Chappazia. Chappaz, on the other hand, slid towards the cameraman, who barely managed to dodge. The Norwegians Lars Agnar Hjelmeset and Ansgar Evensen caught the top runners of the batch.

Chappaz was left lying on the track for a while, but finally skied to the finish line, so worse injuries were probably avoided.

The next men’s round saw a scrap rally as well, when the French Richard Jayof the USA Zak Ketterson and Norway Sivert Wiig fell down. French Lucas Chanavat and Norway Paul Golberg were by far the best of the batch.

Skistad beat Sundling in the final stretch

The women’s sprint was won by Norway Kristine Stavås Skistad. Skistad, who finished fifth in the WC sprint, softened up Sweden, who previously won the WC gold, in the final stretch Jonna Sundling. Tiril Udnes Weng was third and increased his lead in the overall World Cup race.

The one who took World Cup silver from the tough Swedes Emma Ribom and reached fourth place in the World Championships Linn Svahn were gone. Exceptionally, compared to the course of this season, only one Swede was seen in the final. World Championship bronze medalist Maja Dahlqvist, Moa Lundgren and Johanna Hägström were left in the semi-finals.

From time trials, four Finns made it to the heats, i.e. into the top 30, while Kerttu Niskanen was 11th in qualifying, Anne Kyllönen 12th, Katri Lylynperä 19th and Eevi-Inkeri Tossavainen 29th Jasmin Kähärä missed the qualification, ranked 33rd. Jasmi Joensuu withdrew due to illness.

However, in the knowledge of all Finnish women, to the first round. 19-year-old Tossavainen participated in the World Cup sprint for the first time.

Kläbo’s winning streak continued

Won the men’s sprint Johannes Hösflot Kläbo before Erik Valnesia and Ansgar Evensen. Another Norwegian on the podium – 22-year-old Evensen’s first place in the top three in the World Cup. As many as five Norwegians skied in the final, the only non-Norwegian skier Richard Jouve placed third.

Kläbo also won the sprint at the World Championships. Among the other World Cup medalists, silver medalist Pål Golberg now missed the semifinals and bronze medalist Chappaz crashed in the quarterfinals.

Of the Finnish men, only two skiers made it to the final stage: Niilo Moilanen was the 14th of the qualifier and Lauri Vuorinen 28th They experienced elimination Joni Mäki, Lauri Mannila, Juuso Haarala and Olli Ahonen.

Vuorinen finished fifth in his heat, but Moilanen fought for a place in the semifinals until the chalk weeks. In the end, however, Moilanen finished fourth, missing second place and the direct semi-final spot by 0.35 seconds.