By Lukas Pigott
GRANÅSEN ARENA, Trondheim — Despite the rain pouring down in Trondheim today, 19,000 people made it out to see what would be one of the more exciting cross-country ski races of recent history, Sunday’s women’s skiathlon.
A jury decision this morning to salt the course meant that despite the rain coming down in bucket loads throughout the day, the courses stayed sharp. This development did not favor pre-race favorite Therese Johaug, who admitted that she would rather have had tougher conditions.
The action started already in the opening minutes when Heidi Weng crashed on the second uphill on the course after planting her pole between her legs. This was just the first incident involving Weng that would end up setting its mark on the race.
With the field being whittled down throughout the classic laps of the course, five skiers led the race going into the ski exchange at the 10-kilometer mark of the 20km race. Not surprisingly, it was a group containing Norway and Sweden with Therese Johaug, Heidi Weng, and Astrid Øyre Slind representing the Norwegian team, with Ebba Andersson and Thursday’s sprint winner, Jonna Sundling, in the mix for Sweden.
Much of the pre-race talk had been about the ski exchange and how it was vital, especially on this course where there is a significant hill right out of the stadium. There is often drama in the ski exchange, and today was no exception. As Slind entered her exchange box she touched one of her skis slightly, enough to send it across the track and into the camera rail for the finishing straight. The ski exchange area is a no-coaching zone; there was nothing for Slind to do but to go and track down the wayward ski, hemorrhaging precious time in the process.
By the time she had got her ski on she was out of the race, if not physically at least mentally, trailing the leaders by around thirteen seconds. While huddling under her umbrella after the race Slind told local newspaper Adresseavisen, “I felt I had a good day, so it’s even worse when it’s ruined by mishap.”
When asked about looking forward to Tuesday’s 10km classic, where she is one of the out-and-out favorites to take the win, she answered, “Yes, I have to look forward. If you think about this too much then it’s not fun to be a skier.”
With the lead group now just four, with Frida Karlsson chasing slightly behind after having struggled on the classic leg, it was looking more and more like it was going to be a sprint for the podium.
Coming into the final corner on the penultimate lap Sundling tried to go on the inside of Weng. But she was carrying too much speed, and her skis crossed. Sundling crashed and Weng crashed while the whole stadium gasped, not believing what had just happened.
Neither Sundling nor Weng would be able to catch up to Johaug and Andersson after the fall over the final lap. With the two of them unable to shake the other off, the win would come down to a sprint.
Johaug led down the hill into the stadium, and with some good cornering work around the final bend was able to get a ski’s length on Andersson at the start of the finishing straight. Andersson though had not given up, and was able to claw back on Johaug and get her foot just ahead, defending her World Championship title from Planica in 2023.
Andersson’s margin of victory was officially 0.006 seconds. The gap was approximately one centimeter after 2,000,000 centimeters of racing.
In the post-race press conference Andersson said, “I couldn’t believe it when Therese came and congratulated me. … It’s a dream come true.”
When asked how this compared to her first World Championship title, in 2023, she answered, “I’m just as happy, but I have had a totally different backdrop,” referring to a season where her results have varied more than before Planica. “So I’m extra proud today.”
“I missed some poles” was Johaug’s analysis of her finishing sprint against Andersson. “Only my fault. I’m happy with second place.”
“Nothing can compare to championships in Norway,” added the Norwegian hero.
Despite missing out on the win by only a few centimeters Johaug was actually one of very few not looking gloomy after the race, perhaps not helped by the weather.
How would it have ended if Sundling had been with you into the finish?
“Then she would have won,” Johaug answered without hesitation. “Ebba [Andersson] and I had luck.”
“I have mixed feelings right now” Sundling started when asked how she was feeling after winning her first medal in a World Champs distance race, while also missing out on a potential sprint where she would have been the overwhelming favorite with her sprinting capabilities. “For me a bronze medal is huge,” she said, but “I feel disappointed.” Sundling added, “Things happen, but it’s shit when it happens for you.”
After yelling a word that I won’t repeat here in the direction of Sundling while crossing the finish line in fifth (Weng later said that she was remonstrating herself), Weng headed straight out of the finish area, clearly devastated with losing out on what would have been a very good chance of a podium today. Talking to the media when she had collected herself she said that Sundling owed her an apology after what happened on the final corner with one lap to go.
Sundling on the other hand had seemingly enough of her own emotions to handle, having to break off her mixed zone appearance halfway through after losing control of herself. When asked later on in the post-race press conference about what was going on, she said that she “needed time by herself.”
“One to forget” were, as well as being the exact words Katherine Stewart-Jones used to describe her race, words applicable to many skiers’ races today. The weather, tough racing, and disappointing results were all factors that led to many athletes looking gloomy while huddled under umbrellas in the mixed zone.
photo: Noah Eckstein for Nordic Insights
One of the pre-race favorites, Jessie Diggins, struggled today in 13th, not a bad result, but not what she was hoping for.
Talking to Nordic Insights after the race she said, “I only had 60 percent of the grip I needed on my classic skis.” She added, “My big goal today was to be clear and communicative with the skis, make the best decisions that I could, and then race as hard as I could. … I’m really proud that I did do the best that I could today. Unfortunately, things are still not coming together with my skis.”
Hear more from Jessie, on skis, her tattoo, and more, here:
This is day two out of two so far in the championships of struggling with the skis for Diggins. When asked about this situation USA head coach Matt Whitcomb told Nordic Insights, “It’s tough everyday regardless of the conditions and today was really no different. We wake up and see rain and think, Oh, this is good because our attitude can be to our advantage. But, I’ll hold off on comments on the skis today before I talk to all the athletes.”
Hear much more from Matt, on skis and otherwise, here:
photo: Noah Eckstein
Another (American) woman to have a tough day today was Julia Kern who finished 26th.
Did you have a good time? “No, no, not a good race for me” she said. “Unfortunately, the grip was missing today on the skis, and there’s quite a bit of climbing on that classic course. So it was, it was a really hard battle, and I just tried to stay in and move up in the skate.”
Kern noted that, despite some individual challenges, she feels the team is working really well. “We have two chefs cooking meals for us,” she said. “We have two physios working really hard. We have a team doctor. There’s so much behind the scenes that’s going on and honestly, our vibe is great.”
More from Julia here:
In what was a rough day for the North Americans, Canadian Liliane Gagnon managed to pull off a strong 30th-place performance. Fellow Canadian Alison Mackie, who placed 44th, told Nordic Insights, “I’m having so much fun, and I’m really happy to be here.”
Sonjaa Schmidt of Canada told us, “It was hard.”
“Definitely blew up on the first lap in classic,” Schmidt said. “But then I just held on, raced the race. The crowds were really great, despite the weather. It’s quite rainy out there, yeah. Definitely tough conditions, especially for classic. You know, the tracks are pretty icy, but good race overall with the crowds.”
Sophia Laukli finished 23rd and Alayna Sonnesyn finished 40th, with the latter telling Nordic Insights, “I’m so stoked to be here, and I’m just soaking up everything the World Champs has to offer.”
Well, so are we. The racing will continue on Tuesday with the interval-start 10km classic for both men and women. Can Klæbo make it three out of three so far or can Karlsson, Slind, Weng, Diggins, or Sundling come back from today’s disappointment? We’ll have to wait and see.
You’re reading this on Nordic Insights, one man’s labor of love dedicated to publicizing American nordic skiing. Last season’s GoFundMe is literally the only reason why I turned a profit in years one and two of Nordic Insights, and in turn the only reason why there is a year three of Nordic Insights for you to be reading now: I was okay with working for very little money to get this love letter to American cross-country skiing off the ground, but I didn’t want to lose money for the privilege of doing so. If you would like to support what remains a brutally shoestring operation, last season’s GoFundMe may be found here. Thank you for your consideration, and, especially, for reading.
Correction: when Heidi Weng was asked “Should she [Jonna] apologize?” She answered “no, that is good, we have talked, it is also fine”. Source: expressen.se tabloid YouTube video interview (auto-translated by google).
Another observations: yes, Diggins&skies really struggled on uphils in 2nd and 3rd lap (+30 and +40 seconds). However, she also struggled on uphills in skating, interesting why (too much effort exerted on classic? or the leaders were pushing at the end?)
Final note: Frida seems to be the fastest from around 15km till finish. (managed to reduce time deficit by 6 seconds)
I wish they would call it a tie. At 0.006 seconds the start position makes more difference. It is ridiculous and I think unsporting to not call it a tie. While Sundling going down definitely ruined Weng’s race, it is a good reminder that drafting has disadvantages too. No crashing skier takes out the leader.