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By Adam Bodensteiner
A field of 75 skiers started in the Oslo mist Saturday morning. One hour and 51 minutes later, eight Norwegians emerged into the most famous stadium in ski racing. What happened in between is anyone’s guess. What we do know is that Norway’s Einar Hedegart, once a biathlete, has now cemented his place as a cross-country skier by winning one of the most iconic races on the World Cup.
Despite the fog, spectators were out in force for the Homenkollen 50-kilometer mass start skate race (readers will have to take the broadcaster announcer’s word on this as they were not visible). Conditions were fast. Air temperatures hovered around 3.3 degrees Celsius and organizers salted the course. Skiers completed six laps of 8.3 kilometers each. Different this year, the women’s field started 45 minutes into the men’s race. Meaning fans had nearly uninterrupted action to cheer for for almost three hours.
Four men represented the Americans today: Brian Bushey (Craftsbury Green Racing Project) made his European World Cup debut; Team Birkie skiers Zak Ketterson and Kevin Bolger; and Hunter Wonders of APU.
There was one extremely notable absence at the start line. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo is recovering from a concussion he received on Thursday in the semifinal of the Drammen city sprints. His presence on the World Cup has been suffocating, and his absence today meant the opportunity to claim the win would be available to anyone willing to seize it.
The race was uneventful for the first 25 kilometers. The pack stayed together and there were no notable surges at the front. At the halfway point, Norway’s Iver Tildheim Andersen was the first to change skis.
Lap four was when things started to heat up. Andreas Fjorden Ree, Harald Østberg Amundsen, and Simen Hegstad Krüger (all NOR) created a gap on the climb. They were reeled in by the field, however, led by Kasper Andersson Herland (also NOR). Ree, Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget (also NOR), and Krüger led into the penultimate lap and exchanged skis alongside the majority of the field.
Andersen, who had changed skis on the previous lap, was left alone at the front of the race. He maintained a 17-second gap, attempting to go out of sight in the fog, and therefore out of mind of the chasers. Hedegart, now with fresh skis, did not forget him and led a chasing group of seven Norwegians, Korostelev (AIN), and Victor Lovera (FRA).
Andersen maintained a gap of 15.6 seconds as he started the final lap. This started to erode as the chasers got organized. Korostelev and Lovera lost contact on the climb to the course’s high point as Andersen’s compatriots finally caught him. Eight Norwegians remained in the lead.
Up the lip into the stadium, Amundsen and Hedegart emerged onto the “Northug-flata,” followed by the rest of the Norwegians. Hedegart pushed ahead of Amundsen with a few meters to go and claimed victory, Amundsen into second.
Nyenget, Ree, Herland, Krüger, Håvard Moseby (NOR, go figure), and Andersen finished in that order. Lovera and Korostelev rounded out the top ten.
Zak Ketterson finished with a good result for the Americans in the next group, ultimately finishing 18th in the sprint for placings in the teens. Hunter Wonders finished 45th, Kevin Bolger in 48th, and Brian Bushey in 59th.
Hedegart was ecstatic, telling Nordic Insights’ on-the-ground reporter in Norwegian (comments were translated using AI and edited for clarity), “This the best feeling you have ever had on the cross-country track. Actually in a sports arena. It is a legendary competition, five (norwegian) miles* in Oslo. And I have seen many of my childhood heroes win here, especially Petter. To leave here with a 50 [km] win is just enormous. In addition, when it’s a mass start, you get an answer to whether you win or not when you cross the line. It’s a bit extra special. Then it feels a bit extra good to win.”
On his club teammate Kasper Herland, who finished fifth, Hedegart said, “He told me that he has slept more nights in the same bed as me than anyone else. It is a close relationship. Then I gave him a kiss, and then I forced him to give me a kiss on the cheek. So it was on the cheek, we’ll see. But yes, there is a good relationship between us. We have spent many months together, and as I said, in the same bed even. It’s never a bad atmosphere between us.”
Hedegart also had a lot to say on his development as a skier and his future.
On why it took so long to get to this point, he said “Covid, in a season when I wasn’t allowed to compete, and the year after that I was injured all season. So I ran one race in two years. If you then manage to keep your motivation up, it says something about the inner drive you have. And I really have had that, just have faith in what I’ve done.”
He continued, “I am so looking forward and looking forward to what lies ahead. …I am by no means finished, but then I live every season too, my own life. I can’t control whether I get hurt or sick at any time. Next season may be bad for all I know.”
“I’m probably someone who has a strong arm to ski the distances that suit me in Falun. I have very good cards on my arm now, but Falun is [a long way off], so there is a lot that can happen. But I have no intention of giving up here.”
But will it be in biathlon or in cross-country skiing? “We’ll see, but exactly the feeling today, I have never experienced that before. Yes. This is what you dream of. It’s always a good feeling to win, but this was absolutely extraordinary. It just gave me a lot of drive to actually become a cross-country skier.”
It sounds like he’s caught the bug.
On the American side, Ketterson was happy with his performance, telling Nordic Insights man on the ground Lukas Pigott, “That was a really nice sign of life after those last two [Olympic] races went really bad. I wouldn’t have expected it to come in a 50km skate of all things, but I was in the mass sprint for number 11 and unfortunately ended up 18th but I felt super happy about that.”
Reflecting on his season, which was marked by a significant increase in intensity in the summer training period, Ketterson said, “I feel like I tried to come in in really good shape to the start of the season to try and qualify for the Olympics and then since the Olympics it feels like I’m on a little bit of a downward trend. But today was a really nice blip of hope before we head back to the U.S.”
Bolger, who turns 33 next month, was a bit more wistful. Of the race, he told Nordic Insights, “It was something. This is probably the coolest race you can do. When I heard no one wanted to do it, of the men and we had spots. I was like, ‘I’ll do it. Why not?’ It wasn’t anything I was gunning for this year but it was fun to do.”
Reflecting on his season, Bolger said, “I wish I would’ve gotten a few more distance opportunities. I didn’t have any stellar results but I thought I had results that deserved more opportunity. But it’s tough. It leaves me wanting more for next season, for sure.”
Gabriel Gledhill, skier for Great Britain, more broadly known as King of Trondheim, had a different race experience today. Nordic Insights can report that Gledhill had approximately 10–12 beers and 6–7 shots during the race. “It was pretty fun,” said KoT. “Frida, Jessie, the whole front group went by while I was drinking a beer and I thought, ‘Here’s my chance, I’ll get somebody to ski with here to finish it.’ They went pretty fast so I couldn’t even keep up at the end.”
On the concept of having both men and women race at the same time, Gledhill said, “It’s awesome. Yeah, they should definitely, definitely do that as you can feel it while you’re skiing. You’re getting the action the whole time. Skiing needs more action and we got a good step forward for the sport of skiing. I’m a bit drunk.”
Up next, there is no rest for the weary as the World Cup heads to the U.S. Many athletes are leaving on Sunday for Lake Placid, which hosts World Cup Finals starting on Friday. Nordic Insights will continue its season-ending spate of in-person coverage with two reporters and two photographers at all three races. Stay tuned for more.
*This writer learned today that Norwegian miles are 10 kilometers and that Norwegians refer to the 50-kilometer race as the Femmila (Fem meaning five).
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