World Cup Rankings: Norway Leads the Way

At the end of the first World Cup period, Norway is clearly the top nation on the circuit.  In addition to leading the Nation Cup, Norway also has the overall individual leaders for both men and women.

Nation Cup

The Nation Cup rankings are determined by the total World Cup points scored by a nation – both genders combined.

Norway, the perennial winner, already has a lead of over 1100 points.  Russia is second and Sweden third.  The Norwegian men usually top the list, but this season, the women are also tops.  The Finnish women have slipped from their usual top spot and sit back in 4th.

Russia is 2nd for men and 3rd for women, while Sweden holds the reverse.

The US is currently in 11th – the men 9th and the women 16th.  Canada is 17th.

A total of 22 teams have scored at least one World Cup point.  Australia is 22nd on the strength of Ben Sim’s 30th place finish earlier this year.

Nation Cup Top 5

1. Norway 3359
2. Russian Federation 2266
3. Sweden 2049
4. Finland 1406
5. Italy 981

11. USA 355
17. Canada 167

World Cup Overall

Men

Petter Northug (NOR) holds a commanding lead in the men’s overall, his 440 points give him a 240 lead on teammate John Kristian Dahl.  Northug has three victories and one second place finish and has scored points in 6 of 8 World Cup races.

Alexander Legkov (RUS) is third with 187 points.  Russia and Norway combine to hold the top six spots.

Andy Newell is the top American in 14th.  Kris Freeman is not far behind in 21st.

Devon Kershaw leads Canada in 54th.

Women

The women’s standings are much closer.  Marit Bjorgen (NOR) holds a 50 point lead on Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), last year’s winner.  Petra Majdic (SLO) is third, another 14 points back.  Bjorgen has two victories and two second-place finishes.

Majdic is the only skier, male or female, to score points in every World Cup race this season. Kowalczyk skipped the sprint weekend in Dusseldorf, but cracked the top-30 in every other race.

Bjorgen’s lead is short-lived as she will not participate in the Tour de Ski.

World Cup Sprint

Men

Norway holds the top three spots in the SPrint Cup.  Dahl leads the way, 20 points up on Northug, and last year’s sprint champion, Ola Vigen Hattestad, is 3rd despite a rough stretch the last few weeks.  Russian Alxei Petukhov is 4th, and yet another Norwegian, Oystein Pettersen is 5th.

Andy Newell (USA) is 8th.  He has the same number of points as Jesper Modin (SWE), but Modin has the better single result, a third.

Overall Norway and Russia hold 8 of the top 10 spots.

Women

Majdic is the top female sprinter, a spot she held all of last year.  Bjoergen is 2nd, 48 points back, and Kowalczyk is 3rd.

Young Hanna Falk (SWE) a surprise winner in Dusseldorf, is 4th.

Kikkan Randall is 25th.

Sweden has three skiers in the top-10.

World Cup Distance

Men

Northug leads the way here as well, a solid 73 points ahead of Legkov.  Matti Heikkinen (FIN) is 3rd.

Kris Freeman is 9th with 95 points.

Seven different nations are represented in the top-10.

Women

Bjoergen is a slim 14 points ahead of Irina Khazova (RUS) and 17 up on Charlotte Kalla (SWE).  Kowalczyk is 4th, only six points out of 3rd.