Johaug Skis Alone to 50 k Win, Diggins Secures Distance Globe

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Therese Johaug (NOR) was going to retire two weeks ago, but things didn’t work out as planned. She had intended to go out after the 50 k at World Championships—to be honest, Johaug intended to go out after winning the 50 k at World Championships—but horrendous conditions on that day in Trondheim may have robbed her of that chance. She managed to finish an uncharacteristic third, but that’s not the sort of victory lap Johaug imagined marking the end of her legendary career. She needed another 50 k to set the stage for her retirement. Today’s race is why Therese Johaug changed her mind.

Women’s 50 k Classic Mass Start

Few entrants in the women’s 50 k field had also competed in yesterday’s Team Sprint event. That meant that most of the skiers who lined up at the starting line of today’s 50 k were pretty fresh (well, as fresh as could be expected here at the far end of a full World Cup and World Championship season). Whatever energy each skier still possessed they would dearly need.

Fifty kilometers is a long, long way, and Johaug’s strategy was likely to render it a suffer fest. In years past, Therese Johaug would simply ski off the front of any Distance event, and race the entire distance alone; a courageous and absolutely domineering way to race. If Johaug had a plan for today, that was probably it.

Lahti offered a 7.15 kilometer loop that skiers would navigate seven times. Less than five minutes into the first lap, Johaug moved to the front along with Ebba Andersson (SWE), Astrid Oeyre Slind (NOR), and Nora Saness (NOR). Predictably, Johaug’s group began to establish a bit of a lead over the main field. Jessie Diggins (USA) worked to minimize the gap, finding herself in an early chase group with Teresa Stadlober (AUT), Kertuu Niskanen (FIN), Victoria Carl (GER), Katherina Hennig (GER), and Nadja Kaelin (SUI). Diggins’ coaches started doing the math: what would she need to do in order to maintain her grasp on the distance Crystal Globe?

Over the course of 50 kilometers, the field would contest six bonus points sprints, with the first coming at 12.9 kilometers. The Distance leaader points gap between Diggins and Slind was close enough (95 points) that those bonus points could allow Slind a chance to overtake Diggins in the chase for the Crystal Globe. The pattern was set early on: Slind would cross the bonus points line second (behind Johaug) to collect 12 bonus points while Diggins would cross tenth to claim a single point. Diggins’ lead was dwindling, but there were many bonus sprints—and many more kilometers of racing—still to go.

At the end of the second lap (at 14.3 kilometers), Johaug was away. She double poled off the front, leaving Slind as the sole chaser well ahead of a group that now included Andersson, Niskanen, Hennig, Carl, Kaelin, Saness, Stadlober, with Diggins beginning to dangle off the back. Diggins would change her skis at the end of Lap 3, a decision which she would later credit with her ability to charge forward late in the race.

Quietly, Diggins went to work, hoping to reel in Kaelin and maybe even Saness or Carl. Diggins had already secured the Overall Crystal Globe earlier in the week, but Slind’s performance in this 50 k saw the Norwegian threatening Diggins in the race for the Distance Crystal Globe. Ultimately, Diggins dug deep, passing Kaelin late in the race to secure ninth place. That placing allowed Diggins to maintain her hold on the Distance World Cup by a mere two points.

At the front, Johaug left no doubt who was the supreme distance skier of the day, of the era, perhaps of all time. She secured her victory more than a minute ahead of Slind, a performance that may begin to reduce the sting of Johaug’s disappointment at the slushy World Championships in Trondheim. If Johaug wanted redemption, then that she achieved here in Lahti. If she wanted to go out on top—to retire after a significant victory—then this was her chance. But the scope and breadth of Johaug’s magnificent career is such that she may have lost interest in lesser prizes. World Cup wins, Tour de Ski triumphs, even World Cup overall championships: Johaug has had enough of those to assure the immortality of her career statistics. At this point in her career, Johaug is likely to prioritize only the glory that shines from individual accomplishments: World championships and Olympic gold medals. After today’s performance, Johaug could be forgiven for looking forward to another such opportunity for individual glory that lies less than a year away in the Olympic 50 k in Italy. She might be able to dominate that race just as she dominated today’s. But there would be many long days of training still to deliver between now and then. And that imagined victory would only be arrived at over the best efforts of Slind, Andersson, Frida Karlsson (SWE), and whatever other dark horses arise (as they so often do) in consequential Olympic races.

Today’s race is why Therese Johaug changed her mind. Now, she has more decisions to make, with consequences and opportunities that may be played out through one final, glorious Olympic season.

Women’s World Cup 50 k RESULTS