FasterSkier’s FIS World Championships coverage stands as a proud tribute to American Skiing Icon Marty Hall, who (with his wife, Kathy Hall, and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award) has supported our coverage of international cross-country ski events. Learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award at info@fasterskier.com. We’ll miss you, Marty.
Simen Hegstad Krueger (NOR) has won this race before . . . but his victory in the 2023 World Championships was contested over a distance of 30 kilometers rather than today’s 20 kilometers. Still, Krueger was definitely one to watch, as on-air commentators mentioned that he has medaled in 10 of the 11 World Championship and Olympic events that he has entered. That’s almost unbelievable!
Krueger had history on his side, but his Norwegian teammate—Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo—was less interested in mere history, and more interested in lasting immortality. Klaebo had never won a World Championship or Olympic Distance race. Two days ago—after his victory in the Freestyle Sprint—he advised fans to watch today’s Skiathlon. This was his chance to complete skiing’s most notable résumé.
The 20 k Skiathlon is an event designed to crown the world’s best all-around skier . . . sort of. That “crowning” only proves evenly prioritized (between Classic and Freestyle) if the field races the 10 k Classic portion with the same aggression and gusto with which they race the 10 k Freestyle portion. But for the best Classic skier’s efforts to prove truly significant, that skier would need to go from the gun, dropping the field in the Classic leg, then hold off the charging skaters in the Freestyle leg. That’s just not how it usually happens. That’s certainly not how it was likely to happen with the world’s best Classic skier—Finland’s Iivo Niskanen—absent from the field (presuming saving his energy for the 10 k Classic Interval Start to be contested later this week). Everyone in the field knew the challenge: drop Klaebo, or watch him sprint away with the championship.
Four Norwegians started in the top five—Krueger, Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo, Harald Oestberg Amundsen, and Martin Loestroem Nyenget—bracketing the lone Frenchman, Hugo Lapalus. Always one to animate the races he enters, Lapalus appeared eager to press the issue.
“It will be amazing today,” said Lapalus in pre-race interviews. “(I’ll try) to stay in the lead group throughout the race, maybe push hard in the last lap in skating. I will see!”
“I love this feeling in the stadium,” Lapalus continued. “It’s just amazing, a country of cross country skiing, I think it will be amazing in my first World Championship in Norway.”
Even in his pre-race interview, Amundsen remained patient and calculating: . “We’ll see if Simen—or someone else—puts the pace up on the skating part,” he said. “But I have to keep calm and wait a bit, I think, and hopefully I have good legs so I can pick up the pace during the skate part. If not, I have a good sprint, so we’ll see.”
We did see . . . and what we witnessed was Klaebo erasing from his record the one thing that had been missing for so long: a Distance gold medal at a World Chmapionship.
“It feels amazing,” said Klaebo in post-reace interviews. “It was about time, I guess. I’ve been working quite hard for this. I mean, I’ve been close a few times, Finally now and I can say I stand on the top of the podium . . . It’s probably more emotional for me, this one, than the Sprint. This tastes good.”
Gus Schuacher (USA) delivered another brilliant performance in a highly competitive field with his ninth place finish. Schumacher proved to be the only North American who remained in contention as Kevin Bolger finished 31st, Zak Ketterson 41st, and Zanden McMulen 46th. Among Canadians, Olivier Leveille was 34th, Antoine Cyr 40th, Xavier McKeever 45th, and Max Hollman 63rd.
20 k Skiathlon
The first Distance race on Trondheim’s World Championship schedule would be contested across three laps of a 3.3 kilometer Classic loop, followed by three times around a different 3.3 kilometer Freestyle loop. With temperatures in coastal Trondheim approaching 40 degrees Fahrenheit, ski prep would prove crucial. As the race unfolded, kick wax did not appear to be a limiting factor. Not much slipping was evident in the early kilometers, and very little herringbone technique was employed. The Classic half of the race would be one decidedly affected by glide. Special ski selections, magical base-grinds: who would be doing the least work and benefitting most from fast skis in the first half?
Klaebo led the field through the stadium after lap 1, and again after lap 2 with all the prime contenders—Amundsen, Lapalus, Nyenget, Krueger—in his proximity. A loose group of 15 began steadily to pull away with Schumacher comfortably positioned in that group. Exiting the stadium for the final Classic lap, Nyenget began to press the issue, followed by Klaebo, Lapalus, Amundsen, and an invigorated Federico Pellegrino who appeared to be riding a wave of energy from his recent silver medal in the Freestyoe Sprint. Krueger dropped back a few seconds, but did not appear to be struggling. The lead group was whittled down to twelve with Schumacher still in contact.
Nyenget led into the stadium at the end of the 10 k Classic leg, closely followed by Lapalus and Klaebo. Speed in transition would set the stage for the effort all skiers would be forced to commit in the Freestyle leg. Lapalus blazed through the ski transition, exiting the stadium ahead of his teammate, Mathis Desloges. The other contenders remained hot on their heels. Pellegrino lost a few seconds, while Krueger returned to a higher position. The skate leg . . . game on.
Jensen, Krueger, Desloges, Nyenget, and Klaebo led the field through the checkpoint at 13 kilometers. As the course tipped up (onto the Sprint course used just two days ago) Nyenget forced his way to the front. Lapalus and Desloges closed the gap, pulling Klaebo and Nyenget through the stadium at the end of the first Skate lap. Shumacher remained in contact with the 13-man lead group, as did Pellegrino.
At 15.3 kilometers, Andrew Musgrave (GBR) emerged at the front. Krueger accepted the help, but the pace may have slowed a bit, allowing the leaders to regroup. Most eyes remained on Klaebo, lurking two seconds back. As they entered the stadium for the beginning of the final lap, Musgrave was followed by Pellegrino and Klaebo. If Krueger were to have any chance of dropping the sprinters, he’d have only 3.3 kilometers in which to do it. The field knew the situation—either find a way to drop the sprinters, or they would certainly dominate the finishing sprint.
With half a lap to go, the field briefly re-entered the stadium where Klaebo nearly tangled with Musgrave as the Norwegian’s famously-fast skis ran up on his rivals tails. A short loop took the pack out of the crowd’s view while the sprinters continued to jockey for position before the final climb and descent to the finish line. As he had in Thursday’s Freestyle Sprint, Klaebo eased to the inside around the tight turn at the top of the final downhill. All contenders were present in what would, again, prove to be a wax-race to the final righthand turn. That’s a good situation if you’re the man from Trondheim, seeking his first Distance Championship in front of his home crowd, and on the world’s fastest skis. Klaebo was not to be denied, sprinting around the final corner (ahead of the pushing and shoving of his medal-hungry Norwegian teammates, Nyenget and Jenssen), increasing his advantage all the way to his long-awaited finish line. Behind him, a scramble of sprinters jabbed their ski tips across the line in a four-man photo-finish, with medals being claimed by Nyenget (silver) and Amundsen (bronze). Jenssen fell back into fourth, Pellegrino fifth. Schumacher picked off two spots in the final meters to finish ninth.
The career of Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo is such that it is very difficult for him to deliver any more “firsts.” But today, in his hometown of Trondheim, Klaebo was able to add another significant bit to his already-crowded résumé. No longer would he be the unbeatable sprinter who couldn’t win the Distance race. With this Distance championship safely in his pocket, Klaebo moved one step closer to claiming for himself the level of immortality that much of the skiing world already grants him.
“I feel like people have been speaking more about it than I have,” Klaebo recalled. “Being able to do it here, in front of the home crowd, couldn’t be a better place to do it. I’m just super satisfied and happy.”
And, in Trondheim’s World Championships, there are still four more races to go.
World Championships Men’s 20 k Skiathlon RESULTS
John Teaford
John Teaford—the Managing Editor of FasterSkier — has been the coach of Olympians, World Champions, and World Record Holders in six sports: Nordic skiing, speedskating, road cycling, track cycling, mountain biking, triathlon. In his long career as a writer/filmmaker, he spent many seasons as Director of Warren Miller’s annual feature film, and Producer of adventure documentary films for Discovery, ESPN, Disney, National Geographic, and NBC Sports.
