Just when people were starting to doubt Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk, the 30-year-old put down a pace no one could keep up with – not even four-time 2013 World Champion Marit Bjørgen – on Sunday in Lahti, Finland.
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The classic races of World Championships took place in Val di Fiemme: interval start, relay, marathon. Biathletes competed in Oslo, Americans held their own in Slavic Cup action, and Swedes (and everyone else) gave it their all in the Vasaloppet. Summaries of the action, along with links to reporting and results.
When you’ve already got 11 World Championship golds, it takes something really special to bring you to tears for the 12th one. Marit Bjørgen was overcome with emotion after winning Saturday's 30 k classic mass start, a race she had been focusing on for the last few years.
Marit Bjørgen's not unbeatable, but she's a pretty tough nut to crack. Therese Johaug proved its possible in a 10 k freestyle, winning the individual start on Tuesday for her second individual gold at World Championships. Yulia Tchekaleva broke through for Russia in third, German biathlete Miriam Gössner just missed a medal in fourth and American Liz Stephen captured fifth.
Photo Gallery: World Championships Women’s 10k Freestyle
FasterSkierFebruary 26, 2013
On the first sunny day of racing all week at World Championships, Norway's Therese Johaug skated to a 10-second win in the 10 k individual freestyle over teammate Marit Bjørgen. Our images from the race.
‘Heia Norge’ — Bjørgen Leads an Unstoppable Norway in World Champs Skiathlon
Audrey ManganFebruary 23, 2013
There are few ways to make a gold medal taste sweeter than it does on its own, but Marit Bjørgen and teammates Therese Johaug, Heidi Weng and Kristin Stoermer Steira somehow accomplished it for Norway in the women’s 15 k skiathlon on Saturday at the 2013 Nordic World Ski Championships. With Bjørgen leading the way, the women swept the top four spots in the finish for one of the most dominant performances ever seen from one country.
Though Marit Bjørgen made the last-second decision to skip Sunday's race, the Norwegian women were just fine in her absence. Therese Johaug claimed her first individual-start win in the 10 k in Davos, Switzerland, for a confidence-boosting tune-up before World Championships. She bested Justyna Kowalczyk and teammate Kristin Størmer Steira on the challenging course.
Bjørgen Untouchable As She Anchors Norway to Relay Gold
Audrey ManganJanuary 20, 2013
Things almost looked scary for Norway when Heidi Weng fell and broke a pole in the first kilometer of the 4 x 5 k relay in La Clusaz, but even the tangle couldn't stop Marit Bjørgen from finishing with a 27-second gap on the field. Finland finished second and Norway II took third.
Bjørgen Back on Top, Edges Johaug and Kowalczyk in La Clusaz 10 k Classic
Alex KochonJanuary 19, 2013
Marit Bjørgen rose above an irregular heartbeat and a month out of World Cup racing to top Norwegian teammate Therese Johaug and Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk in the 10 k classic mass start Saturday in La Clusaz, France.
Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) will need to make room in her trophy case for yet another crystal Tour de Ski pyramid. For the fourth straight time, the Pole won the grueling stage race, besting Norwegians Therese Johaug and Kristin Stoermer Steira.
With four women starting in the top top ten spots in the 10 k classic mass start, Norway seemed to have an opportunity - albeit a slim one - to steal at least some bonus seconds from Justyna Kowalczyk. But it was to no avail as the Polish star cruised to another victory and more or less sealed her Tour title. Kikkan Randall, meanwhile, is in seventh and hoping for a better climb than she's had before.
Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) skied to a 16.5 second win in the classic prologue, winning the fifth stage of the Tour de Ski while increasing her overall lead to more than a minute. Krista Lahteenmaki (FIN) was second and Astrid Jacobsen (NOR) took third.
Three stages remain in the 2013 Tour de Ski, including the grueling Final Climb up Alpe Cermis, but three-time defending champion Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) overcame what may have been her biggest challenge of the seven race event. She held off an impressive Charlotte Kalla (SWE) to keep the top position with just three races remaining.
Commanding Pursuit Victory Puts Kowalczyk in Tour Lead
Audrey ManganDecember 30, 2012
It didn't take long for the three-time defending Tour de Ski champion to remind everyone how dominant she can be. Starting from the third position, nearly 15 seconds down to prologue winner Kikkan Randall, Justyna Kowalczyk swallowed that deficit by the third kilometer of the 9 k classic pursuit and went on to win by over 40 seconds.
It didn’t look like Marit Bjørgen ever looked back Sunday in Kuusamo, Finland. It would’ve been pointless to do so; she was always more than a minute ahead, and the white-out conditions made the visibility near zero. Bjørgen won by more than a minute and 20 seconds, ahead of Justyna Kowalczyk, Heidi Weng and Therese Johaug.
A Norway-U.S. Relay Battle? Norwegian Women Win Again, But Americans Notch First World Cup Podium
Chelsea LittleNovember 25, 2012
While it's no surprise that Norway's women won the World Cup relay today, their margin of victory wasn't the largest it has ever been - for two legs, they were stalked by tenacious U.S. women. Jessie Diggins dug deep to retain a podium spot for the Americans.
Bjørgen Is Back up to Same Tricks, Bests Johaug in 10k Opener; Randall Surprises With First Distance Podium
Chelsea LittleNovember 24, 2012
GÄLLIVARE, Sweden – To here the top three women from today’s 10 k freestyle race tell it, none of them expected to win. Marit Bjørgen of Norway, the hands-down favorite coming into this first weekend of World Cup racing after winning the opening race last year as well as the overall World Cup, said that she would have been happy just to be on the podium. Despite the weight of expectations after trouncing Bjørgen...
Enter Johaug?
JoranNovember 20, 2012
Lots of racing this weekend, obviously, but the Muonio results only appeared on the FIS website today, so they’ll wait for later in the week. I was intrigued, though, but Therese Johaug’s strong races in Norway. For many reasons, it will be difficult to accurately parse early season results this year. Many people are focused [...] Related posts:
After months of training and anticipation, the nordic sports opened their seasons around the world this weekend with races around the world. Established veterans had several dominating performances, but there were new faces on the podiums as well, signaling that when World Cup racing starts next weekend, things could be pretty interesting. In Bruksvallarna, Sweden, the Swedish, Canadian, and Slovenian national teams butted heads in a three-day race series. One of the biggest surprises was...
Still feeling a bit like fish out of water on faster-than-normal rollerskis, U.S. Ski Team members Kikkan Randall and Liz Stephen jumped in anyway Friday, the second day of the Blink Festival in Sandnes, Norway. After both cautiously approached the start of yesterday’s 7.5 k climb, where men /