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  • Kalla Untouchable in Östersund World Cup 10 k; Bjørgen Takes Overall World Cup Crown

    Kalla Untouchable in Östersund World Cup 10 k; Bjørgen Takes Overall World Cup Crown

    Sweden's Charlotte Kalla came up big in front of a home crowd in Östersund, Sweden, winning Sunday's 10 k freestyle by more than 36 seconds over Norway's Marit Bjørgen. (Photo: FIS)
    Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla came up big in front of a home crowd in Östersund, Sweden, winning Sunday’s 10 k freestyle by more than 36 seconds over Norway’s Marit Bjørgen. (Photo: FIS)

    With only days to go until the 2015 Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Sweden, nobody could touch home-crowd favorite Charlotte Kalla in the women’s World Cup 10-kilometer freestyle individual start on Sunday in Östersund, Sweden.

    The 27-year-old Kalla polished off the challenging, hilly, two-lap course in 23 minutes and 26.1 seconds for her first World Cup win since March 2010, when she won the 10 k freestyle at World Cup Finals. She was more than half a minute ahead of Marit Bjørgen of Norway in second place, and nearly a minute ahead of Therese Johaug of Norway, who have been dominating the World Cup since the first races in November.

    “It feels great to win a World Cup again,” Kalla said to FIS reporters after the race.

    Kalla was quick to thank the spectators for carrying her through the challenging course and also noted that she felt like she had some home turf advantage.

    “The crowd here in Östersund was so encouraging. I know the courses here very well, and I felt strong,” she said, adding that Feb. 15 marks a special anniversary for her.

    “I won Olympic gold in Vancouver on this day, and again last year in Sochi we won the relay on this day, and now a World Cup win today,” Kalla said.

    Kalla chose to sit out the 2014/2015 Tour de Ski in favor of training and peaking for the World Championships on home turf later in the season, a strategy she chose with success also leading up to the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

    Left Bjørgen in the dust

    Saturday’s sprint winner and Overall World Cup leader, Bjørgen was clearly ahead of her primary rival Johaug, starting a minute after her teammate and beating Johaug by more than 15 seconds. But even the queen of cross-country skiing was more than half a minute behind Kalla, who started 50th, over 10 kilometers.

    Bjørgen in bib 72 never came close to matching Kalla at any point of the race, with Kalla leading by 10.4 seconds at 1.8 k, then 25.4 seconds at 6.8 k. At 8.3 k, Bjørgen remained in second, but was 31.5 seconds behind Kalla.

    “I didn’t feel as strong today as yesterday, but I am really happy for Charlotte,” Bjørgen told FIS after the race. “It is so nice to see her back on top of the podium. It’s great for her, and it is important for the sport, especially with the World Championships here in Sweden.”

    “It’s great for her, and it is important for the sport, especially with the World Championships here in Sweden.” — Marit Bjørgen, runner-up in Sunday’s 10 k freestyle to Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla

    Despite finishing second, Bjørgen locked up her fourth Overall World Cup title on Sunday with a 565-point lead on Johaug (last year’s overall winner) with four World Cup races to go.

    Kalla skied confidently for the start. Low to the ground, she pushed off calmly and powerfully, getting the most out of every stride. The Norwegians skied with higher turnover, but on Sunday, their style resulted in less speed.

    At 1.8 k, Kalla remained more than 13 seconds ahead of Johaug and Weng. At 8.3 k Kalla was a whopping 48.2 seconds ahead of Johaug in third.

    While Kalla left the Scandinavian Cup races in January in Falun in tears (where she won the 10 k freestyle and took fourth in the classic sprint and skiathlon), she gave a taste of what is in store during the Swedish national championships two weeks ago when she dominated the rest of the field in both the skiathlon and the 10 k freestyle in Örebro.

    On Sunday, Kalla won with 36.5 seconds to spare to Bjørgen in second place. Johaug was third, 53.6 seconds behind Kalla. Norway’s Heidi Weng and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen finished fourth and fifth, respectively, 1:01.3 and 1:08.3 back.

    Scandinavian dominance

    Nicole Fessel of Germany in sixth place was the top non-Scandinavian in the 10 k skate race, more than a minute behind Kalla, and about 20 seconds out of the podium. Riitta-Liisa Roponen of Finland was seventh, Martine Ek Hagen of Norway was eighth, Yulia Tchekaleva of Russia was ninth, and Ragnhild Haga of Norway was 10th.

    Jessie Diggins in 17th place was the top American in the final test run before the World Championships, which open with classic sprints for both men and women on Thursday. Diggins was 1:45.7 behind Kalla. Liz Stephen was 26th, Rosie Brennan was 32nd and Kikkan Randall was 33rd for the U.S., while Emily Nishikawa placed 36th for Canada.

    Prior to the World Cup round in Östersund, both the Swedish and the Norwegian national teams have been training and preparing for the World Championships at altitude in the Italian Alps.

    After this weekend, Kalla travels to Falun, to start the final preparations for the World Championships. For her, the first event will be the 15 k skiathlon on Feb. 21.

    — Alex Kochon contributed reporting

    Results

  • Tchekaleva Skis to Convincing Victory in Rybinsk Skiathlon

    Tchekaleva Skis to Convincing Victory in Rybinsk Skiathlon

    Women's 15 k skiathlon podium in Rybinsk, Russia (from left to right): Martine Ek Hagen of Norway (second), Yulia Tchekaleva of Russia (first), Ritta-Liisa Roponen of Finland (third) (Photo: FIS/Facebook)
    Women’s 15 k skiathlon podium in Rybinsk, Russia (from left to right): Martine Ek Hagen of Norway (second), Yulia Tchekaleva of Russia (first), Riitta-Liisa Roponen of Finland (third) (Photo: FIS/Facebook)

    Russian Yulia Tchekaleva won the women’s 15-kilometer skiathlon Sunday by 15.6 seconds, earning her first-ever World Cup victory and delivering her best result of the season on home turf in Rybinsk, Russia. Tchekaleva finished the 15 k skiathlon in 44:16.0, with Martine Ek Hagen of Norway in second place, trailing by 15.6 seconds. Riitta-Liisa Roponen of Finland placed third, 22.9 seconds behind Tchekaleva.

    “I tried to save energy in the classic part of the race. I just tried to stay with the front group but not work too hard. When we switched to skating, I felt that I had a lot of power, so I went for the victory,” Tchekaleva said to FIS reporters.

    “It was really nice to win my first World Cup here in Russia,” she added.

    Tchekaleva attacked at the end of the classic portion of the competition and skied alone for the final 7.5 km freestyle portion of the course. However, she could never relax as a Norwegian was hot on her tail. Ek Hagen broke away from the chase group on the first of three laps in the skate portion. As they neared the final kilometers she chipped away at Tchekaleva’s lead, and at one point was just six seconds back.

    In the end Ek Hagen unable to catch Tchekaleva. In the process of the chase, however, she put a gap on the rest of the field and skied alone to the finish.

    “This is my first World Cup podium and I am very happy. It was a hard race today. When Yulia [Tchekaleva] attacked, I tried to go get her and hoped someone else would be able to come with me, but I was alone. Which I guess is good because I was able to get second place,” Ek Hagen said to FIS reporters in a post-race interview.

    Behind her, a fight was brewing for third as a group of roughly six athletes were all within five seconds of each other. With only a lap to go Roponen pulled away from the chase group, followed closely by Stefanie Böhler. The others in the pack were unable to respond, and the fight for third narrowed to two skiers. As the two entered the finishing stretch, Roponen was able to hold off the German to gain her first World Cup podium since 2010.  

    The Finnish skier said she was very happy with her return to the podium.

    “I am feeling very good right now. It has been a long time since I was on the podium for an individual result. It was a hard fight with Steffi (Böhler) to the finish, and I was hoping that I could stay ahead of her, and I did,” Roponen said after the race, adding that she surprised herself with the result. “I was not sure that I thought I would be on the podium today, so I am very happy that I was.”

    U.S. Ski Team’s Jessie Diggins was the fifth finisher across the line, 25.8 seconds behind Tchekaleva and 2.9 seconds from third. She logged the second-fastest skate portion of the skiathlon – only 0.2 seconds slower than Tchekaleva. She also posted the second-fastest pit stop, but given that her 7.5 k classic split was 13th, the gap to Ek Hagen and Tchekaleva was too big to gap.

    In addition to Diggins’ result, the USST also boasted a 7th place from Liz Stephen. The weekend has been largely successful for Stephen, as she placed second in Friday’s 10 k freestyle.

    Sunday’s race in Rybinsk was the first regular World Cup skiathlon in almost two years, aside from the 2014 Olympics in Sochi. The last regular World Cup skiathlon was held in at the pre-Olympic World Cup in Sochi in 2013, when Steira won ahead of Tchekaleva and Nicole Fessel of Germany was third.

    Norway’s selection to the World Championships

    With her second place today and her first-ever World Cup podium, Ek Hagen has made a solid bid for a spot on the Norwegian squad to the 2015 FIS World Championships in Falun, Sweden this February. The races in Rybinsk will be a significant part of the World Championships selection criteria for those who did not race the Tour de Ski. Despite the strong result, Ek Hagen doesn’t take anything for granted until the final selection is made.

    “It will be difficult to make the Norwegian team for the World Championships, but I feel really good right now and I hope I can make the team,” Ek Hagen said.

    Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen, the winner of the women’s 10k skate on Friday, lead most of the first 7.5 k classic but ended up in ninth place after falling back on the skate portion of the race. Jacobsen’s previous win in a regular World Cup event was the skiathlon in Falun, Swden, almost seven years ago in February 2008. Since then Jacobsen has won a stage in the 2014 Tour de Ski.

    For sixth place finisher Størmer Steira, Rybinsk was the first World Cup weekend since her hip fracture in October. With Sunday’s result and fifth in Friday’s 10 k, she has definitely put her name in the hat for a selection position.

    Results