The Norwegians were back to their winning ways in the Skiathlon at the Pre World Championship event in Lahti (FIN) as they earned a podium sweep under snowy skies.

Martin Johnsrud Sundby topped the field and further extended his lead in both the Overall World Cup standings and in the Distance World Cup standings. With a time of 1:10:03, he was 4.9 seconds ahead of teammate Finn Haagen Krogh, who also took second place in yesterday’s sprint competition. Rounding out the top three was Hans Christer Holund, who was exactly eight seconds behind the winning pace.

Mid-race the French and Russians were looking like they might threaten for the victory, but in the end, there was little drama at the finish line as the Sundby finished with no stress to earn first place. Ultimately, the biggest non-Norwegian threat Maurice Manificat (FRA) ended in sixth place nearly 50 seconds behind Sundby.

In total, Norway placed six athletes in the top ten, with a pair of Frenchmen and two Russians breaking up the standings.

It was a dream weekend for Team Norway, which claimed 11 of the 12 total podiums during the two men’s and two ladies’ competitions at the Pre World Championship Lahti Ski Games. Only American Jessica Diggins was able to snap the clean sweep with her second place finish in the ladies’ sprint.

ATHLETE QUOTES
Martin Johnsrud Sundby, NOR
I tried to create good speed in the first laps. It was more difficult in the conditions we had today. I had a crash with a Russian skier. It took me a few laps to recover. Manificat did a great job setting the pace. The pace was quite fast from the beginning. I did not want to come with Finn in the last 100 m. I gave everything with 1 km to go.

Finn Haagen Krogh, NOR
I am excited to be again on the podium. I felt quite tired after yesterday’s sprint. To finish second is a great surprise. 

Hans Christer Hollund, NOR
Martin fell in the second lap. After that the French seemed to be willing go away. It was surprising to see them not to be that strong in the free technique part. It is awesome to be on the podium again.

OFFICIAL RESULTS - Men's Skiathlon  

1. SUNDBY Martin Johnsrud NOR 1:10:03.0 
2. KROGH Finn Haagen NOR +4.9
3. HOLUND Hans Christer NOR +8.0
4. TOENSETH Didrik NOR +8.6 
5. DYRHAUG Niklas NOR +45.1

Complete results are available HERE. 

OVERALL WORLD CUP STANDINGS

1. SUNDBY Martin Johnsrud NOR 1960 pts
2. KROGH Finn Haagen NOR 1256 pts
3. NORTHUG Petter Jr. NOR 1108 pts

Complete overall standings are available HERE. 

OVERALL DISTANCE STANDINGS

1. SUNDBY Martin Johnsrud NOR 1386 pts
2. DYRHAUG Niklas NOR 696 pts
3. MANIFICAT Maurice FRA 644 pts

Complete distance standings are available HERE. 

Source: fis-ski.com