Cross Country: Northug leads strong Norway showing in Lahti

Guys from Norway know how to cross country ski. At least that’s what today’s results in a men’s World Cup sprint in Lahti, Finland would indicate.

Led by winner Petter Northug, and silver medalist Vigen Ola Hattestad, Norwegian skiers ran away with two medals and half the top-ten spots.

Russian Nikolay Morilov broke up the all-Norwegian podium in third.

Northug is rolling after taking home three gold medals from the World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic. Today’s win marks his fourth World Cup win of the season and puts him in second in the overall standings behind Dario Cologna of Switzerland. Hattestad currently stands in fourth overall with six World Cup wins on the season and two World Championship titles of his own.

Americans Torin Koos and Andrew Newell had solid top-20 results in 12th and 17th, respectively.

Following a disappointing run in Liberec, World Cup overall leader, Slovenian Petra Majdic was back in form today, winning the women’s sprint. Majdic took her sixth World Cup victory of the season ahead of Italian Arianna Follis in second and Finn Pirjo Muranen in third. 
 
Following her silver medal performance in Liberec, American Kikkan Randall finished 49th. She was the only U.S. woman to start.

For complete results click here.

Guys from Norway know how to cross country ski. At least that’s what today’s results in a men’s World Cup sprint in Lahti, Finland would indicate.

Led by winner Petter Northug, and silver medalist Vigen Ola Hattestad, Norwegian skiers ran away with two medals and half the top-ten spots.

Russian Nikolay Morilov broke up the all-Norwegian podium in third.

Northug is rolling after taking home three gold medals from the World Championships in Liberec, Czech Republic. Today’s win marks his fourth World Cup win of the season and puts him in second in the overall standings behind Dario Cologna of Switzerland. Hattestad currently stands in fourth overall with six World Cup wins on the season and two World Championship titles of his own.

Americans Torin Koos and Andrew Newell had solid top-20 results in 12th and 17th, respectively.

“For Torin, it was a good race. Had things gone more his way, it would have been a pretty different outcome,” U.S. cross country coach Patrick Casey said. “He was skiing top six, but ended up getting turned around on a pretty scrappy course.”

After a disappointing run in Liberec, World Cup overall leader, Slovenian Petra Majdic was back in form today, winning the women’s sprint. Majdic took her sixth World Cup victory of the season ahead of Italian Arianna Follis in second and Finn Pirjo Muranen in third.
 
Following her silver medal performance in Liberec and suffering from a head cold, American Kikkan Randall finished 49th. She was the only U.S. woman to start. “Kikkan is getting over a head cold she came down with after Worlds. She said she had good skis, but didn’t have the body to go with the skis today and knew it right off the line,” Casey said. “She felt like she had to give it a shot and she gave it a good effort, but her body wasn’t responding.”

World Cup action continues in Lahti tomorrow with men’s 15km and women’s 10km races.

For complete results click here.