Parmakoski and Poltoranin win interval start comps in Lahti

(Lahti, Finland) Krista Parmakoski of Finland and Kazakhstan's Alexey Poltoranin won the 10/15 km interval start competitions in classic technique at the 2018 Lahti Ski Games.  For both of them it was a repeat from Planica, Slovenia where they both won the same event before the Olympic Games in PyeongChang.

Parmakoski led at all check points and won with a 20 second margin over second place finisher Natalia Nepryaeva of Russia.  In third place was Norway's Marit Bjoergen who just edged out Finland's Kerttu Niskanen by 0.3 of a second to take that last spot on the podium.

Poltoranin battled closely through many of the splits with Russia's Alexander Bolshunov but in the end it was a 9 second win for Polto.  Following Bolshunov on the podium was Finnish 50 km Olympic hero Iivo Niskanen +20.9 behind.

COMPETITION FACTS

• Krista Pärmäkoski (FIN) won the last 10km classic World Cup race in Planica.

• The last female athlete from Finland to claim multiple World Cup victories in a single season (all events) was Mona-Liisa Nousiainen (FIN) in 2012/13 (2 wins).

• Alexey Poltoranin (KAZ) with his 11th distance win now joins him with Tobias Angerer (GER), Thomas Alsgaard (NOR) and Per Elofsson (SWE) in 10th place for most distance wins in World Cup history.

• Poltoranin has now won eight 15km classic races in total in the World Cup (excl. pursuits), the most all-time.

• Poltoranin only recorded this many distance World Cup victories in 2012/13 (3) as this season.

• Poltoranin's 12 World Cup wins (all events) all came in the classic style.

ATHLETE QUOTES

Krista Parmakoski (FIN)
My plan for today was to start easy. But the first 1.5 km was surprisingly hard. I got maybe little bit too excited when spectators shouted my name. During the race my both my body and the skis were working great. I raced on this same pair of skis in Planica where I got my first World Cup win. This is my winning pair of skis. I was very confident and I am very happy to win in front of the home audience.

Natalya Nepryaeva (RUS)
I felt great today. I had very good energy. I skied two good laps. I felt much better than during the Olympic Games. I am very happy for the second place.

Marit Bjoergen (NOR)
I am very glad to be on the podium. I’m happy with 3rd. There was nothing I could do about Krista (Parmakoski). I think it was the end of the race which got me on the podium. I was fast and I am happy about it.

Alexey Poltoranin (KAZ)
It’s great to win again. I won in Planica before the Olympics and this is a much better feeling than last weekend’s result in the Olympic 50 km.

Alexander Bolshunov (RUS)
I was disappointed after the Olympic 50 km and was a little bit tired but I am happy with how I skied today. Thanks for the service team for great skis. Good to get another podium for Russia.

Iivo Niskanen (FIN)
It was an OK race for me. I have had a busy and emotional week after the gold medal in PyeongChang. I think I have not fully recovered yet. I felt my muscles were quite stiff. It was a very hard race for me. I wanted to finish on the podium and it would have been nice to win in front of the home crowd.

OFFICIAL RESULTS

LADIES 10 km C

1. PARMAKOSKI Krista 1990 FIN 24:37.4
2. NEPRYAEVA Natalia 1995 RUS +20.9
3. BJOERGEN Marit 1980 NOR +26.7
4. NISKANEN Kerttu 1988 FIN +27.0
5. WENG Heidi 1991 NOR +43.3

Complete RESULTS

MEN 15 km C

1. POLTORANIN Alexey 1987 KAZ 33:11.9
2. BOLSHUNOV Alexander 1996 RUS +9.1
3. NISKANEN Iivo 1992 FIN +20.9
4. IVERSEN Emil 1991 NOR +28.8
5. SUNDBY Martin Johnsrud 1984 NOR +39.9

Complete RESULTS

OVERALL WORLD CUP STANDINGS

LADIES

1. WENG Heidi NOR 1396 pts
2. OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad NOR 1191
3. DIGGINS Jessica USA 967

Complete

MEN

1. KLAEBO Johannes Hoesflot NOR 1208 pts
2. SUNDBY Martin Johnsrud NOR 980
3. COLOGNA Dario SUI 953

Complete

OVERALL WORLD CUP DISTANCE STANDINGS

LADIES

1. WENG Heidi NOR 776 pts
2. OESTBERG Ingvild Flugstad NOR 646
3. STADLOBER Teresa AUT 511

Complete

MEN

1. MANIFICAT Maurice FRA 532 pts
2. POLTORANIN Alexey KAZ 493
3. SUNDBY Martin Johnsrud NOR 488

Complete

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