Valnes and Lundgren gold medallist of second competition day at jwsc2019
Jan 22, 2019·Cross-Country
FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships continued with Cross-Country U23 Sprint competitions on the second day of the races. Swedish Moa Lundgren took the win in the women’s exciting competition and Norwegian Erik Valnes was strong winner of the men’s race.
Lundgren thought that the competition was really tough: "I was so tired"! Lundgren also said that a medal is always a goal for her. She didn’t know yet what competitions she’s going to take in the races.
Norwegian Tiril Udnes Weng was the silver medalist just 0,05 seconds behind the gold medalist Lundgren who take the won tightly. Also Weng thought that the race was tough but felt good today: "Moa was strong at the last 50 meters. I am a bit disappointed that I didn’t take the gold but silver is also good". Weng will still take part in women’s 10 km race.
Third of the women’s final was Russian Aida Bayazitova. She crossed the finish line 3,78 seconds after the winner. Bayazitova told the press that she was a bit tired after the race but all was good in today’s competition.
Winner of the men’s race, Erik Valnes won the sprint qualification with margin of 5,13 seconds. He also won all of his heats. Valnes was a little surprised of his good shape: "My shape has been good for some weeks now. I tried to keep the paste high". Valnes doesn’t compete in other races at these competitions.
Sergey Ardashev took the silver medal in the sprints. The Russian told the press that he did his best in the finals and made his maximum result and thought it was not possible to fight with Erik in today’s race. Ardashev crossed the finish line 1,38 seconds after Valnes. Ardashev also said that he is taking a train in the evening to Russia so he don’t take part in any other races in Lahti.
Norwegian Joachim Aurland was third with margin of 0,62 seconds behind the silver medalist. Aurland was satisfied with his own performance but a little bit disappointed that he didn’t managed to get the silver medal. Aurland will still take part in the men’s 30 km race on Friday.
