Pre comp facts 30km/50km C Oslo (NOR)
Mar 05, 2020·Cross-Country
Saturday, 7th March 2020 - Oslo
WOMEN'S 30KM C
Therese Johaug has already secured the 2019/20 distance World Cup title and can now also seal the 2019/20 overall crystal globe. The 31-year-old has a 721-point lead over Heidi Weng in the overall World Cup standings with just 725 points left available.
Johaug can claim her third overall crystal globe, after 2013/14 and 2015/16. Only Justyna Kowalczyk (4), Bente Skari (4), Marit Bjørgen (4) and all-time record holder Elena Välbe (5) have won more than three overall World Cup titles.
Johaug has now won four distance World Cup titles, joint-most all-time alongside Kowalczyk. The 31-year-old Norwegian previously won the distance crystal globe in 2013/14, 2015/16 and 2018/19.
Johaug won the most recent individual distance event, the 10km classic in Lahti, to break the all-time record for most individual distance wins in the World Cup. Johaug surpassed Bjørgen's tally of 62 with her 63rd win in her 200th start in a distance event.
With her 10km classic win in Lahti, Johaug also extended her all-time record for most consecutive wins in individual World Cup events to 10. No other athlete, male or female, ever won more than six successive individual distance events in the competition (Manuela Di Centa won 6 in a row in February-March 1996).
Johaug has now won 17 of the last 19 individual distance events in the World Cup. In that run, only Ingvild Flugstad Østberg on 1 January (10km pursuit classic, Tour de Ski) and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen on 3 January (10km classic, Tour de Ski) managed to beat Johaug.
No athlete, male or female, ever won more World Cup events (22) or more individual distance World Cup races (16) in a single season than Johaug this campaign (includes Tour stages and overall Tour wins).
Only Bjørgen (144) has won more World Cup events (including Tour stages and overall Tour wins) than Johaug (90)
The last 10 individual distance World Cup races of 30km or more have all been won by either Bjørgen (6) or Johaug (4).
The 18 individual distance World Cup events this season have all been won by Norwegian skiers - Therese Johaug (16), Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (1) and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen (1).
The last non-Norwegian woman to win an individual distance World Cup event was Sweden's Stina Nilsson, when she won the 10km classic in Quebec on 23 March 2019 (World Cup Final).
Ingvild Flugstad Østberg is one of three women to have won an individual distance event this World Cup season. Østberg won the 10km pursuit classic in Toblach on 1 January (Tour de Ski).
Only Johaug (17) and Heidi Weng (11) have claimed more podium finishes in individual distance World Cup events this season than Østberg (8).
On 3 January, Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen won the 10km classic in Val di Fiemme (Tour de Ski) to claim her fifth individual distance World Cup win and her first in the classic style.
Jacobsen claimed only one more podium finish in an individual distance World Cup event since her victory in Val di Fiemme last January, a second place in the 15km pursuit (classic style) in Trondheim on 23 February (Ski Tour).
Heidi Weng, second in the overall World Cup and distance World Cup standings, can claim her first individual distance World Cup win since 7 January 2018, when she won the 9km pursuit (freestyle) in Val di Fiemme (Tour de Ski).
Only Johaug (17) has recorded more top-three finishes in individual distance World Cup races this season than Weng (11). No athlete ever claimed more than 10 podium finishes in individual distance events without a single win in one World Cup season.
Natalia Nepryaeva, third in the overall World Cup standings, can claim her second individual distance World Cup win after winning the 10km freestyle in Toblach on 30 December 2018 (Tour de Ski).
Nepryaeva's last podium finish in an individual distance World Cup event was a second place in the 10km pursuit in Nové Mesto na Morave on 19 January.
Saturday, 7th March 2020 - Oslo
WOMEN'S 30KM C
Overall World Cup leader and distance World Cup leader Alexander Bolshunov has won seven individual distance World Cup events this season, at least five more than any other athlete.
Only Martin Johnsrud Sundby in 2015/16 (11) ever won more than seven individual distance World Cup races in a single season.
Bolshunov (12) needs one more win in an individual distance World Cup event to join Torgny Mogren (13) and Axel Teichmann (13) in eighth place all-time.
Since the start of 2018/19, Bolshunov has claimed 11 World Cup victories in individual distance events, at least seven more than any other athlete in that period. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Sjur Røthe both follow on four triumphs each.
Bolshunov won two of the last three individual distance World Cup races of 30km or more, including the 50km classic in Oslo on 9 March 2019.
Leader Bolshunov is hoping to become the first skier representing Russia (since 1991) to win the overall World Cup. Vladimir Smirnov (1990/91) and Aleksander Zavjalov (1982/83) won the overall crystal globe while representing Soviet Union.
Iivo Niskanen won the most recent individual distance World Cup event, the 15km classic in Lahti on 29 February.
Niskanen can become the first skier from Finland to win consecutive individual distance events in the World Cup since Jari Isometsä in February 2000.
Only Harri Kirvesniemi (6) and Mika Myllylä (10) have won more World Cup events among Finnish athletes than Niskanen (5).
Niskanen (2), third in the distance World Cup standings, can become the first athlete from Finland to win at least three World Cup events in a single season since Isometsä (3) in 1999/2000.
Emil Iversen won the most recent individual distance World Cup event of 30km or more, the 30km pursuit in the classic style in Trondheim on 23 February (Ski Tour).
Iversen has won nine career World Cup events and can become the 13th skier from Norway to claim at least 10 World Cup victories (including Tour stages and overall Tour wins).
Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, second in the overall World Cup standings, has won only one individual distance World Cup event this season, the 15km classic in Val di Fiemme on 3 January (Tour de Ski).
Klæbo (39) can become the fourth athlete to win 40 World Cup events (including Tour stages and overall Tour wins) after compatriots Martin Johnsrud Sundby (44), Bjørn Dæhlie (46) and Petter Northug (47).
Klæbo is hoping to become the third athlete to win three successive overall World Cup titles after fellow countrymen Dæhlie (1995-1997) and Gunde Svan (1984-1986).
Sjur Røthe, second in the distance World Cup standings, has yet to claim his first individual distance World Cup win in the classic style. His last podium in the classic was a third place in the 15km in Toblach on 20 December 2015.
On 14 March 2015, Røthe won the 50km freestyle in Oslo to claim his first career individual World Cup victory.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby can claim his first World Cup victory in classic style since 11 March 2017, when he won the 50km in Oslo. His last podium in the classic was a third place in the 15km in Lenzerheide on 31 December 2017 (Tour de Ski).
Sundby's last podium in a World Cup event was a second place in the 15km free in Falun on 17 March 2019. His last individual win came on 7 January 2018, when he won the 9km pursuit (freestyle) in Val di Fiemme (Tour de Ski).
Only Northug (47) and Dæhlie (46) have won more World Cup events (including Tour stages and overall Tour wins) than Sundby (44).
Sundby will be 35 years and 164 days old on the day of this event. He can become the third oldest skier from Norway to win an individual World Cup event after Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset (36-30d) on 6 January 2008 and Erling Jevne (35-266d) on 15 December 2001.
