Pre comp facts Lahti (FIN)

Saturday 29th February 2020 – Lahti (FIN)
PREVIEW WOMEN'S 10KM C

• Therese Johaug became the first skier, male or female, to win nine successive individual distance events in the World Cup when she won the 15km pursuit classic on 23 February. Only one other athlete won more than five successive individual distance events in the World Cup (6, Manuela Di Centa in February-March 1996).

• Johaug can surpass Marit Bjørgen as all-time record World Cup wins in individual distance events. They currently have won 62 each.

• Johaug has won 16 of the last 18 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.

• Since Johaug won her first individual classic style distance event in the World Cup, on 27 November 2011, Johaug finished on the podium in 42 of the 50 individual classic style distance events she appeared in. Exactly half of those podium finishes resulted in a win (21).

• Therese Johaug only won two of the last seven 10km classic style events in the World Cup. Ingvild Flugstad Østberg (2), Kerttu Niskanen (1), Stina Nilsson (1) and Astrid Uhrenholdt Jacobsen (1) won the other five.

• Johaug can ski her 200th distance event in the World Cup.

• Heidi Weng last won an individual distance World Cup event on 7 January 2018 when she won the 9km pursuit freestyle in de Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme.

• Weng finished on the podium in four of the last five World Cup distance events, two second places and two third places.

• Ingvild Flugstad Østberg claimed nine of her 13 individual distance World Cup first places on 10km events.

• Krista Pärmäkoski is the last Finnish woman to win a World Cup distance event on home snow when she won in Lahti on 4 March 2018.

PREVIEW MEN'S 15KM C

• Alexander Bolshunov has won seven distance events this season in the World Cup. No other man has won more than two.

• Only Martin Johnsrud Sundy (11 in 2015/16) has won more than seven distance events in a World Cup season.

• Russian men have now won nine distance events this season in the World Cup. Only Norwegians (11 in 1991/92 and 14 in 2015/16) have ever won at least 10 distance events in a single season in the World Cup.

• Since the start of the 2017/18 season, Bolshunov won six distance events in the classic style, more than any other man in this span. Johannes Høsflot Klæbo won five since the start of the 2017/18 season.

• Pål Golberg won the inaugural FIS Ski Tour overall. His only stage win was a 15km classic style pursuit (stage 2).

• Golberg's only other distance event win in the World Cup came in 2013, when he won a 15km classic style in Lillehammer.

• Johannes Høsflot Klæbo won the last 15km classic style held in the World Cup as he won this event in the Tour de Ski on 3 January.

• Klæbo has won the 15km classic style five times in the World Cup. Only Alexey Poltoranin (8), Gunde Svan (7), Lukáš Bauer (6) and Bjørn Dæhlie (6) has won more.

• Iivo Niskanen finished second in the 30km pursuit classic style in the FIS Ski Tour.

• Niskanen recorded 11 of his 12 individual World Cup distance podiums in the classic style, with the only exception a second place in the 15km free in Nové Mesto na Morave on 18 January 2020.

• Dario Cologna is aiming for his first World Cup win in almost two years. His last victory came in the 50km freestyle in Oslo on 10 March 2018.

• Cologna's last podium finish in the World Cup was a third place in the 15km free in Davos on 15 December 2019.

Sunday 1st March 2020 - Lahti
PREVIEW WOMEN'S 4 X 5KM RELAY

• Norway has won 15 of the last 16 relay events in the women's World Cup (excluding team sprints), including each of the last 12.

• The last country other than Norway to win a relay World Cup was Italy in Rybinsk on 6 February 2011.

• Norway did not participate in that relay in Rybinsk in 2011. The last time Norway entered a relay World Cup race (excl. team sprints) but failed to claim the victory was in Beitostølen on 22 November 2009, when Norway finished in second place behind Sweden.

• Norway is unbeaten in its last 15 relay World Cup appearances (excl. team sprints), since that second-place finish in Beitostølen more than 10 years ago.

• Norway last failed to claim a podium spot in a relay World Cup race they featured in, in Falun on 25 March 2007 (excl. team sprints), when Germany (1st), Finland (2nd) and Sweden (3rd) all finished ahead of Norway in fourth place.

• Therese Johaug has won each of the last 13 relay World Cup events in which she participad, since a second-place finish in Beitostølen in 2009. This winning streak started in Lahti in March 2010.

• Johaug can claim her 19th top-three finish in a relay World Cup race (excl. team sprints) to join and Riitta-Liisa Roponen and Kristin Størmer Steira in fourth-place all-time all-time among women.

• Heidi Weng has won each of the last nine relay World Cup events in which she participated, since a fourth-place finish in Gällivare on 25 November 2012.

• Weng can claim her 10th relay World Cup victory (excl. team sprints). The only women to reach double figures in wins in this World Cup event are Marit Bjørgen (20), Vibeke Skofterud (17) and Therese Johaug (16) and Kristin Størmer Steira (13).

• United States finished runner-up in the last women's relay World Cup event, in Lillehammer on 8 December 2019.

• With two second places and three third places, United States have taken the most podium places without ever winning a relay event in the women's World Cup.

• Sweden claimed podium places in four of the last five relay events in the women's World Cup (excl. team sprints), but lack a win since 22 November 2009 when they beat Norway on their home snow in Beitostølen.

• Charlotte Kalla started last of the four Swedes in that winning race. Going into the final 5km, Charlotte Kalla brought Sweden the win by overtaking both Finland and Norway in the final run.

• Finland took a podium place in nine of the last 12 relay events in the women's World Cup. Finland finished fourth in Lillehammer, despite being the fastest team in the first two runs.

• Finland will host a relay World Cup event for the first time since 7 March 2010. That day, Norway won, Germany took second place and Italy finished third.

• Finland never recorded a podium finish on home snow in relay events in the women's World Cup (excluding team sprints).

PREVIEW MEN'S 4 X 7.5KM RELAY

• Russia has won the last two relay races in the World Cup (excluding team sprints). They recorded 1-2 finishes in both Lillehammer and Ulricehamn.

• No other country than Norway has won three World Cup relays (excl. team sprints) in a row.

• Russia has finished on the podium in five of the last six relay World Cup events (excl. team sprints). The only exception in that run was a seventh place in Ulricehamn on 22 January 2017.

• Norway can fail to win three consecutive relays in the World Cup for the first time since a three-race winless run in 2010/11 (excl. team sprints), when Sweden, Switzerland and Russia claimed the wins.

• Norway finished third in the last two events. The last time they failed to claim a top two finish in three consecutive World Cup relays (excl. team sprints) was in 2005-2006 when they finished third twice and fourth once.

• Norway has not missed out on a podium spot in each of their last 19 relay appearances in the World Cup (excl. team sprints), since that fourth-place finish in Davos in 2007.

• Sweden's only podium finish in a relay World Cup event in the last seven years was its second place behind winners Norway in Ulricehamn in January 2017.