Sensational relay racing at Lahti Ski Games

The relay competitions of the 95th Lahti Ski Games 2020 were accompanied by difficult snow conditions. Especially the athletes having to ski their legs in Classic technique had to fight for the best positions for their team colleagues with light snow fall.

On the womens relay, Norway remains unbeatable despite seing some changes in the team. For the first time, Tiril Udnes Weng joined in and kept up with the pace maker from the Finnish team, Johanna Matintalo who led the first group through the first leg with a 5 second gap to her successors. Charlotte Kalla for the Swedish and Natalia Nepryaeva from the Russian team followed up and ensured top spots at the first exchange.

Frida Karlsson took over for the Swedish team and exchanged lead with Kerttu Niskanen who managed to ensure Finnland another first position when going into the second exchange where Laura Mononen started her leg in Free technique. Frida Karlsson passed on to young Rebecca Oehrn and Norwegian Flugstad Østberg passed on to Therese Johaug, who set out with a 5 second gap to the lead. Sending Johaug into the race resulted in her being the game changer for the leading position and indeed, Therese skied out a 30 second margin to the following teams when she passed over to her colleague, Heidi Weng.

Victoria Carl from team Germany had made up the lost spots from her team colleagues who had to fight with the conditions in the Classic tracks. Carl even managed to smaller the gap to the Russian and Swedish team who skied for the third position around 40 seconds behind Laura Mononen in second position.

Mononen passed on to Krista Pärmäkoski who was on the chase of Johaug and won the second place for team Finland I in front of their home crowd, 30 seconds behind the winning team Norway. It was the first ever victory for a Finnish womens relay team ever on home soil. The last spot on the podium was taken by Maja Dahlqvist and team Sweden as she fought in a close photo finish with Yana Kirpichenko from team Russia.

In the mens competition, the snow fall had even picked up. The competition featured tactical moves and therefore, the teams reamined together throughout the legs. The final decisive move only came up in the final stretches of the race – ending with a senstational podium result.

The line up of the Norwegian team with Pål Golberg, Hans Christer Holund, Sjur Røthe and Johannes Høsflot Klæbo promised a fast paced competition. The Russian crew sent two teams into the relay and together with the Finnish team took over the speed setting in the first two legs.

At the final exchange, Both Russians as well as the German and Norwegian team set out for the top spots. Always in front were also the athletes from Italy – Giandomenico Salvadori, Francesco de Fabiani, Stefano Gardener and Stefan Zelger - , who kept up the lead calmly but with a constant focus not to loose the connection.

Mid leg, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo took out speed of the leading group and so Ristomatti Hakola managed to catch up with the lead.

Along the final stretch into the stadium however, Klæbo took out his sprinter abilities, surpassed Andrey Menlnichenko and leaped into the finish line, ensuring Norway the victory. But the actual, decisive finish sprint was performed by Swiss Roman Furger, who senstationally swung by the Russian and therefore ensuring Switzerland in the team of Beda Klee, Dario Cologna and Jason Rueesch the first podium spot in a relay since 2010!

Team Russia I with Ilia Semikov, Alexander Bessmertnykh, Denis Spitsov and Andrey Melnichenko still got rewarded with the remaining podium spot on the third place.