Hands up for Lahti’s 10km C podium
Feb 27, 2022·Cross-Country
With almost full stands, perfect snow conditions and the sun up in the sky, Lahti Skigames was ready to host the first Distance competitions of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup, after the Olympic Winter Games.
Therese Johaug cleared the field from behind as she started as the final “seeded athlete” (top-15 from the Distance World ranking). The flawless classic technique of the 33 year-old was as fresh as ever – despite her grand successes at the Olympic Winter Games, just one week ago. “Coming from the Olympic Games, it felt like coming from an altitude training camp. So my body is more ready than ever and I felt that on the course today,” stated Therese after crossing the finish line only just 1.2 seconds before Natalia Nepryaeva.
Nepryaeva, who had to watch from the leaders chair, how Therese claimed the precious seconds on course, had shown a very strong finish of her race in Classic technique. And that showed also in the margin she skied out of the third placed Pärmäkoski.
Krista Pärmäkoski was energized by the local crowds and set the third fastest time of the day. +16.5 seconds behind Nepryaeva, the Finn crossed the finish line. And was quite satisfied with her result: "It was fantastic to ski along the crowds again and they were everywhere along the course. Hearing them cheering for you is great and I could give back with my third place."
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