Crystal Globe winner Weng: 'It took a few years to realise my potential'

Norway's Tiril Udnes Weng, who claimed most overall women's points at the Coop FIS Cross-Country World Cup to win her first Crystal Globe, said it had taken a few years for her to "realise her potential".

The 26-year-old only reached a handful of World Cup podiums before the 2022/2023 season, which she ended at 2,029 points to beat runner-up Jessie Diggins from USA at 1,867 points to take the overall title.

"I had no goal of winning the World Cup overall before the season," Weng said.

"I did not know much about the new points system and really only focused on individual races and the goal of going fast in the World Cup."

That worked out well for Weng, who won one individual race this season – the 10km classic pursuit in Val Müstair, Switzerland on New Year's day, but showed a consistency in November, December and January that made her unbeatable.

She got two podiums in March, sealing the deal in the last race of the season, the 20km classic in Lahti, Finland, on 26 March, where a 18th-place was enough to complete her triumph.

A contributing factor was the sprint on the 25 March, where she finished third after having chosen to go against Diggins in the quarterfinals to eliminate her main overall opponent early. In the final, she beat sprint Crystal Globe winner Maja Dahlqvist to claim the third-place, displaying her strong skillset across all different cross-country events.

Weng, from Nes in southern Norway, said the victory had not come due to any specific changes that she had made before this season.

"It is difficult to point out only one thing that has changed since last year," said Weng, who also claimed a 4x5km relay gold medal and a team sprint silver at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2023 in Planica, Slovenia.

"I think it is the total of several small things that have made me go faster this year. I'm probably one of those people that it takes a few years to realise my potential."

Weng is not the first in her family to win a Crystal Globe. Her third cousin Heidi Weng won the overall and distance World Cup rankings in the 2016/2017 and 2017/2018 seasons. Weng’s twin sister and flatmate, Lotta Udnes Weng, has also had a strong World Cup season, claiming her first individual victory in the classic sprint at Val di Fiemme, Italy, in January.

Kerttu Niskanen from Finland finished in third place at the overall standings with 1,840 points.