Pre-competition facts Beitostølen - back after 9 years!

PREVIEW Saturday 8 Dec 2018

Ladies 15KM F

• Overall World Cup leader Therese Johaug has won all three individual distance events of this World Cup season.

• Johaug went on to claim a record 12 individual distance wins in the 2015/16 World Cup season and also won the overall and distance World Cup titles that season.

• Johaug and Välbe are both on 79 World Cup podium finishes in individual distance events, only trailing Bjørgen (99).

• Johaug only recorded more World Cup podium finishes in Sweden (24) than on home snow (18).

• Norway has won four of the seven individual World Cup distance races held in Beitostølen, including each of the last three (all three won by Bjørgen).

• Norway has won each of the last seven 15km freestyle World Cup races. On 20 January 2007, Finland's Ritta-Liisa Roponen was the last athlete to avoid Norwegian success when she won this event in Rybinsk.

• With 69 World Cup podium finishes, Charlotta Kalla is in joint-sixth place all-time along with Stefania Belmondo and Virpi Kuitunen.

• Stina Nilsson (17) is the only athlete from Sweden with more ladies' World Cup wins than Kalla (15).

• Eight of Kalla's nine individual World Cup distance wins have come in freestyle events, with the only exception her victory in the skiathlon in Lillehammer on 3 December 2017.

• Kalla's best result in a 15km freestyle World Cup race was a third-place finish in Davos on 14 December 2013.

• Ebba Andersson is hoping to become the 13th different athlete to hand Sweden an individual World Cup victory.

Men 30KM F

• The opening three individual distance races of this World Cup season have been won by three different athletes: Alexander Bolshunov, Sjur Røthe and Janosch Brugger.

• In 2016/17, the first six individual distance World Cup races had six different winners, before Sergey Ustiugov claimed four wins in a row in the Tour de Ski.

• Brugger can become the first athlete from Germany to claim back-to-back World Cup wins in an individual distance race since Axel Teichmann in the 2008/09 Tour de Ski.

• Overall World Cup leader Emil Iversen is aiming to claim his first World Cup victory since 4 January, when he won the 15km freestyle race in Oberstdorf (Tour de Ski).

• Iversen has never appeared in a 30km World Cup race in the free. On 29 January 2017, Iversen won the 30km World Cup race in Falun in the classic style.

• Røthe (1) and Iversen (1) are the only athletes from Norway to have claimed an individual distance World Cup victory in 2018. In 2005, Norway last had only two individual distance World Cup wins in a single calendar year.

• Bolshunov and Denis Spitsov are both hoping to become the fourth athlete from Russia (excl. Soviet Union) and the first since Maxim Vylegzhanin in La Clusaz on 18 December 2010 to win a 30km freestyle World Cup race.

• Calle Halfvarsson is aiming for his first individual distance World Cup win since 3 December 2016, when he won the 10km free in Lillehammer (3-Days Tour).

• Sweden (99) needs one more podium finish to claim their 100th top-three finish in an individual distance World Cup race in the freestyle. Only Norway (146) has recorded more.

PREVIEW Sunday 9 Dec 2018

Ladies 4 X 5KM RELAY

• Norway has won 12 of the last 13 relay events (excluding team sprints) in the World Cup, including each of the last nine.

• Norway last failed to win a relay (excl. team sprints) in the World Cup on 6 February 2011, when Italy won this event in Rybinsk.

• The last time Norway entered a relay (excl. team sprints) in the World Cup but failed to claim the victory was in Beitostølen on 22 November 2009, when Norway finished in second place behind Sweden.

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

• With 13 relay World Cup wins (excl. team sprints), Therese Johaug is in joint-third place all-time along with Kristin Størmer Steira. Only Vibeke Skofterud (17) and Marit Bjørgen (20) have won on more occasions.

• Johaug has won each of the last 10 relay World Cup events in which she participated, since a second-place finish in Beitostølen in 2009.

• Johaug last failed to claim a podium spot in a relay World Cup race on 25 March 2007, when she finished in fourth place in Falun. Johaug has recorded a top-three finish in all her 15 relay World Cup races since.

Men 4 X 7.5KM RELAY

• Norway has won eight of the last nine relay World Cup races (excluding team sprints), including each of the last four.

• Norway last failed to win a relay (excl. team sprints) in the World Cup on 8 December 2013, when Russia won this event in Lillehammer.

• The last time Norway failed to claim a podium spot in a relay World Cup race (excl. team sprints) was on 6 February 2011, when Russia (1st), Italy (2nd) and Germany (3rd) all finished on the podium in Rybinsk.

• The last time Norway entered a relay World Cup race (excl. team sprints) but failed to record a top-three finish was on 9 December 2007, when Norway finished in fourth place behind Czech Republic (1st), Italy (2nd) and Sweden (3rd).

• Norway has won four of the last five relay World Cup races on home snow. In that run, only Russia on 8 December 2013 (Lillehammer) avoided Norwegian success.

• Martin Johnsrud Sundby has won 12 relay World Cup races (excl. team sprints), at least three more than any other athlete. Petter Northug is on nine wins.

• Sjur Røthe can become the 10th athlete with (at least) five relay victories in the World Cup (excl. team sprints). His last relay win came in Nové Mesto na Morave on 24 January 2016.