Norway women claim surprise relay gold as fatigued Swedes falter

With their men dominating 2023 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships so far, Norway’s women finally came to the party on Thursday, winning gold in the 4x5km Relay in Planica, Slovenia.

“It was our goal at the start of the season to have this gold and now we have it, it just feels amazing,” Anne Kjersti Kalvaa, who brought home the Norwegian four ahead of Germany, said.

On a gruelling course which has an overall climb of 200m, racers alternate legs between Freestyle and the Classic technique.

Sweden, who were the strong favourites, claimed bronze after suffering two pieces of misfortune. First, they lost ground when Tiril Udnes Weng (NOR) cut across the front of Emma Ribom’s skis during the first leg. Then, on the same icy uphill corner, Ebba Andersson suffered a broken a pole on leg two.

In truth, both Andersson – who claimed gold and bronze respectively in the 15km Skiathlon and 10km Freestyle – and Frida Karlsson – who took silvers in the same races – looked tired from their exploits of the last week. “I screamed ‘holy s**t!’ when it [the broken pole] happened because it was not something we had in our Plan A,” Andersson said. Although the pole was quickly replaced, the incident cost the Swedes some 15 metres.

“Thinking about all the circumstances during this relay, we are satisfied with the bronze medal,” Andersson added.

Norway really rammed home their advantage on the third lap, Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg catching Karlsson sleeping to open up an eight-second gap. “I think I was the most pessimistic before the start,” Oestberg said. The 32-year-old has fought back from injury and illness after winning gold in this event at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympics. “This was a dream come true," she said. "I felt strong in the last kilometre and just to try to give Anne Kjersti a little gap.”

Indeed, Kalvaa could have been forgiven for feeling a little jaded herself in what was her fourth event of the world championships so far. Astrid Oeyre Slind, the Skiathlon bronze medallist, completed the victorious line-up.

The world championships continue on Friday with the men’s 4x10km relay.

Click here for the full results from the women’s 4x5km relay.