Norwegian skiers won plenty of races in both alpine and cross-country World Cup competition over the weekend. Both the men and women claimed victories in Nordic competition in Finland, while Kjetil Jansrud was the fastest man down the alpine slopes at Lake Louise in Canada.
Jansrud won his first World Cup race outside Norway on Saturday in the men’s downhill, and followed that up by winning the Super G on Sunday. Despite bitterly cold temperatures down to minus-30C, Jansrud was hot on the slopes and savoured both victories. It seems he’s doing fine after all without his guiding star, Norwegian teammate Aksel Lund Svindal, who’s missing most of the season after tearing his Achilles in pre-season training session.
Meanwhile, at Kuusamo in Finland, Olympic gold medalist and World Champion Therese Johaug skied better than ever on Sunday, winning the 10-kilometer classic by a wide margin over fellow Norwegian Marit Bjørgen, who placed second. Bjørgen, however, had won her 67th World Cup race on Saturday, so wasn’t too disappointed.
In other Nordic World Cup action during the weekend, Eirik Brandsdal won the World Cup sprint ahead of the much-hyped Petter Northug, who placed second and wasn’t happy to lose. Norwegians took all four top spots, however, and the men’s combined team was dubbed “unbeatable” on Sunday. Martin Johnsrud Sundby, however, placed second in the men’s 15-kilometer classic behind Iivo Niskanen of Finland.
newsinenglish.no staff
