Krüger Won Gold In Skiathlon Renda Did Not Finish

Planica, February 24 (TASR) - Norwegian cross-country skiers dominated Friday's skiathlon at the WC in Planica The gold medal went to Simen Hegstad Krüger, who triumphed in the Slovenian center with a lead of 12.

2 seconds ahead of compatriot Johannes Hösflot Kläb Bronze was won by Sjur Röthe (+14.

1), Norwegian dominance was highlighted by fourth place Paal Golberg (+45 9).

The only Slovak representative, Andrej Renda, was pulled from the track in the middle of the competition, when the leading competitors overtook him by a whole lap They classified him in the final 51st place.

The race for 15 km classic + 15 km free technique was completely dominated by the Norwegian representatives The best of the runners from competing countries was the Swede William Poromaa, who lost the fight with Golberg at the finish line and finished in fifth place (+46.

4) Twenty-nine-year-old Krüger and his compatriots were able to tear apart the leading group in the first lap of the section with a free technique, and in the penultimate lap he and Röth made a decisive start.

"I saw a gap behind us, then it was just a matter of going, not looking back and hoping it would last until the end I had planned to attack at a later stage, but when the opportunity came, it was needed I knew that today I had a good chance in difficult conditions and on a difficult track.

I dreamed of this success, this gold was missing from my collection, "said the Olympic skiathlon champion from Pyeongchang 2018 to NRK television The pace was dictated by the Norwegians from the beginning and the Swedes, Krüger, Kläbo, Poromaa and Calle Halfvarsson alternated in the leading positions.

At the third kilometer, Finnish classicist Iivo Niskanen took over Renda fell out of the game for a solid result very soon, as he gained a two-minute deficit in the first circuit and dropped to the seventh tenth.

Niskanen led the main pack, only 15 competitors pursued the high pace After 15 km, Röthe was the fastest, who started in first place, followed by Poromaa, Krüger and Niskanen.

Immediately after the change of skis, the main group began to break away, the trio of Krüger, Röthe and Kläbo found themselves at the head, gradually building a lead Renda was overtaken by a whole lap and the race was over for him.

Kläb ran out of strength as time went on and eventually fell away from the two compatriots Of them, Krüger saved more energy for the end, who started at the 22nd kilometer and broke away from Röthe.

Five kilometers before the finish line, Krüger already had an 18-second lead and the winner was decided In addition, Kläbo reached out to Röthe, who proved his sprinting qualities in the finish line and ran for silver.

WC in Nordic skiing in Planica - cross-country skiing men - skiathlon 15+15 km: 1 Simen Hegstad Krüger 1:09:40.

3 H 2 Johannes Hösflot Kläbo +12

2 3 Sjur Röthe +14

1 4 Paal Golberg (all Norwegian) +45

9 5 William Poromaa +46

4 6 Calle Halfvarsson (both Swedish) +1:14

2 Min 7

Friedrich Moch (ger ) +1:14

9 8 Jules Lapierre +1:15

4 9 Clement Parisse (both Fr

) +1:16 5 10

Perttu Hyvarinen (fin ) +1: 54

9 51 Andrej RENDA (SR) +1 lap.