Norway extend glorious relay run as Finland and Germany win long-awaited medals
-
Loading... - Thomas Bourgeois
- 06 Mar 2023
- 75 Views
- 0 Like
- 0 Comment
Favourites Norway made no mistake and won the men's 4x10 relay classic free at the 2023 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia, on Friday with a comfortable margin.
Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo had plenty of time to wave the red-blue-white flag and enjoy the cheers from the fans as he crossed the finish line 46.9 seconds before silver medallists Finland, earning Norway their 12th consecutive world title in the event. Germany claimed bronze.
"It was nice. I had a huge gap so I just cruised out there and I was able to wave and almost speak to the coaches out there," Klaebo said.
"It was an amazing relay for the Norwegian team and I'm proud of what the other guys have done here."
Norway got a firm grip of the gold medal in the first five minutes of the race as Hans Christer Holund left the rest of the field early. He handed over to distance world No.1 Paal Golberg in the second classic leg with a 25.2-second lead that no other team was able to close.
"The plan was to take charge of the group for the first kilometres, because there's a lot of downhills and turns," Holund said.
"I wasn't interested in getting into any trouble, so after two kilometres I felt strong and decided to go quite hard because there was some fast skiers in the group and I didn't want to invite them at the last kilometres of this stage."
Holund said he was even surprised that no-one tried to follow him as he set off.
"Yes, that's not normal. But when I got the gap it was just to ski hard," he said.
The 34-year-old could then sit back and watch Golberg, two-time Planica 2023 world champion Simen Hegstad Krueger and Klaebo finish the job. Read More…
