The ski jumpers have already won three medals, and the combiners are also decorated with precious metal. Only the cross -country skiers are missing. The first good chance is available on Tuesday (March 4, 2025, 3:30 p.m. in the Sportschau-Ticker).
When the Swedish defending champion Ebba Andersson, the 36 -year -old returnee Therese Johaug, snatched the title in the skiathlon in front of her nose on Sunday (March 2, 2025), Katharina Hennig watched relaxed. The Olympic champion and German medal hope was not at the start. The motto of the fast woman from the Ore Mountains was protected. After numerous health problems this season, the 28-year-old has to dose the workload and start where the medal opportunities are greatest.
Hennig can do classic tens
The classical race over ten kilometers on Tuesday is undoubtedly part of it, is almost Hennig’s chocolate discipline. “In the classic tens, however, she always has the chance to place herself at the forefront, even if she has no top form. Therefore, the focus is clearly on the 10 km and the team competitions,” made cross-country trainer Peter Schlickenrieder. Classic-ace Hennig had become Olympic Hen on this route in Beijing in Beijing. In the World Cup, she was on the podium five times for classical-tense.
However, the uncertainty in Hennig is great after the disease failures. This is also why Schlickenrieder did not want to hang the expectations too high. In view of the difficult preparation, one would “Hue to a top ten result“. If everything runs smoothly, there is also a sixth place in it, according to the cross-country trainer in the Sportschau interview.
Incredible cross-country hype
Even if Hennig is an old cross-country skiing bunny, the tension should be great before her first appearance in Trondheim. Because what goes in Trondheim is unique. The mood is phenomenal, especially in the cross -country skiing run. When the athletes fly into the ski stadium, the stands trigger and feels like a screaming wall for the athletes.
Over 200,000 tickets have already been sold for the World Championships. Another so many stand in the middle of the forest on the route and cheer on the athletes. The hype is incredible. The Norwegians cannot be deterred by the weather – it has been raining for days. “The saying: ‘There is no bad weather, only false clothes’ is lived here”laughs Schlickenrieder.
Norwegian cross-country skiers are absolute top stars and heavy earners. “The sports are important that we can only dream of in Germany. This is the case with us at most in football “explained biathlon sports director Felix Bitterling recently.
“Friluftsliv” is taught at school
The Norwegians have been fire and flame in Lillehammer since the 1994 Winter Olympics. The enthusiasm for sport in the open air goes back further. Ski length is part of life. Almost every child runs ski, some drive to school with their boards under their feet. The subject “Friluftsliv” – translated “Life outdoors” – is an integral part of classes 1 to 10 on the curriculum and should “Sensual experience of free nature” support financially.
Norway is the mother country of Nordic skiing. So far, the athletes at the World Cup impressively demonstrate this. Norway cleared seven gold and a total of 15 medals, Sweden follows in second place in the medal mirror with two world championship titles. Hennig would love to break dominance and write her personal success story in cross-country skiing Mecca. She has shown several times that she has the potential to do so, even if the Oberwiesenthaler once did not go to school with skis under her feet.