What a hammer end sprint: Coletta Rydzek at the cross-country sprint on Friday evening (March 21, 2025) in Lahti sensationally secured her first World Cup victory.
In the final of the top six, which Victoria Carl had missed as seventh, Rydzek was lagging behind, but shortly before the end it looked as if she could fight for bronze. The fact that she suddenly developed extreme forces on the home stretch and literally flew past all competitors had probably not thought to be possible with the spectators in the stands.
The Norwegian Kristine Stavas Skistad was in the end. Nadine Fähndrich from Switzerland completes the podium as the third.
“It cannot be grasped”
In the winner interview on the Sportschau microphone, Rydzek cheered, which was hugged in the target area by her brother, the Nordic combiner Johannes Rydzek: “It is great to believe that I was the best of everyone today, but it is slowly coming to me. Of course I somehow wanted to fight for a medal, but it is amazing. Celebration is not yet possible because the team sprint is still on the plan on Saturday.”
Falling bad luck in stops
DSV athlete Jan Stölben experienced the first semi-finals of his career, but there he got himself in the last third of the route with a fall for the chance of the top six.
Stölben still fought bravely and said at the Sportschau microphone: “We had to fight with the conditions beforehand, it was getting icy. I really wanted to make the semi -finals, but I tried it a little too much with the crowbar. I wanted to do that now and walk a little in the slipstream. But then I fully stepped on an ice sheet and was gone. Nevertheless, I showed what is possible – you can definitely look forward to the next year with the Olympics.”
Victory goes again to Klaebo
In the final in front, the Norwegian Johannes Hösflot Klaebo was once again ahead of the Frenchman Jules Chappaz. There was an unsightly scene behind it: Valerio Grond from Switzerland came in the fight for third place after contact with the Italian Federico Pellegrino in the snow and had to be treated first. In the end, the last place on the podium went to Pellegrino, Grond was fourth.