Cross-country skier Katharina Hennig started the World Cup in Falun, Sweden, with an exclamation mark. In the individual over 10 kilometers she was only beaten by Kerttu Niskanen.
The Finn Niskanen won the individual in the classic technique after 27:08.5 minutes and celebrated her first win of the season. Hennig missed her second World Cup victory by 15.9 seconds, but was able to celebrate her fourth podium this winter. At the Tour de Ski in January, the 26-year-old from Oberwiesenthal won a World Cup race for the first time. Norway’s Anne Kjersti Kalvaa completed the podium (+22.3 seconds).
The second best German was Victoria Carl, who won Olympic gold in the team sprint together with Hennig last year. In the end, the 27-year-old from Zella-Mehlis was ten seconds short of a place in the top ten. Laura Gimmler was 16th, Sofie Krehl was 21st. Pia Fink finished the race in 29th place, Coletta Rydzek was 33rd.
Hennig on course for the podium right from the start
Right from the start, Hennig hoped for a good placement. At the first time check after 1.5 kilometers, she was third, ten seconds behind the leader. The woman from Oberwiesenthal kept her form afterwards and was only five seconds behind Niskanen, who was already in the lead. Although she was not able to catch up after 6.3 kilometers, Hennig had worked her way up to second place and had his sights set on the podium.
Niskanen remained out of Hennig’s reach until two kilometers from the end. The gap even increased. But she was able to keep second place and put eight seconds between herself and the Norwegian Kalvaa. In the last few kilometers, the team sprint Olympic champion left nothing to be desired and confidently secured second place in front of Kalvaa.
Brugger and Kuchler on duty from 1:45 p.m
From 1.45 p.m. (in the sports show live stream) the men will also be in action over the 10 kilometers in the classic technique. From a German point of view, only Janosch Brugger and Albert Kuchler are at the start.