Katharina Hennig had her eye on the mass start podium for a long time before an unfortunate mishap robbed her of all chances. Victory went to Sweden.
Frida Karlsson won the classic style cross-country mass start at the World Cup in Lillehammer. On the 20-kilometer route, the Swede crossed the finish line on Sunday (December 4, 2022) after 53:51.9 minutes and clinched her second World Cup victory of the season. Norway’s Tiril Udnes Weng (+0.6 seconds) and Karlsson’s compatriot Ebba Andersson (+1.2 seconds) completed the podium.
From a German point of view, Katharina Hennig finished seventh (+4.3 seconds) best. The Olympic champion ran for victory on the final lap before her stick broke through no fault of her own. Victoria Carl, who shared team sprint gold with Hennig in Beijing, finished 17th, 25.9 seconds back. Laura Gimmler finished the race in 24th place (+1:28.5 minutes), Lisa Lohmann was 33rd (+2:51.6 minutes).
Hennig and Carl are in the running for a long time
Hennig and Carl were right at the front of the field at the start, with the favorites from Sweden and Norway setting the pace. Hennig in particular, who is good at classic technique, stayed in the top five and took the lead for the first time after 3.3 kilometers. Carl lurked close behind. Lohmann and Gimmler were also able to make up a few places, but Lohmann fell behind after a slight fall.
The plan of the German runners worked well after the first ten kilometers. Hennig and Carl supported each other in the tightly staggered field and kept in touch with the leaders. The gap at this point was only one second. But while Hennig was further up front, Carl had to pay tribute to her exhausting sprint race from the presentation from the fifth of six laps and was flushed backwards.
Next stop Beitostölen
Hennig’s tactic paid off until just before the end. Karlsson increased the pace enormously on the last lap and tore a small gap to her pursuers for the first time. However, Hennig was able to close it within a very short time before she went off track and suffered a broken stick. A bitter mishap. Although she fought her way back up, it wasn’t enough for the podium.
“Shit”said Hennig about her mishap after the race with a mixture of laughter and anger on the sports show microphone. “It’s a luxury that I’m annoyed about seventh place, but of course it could have been better.“All in all, she is very happy to be able to run freely after winning the Olympic team sprint and to be so extremely competitive over the long distance.
Moment of shock from climate activists
In the men’s race over 20 kilometers, there was a moment of shock seven minutes after the start. Climate activists had spread along the route, but luckily for the runners nobody fell, the action ultimately had no consequences.
After the competitions in Lillehammer, the cross-country entourage will remain in Norway and stop off in Beitostölen from Friday (December 9). There are races in the sprint, individual (10 km) and in the mixed relay.