March 21, 2010 (Falun, SWE) – The final race of the FIS Veissemann XC Ski World Cup 2009/10 season on Sunday, the 10km Freestyle in Falun, Sweden, saw Norway’s Marit Bjoergen hold on to her 51.9-second lead in the 4-race mini tour finale over WC series leader Justyna Kowalcyzk of Poland. Sweden’s Charlotte Kalla, with fastest time today, passed teammate Anna Olsson and battled with Kristina Stoermer-Steirer (NOR) for third in the mini tour.

As a light snow fell Bjoergen capped her stellar season with today’s win but for those who measure succe

ss by overall World Cup points, Kowalczyk is the undisputed winner this season with 2,064 points capturing the overall title, in addition to winning the distance overall title, as well as the sprint classification – a triple overall victory for the Polish star.

“It was a great season for me,” said Kowalczyk. “I took part in many World Cups so it was not easy. I want to thank to my support team who has been helping me a lot during the season. Now it is time to celebrate and enjoy this great moment of my career.”

Bjoergen claimed second overall with 1,320 points surpassing Petra Majdic (SLO) in 3rd with 1,191 points as Majdic was sidelined for the rest of the season following her unfortunate accident at the 2010 Games. If this season is measured by success at the 2010 Olympic Games, then Bjoergen’s name is the one that will be remembered.

Bjoergen also celebrated her 30th birthday today. “All girls in our team were singing to me this morning so it was a great start of the day,” said Bjoergen. “Conditions today were really difficult. I had a big advantage over Justyna as I had good overview about the time gap. Crowds along the course were incredible and supported me a lot. It was very successful season for me. I am happy for the second place overall. I did not follow all World Cups as it was not my goal at the beginning of the season.”

Kikkan Randall (USA) had a great final series of races finishing 17th in the mini tour after starting the day in 16th. Randall has upped her game showing that she’s ready to tackle the distance events as well as the sprints and was the top North American women overall in 37th followed by Sara Renner (CAN) in 39th. Canada’s Daria Gaiazova moved up three spots to finish 41st in the mini tour and placed 71st overall in the final standings.

“It was another pretty good day for Kikkan. She started 16th in the tour and only lost one spot to finish 17th,” U.S. Cross Country Coach Chris Grover said. “That’s a good World Cup distance race for her and we’re pretty psyched about how she finished the tour and that she was in the points there.”

With files from FIS and USSA.

Women’s 10km full results here.
Women’s final overall WCup standings here.

Results (brief)
1.    Marit Bjoergen (NOR) 31:58.0
2.    Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) +51.9
3.    Charlotte Kalla (SWE) +1:12.8

17. Kikkan Randall (USA) +4:03.8
41. Daria Gaiazova (CAN) +10:51.0

Overall WCup Standings

1. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL)  2,064
2. Marit Bjoergen (NOR) 1,320
3. Petra Majdic (SLO) 1,191

37. Kikkan Randall (USA) 238
39. Sara Renner (CAN) 203