March 13, 2011 (Lahti, Finland) – In a thrilling finish to the women’s 10km Pursuit at the World Cup in Lahti, Norway’s Therese Johaug put on a final burst of speed to catch overall series leader Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) at the line for photo-finish victory to claim her first World Cup gold by the tip of a boot. Italy’s Arianna Follis was unchallenged for the bronze 23s later, while Norwegian star, Marit Bjoergen, had an uncharacteristic day that included a fall after the exchange to finish off the podium in 4th.

For the USA’s Kikkan Randall it was sweet success following her disappointing Worlds, and a lesson in hard work paying off as the World Cup Sprint leader nailed a career-best 11th in a distance race. She was just out of the top 10 in a photo-finish with Norway’s Marthe Kristoffersen – missing tenth by 2/10s of a second. The jubilant Randall was less than a minute behind Johaug and only 32.7s off the podium.

“This certainly helps to make up for Oslo – I needed a boost after a lackluster World Championships,” Randall told SkiTrax in a phone interview. “I’m really happy with my race – my skis were great and my energy level was solid. It’s great to see the hard work in distance racing that I’ve been putting in over the past few years is pay off.

“It’s a really tough course but having the experience under my belt really helped me maintain my composure and ski consistently,” continued Randall. “My skis were dialed as well and I could ski aggressively when I had to.”

She knew she was having a strong day when she noticed Bjoergen ahead but it was tough to know just how well she was doing which might have helped her push a bit harder to take Kristoffersen.

“I caught Saarinen and passed her but later a group with her and Skofterud caught and dropped me. I found myself with Kristoffersen who had a slight lead and I had to go wide to try and pass her. Had I known I was so close to making the top-10 I might have found that little bit extra – 2/10s of a second isn’t much.”

Teammate Liz Stephen had a solid day as well placing 28th while WCup newbie, Holly Brooks was 39th and Morgan Arritola finished in 50th.

“The race was over so quickly, it was my first 10k Pursuit and the first one the World Cup has ever done. My race was good, great classic and skate skis, so huge thanks to our wax techs and coaches for a great year and pumping out awesome skis all year,” Stephen wrote by email.

Stephen agreed with Randall that the race courses in Lahti are tough.

“The courses in Lahti are hard, with steep climbs, some quite long – and squirrely snow yesterday in the skate portion – but great conditions to race in. It was so cool to see Kikkan get a career-best in a distance world cup, and I was happy to close out my World Cup season in the points. On my way to Utah now for a couple weeks and then to Sun Valley for Spring Series.”

Meanwhile Brooks hoped for a better result. “I had a great classic leg until the last uphill (a herringbone hill) where I got tripped up and passed by a number of girls. The skate leg was tough today and I didn’t quite have the legs to climb the large V1 hills.

“I was leading the pack that I finished with at the top of the course and they all benefited from my draft and came flying by me near the entrance to the stadium. While I’m not happy about my result there were some bright points and I’m really looking forward to Sunday’s sprint race! ”

Canada’s sprint specialist Chandra Crawford, who like Randall is taking on more distance races in a serious vein, finished in 62nd at 4min behind Johaug while teammate Daria Gaiazova was just behind her in 66th. Perianne Jones did not start.

US coach Matt Whitcomb told SkiTax he was pleased overall with the women’s team.

“It was a great day for Kikkan – her best ever distance result. She was all there today, able to respond to attacks, and able to hang in on the skate leg. Perhaps she was skiing with something to prove!

“For Liz, I think she responded well to the event being shortened from 15 to 10km by skiing aggressively and grabbing a few points, skiing up 12 places in the skate. Still, cracking the top 15 in this event will require a much better classic lap. The work is clear.

“Holly had a great classic lap, skiing between 20th and 30th for most of the race.  She sees that just a little more snap on the skate will put her in the points.”

Full report to follow – full results HERE.