March 03, 2012 (Lahti, Finland) – Norway’s Therese Johaug was unstoppable in the women’s 15km Skiathlon in Lahti on Saturday leading a Norwegian sweep as she claimed the victory defending her win from last year. Team mate Marit Bjoergen placed second and regained the overall World Cup lead while Heidi Weng earned her best WCup result landing on the podium in third.

It was another solid day for the American women with three in the points lead by Kikkan Randall in 12th followed by Jessie Diggins in 18th with Liz Stephen in 21st. Sadie Bjornsen looked good in 25th at the end of the classic leg but couldn’t keep the pace settling for 33rd at the finish. Canada’s Daria Gaiazova finished in 37th, Holly Brooks placed 48th and Perianne Jones (CAN) was 50th.

Randall remains in 4th overall with a 33-pt lead over Charlotte Kalle (SWE). “It was a solid day for me and the team with almost four in the top 30,” Randall told us post race. “The classic course was very challenging with big climbs and fast downhills with icy turns. Our techs did an awesome job with the skis.

“The skate course skied really well I thought, with a good mix of climbs, fast descents and also flat working sections.  The conditions were super fast and icy which made most of the turns pretty dicey.  Staying on your feet and avoiding collisions was definitely key today.”

Randall lead the Americans at the exchange in 16th followed by Bjornsen and Diggins.

“The classic went very well for me. I started 66th, so I had a lot of maneuvering through the pack to do. After about 3.5km, I was skiing top 20 totally comfortable and then I took a huge fall at a fast downhill corner into a climb,” explained Bjornsen. “Which meant I lost a ton of momentum and places. I think in the short time about 20 girls passed me. When I fell, I was skiing with Jessie, so I decided to ski as hard as I could until I saw her again. So for about 2km I was a woman on a mission just skiing so hard to catch up. Once I got back with her, I tried to relax, knowing I should save some energy for the skate.”

Diggins who is just getting over being sick was pleased with her race. “I was happy to have the result considering how I felt the week before. The coaches did an amazing job nailing the kickwax and glide today, and that made a huge difference, especially on all the tough climbs on the classic part of the course. My Salomons were kicking really well for me today!”

Randall is also recovering from her second bout of sickness telling us, “I had hoped to be up further in the classic but I’m happy that I was able to come on stronger through the race. I had a great starting position as bib 9 but right from the gun I had a hard time following the opening pace.

“My body felt heavy and sluggish. I started feeling a little better on the 2nd lap and better again during the skate. My skis were great today. I had really solid kick up the steepest climbs, great glide and my skate skis were running well and helped me make up some places. Once my body started coming around I was able to move up a few spots.

“Today was a good sign that I have rebounded from my 2nd round of the stomach bug that I got right after Poland.  I wasn’t sure how today would go but I think this bodes well for the final period.

It was a good sign for Diggins as well that she’s getting back to her old form. “Going into the race I had no expectations; that stomach flu thing really hit me hard [on the way to the U23 Worlds in Ezurum] and it took quite a while to bounce back, so I just wanted to use today as a chance to get back into the World Cup racing and not worry about where I would place. And in general that kind of attitude is much better for me and produces better (and more fun!) race experiences,” said Diggins by email.

“The start of my race was really good, but I took myself out on one of the many icy corners in the classic and lost quite a lot of spots there. But having a pretty chill attitude about the place I was going to get today helped because I was able to not let it throw me off and worked my way back in the skate half, focusing on getting that ‘good racing’ feeling back again.”

Liz Stephen also had a solid race and a stellar skate leg moving up from 46th at the exchange to 21st at the finish. “The classic portion was tough today. I was hoping to get a better start, but that has been tough for me each year, so this summer’s training will have a big focus on starting faster and getting comfortable skiing really close to people.

“My goal had been to start fast and hang on, but my body wasn’t having it in the classic today, so I just held on and got psyched for the skate leg. It’s really fun to ski when the body shows up and it really showed up today.”

An unexpected crash when another skier collided with Brooks changed the complexion of her race.

“I had a good start to the race and was feeling strong for the first lap of the classic race. However, coming into the famous Lahti 180 degree corner, I got taken out from behind. (This was confirmed when the girl that took me out came up to me in the finish area to apologize…. it wasn’t my imagination)!

“I fell really hard, practically knocking the wind out of myself, broke my pole, lost my glasses. I had to ski around the stadium with one pole and got tangled with another skier, falling again. I was a bit shaken for the second leg of the classic race and the entire skate race.

“So, the day was a bit rough but Im hoping to bounce back and come on strong tomorrow in the classic sprint. Besides my misfortunes the other US girls had some great performances. Sadie was close to the points yet again but had a fantastic race. Also, Liz started slow but had the 7th fastest skate leg of the day!”

For Randall Sunday’s CL Sprint if the first of three as she attempts to defend her Sprint Cup red leader’s jersey.

“Sunday’s sprint features a big climb out of the stadium, almost two minutes worth, some crazy corners and lots of gliding coming into the stadium.  So bodies and skis will be important,” added Randall.

Full results HERE.
WCup Overall HERE.