February 21, 2015 (Falun, Sweden) – Therese Johaug (NOR) was unstoppable in the women’s 7.5km C/7.5km F women’s skiathlon today pulling away from her rivals on the final climb to claim the gold. The 26-year-old took an early lead forcing the pace with local favorite Charlotte Kalla (SWE) challenging but in the end she settled for third behind Norway’s Astrid Urenholdt Jacobsen on the finishing straight.

Therese Johaug (NOR) captures W Skiathlon gold © Nordic Focus

The USA’s Liz Stephen delivered the fourth fastest time in the skate leg to claim 11th overall as the top North American – she was 20th at Fiemme 2013. Her teammate Sadie Bjornsen placed a solid 20th while Worlds newbie, Rosie Brennan was 30th, followed by Kikkan Randall in 31th and Canada’s Perianne Jones in 37th.

”I have had a little bit of low energy and tired muscles so I didn’t have any expectations today,” said Stephen. “I just wanted the race out of the way. I actually didn’t know what place I ended up in. But I am really happy the way I finished and how my energy was.”

Liz Stephen © Linus Trygg

Not even Classic Sprint gold medalist and 13-time world champion, Marit Bjørgen (NOR) could keep up with the furious tempo set by the leaders. After the first two laps the trio had a 7-second gap over the chasers that included Kertu Niskanen (FIN), Sofia Bleckur (SWE) and Bjørgen.

After switching style from classic to free the skiers now had to take on the infamous Mördarbacken climb as Kalla took the lead trying to break her rivals. But Johaug was ready while Jacobsen, known primarily as a classical specialist, dropped behind for a short time but managed to come back.

Bjornsen was 17th at the transition as Stephen in 20th caught and passed her teammate and many other skiers on her way to almost a top 10 finish.

Facing Mördarbacken for the second and last time Johaug made a final push and gained a safe gap to the others, securing her fifth world championship gold. Earlier Kalla had begun to falter suffering from the pace she herself had set but as the finishline approached she recovered and passed Jacobsen as the real battle was for the silver.

W Skiathlon podium © Nordic Focus

Jacobsen, who came to fame winning the sprint race at the 2007 World Championships in Sapporo, Japan, at the age of 21, was undaunted. As the duo hit the finishing lanes she caught and passed Kalla to claim the silver.

”I have to say that was the chillest mass start I think I ever done. Maybe it was Marit not feeling so good or who ever pushed the pace up there just kept it chill. I couldn’t believe how easy it was in the beginning,” continued Stephen. “I had amazingly fast skis on both skate and classic. We started to see Heidi (Weng) and Marit (Bjorgen). I think the last time I saw Marit at a race was in 2009 so it was kind of motivating to see her. I honestly had no idea what place I had the entire race but if you see Marit you must be skiing fairly good

”I’m exited to race the 10km FR… It’s a really good skiing course. There is lot of every transition – gliding, downhills, uphills – it should be a really fun course to ski and for spectators. I am happy on how I kind of came back in to the race today and I think it’s good progress for next Tuesday.”

Sadie Bjornsen (USA) © Nordic Focus

Bjornsen was pleased with her result. “It was a fun and hard second day of racing here at World Championships! Warm temperatures made for a slushy and challenging course! My classic leg of the Pursuit was not as good as usual, I was just struggling to find my usual groove and relaxation. Magically, I was able to find some better feelings when I switched to skate skis, so that was pretty exciting for me. In the past I have really struggled with this format of racing… going from my stronger discipline to my weaker, so today I was really excited to have held things together relatively well during the skate course. It is also one of my better Skiathlon results, certainly during a Championship week. I have never been top 30 in this event during a World Champs or Olympics.

“The crowd here in Falun is amazing! It sounds like there are somewhere between 50-70 thousand spectators. On the hardest climb of the course, known as the Mördarbacken the crowd was so loud that it almost numbed my brain from feeling any pain! This is a volume of noise that gives you goosebumps to ski between. It is so fun and unique! It is the times like these, as well as Oslo World Champs, that I will never forget the feeling I get when I warm up, and race through this excitement!

Kikkan Randall (USA) © Nordic Focus

“I had really fast skis all day, so I am especially thankful to the waxing staff on a day like this. It is a real challenge to put together both skating and classic skis on a limited testing window (due to courses being open for short periods of time in order to conserve the conditions of the snow). I am always impressed with our small staff’s ability to do this when we have both a men’s and woman’s skiathlon on the same day! It is a tough day for sure! I am also especially excited for my brother on his break through performance today. He skied incredible! That was really fun to see,” she concluded.

We caught up with Kikkan Randall who had a tough day. ”I tried to go into positive mind-set but once again I think I felt better and skied better in the warm ups. So I’m not sure why things are not clicking and that can be challenging mentally.

”I had really good skis on the downhill and flow by people. I’m happy my teammates skied well. Whe you struggling in the back you hope it’s going better for somebody else,” she added.

Kalla and Johaug at the finish © Nordic Focus

“I’m very happy to have my first individual medal in World Championships,” commented Kalla. ”Today Johaug and Jacobsen were stronger than me today but now I’m looking forward to Tuesday’s 10km race.

”It was a dream come true,” commented Johaug after the gold medal. ”I love these tracks, they are really my tracks. I wanted to go out hard and fast but when I but when I came into the ski change I almost thought I had gone to hard. I put in 1,000 hours of training the past year to experience this.”

Results here.