March 15, 2015 (Oslo, Norway) – With three Americans in the top 20 the US camp was all smiles but the day belonged to Norway as Marit Bjoergen led a Norge podium sweep, capping an incredible season with her 5th Holmenkollen 30km victory.

Norwegian sweep © Nordic Focus

Bjoergen became the first female to win consecutive Holmenkollen titles as her teammate Therese Johaug took second and Astrid Jacobsen claimed third passing Charlotte Kalla (SWE) near the finish for the bronze.

Bjoergen captured all three crystal globes – overall, distance and sprint – becoming the first athlete to win all three globes twice. Finland’s Virpi Kuitunen (2006/07) and Poland’s Justyna Kowalczyk (2009/10) have also won all three globes in one season but not more than once.

“I knew that I had a strong finish and relied on that. But after 30 km you never know. It’s great to end the season with a victory,” commented Bjoergen.

Bjoergen takes historic triple globes © Nordic Focus

The USA’s Liz Stephen matched her best-ever 9th in the 30km, set at Holmenkollen in 2013, while Jessie Diggins finished 14th and Caitlin Gregg was 19th – all peronal bests. Sadie Bjornsen placed 44th, Canada’s lone entry Emily Nishikawa was 50th, the USA’s Caitlin Patterson was 53rd and Rosie Brennan was 55th. The day marked the strongest distance result in history by the U.S. women’s team.

“I went in to today with the goal of a top five. I wanted to focus on something finite so I picked Heidi (Weng) as a target to stick to. I took some chances and almost blew up at points. A good indicator for me is when my stomach is knotted and I wanted to throw up which came earlier than usual,” said Stephen.

“I knew that I needed to take the risk because I wanted to be in the top five. It was fun to look over at 6.5km and have Marit skiing next to me. So while a top-five didn’t happen today, it was a close race and I know what I have to do. In that way, it was a really successful day.

(l-r) Gregg, Diggins, Stephen after historic 30K FR © NordicFocus

“The top of the race is closer now. It gives me hope for next year and years in the future. I’m really happy with the day, I’m really happy with the season.  I met a lot of goals this year. I had a podium goal and I got that. I wanted to be in the top five at the Tour de Ski and I got that. I wanted a top ten overall and to be there is amazing. I’m really happy with the season.

“We’re losing some of our staff and I feel like I need to send a huge thanks to the staff and to people that make this possible. There are people on our staff who could go work for their home countries or for countries that have a bigger ski team, but they work for us and they’ve given us faith. I’m grateful for that,” she added.

We caught up with Gregg who is also having a storybook season. “Today’s race was great! My goal for the day was to finish in the top 10 so I was on target for most of the race. Unfortunately I was caught by a huge pack with about 6k to go and I could not hold them off so I finished 19th. I am bummed to come short of my goal but I felt like I skied very well.

Caitlin Gregg (USA) © Nordic Focus

“If I could change anything from today I would have started on a different pair of skis or changed skis even though the girls around me did not! I tried to use a strategy that I thought would work well but in the end I ended up trying to maintain contact by following what the other girls were doing and it meant I skied the whole race on a pretty stiff pair of skis that were my second best. That’s why this event is tricky though. The ski exchange throws another element into the race.

“I am glad I went for it and I was able to gather some extra World Cup points which will be important for the USA quota next year! Our skis were incredibly fast and the staff and techs did an amazing job today providing the best possible skis and support for all of us. Tomorrow morning I head to Sun Valley for Super Tour finals. I am very excited for the next series of races,” she concluded.

Jessie Diggins (USA) © Nordic Focus

The results echoed the goals of Head Coach Chris Grover who predicted steady improvement throughout the year.

“We were really proud of how the women skied. Liz was fighting for 5th place for most of the race but ran out of steam in the last kilometer. Jessie lost a pole basket early in the race and needed to change poles several times but kept fighting back and for sure had her best Holmekollen 30km. Caitlin proved once again that she is in great skating shape, as evidenced not only by her World Championship medal but by her recent Engadin podium and her result today. All six of the women were digging really deep out there.

“The service team made incredible skis once again that allowed the US women to compete with the best.  Like most of the top-20 finishers, none of our top three women took advantage of the ski exchange today. All three of them started and finished on the same pair of skis. It was a very satisfying way to end the season,” commented Grover.

Full results 30km FR here.
Overall distance standings here.
Overall World Cup standings here.