March 02, 2013 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – Marit Bjoergen of Norway demonstrated her superhero skiing ability today in front of 23,000 fans with an exciting race to the finish against Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) and Therese Johaug (NOR) to win gold in the 30km CL.

Bjoergen’s proven to be an all around world champion in Trentino, winning the Sprint Classic and the Skiathlon, adding a silver in the 10km FR, and then demonstrating her strength as the anchor in the relay 4x5km for another gold.

The efforts of Kowalczyk and Johaug were not lost on Bjoergen going up the Zorzi climb, with the three leaders eyeing each other as Bjoergen responded on the outside to Kowalcyzyk’s attack counter as they dropped Johaug. Over the final roller Bjoergen pushed hard to regain her lead over Kowalcyzyk proving her versatility in this sport as she claimed the gold at 3.7 seconds ahead her Polish rival.

Sunny warm weather greeted competitors as the race started at a fast clip as a strong pack of 15 skiers lead the way with less than eight seconds apart. Johaug, Kowalczyk and Bjoergen were at the front including Charlotte Kalla (SWE,) the only skier to race all five of the women’s events at Trentino. Finland’s Aino- Kaisa Saarinen was also up for the fast pace of the first lap.

A crash early in the first lap on a section known as the Elevator Shaft took down nearly 15 skiers, including American Jessie Diggins. Many lost contact with the lead pack and Diggins was out soon after the second lap began.

Johaug, Kowalczyk and Bjoergen continued to lead with Heidi Weng (Nor) also looking strong as little changed thru the lap. At the 10km ski change the only skier not taking advantage was Japan’s Ishida allowing her to gain the lead.

But Ishida’s lead was short lived as the threesome of Johaug, Bjoergen, Kowalcyzyk added Weng and picked up the pace forcing the top five chasers that included Nicole Fessel (GER), Anna Haag (SWE), Kristin Steormer Steira (NOR) and Kerttu Niskanen (FIN) to work harder. Behind them four more skiers with Kalla and Saarinen forged on.

Fessel showed amazing abilities to bridge the gap to the leaders only to drop back later on Vasha, the toughest climb, to finish a strong 5th. Haag’s attempts to bridge to the leaders after the half way point were unsuccessful at getting away from Steira and Niskanen, however at this point in the race Kalla started to show her suffering and dropped back, while American Elizabeth Stephen moved into 17th.

The crash effected Stephens as she lost the lead pack. “I think that it was hard to catch back up to them and my brain decided I wasn’t racing anymore for 10k and then I finally got it back. I’m happy with the race and I’ve been really happy with the Championships,” said Stephen who matched her best-ever 30km result of 16th achieved in Liberec in 2009.

“I’m definitely happy with it. It wasn’t the perfect day out there for me. I would have liked to stay with the lead pack a little bit longer and have some people to ski with. All things considered, I had really good last 10k and first 4 or 5k, so I’m happy,” added Stephen.

Ida Sargent (USA) who finished 25th, showed her ability to race well in the hot conditions. “It didn’t feel great out there so I was surprised at how much better it was than Oslo last year,” said Sargent who finished 51st in Oslo. “I think just more training and experience has made the difference in my distance skiing. Training with our team is awesome and always ups the ante.”

“My strategy was to hold on for as long as possible without starting out too hard and then try to move up when possible. I skied a lot on my own which was hard. The heat made the race really hard and I had the coaches dumping cold water on me which really helped,” said Sargent.

Of her crash Diggins explained that she fell right after the “elevator shaft”, steep turning part of the course. “I went down hard on my right side and then couldn’t stop sliding and slammed right into another girl, scraping my ribs over her skis.” Diggins got the all clear from her doctor after the race as being injury free but that during the race her sore ribs and hurt that she felt were enough to make her panic and worry about it. She said, “…since I was skiing by myself near the back I decided that dropping out would be smarter in the long run.”

“Dropping a race is something I’d only done once before. It feels super bad, of course, but every single person I’ve talked to has said the same thing – “it was the smartest call to make, and now you’re going to be able to race well next weekend”. I know it was the right call but that doesn’t make it feel any easier, but luckily being tough is more than just physical – it’s the ability to wrap your head around making the hard calls and then move forward,” added the Afton, Minn. skier.

The sole Canadian on the start line was Emily Nishikawa. at her first senior World Championships proved she had what it takes to competing in her first 30km at this level amidst a strong field to finish 38th, getting lapped out on the last leg.