March 30, 2010 (Lausanne, SUI) – With the prize money for the Tour de Ski and for the overall World Cup ranking that was awarded for the third time, the top Cross-Country athletes earned good money this season and are on par with the top stars in the other FIS disciplines.

Justyna Kowalcyzk earned 366’250 CHF, which ranked her second in the overall FIS prize money rankings for the season 2009/2010, just behind the Alpine dominator Lindsey Vonn, who collected whopping 492’450 CHF. In third position overall is another lady: Maria Riesch (Alpine Skiing; 356’200 CHF) who is followed by the best rewarded man, Didier Cuche (SUI), (Alpine Skiing; 334’850 CHF). Cuche leads the men’s ranking ahead of Cross-Country star Petter Northug. The 24-year-old Norwegian finished the season by winning 321’500 CHF prize money.

Marit Bjoergen (NOR, 207’250 CHF) and Lukas Bauer (CZE, 231’125 CHF) are also ranked in the top ten of the prize money ranking whilst this year no Ski Jumping athlete made it to the Top Ten due to the new prize money rules, where the money is divided among the Top 30 and not just the Top Ten as was the case in the past.

Overview FIS World Cup prize money ranking:
1. Lindsey Vonn (USA), Alpine Skiing – CHF 492’450
2. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL), Cross-Country Skiing – CHF 366’250
3. Maria Riesch (GER), Alpine Skiing – CHF 356’200
4. Didier Cuche (SUI), Alpine Skiing – CHF 334’850
5. Petter Northug (NOR), Cross-Country Skiing – CHF 321’500
6. Carlo Janka (SUI), Alpine Skiing – CHF 305’673
7. Kathrin Zettel (AUT), Alpine Skiing – CHF 272’200
8. Lukas Bauer (CZE), Cross-Country Skiing – CHF 213’125
9. Marit Bjoergen (NOR), Cross-Country Skiing – CHF 207’250
10. Benjamin Raich (AUT), Alpine Skiing – CHF 206’775

Other interesting numbers:

Overall ranking ladies
1. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) 2064 pts
2. Marit Bjoergen (NOR) 1320 pts
3. Petra Majdic (SLO) 1191pts
4. Aino Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) 1123 pts
5. Arianna Follis (ITA) 908 pts
6. Kristin Stoermer Steira 892 pts

Rookie of the year (best U23 skier):
Charlotte Kalla (SWE)

Distance ranking ladies
1. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) 929 pts
2. Marit Bjoergen (NOR) 636 pts
3. Kristin Stoermer Steira (NOR) 568 pts

Sprint ranking ladies
1. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) 575 pts
2. Marit Bjoergen (NOR) 484 pts
3. Petra Majdic (SLO) 446 pts

Team Cup ladies
1. Norway 4650 pts
2. Russia 3521 pts
3. Sweden 3258 pts

Prize Money ranking (in CHF)
1. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) 366’250 CHF
2. Marit Bjoergen (NOR) 207’250
3. Petra Majdic (SLO) 197 250

Most WC victories (including competition series):
Marit Bjoergen (NOR) 7
Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) 6
Hanna Falk (SWE) 2

Most top 3 places (including competition series):
Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) 11
Marit Bjoergen (NOR) 10
Aino Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) 5

Overall ranking men
1. Petter Northug (NOR) 1621 pts
2. Lukas Bauer (CZE) 1021 pts
3. Marcus Hellner (SWE) 985 pts
4. Dario Cologna (SUI) 885 pts
5. Maurice Manificat (FRA) 580 pts
6. Emil Joensson (SWE) 554 pts

Rookie of the year (best U23 skier):
Jesper Modin (SWE)

Distance ranking men
1. Petter Northug (NOR) 749pts
2. Lukas Bauer(CZE) 563 pts
3. Marcus Hellner (SWE) 483 pts

Sprint ranking men
1. Emil Joensson (SWE) 506 pts
2. Petter Northug (NOR) 352 pts
3. Alexey Petukhov (RUS) 347 pts

Team Cup men
1. Norway 5249 pts
2. Russia 4180 pts
3. Sweden 3535 pts

Nations Cup (ladies & men)
1. Norway 9899 pts
2. Russia 7701 pts
3. Sweden 6793 pts

Prize money ranking (in CHF)
1. Petter Northug (NOR) 321’500 CHF
2. Lukas Bauer (CZE) 213’125 CHF
3. Marcus Hellner (SWE) 91’500 CHF

Most WC victories (including competition series):
Petter Northug (NOR) 5
Emil Joensson (SWE) 3
Lukas Bauer (CZE) 2

Most top 3 places (including competition series)
Petter Northug (NOR) 8
Alexey Petukhov (RUS) 4
Maurice Manificat (FRA), Lukas Bauer (CZE), Nikita Kriukov (RUS), Dario Cologna (SUI), Marcus Hellner (SWE), Emil Joensson (SWE) – all 3