March 6, 2009 (Liberec, Cze) – The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships concluded in Liberec (Cze) on Sunday with the traditional men’s 50km cross-country race, this time in free technique. After 20 title competitions, Norway won the medals standings with a total of 12 medals (5-4-3) ahead of the surprisingly strong USA that won six medals of which four were gold (4-1-1), and Finland, whose cross-country team resurged from a long depression to accumulate eight medals (3-0-5).

The most successful female athlete at Liberec 2009 was Finn Aino Kaisa Saarinen who collected three gold medals and a bronze. On the men’s side her counterpart was Norwegian Petter Northug with three gold medals. Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) returned home with two gold medals along with a bronze whilst Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR) underscored his reign in the men’s sprint with two gold medals.

In Ski Jumping, Austria may not have won the expected individual medal on the large hill where Swiss Andreas Küttel triumphed, but thanks to the dominating performance by their team, Austria took a clear victory and Wolfgang Loitzl became the most decorated ski jumper of the event with two gold medals with teammate Gregor Schlierenzauer in tow with a gold and a silver.

In Nordic Combined, the gold medals were divided between the USA and Japan with the European favorites missing out: while Todd Lodwick won the mass start and normal hill Gundersen, teammate Bill Demong was best in large hill Gundersen and Team Japan took a surprise gold medal in the team event.

“We have experienced great championships here in Liberec,” summarized Gian Franco Kasper, FIS President at Liberec 2009. “These FIS Nordic World Ski Championships mark a new milestone in the history of our championships. It is the first time that a nation without many of its own national favorites has organized such successful championships. On several days there were very significant numbers of spectators at the venues and altogether more than 170,000 saw the competitions on site. The evening medal ceremonies at the Liberec Medal Plaza, each night full with fans from around the world, were a truly emotional tribute to our best Nordic skiers. And this was achieved with continual snowfall for most of the championships making travelling conditions more difficult for the visitors. Despite the complicated weather conditions, we were able to carry out the competitions fully according to the International Competition Rules thanks to the great work by the organizing committee and the juries. Special recognition belongs to the Liberec 2009 teams at the two sports venues, Vesec for Cross-Country Skiing and Jested for Ski Jumping, who spared no effort in preparing the best possible conditions for the athletes to perform no matter what the weather was like. The host broadcaster, Czech TV, has also done an outstanding job in providing hundreds of hours of excellent coverage for the entire world.”

“For FIS and the general development of the sport of skiing, it is important to have many different nations on the podium. With 15 achieving this feat at Liberec and given the new record of participating nations – 59 – we can be pleased that we are moving in the right direction for the Nordic disciplines,” he noted.