Results Day 3: FIS Junior & U23 WSC Lygna (NOR)
Feb 24, 2022·Cross-Country
Women's 10km C
Switzerland’s Anja Weber paced the fastest time in the first competition for the U23 categories. The new World Champion finished the race ahead of Patricija Eiduka from Latvia. "It was a hard race in these tough tracks. I didn’t expect to stand here with a gold medal after a very challenging summer last year. I missed out training for four months and therefore todays performance means a lot to me," the Gold medalist says.
Weber was patiently watching in the finishing area while Patricija Eiduka was fighting on the last 100 metres. She crossed the finish line 1,3 seconds late, and got the silver medal and stated: "This was a tough race. I enjoyed the tracks here at Lygna as they are quite similar to home."
The bronze medal was won by Veronika Stepanova from Russia. Stepanova just came back from Beijing where she completed the last leg in the relay for the Russian winning team. "It was tough going straight from the Olympics to Lygna. The tracks here were challenging and hard like the ones in the Olympics, but I tried my best. I’m very happy about a medal today," the Russian says. She finished 13,1 seconds behind Weber.
Men's 15km C
Arsi Ruuskanen from Finland is the new U23 World Champion in 15km classic stayle. The winner from Finland was not amongst the favorites and did a very strong race in the tough tracks at Lygna ski center. He had an early start number and won 6,7 seconds ahead of the Swede Leo Johansson. Norwegian Håvard Moseby got the third podium spot, 28,1 seconds behind the winner. Swiss Cyril Faehndrich was only two seconds away from the bronze medal.
"I’m very happy about this gold medal. It was a big surprise for me, but I pushed hard today," the Finnish gold medalist says.
Leo Johansson, who has a few World Cup starts, was one of the biggest favorites leading up to the race. "I went out a bit too hard, so it got tough in these tracks," he says.
The Norwegian bronze medalist was also happy about his performance: "It ended up being a tough race, but I didn’t feel that good in the beginning. As the race went on, I focused on the bronze medal and I’m very happy that I got it."
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