Cross-country skiing : Johanna Hagstroem wins her first World Cup title
While we were expecting Jasmi Joensuu, the brilliant winner of the morning qualifier, or Jonna Sunding, the grande dame of world sprinting for several winters, it was in the end another cross-country skier who came out on top in the classic sprint of the cross-country skiing world cup in Ruka, Finland.
Johanna Hagstroem, who finished an excellent fifth in the first heat earlier in the day, upset all the predictions. Close to victory on this circuit for many years, this time the Swede managed to claim her very first win at this level of competition.
Having reached the podium six times in her career, the 26-year-old Scandinavian had never experienced the joys of raising her arms against the best athletes on the circuit. Behind her, a Norwegian also experienced a first.
Always well placed throughout the competition, Julie Myhre capitalised at the end of the event to climb onto the box for the first time as an individual on the World Cup. She had only visited the top 3 during a team sprint held in Lahti (Finland) on 24 March 2023 in the company ofAnne Kjersti Kalvaa.
Behind this unprecedented leading duo, Maja Dahlqvist scored her first podium of the winter by getting the better of her compatriot Jonna Sundling on the short Kuusamo course. Jasmi Joensuu, who topped the qualifying rankings, still hasn’t managed to bring the finals to a close in the best possible way. The Finn finished fifth ahead of Germany’s Coletta Rydzek.
The full rankings
The overall sprint ranking
The overall World Cup standings
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- The full programme for the Ruka World Cup, the first stage of the winter season for cross-country skiers and combined skiers
- Ruka: Fifteen-strong France on the opening day of the World Cup
