Cross-country skiing: seven world medals for Federico Pellegrino
Federico Pellegrino has won another silver medal. On Thursday, he finished second in the sprint skate event at the world championships in Trondheim (Norway). This is the seventh time that the Transalpine has distinguished himself at this type of event, after the title obtained in Lahti in 2017 and silver in Seefeld in 2019, and the four medals obtained in the team sprint (2 silvers and 2 bronzes), the last of which was in 2023 in Planica.
In today’s race, the thirty-four year-old cross-country skier never let up on Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo in either the semi-final or the final. He stuck with him, using his wake to scatter all his rivals along the way, and so achieve his goals.
“It’s a track for sprinters”, he said on the eve of the race. He wasn’t wrong when you analyse the results sheet.
Fourteen years after his first appearance at a World Championships (in 2011 in Oslo) and six years after his last individual medal, Federico Pellegrino is back on the world podium. The context is special: these are his last World Championships, as he has announced that he will end his career at the 2026 Olympic Games on home soil.
“I’m the oldest medallist at the World Championships and Olympic Games and I’m proud of that,” said the Italian. For him, succeeding in a race “is not just a question of physical strength, but also and above all of mentality”. That’s why experience counts. “To tell the truth, I broke down in tears after the semi-final, because that was the hardest round. All that was left for me to enjoy was the final. And that’s exactly what happened.
Read also
- Cross-country skiing | Trondheim: disappointed to have missed out on a medal in the sprint, the French will have to turn the page
- Cross-country skiing | Trondheim: a tenth world title for Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo, who overtakes Bjoern Dæhlie and closes to within three points of Petter Northug Jr.
- Cross-country skiing | Trondheim: Jules Chappaz within a whisker of bronze in the sprint skate at the Worlds, Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo’s tenth world title
