Cross-country skiing | Trondheim : Kristin Austgulen Fosnæs started with a 37-second lead, but how did she collapse after just 2 kilometres in the women’s relay at the World Championships ?

Cross-country skiing: Kristin Austgulen Fosnæs quickly devoured by Jonna Sundling

You’d expect to see Heidi Weng, Astrid Oeyre Slind and Therese Johaug looking a bit downcast in the finish area of the women’s relay at the World Cross-Country Skiing Championships in Trondheim (Norway) on Friday. Yet they greeted their team-mate Kristin Austgulen Fosnæs with big smiles, as if the young woman had just won gold.

A few minutes earlier, the improbable happened on the Granåsen stadium track. The Norwegian started with a 37-second margin over Sweden’s Jonna Sundling, but lost her entire lead in just two kilometres. It was a failure that was all the more surprising given that the woman who had been leading the race up to that point didn’t seem to be having any trouble on skis.

“It was great when I took over with such a big lead. It’s been a very nerve-wracking day,” Kristin Austgulen Fosnæs told NRK in the mixed zone. I appreciate that my compatriots are not angry with me. I did my best, but Jonna was better than me. I’m very grateful for the support.

Already beaten four times by the Swedes in the sprint skate, skiathlon, individual classic and team sprint classic, the Norwegians didn’t seem downhearted despite a race finish that didn’t exactly go their way. We’re very happy to win the silver medal,” admitted Therese Johaug.

“I’m proud of Kristin. She managed to keep up with the best sprinter in the world on the final climb,” added Heidi Weng. It’s so impressive! Silver medallist for the third time since the launch of this 2025 edition, Therese Johaug had no regrets: “We gave it our best shot and couldn’t have aimed any higher.

It has to be said that Kristin Austgulen Fosnæs also came up against Jonna Sundling, who has left very little room for the other competitors since the start of the fortnight. It was another outstanding performance, which was hailed by the Norwegian experts: “Sundling put in one of the best performances of all time in this race,” even declared Torgeir Bjoern.

Read also

• Trondheim: after a wild comeback, Sweden’s Emma Ribom, Frida Karlsson, Ebba Andersson and Jonna Sundling win gold in the World Championships relay
• Trondheim: beaten in the final, the French finish at the foot of the podium in the relay won by an untouchable Norway
• Trondheim: Sweden’s Edvin Anger and William Poromaa win relay bronze
• Trondheim: after his fifth gold medal, Johannes Hoesflot Klæbo overtakes Petter Northug Jr to become the most successful athlete at the World Championships
• Trondheim: a historic second place for Switzerland in the men’s relay at the World Championships
• Trondheim: a big hug from the Finns, unhappy after the men’s relay
• “We missed out on a lot of our objectives”: another frustrating result for Hugo Lapalus in the World Championships relay
• “We wanted to cheer up the whole group”: Rémi Bourdin and Jules Lapierre feel the pinch after the relay at the Trondheim Worlds

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