By Inge Scheve
The 26-year-old Norwegian returns from the IBU World Championships with no less than three medals:
He opened the show with a bang bagging a gold medal on his first possible occasion. On Saturday February 10, Lægreid won the sprint, the first individual race of the championships, in a downright spectacular way.
The very next day he snagged the silver in the pursuit. Then on Saturday February 17, he skied the first leg of the men's relay, helping Norway to silver and upping his own medal count to three.
Lægreid was the third most successful male athlete in terms of medals: Johannes Thingnes Bø (NOR) took home seven medals and Quentin Fillon Maillet (FRA) earned four.
After a rocky start to the season, succeeding at the biggest stage was a relief as much as anything, Lægreid explains.
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Photo by: Nordic Focus
Also, Benedikt Doll (GER)) returns from the IBU Biathlon World Championships in Nove Mesto (CZE) with a solid bronze medal from the 20-kilometer individual competition, the last World Championship medal of his career.
After 13 seasons at the World Cup level, two Olympic medals and six World Championships medals including one gold medal (2017), the 33-year-old German will retire his rifle after the World Cup final in mid-March.
Thank you, Benni – you will be missed!
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For the first time in more than 20 years, the FIS cross-country World Cup returned to the United States. And no doubt, the double-header in Minneapolis, Minnesota, was one for the history books.
The stands were brimming with fans, and Madshus racers certainly helped fuel the crowds. Overall World Cup leader Harald Østberg Amundsen (NOR) added yet another podium to his collection, finishing second in the 10-kilometer skate race on Sunday.
Edvin Anger (SWE) delivered another solid top-10 in the sprint on Saturday. The 21-year-old Swede now leads the overall U23 World Cup by 187 points.
The World Cup now moves back to Europe for the last period, featuring races in Lahti (FIN), Drammen and Oslo (NOR), and Falun (SWE) in March.
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And finally, turbo junior Alvar Myhlback bags his very first podium in the long-distance series Ski Classics.
On Monday, the 17-year-old Swede returned from the Junior World Championships with two gold medals: one of them from the 10-kilometer classic event, where he crushed his competitors winning by nearly a minute after double-poling the entire course.
On Sunday, Myhlback was just seconds from beating the strongest double-polers in the world. At the 13-kilometer Grönklitt ITT in Orsa (SWE), he was second only by 5.8 seconds, and bagged his first-ever Ski Classics podium finish.
Now, Myhlback is preparing for the 90-kilometer Vasaloppet on March 3. Last year, the then 16-year-old super talent finished eighth, only three seconds from the podium.
Photo by: Nordic Focus