Magnus Moan bagged his 24th World Cup victory in front of a huge home crowd in Granaasen, after a race where everything worked from start to finish.
“My biggest advantage was that there were thousands of spectators cheering my name along the course. That gave me a lot of energy. The conditions were good for me and my skis were simply magic,” the Nordic Combined veteran Moan said to Norwegian TV reporters after his race.
At the biathlon World Championships, Emil Hegle “Super-Svendsen” (NOR) brought home a pair of medals to the collection. After a rocky start in Finland, Svendsen earned the silver medal in the men’s 20km individual competition on Thursday. Then he anchored Norway to silver in the relay on Saturday.
But Svendsen is not entirely content. He is already thinking about the 2016 World Championships, which will take place on home turf in Oslo. And he promises to be back for more.
“I was already thinking about Oslo 2016 as soon as I crossed the line. I will be back then, as a stronger biathlete. A little bit of struggle motivates me,” Svendsen said to reporters in Finland.
On Saturday night, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen earned his 40th World Championship medal when he helped Norway to silver in the men’s 4×7.5km relay at the IBU World Championships in Kontiolahti (FIN). Bjoerndalen raced the first leg in the relay and exchanged in first place, while Svendsen secured the silver medal with a solid anchor leg, as mentioned above. In the men’s 15km mass start, Bjoerndalen ended up in fourth place, despite shooting entirely clean.
Furthermore, Madshus biathlete Anaïs Bescond (FRA) also bagged a pair of silver medals at the World Championships in Finland this week. She helped France to second place in both the mixed relay and the women’s 4x6km relay.
Complete results from the IBU World Championships
And finally, on Wednesday, cross-country skier Heidi Weng (NOR) capped her season with yet another World Cup podium posting a second place in the sprint in Drammen (NOR), and finally beating Marit Bjoergen in a true sprint race.
Weng, who is fully established as one of the best skiers in the world, has been on the World Cup podium no less than 15 times this season, including Tour de Ski and mini-tour stages.