Heidi Weng and Ingvild Flugstad Østberg turned the national season opener at Beitostølen into their podium party, Pål Golberg and Simen Sveen both delivered podiums at Beitostølen, and Krista Pärmakoski won in Finland.
Ingvild Flugstad Østberg opened her 2017 season by winning the 10-kilometer classic race at Beitostølen on Friday, with Heidi Weng in second place. 13 seconds separated the two Madshus racers, but the duo had a minute gap down to third place.
“I’m almost surprised that I did so well in the first race. I have felt good in training all summer and fall, but the last week felt a little harder. But I felt like I skied well, and it was fun to win the first race,” Østberg said after the victory.
On Saturday, Weng posted another second place in the 10-kilometer skate race, with Østberg in third place.
“This is my best season opener at Beitostølen ever. I don’t usually ski very fast in the first events, so it’s fun to do well here,” Weng said.
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Additionally, Madshus racer Simen Andreas Sveen was third in the men’s 15-kilometer skate race on Saturday. The 29-year-old is currently pursuing his racing career outside the Norwegian national team, and needed to ski well at Beitostølen in order to be considered for World Cup events later this season.
“I hope I will have a chance to ski the World Cup mini tour at Lillehammer in two weeks, and that I ski well enough there to be selected for the World Cup in Davos the following week. I have two main goals for the season, and those are the 30-kilometer skate at the World Cup in Davos, and the 50-kilometer skate at the World Championships in Lahti later this winter, so I really needed to post some good results here this weekend,” Sveen says.
Finally, on Sunday, Pål Golberg hauled in to second place in the skate sprint. Golberg is aiming for a spot on the Norwegian World Cup team for the mini tour in Lillehammer the first week in December. Performing well on home turf in Lillehammer is an important application for a chance to represent Norway at the Lahti (FIN) Championships in February. Accordingly, racing well at the Beitostølen season opener was crucial in order to keep those doors open, now that Golberg is racing outside the core of the Norwegian national team and has to qualify for the individual events.
Also this weekend, Madshus racer Krista Pärmakoski (FIN) won the women’s 10-kilometer classic race in Rovaniemi (FIN) on Sunday. She was second in the skate sprint on Saturday.
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The 2017 FIS cross-country World Cup opens in Ruka (FIN) this coming weekend and consists of with 12 rounds including Tour de Ski and two mini tours. Additionally, the 2017 FIS Nordic World Championships are held in Lahti (FIN) from February 22 to March 5.
2017 FIS World Cup Schedule
Nov 26-27: Ruka (FIN)
Dec 2-4: Lillehammer (NOR) mini tour
Dec 10-11: Davos (SUI)
Dec 17-18: La Clusaz (FRA)
Dec 31-Jan 8: Tour de Ski
Jan 14-15: Toblach (ITA)
Jan 21-22: Ulricehamn (SWE)
Jan 28-29: Falun (SWE)
Feb 3-5: PyeongChang (KOR)
Feb 18-19: Otepää (EST)
March 8: Drammen (NOR)
March 11-12: Oslo (NOR)
March 16-19: Tyumen (RUS) mini tour