Berlin – Ruka, the winter sports center in northern Finland, which is located on the 493 meter high Fjell Rukatunturi in the Kuusamo area, is known to winter sports fans as a World Cup location. Guaranteed snow is an advantage for cross-country skiers, combiners, ski jumpers and freestylers. The massive cold, well, it goes hand in hand with the proximity to the Arctic Circle and it didn’t affect cross-country skier Katharina Hennig from Oberwiesenthal any further. Because she had a dream start into the Olympic winter in the ice-cold Ruka. On Saturday, the 25-year-old finished third over ten kilometers for one of the rare podium places in the German team, and on Sunday she was seventh in the pursuit race. The last time there was a DSV podium on the first World Cup weekend was 2013.
Hennig thus fulfilled the Olympic standard straight away. “I still thought: If I manage half the qualification today, I’ll be super happy. I would never have thought that I would close the sack right now. The skis were just great, I had real rockets under my feet, ”said the Saxon.
Norway’s men’s team does not start because of the cold
In the men’s category, Lucas Bögl met the qualification norm for Beijing 2022. The 31-year-old took advantage of the lack of stars due to the freezing cold on Sunday and achieved the best World Cup result of his career in seventh over 15 km. In addition, Jonas Dobler achieved half the norm for the second time in 14th place.
“The conclusion is consistently positive. We have worked a lot and will continue to work a lot, “said national coach Peter Schlickenrieder:” Now it is important to celebrate and enjoy that all the work is worth it. But we don’t get careless and cocky. “
The entire Norwegian men’s team around three-time Olympic champion Johannes Kläbo did not start on Sunday. “It’s bitterly cold. Health comes first, we don’t risk illness, ”said her boss Espen Bjervig. Early on Sunday it was 20 degrees below zero.
But the Norwegian women started. The 10 kilometer race had been postponed from 10:20 a.m. to 1:45 p.m. The victory went to Therese Johaug. In the men’s category, Alexander Bolshunov led a Russian quadruple victory.