Dhe Swedish cross-country skier Jonna Sundling won her first gold medal at the 54th Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia. The 28-year-old Olympic champion prevailed on Thursday in the classic sprint in a Swedish quadruple victory ahead of her compatriot Emma Ribom and successfully defended her title. Bronze went to Maja Dahlqvist.
Laura Gimmler finished eleventh as the best athlete of the German Ski Association (DSV). Despite dropping out in the semi-finals, the 29-year-old gave the German cross-country skiers a solid start to the World Cup competitions, just like two years ago when she finished tenth in her home town of Oberstdorf. However, she herself was not completely satisfied: “Of course I dreamed of the final, so I’m disappointed right now, even if it was a good competition.”
Team sprint Olympic champion Victoria Carl (Zehla-Melis), like Coletta Rydzek (Oberstdorf), who competed in her first World Championship race, failed in the quarter-finals. The Pole Izabela Marcisz tried on the last climb “to pass me on the outside and kicked my stick off in the process,” said Carl, who then had no chance to close the gap that had previously arisen.
The fourth German starter Sofie Krehl (Oberstdorf) had missed the quarterfinals by only 0.1 seconds after a fall during the qualification. Only Janosch Brugger (Schluchsee) started among the men, but the 25-year-old had no chance in the quarter-finals.