Last weekend second part of national championships took place in Europe and North America and slowly put an end to the long Cross-Country Skiing season.
Long distance titles in USA
On 30-31 March USA’s long distance titles were handed over at Craftsbury, Vermont. Kikkan Randall wrapped up a historic racing season, by winning her 17th national title in the women’s 30km free technique race at the US Distance National Championships held at the Craftsbury Outdoor Centre. Randall nipped Jessie Diggins at the finish line by 1.1 seconds. Liz Stephen went for the bronze 14.3 seconds back.
On the men’s side Kris Freeman proved to be top US distance skier and won 50 km free. Tad Elliot finished only 3.2 seconds back. Tim Reynolds and Sylvan Ellefson fought for third, with Reynolds the local favorite edging out Ellefson.
Two Swiss titles for Dario Cologna
Swiss nationals had to be rescheduled from Campra to Andermatt/Realp featuring free technique sprint, free technique mass start competition and relay. Dario Cologna and Laurien van der Graaf claimed titles in sprint. Cologna showed once again to be top universal skier and took gold medal also in 50 km race as Bettina Gruber dominated ladies’ 30 km competition. Relay titles went to team Gardes-Frontier (Leccardi, Jäger, Livers) and on the ladies’ side to SC Obergoms (Garbely, Volken, Jost).
Faivre Picon dominates French nationals at Bessans
French Cross-Country skiers and biathletes traditionally met together at common national championships, which took place this year at Bessans. Anouk Faivre Picon scored two titles out of three available as she won the opening 10 km free race and on Sunday she notched the gold medal also in 10 km skiathlon. Aurore Jean powered to the French title in the classical sprint.
On the men’s side Ivan Boiteux Perrillat won the first competition of the nationals over 15 km free. Bastien Buttin became the fastest French sprinter of the 2011/12 season. The last competition of the championships over 15 km skiathlon was won by Christophe Perrillat.
Relay and long distance in Sweden
The Swedish nationals in Torsby had relay and long distance on the program. Relay titles went on the ladies’ side to Asarna IK (Hallberg, Brodin, Wiken). Among men team Hudiksvall IF won the gold medals (Karlsson, Jonsson, Rickardsson).
Hanna Brodin claimed the Swedish title over 30 km classic as she edged out Charlotte Kalla and Sara Lindborg. Daniel Rickardsson won men’s 50 km classic ahead of Anders Soedergren and Jens Eriksson.
Norwegian nationals, part 2 at Fauske
Second part of Norway’s national championships took place in Fauske with classical long distance competitions over 30 km and 50 km.
Marit Bjoergen concluded super-successful season with another victory as she edged out by 8 seconds Therese Johaug. Rising star of Norwegian Cross-Country skiing Heidi Weng claimed third place in the 30 km long competition.
Martin Johnsrud Sundby dominated the last 50 km classic of the season and in 2:12:01.5 grabbed gold medal. Eldar Roenning finished more than a minute back and claimed second place. Eirik Brandsdal came home only 28 seconds after Roenning and finished third.
Russian championships in Tyumen
Russian championships took place in Tyumen. The final competition was carried out on 30 March. Alevtina Tanygyna took gold over 30 km mass start free in 1:21:08.4. Larissa Shaidurova finished second and Valentina Novikova took bronze.
Maxim Vylegzhanin took second gold medal at the championships after having won the skiathlon. Vylegzhanin romped to victory in 50 km mass start free ahead of Konstantin Glavatskikh and Petr Sedov.
Complete Results
You can find complete results of various national championships HERE.
Includes contributions by www.skitrax.com and www.xc-ski.de
