Sjur Røthe is the world champion in skiiathlon. The Norwegian won the race over 30 kilometers in 1: 10: 21.8 hours with a tenth of a second ahead of the Russian Alexander Bolshunov and the Norwegian Martin Johnsrud Sundby (+0.7 seconds).
After half of the race, a six-man group had dropped away from the rest of the field, in which Bolschunov set the pace. Only shortly before the finish, the three medal winners sat down, in the end Røthe gave a narrow lead for his first world title in singles.
The top favorites could not compete for victory. Defending champion Sergey Ustiugov finished ninth, Johannes Høsflot Klæbo (Norway) is more than four and a half minutes behind the winner. Florian Notz finished 18th, best German.
World Cup gold after doping suspension
A Norwegian could also cheer for the women: Therese Johaug has again won a world title after her 18-month doping ban. The now eight-time World Champion prevailed over 15 kilometers in 36: 54.5 minutes with 57.6 seconds ahead of her compatriot Ingvild Flugstad Östberg. Bronze went to the Russian Natalia Neprjajewa.
DPA
Therese Johaug
30-year-old World Champion Johaug is the dominant athlete this winter. Johaug was tested in the fall of 2016 after using a lip cream positive for the steroid Clostebol and then locked for 18 months. Best German runner was Katharina Hennig, who took rank 16. Sofie Krehl finished 25th and Pia Fink finished 30th.
In the case of skiathlon, the athletes have to master half the distance in the classical technique. Then skis and poles are changed before the second part of the course is skating. The men compete in their competition twice the distance, so a total of 30 kilometers.