At the World Ski Championships, the girls had only one set of awards to play, but in the most difficult discipline.
On Saturday they competed in the 30 km marathon in classic style.
The final race of the World Championship was not reached by all possible participants.
She decided to miss all the first three in the overall standings of the World Cup - American Jesse Diggins and Rosie Brennen, as well as Russian Julia Stupak.
The competition in the Swiss Engadine will continue next week, and the girls preferred to keep their strength before the final fight for the "Crystal Globes".
So, at least, the president of the Russian Cross-Country Skiing Federation, Elena Vyalbe, explained the absence of Stupak.
Natalya Nepryaeva also missed the marathon, although in recent years she was the best Russian long-distance skier.
According to Vyalbe, the 25-year-old athlete fell ill after the relay.
“Natasha got snot yesterday.
Today I saw her, heard that she was sniffing.
I think there is no point in reaching the top thirty, especially in a week two serious starts - the World Cup final and the Russian championship.
I don't think it makes sense.
It would be another matter if they understood that she would be in the top three, but objectively she does not have the necessary form.
It's okay that she won't run, ”Vyalba told RIA Novosti.
The vice-world champions in the relay Tatyana Sorina and Yana Kirpichenko, as well as Maria Istomina and Alisa Zhambalova, who were specially preparing for the marathon, remained to represent the Russian national team.
It was too difficult to predict in advance whether one of them would qualify for medals or not - races over such long distances can be very unpredictable.
What was clear with the marathon was that Theresa Johaug would be the main favorite.
Having traveled three kilometers in the general group, the Norwegian began to accelerate and easily broke away from the peloton.
By the end of the first six-kilometer lap, she had already won 16 seconds against the group, which, in addition to other Norwegians, Swedes, German women Katharina Hennig and Austrian Teresa Stadlober, included Kirpichenko and Sorina.
On the next two laps, Johaug continued to increase the advantage, and behind her, the skiers either tried to break away from the peloton, or were forced to return when they realized how much more they would have to run.
The Russians did not accelerate until they changed their skis at the 18th kilometer.
With the new inventory, Kirpichenko even became a contender for a medal for a while.
She rose to seventh place, yielding at the 21st kilometer 34 seconds to the Stadlober who ran ahead and only 13 seconds to the group of athletes who claimed bronze.
But all the bright prospects were destroyed when Kirpichenko fell on the descent, at the same time hitting Hennig.
She avoided breaking skis and poles, but wasted too much time getting back to the piste.
Already at the next mark, the Russian woman lost to the first three by 25 seconds, and at the end of the fourth round - almost a minute.
By that time, Stadlober had already caught up with the Swedes Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson, as well as the Norwegian Heidi Veng.
They continued to work all together on the distance until the finish line, but the Austrian still lacked strength until the end of the distance.
Of these four, she was the first to stop fighting.
The Swedish skiers hoped that it was they who would compete for silver and bronze, when suddenly, several hundred meters before the finish, they recklessly let Veng go ahead.
The Norwegian immediately began to accelerate and appeared first at the finish line.
Karlsson applied all her sprint skills to catch up with her rival, but she still had to rebuild to another track, and this hitch left her with a bronze medal, and Veng presented her with silver.
Teresa Johaug had been a 14-time world champion for two and a half minutes before these final showdowns.
She caught up in the number of titles with Elena Vyalbe, who had previously occupied a clear second place in this indicator.
In the 30 km races, Johaug celebrated her fourth victory, which no other athlete had ever achieved before.
Among Russian skiers Sorina showed the best result in the Oberstdorf marathon.
She had a good last lap and climbed to ninth place.
Sorina noted that she was counting on more.
“Not a bad result, but the goal was to fight for at least the top 6 before the race.
But from the very start it did not work out a little, I could not adapt.
Somewhere there were problems with holding.
Then she added?
I changed the skis and let me go.
I will estimate the championship by four points.
There is a medal - good.
But the goal was different - to fight for an award in a personal race, ”Sorina said on Match TV.
Kirpichenko finished the race in 12th position.
After the race, she noted that she was really ready to fight for a medal, but all plans were confused by the fall.
“Everything seemed to be under control.
We kept close to the second group.
But two falls in the final laps knocked him out of the top 10.
I wanted to fight with the group ahead.
The goal was to get into the top ten.
I am satisfied with the tournament, although this race did not work out, ”the athlete noted.
Istomina closed the top twenty, while Zhambalova's race was not at all successful - she showed the 31st result.
On Sunday, March 7, the world championship will end with the men's 50 km marathon, where Alexander Bolshunov will compete for gold.