The Swede advanced from the quarterfinals but finished fourth in the semis and eliminated. It was the first race after the World Cup bronze in the five-mile in Slovenia on March 5.
It looked like in the World Cup and Johannes Hösflot Kläbo was as superior as in Tallinn yesterday. Even Northug was second. Ane Appelkvist Stenseth won the women's class ahead of Johanna Hagström.
"It's a new type of competition and something we will certainly see more of in the future," Kläbo said in the victory interview from the stadium after the second straight victory in the competition.
The "Helsinki Ski Weeks" sprint, where the public could ski at the Olympic Stadium, was a step between yesterday's World Cup sprint in Tallinn and the World Cup final in Lahti on Friday to Sunday.
Kläbo challenged by a masked skater
Although it was not a sanctioned competition, it was a good starting field with Johannes Hösflot Klläbo as the top in the men's class and merited Katharina Hennig and Johanna Hagström on the women's side. The first edition in which the riders run a 1.1 km track, where they left the stadium and got a hill, took place last year.
In both classes, a masked skater drove, which the crowd could vote on to the semifinals, and after that the crowd yelled, "Off with the mask!" Finnish skiers Niilo Moilanen, with a chest camera, and Eevi-Inkeri Tossavainen showed up there.
A rock band performed between heats to emphasize the entertainment value.