Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo claims sprint victory and 44th World Cup win, edging out team-mate Erik Valnes in Canada

BySportsbeat

Published 11/02/2024 at 12:24 GMT

Five-time Olympic champion Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo sealed his 44th World Cup win with a time of 2:44.40 in the sprint final. Klaebo led the way after the semi-final, and finished ahead of his fellow Norwegian Erik Valnes in Canmore. Valnes finished 0.43 seconds adrift, while Sweden's Edvin Anger took the final position on the podium after being 0.63 seconds further back.

CANMORE, CANADA - FEBRUARY 9: Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo of Norway competes during Men's 15km Mass Start Free at the COOP FIS Cross Country World Cup, on February 9, 2024, in Canmore, Alberta, Canada, (Photo by Artur Widak/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Image credit: Getty Images

Five-time Olympic champion Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo powered to his 44th World Cup victory after he edged out team-mate Erik Valnes in the men's sprint free in Canmore.

Klaebo crossed the line in a time of 2:44.40 in the sprint final after leading in the semi-final heat.

Valnes finished 0.43 seconds behind as Sweden's Edvin Anger settled for bronze, 0.63 seconds back.

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"It's a difficult track," Klaebo said. "All the way from the top there and to the finish it's really hard to find your position.

"I tried two different things today. On the first heat I started second (down the hill) and at the very last final here I ended up first and then I was like 'OK, now I really need to sprint here'."

Norway take up the top four spots in the men's overall World Cup rankings as Valnes remains in second behind Harald Oestberg Amundsen.

In the women's sprint, Kristine Stavaas Skistad soared to gold after pipping Sweden's Maja Dahlqvist in the final.

"It was good," Skistad said. "My plan was to go fast in the end and it was very nice to beat the Swedish girls.

Dahlqvist finished 0.57 seconds behind Skistad, who crossed the line in a time of 3:03.88.

Linn Svahn completed the podium 1.4 seconds off the lead despite finishing ahead of Skistad in the semi-final heat.

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