Lotta Udnes Weng won the Beito sprint: –

It was an intense duel between Lotta Udnes Weng and Ane Appelkvist Stenseth in the Beitostølen women’s final.

Udnes Weng was not mentioned as one of the favorites, but he made it to the final. The runner from Nes decided to race to the last hill. Towards the finish line there was no one near her. The closest rival, Ane Appelkvist Stenseth, was defeated by 2.55 seconds.

– I’m quite surprised, yes. It was strange to get into the race and feel like I had a few meters to spare. I haven’t known since I was young, I think. That surprises me, Udnes Weng tells Dagbladet.

– I was aiming to get on the podium when I was first in a final. When you have six pieces in a final, you will be in the top three. So that was really the goal, he says.

Third place went to Anna Svendsen from Tromsø. This was followed by Mathilde Skjærdalen Myhrvold, Anikken Gjerde Alnæs and Ingrid Andrea Gulbrandsen.

Mocking Northug’s Boast

Hattestad brag

Dagbladet commentator Esten O. Sæther was impressed after the women’s final in Beitostølen. And there is one man in particular who deserves praise according to the seasoned commentator.

– This is the Hattestad effect. He has entered and assumed the development of the sprint. The girls and Ole Morten Iversen are very happy with him and today we see some results, says Sæther about the arrival of the former Slovenian national team coach.

Hattestad returned to Norway before the season as an assistant coach to national team coach Ole Morten Iversen. It has already paid off, Sæther believes.

– Then you have to add the sprint specialists who were previously the best sprinters in the world for many years. And we see that here, among other things, they have trained in the turns at the end here and work a lot with the details of the sprint. And it is clear that it has developed and helped Lotta to progress, explains the Dagbladet commentator.

Udnes Weng has been focusing on sprints in the lead up to this season. Sæther describes her as explosive by nature and believes she has a lot in store for becoming a good sprinter.

In recent years, Sweden has taken over sprint hegemony at the Women’s World Cup. Sæther doesn’t think we can expect the Norwegians to regain hegemony this winter.

– These are young runners, so in just a few years these are world class. This is very gratifying because we are in a process of generational change, he says.

Respond to disk

Impressed Klæbo

Ane Appelkvist Stenseth had the best time in the prologue ahead of Svendsen, but fell short in the final. Male winner Klæbo was impressed by Udnes Weng.

– It was impressive. I barely saw the end when I warmed up for the final. It seemed that he had climbed the last hill well. That Lotta hit is a lot of fun and has shown that she is strong, she showed it when I was a junior too. I’ve been on the same team as her since I was a junior. We have to keep our fingers crossed for her to make it to the World Cup too, Klæbo tells Dagbladet.

The sprint in Beitostølen opens the season for cross-country skiers. With the uncertainty that the corona pandemic brings, Friday’s winner isn’t sure there will be that many more races this year.