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Otepää hosts excellent Nordic Junior, U-23

The FIS Nordic Junior and U-23 Cross-Country World Ski Championships were successfully held from 25th-31st January 2011 in Otepää, Estonia.

The World Championships took place only two days after a successful FIS Cross-Country World Cup weekend. The Estonian winter capital Otepää presented itself with excellent snow conditions, plentiful snow and well-prepared courses in a rebuilt venue including the newly refurbished stadium and new jumping facilities, and a stunning atmosphere.

In the overall medal table, the clear dominator was Norway which claimed a whopping 18 medals, all but one in Cross-Country Skiing. Russia in 2nd position collected 12 medals, all in Cross-Country, whilst Germany won its 8 medals across all three disciplines. Finland finished 4th, with 6 medals. The prestigious Marc Hodler Trophy awarded to the best nation in the junior events was again won by Norway. It was the third Norwegian victory in a row, after Germany broke another three-year Norwegian streak in 2008. Germany was again 2nd while Russia took third ahead of Slovenia and Austria.

As part of the FIS Junior World Ski Championships in Cross-Country Skiing, four competitions per gender were held. Norway's Ragnhild Haga showed she is a universal skier. Haga won the opening race over 5 km free and also scored the bronze medal in sprint classic. Haga's compatriot Heidi Weng had to wait two races to celebrate a gold medal. After third place in 5 km free and 15th place in sprint classic, Weng won the10 km pursuit. She added another gold medal to her collection on the final day of the World Championships as a member of the Norwegian victorious relay.

Sindre Bjoernestad Skar of Norway was one of the male heroes. Skar won 10 km free on Wednesday. In the 4x5 km relay, he brought Norway to victory after eliminating a 20 second gap on the Russians and prevailing in the finish sprint. German Markus Weeger showed very strong performance in the 20 km pursuit. He escaped the start field and clearly claimed the gold medal. Sergey Ustiugov of Russia celebrated the junior world champion title in the sprint. In the ladies' sprint, Lucia Anger of Germany was superior and celebrated the title.

In Ski Jumping, the individual champions hail from France with just 15-year-old Coline Mattel and from Bulgaria with newcomer talent Vladimir Zogrofski who also made a name himself in the FIS Grand Prix and World Cup events. In the team competition, Austria defended its title ahead of Germany as last year in Hinterzarten. The ladies' inaugural team competition had to be cancelled due to inclement weather.

In Nordic Combined, the gold medals belong to Johannes Rydzek of Germany in the 10km Gundersen and to Marjan Jelenko of Slovenia in the 5km Gundersen. Jelenko also won silver in the 10km Gundersen event. Local hero Kaarel Nurmsalu (EST) claimed two bronze medals. As in the ladies' Ski Jumping, the Nordic Combined team event fell victim to poor weather conditions.

The U-23 Cross-Country World Championships entailed two distance competitions (individual start race in free technique & pursuit) and a sprint competition in classic technique. Finn Krista Lähteenmäki won the opening race over 10 km free. On the men's side, strong Russian Evgeniy Belov claimed the gold medal. Belov was also very successful in the final race of the World Championships, the pursuit over 30km. The young Russian finished second as Canada's Alex Harvey was stronger on the finish straight.

The sprint classic, which took place on the World Cup course was dominated by Finland's Kerttu Niskanen. The biggest favorite Hanna Brodin of Sweden finished in fifth place and failed to claim a medal after having grabbed the second place in the World Cup sprint. Niskanen collected her second medal in the 15 km pursuit where she finished third as many-time junior champion Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg grabbed gold. The men's U23 sprint title went to Russia: Olympic silver medalist Alxender Panzhinsky was superior all the way through to the final and fulfilled expectations as main favorite for victory.

Includes contributions by Michal Lamplot

Overview of winners

Cross-Country
Individual 5 km Free Junior Ladies: Ragnhild Haga (NOR)
Individual 10 km Junior Men: Sindre Bjoernestad Skar (NOR)
Individual 10 km Free U23 Ladies: Krista Lahteenmaki (FIN)
Individual 15 km Free U23 Men: Evgeniy Belov (RUS)
Sprint Classic Junior Ladies: Lucia Anger (GER)
Sprint Classic Junior Men: Sergey Ustiugov (RUS
Sprint Classic U23 Ladies: Kerttu Niskanen (FIN)
Sprint Classic U23 Men: Alexander Panzhinskiy (RUS)
10 km Pursuit Junior Ladies: Heidi Weng (NOR)
20 km Pursuit Junior Men: Markus Weeger (GER)
Relay 4x3.3 km Junior Ladies: Norway
Relay 4x5 km Junior Men: Norway
15 km Pursuit U23 Ladies: Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg (NOR)
30 km Pursuit U23 Men: Alex Harvey (CAN)

Ski Jumping
Ladies NH: Coline Mattel (FRA)
Men NH: Vladimir Zografski (BUL)
Ladies Team: Cancelled
Men's Team: Austria

Nordic Combined
NH Gundersen 10km: Johannes Rydzek (GER)
NH Gundersen 5km: Marjan Jelenko (SLO)
Team: Cancelled

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