Gold medal for Gyda Westvold Hansen at JWSC in Lahti
Feb 10, 2021·Nordic Combined
Sunshine, blue sky and no wind – that’s how Lahti presented itself for the Women’s 5km Gundersen event. After she had already won Tuesday’s PCR, Norway’s Gyda Westvold Hansen also proved in the competition round that she is going to be the woman to beat on the cross-country course. With a jump to 92.0m (117.8p.) she went into the lead, 43 seconds ahead of Italy’s Annika Sieff (88.0m, 107.1p.) and 46 seconds ahead of her teammate Mille Moen Flatla (88.0m, 106.2p.). The top three after jumping were followed by Marte Leinan Lund (88.5m, 105.9p.); who started the race 48 seconds behind, Yuna Kasai (86.0m, 102.2p.), 01:02 minutes behind and Jenny Nowak (84.5m, 98.9p.), 01:16 minutes behind.
Even though Westvold Hansen skied a lonely race, she showed that she also belongs to the fastest cross-country skiers. With the third fastest cross-country time she crossed the finish line as the clear winner after 15:24.8 minutes. Behind her however, a bunch of women were fighting for the remaining two medals. By the end of the first lap Leinan Lund had taken over the second place from Sieff. She was followed by a large group including Lisa Hirner, Kasai and Sieff. But also Daniela Dejori, Ayane Miyazaki and Ema Volavsek, who had all started the race from a bit further behind, were getting closer meter by meter.
At the last uphill, the famous “Indian hill”, Leinan Lund and Hirner were very close together, but on their way to the finish line the Norwegian managed to put a few seconds between herself and the young Austrian, making Team Norway celebrate a double victory (+01:05.7). For Hirner it was already the second bronze medal in a row (+01:09.0), after she had already taken third place at FIS Junior World Championships in Oberwiesenthal 2020.
Kasai (+01:31.9), Miyazaki (+01:41.3) and Dejori (+01:42.3) completed the top six.
The fastest cross-country time went to Mariia Kuzmina from Russia, who had been 17th after jumping and finished the race on rank seven (+01:42.4).
