BEITOSTØLEN/OSLO (Dagbladet): Anne Kjersti Kalvå made a big impression and won today’s 10 kilometer classic after a show of strength at Beitostølen.

– She went dead fast today, says Helene Marie Fossesholm to NRK and added that she is very happy on Kalvå’s behalf, after the 30-year-old lost the Olympics in Beijing due to covid disease, like Heidi Weng.

– I can feel it bubbling inside me, says Fossesholm with joy on her friend’s behalf.

Weng supports that message, after the nightmare she went through together with Kalvå last winter.

– We’ve both been outed, so I wish Anne Kjersti this, says Weng to the state channel.

Kalvå also receives praise from Johaug, who believes that today’s performance can hold a podium place in the World Cup next weekend.

– Starts to laugh

Ingvild Flugstad Østberg also impressed in his comeback race and fought with Heidi Weng for 2nd place behind Kalvå, who beat Weng and Østberg by over half a minute.

– It was so much fun. I was a little moved. There are a few hours that have been put in and a job that has been done since the last time I skied, says Østberg to NRK.

In the end, Weng captured 2nd place, but Østberg could still smile at a solid 3rd place.

– I’m touched. I don’t think people understand the situation she has been in, says NRK’s ​​new cross-country expert Therese Johaug.

When Østberg met Johaug after the finish line, she said:

– I can’t look at you now, because then I’ll start laughing anyway.

Reacted to Johaug play

Before the start, Johaug named her friend Østberg as one of the favorites in her comeback.

However, the Gjøvik girl did not like it, who was unsure how she was doing after about a year without competitions.

– I told her not to report so hard. I need some skiing, answered Flugstad Østberg to NRK just before the start.

The same message was advocated by Østberg’s personal trainer Pål Gunnar Mikkelsplass recently to Dagbladet.

– Ingvild has had little competition in recent years. I am confident that she will go fast this winter, but she needs a few competition weekends to feel confident about the situation again, at Mikkelsplass to Dagbladet.

Have had enough

Long and hard road

It was in 2019 at Flugstad Østberg that he went public and talked about his nutritional challenges for the first time. It happened at the same time that she was denied a start at Beitostølen.

It had started on three tough seasons. She returned to form, before a fatigue breakdown in 2020 put her out again. Flugstad Østberg lost, among other things, the entire WC season in Oberstdorf (2020/21).

Last season, she received a special program aimed at the Olympics in Beijing. When she stood on the starting line in Ruka on 27 November 2021, she had not competed for 636 days. Flugstad Østberg showed a positive development over the three races she ran that season, but on Boxing Day there was another relapse:

Østberg, who has won the overall World Cup and the Tour de Ski in the same season, could not stand the stress of the race and had to take another break from competitions.

Since then she has not skied, but today she was back with 3rd place and good answers.