Oslo 2011 Day Three: Women's 15K Pursuit

This morning was the Women's 15K Pursuit and Norway came out on top yet again. Marit Bjørgen won with Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland in second. Fellow Norwegian Therese Johaug had an excellent race and brought home the bronze. The top three finished within 10 seconds of each other, but fourth place (Charlotte Kalla of Sweden) was almost a full minute behind the winning time.

photo courtesy of newsinenglish.no

How does a pursuit work? The race consists of both techniques- classic and sprint. The racers start off on one set of equipment (today they started on classic skis) and then switch to the different technique part-way through the race. This transition zone is a tricky component and adds yet another variable into the race.

I was able to see the racers about 5K into their race on the classic leg. Here is a video of the first few racers- Kowalczyk is leading, followed by Bjørgen and Johaug.

As you can tell, the fog was THICK. Johaug said during the post-race press conference that she could hear the crowd but not see them. Despite the less-than-perfect conditions, the trails were still lined with spectators in high spirits. I was able to ski to the race course from my apartment (how cool!) and was joined on the trails by hundreds of other spectators commuting on skis.

Liz Stephan was the top finisher from the US in 24th place. Holly Brooks was right behind her in 25th, and Jesse Diggins was 28th. Morgan Arritola rounded out the American contingent in 43rd.

Additional links:

Full Results
Recap of Day One: Skate Sprint (Women and Men)
Recap of the Opening Ceremonies
NRK's article about Marit's second gold (translated into English)