One of Norway’s most high-profile cross-country skiers, Therese Johaug, is said to have “probably” ended her long and sometimes turbulent career on top again. She won the women’s 50-kilometer race at the World Cup in Lahti, Finland on Sunday at an age of 36, but still hasn’t confirmed that she’s actually retiring.
She’d “only” won silver medals during the recent World Championships in Trondheim, and was therefore keen to grab gold again. After initially saying she probably wouldn’t compete at the World Cup finals in Lahti, she changed her mind and ended up crossing the finish line first, well ahead of Norwegian teammate Astrid Øyre Slind who won silver and Ebba Andersson of Sweden who took bronze.
Johaug skied the 50 kilometer in just two hours, 14 minutes and 40.7 seconds, more than a minute ahead of Slind and nearly four minutes ahead of Andersson. “She outclassed everyone,” Torgeir Bjørn, commentator for Norwegian Broadcasting (NRK), said over the race. “It was the greatest endurance phenomonem ever seen in cross-country skiing.”
In Johaug’s world, that’s more than good reason to keep at it and even take part in another Winter Olympics. She’s torn, though, because she has a young daughter whom she’s hardly seen during the winter skiing season. Her husband Nils Jakob Hoff has said he’ll support whatever decision she makes.
Asked whether her triumph in Lahti was her last professional race, Johaug told reporters that “yes, it most probably was.” She quickly added, though, that “I have promised Nilsern (her husband’s nickname) that I’ll make a decision after Easter.”
She clearly enjoyed every minute of her victory, waving to cheering spectators even before crossing the finish line. The multiple winner of Olympic, World Championships and World Cup gold knew she was best again, and that made up for the lack of gold at the most recent World Championships.
This season has marked the most recent comeback for Johaug, who’s had highs and lows during her career that bottomed out with her controversial suspension in 2017 for using a lip cream (given to her by the team physician) that contained banned substances. She made a spectacular comeback in 2018 but later “retired” at her own intiative in 2022 to pursue business and commentating interests.
When she learned that a new women’s 50-kilometer race would be featured at the recent World Championships, though, she couldn’t resist the temptation to compete again and that led to her latest comeback. She didn’t meet her own expectations in Trondheim but did better at last weekend’s competiton at Holmenkollen in Oslo (where she won the 20-kilometer race), and even better in Lahti.
Now she claims she’s looking forward to “everyday life … first and foremost with family, to have more time with (daughter) Kristin and Nils Jakob.” She claims to “love everyday-life” and wants to “take up other projects I have started,” including a line of clothing carrying her name. But the door is still open to more competition.
“If this (the 50K in Lahti) was her last race, I must say she ended in style,” former cross-country skier Fredrik Aukland told NRK. “Maybe, just maybe it will tempt her to another Olympics.” Few others are ruling that out either.
NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund