Northug erases painful memories with classy gold

Posted: Sunday 22nd February 2009 | 22:39

PETTER Northug patiently bided his time and then ruthlessly exploited his rivals to secure Norway's first gold at the Nordic skiing world championships.

WINNING FEELING: Norway's Petter Northug finally erased the memory of his 2007 World Championship disaster with a first gold in Liberec

A late burst of speed left fellow medal contenders gasping for air in the 30km pursuit in Liberec, as Northug secured a first-ever world title.

And the win was extra special coming two years after he snatched defeat from victory in the same event at the 2007 worlds, tripping over his ski pole when a seeming certainty for gold.

"I think I've had a nightmare from then until now," he admitted. "Now I've taken the title back, so maybe I can sleep for the next year or two!

"In the last hill I saw that the others were very tired, and I tried something new and pushed very hard.

"When I was in the stadium, I pretty much had the gold in my hand. I just had to stay on my legs, unlike last time."

Sweden's Anders Soedergren took silver while Italian Georgio Di Centa completed the podium.

Todd Lodwick won his second gold in three days with victory in the Nordic combined 10km event.

The 32-year old American has failed to medal in six previous world championships and four Olympic Games and came out of retirement this season in the belief his luck might finally change.

He held a slim advantage after the ski jumping and produced a solid cross country performance to hold off the challenge of Norway's Jan Schmid and team-mate Bill Demong.

"When you're on fire you just hope to stay on fire," he said. "The first gold medal was awesome, the second is a bonus.

"However, this victory is probably more sweet because I get to share it with a team-mate like Bill."

Justyna Kowalczyk became the first Polish woman to win a world cross-country gold with victory in the 15km event.

She had already announced her potential with a silver in Thursday's 10km but this was her first major championship title. Finland's Aino Kaisa Saarinen claimed bronze.

"This is my dream. I can't believe it," said Kowalczyk. "It was the best finish of my life. I worked hard the whole distance with Steira, but this time I was stronger in the finish."