Johannes Høstflot Klæbo and Harald Østberg Amundsen came to the covered table on the anchor leg, and thus everything was in their hands against rival Russia with Sergei Ustiugov and Ivan Yakimushkin.
Klæbo had few problems keeping up with that, even though Ustiugov was terribly close in the sprint.
– I think Ustiugov would show up today, since he was put on the second team. He matches Klæbo and it is scary, says NRK’s expert Fredrik Aukland.
– There are not many who are so close to Klæbo in a sprint, Torgeir Bjørn adds.
Norway 2 took the last podium place.
Stunned by the Russian
Even Johannes Høstflot Klæbo himself meets NRK after the relay. Only two tenths separated Ustiugov and Klæbo, but he himself perceived it as having good control.
– We had lots of tithes to go on, two pieces. It was tight there. I was a little surprised that there was so little going on there. It was like going on glue. It was a bit of a shock, but the most important thing was to come first, says Klæbo.
However, he did not understand the tactics of the Russian – who was very talkative in the track.
– I did not understand him. He spoke Russian and went where it was heavy. I did not understand his tactics. He looks so scary with his beard, so it was good to take him, Klæbo continues.
Teammate Emil Iversen thinks it is very good to see that Klæbo can get a little match in the race.
– It was good to see that he looked a little human, says Iversen.
Russian-Norwegian duel
Norway competed with two teams in the men’s relay in Lillehammer, and already on the first stage the expected duel between Russia and Norway started.
Erik Valnes was early in the lead against Russian Alexei Chervotkin, but it was a unified field in large parts of the seven-kilometer-long course. Pål Golberg took the first stage for Norway 2.
After six kilometers, Russian Alexander Terentjev kept up with a huge change of pace. It took some time before the Norwegian athletes understood what had just happened, but both Valnes and Golberg stuck to it, and kept their backs to the exchange.
Iversen deleted
The key stage came already in the second round. Then the stage was set for a huge duel between Emil Iversen and Aleksandr Bolshunov. In addition, Iivo Niskanen and Martin Nystrøm Nyenget were in the same stage.
Bolshunov was in the lead early, but after halfway through the stage he let go of the lead and withdrew in the field to save energy before the last round.
National team coach Eirik Myhr Nossum was expecting a rocket from Bolshunov, and it arrived. Suddenly Bolshunov put in the shot, and only Niskanen managed to hang on.
Over eleven seconds behind, the Norwegians had to settle for the third change.
– It was a nice stage, but I was driven a bit violently at the end. I do not know what happened, but maybe I was a little inattentive. It was annoying, says Iversen to NRK after the stage.
FIGHTED: Emil Iversen.
Photo: Fredrik Varfjell / NTB
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Saved the hatch
Saturday’s winner, Simen Hegstad Krüger, had to spend time closing the gap during the third stage, but he managed that task brilliantly. Hans Christer Holund, for Norway 2, hung on as number three, before putting in a huge “monster” run, as the experts called it.
In the last exchange, the accounts were in balance, and everything was in the hands of Johannes Høsflot Klæbo and Harald Østberg Amundsen.
– It was a bit like predicted in advance. We did not get any great distances, but that makes the relay terribly exciting, then, said Myhr Nossum about what happened in the first three stages.
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