Cross Country Skiing
The main winner in the cross country events was Norway with seven medals, including five golds, all in the men's events. Petter Northug of Norway won three golds, earning them in the 15 km + 15 km double pursuit, 50 km, and 4 x 10 km relay. His teammate, Ola Vigen Hattestad, won golds in the individual and team sprint events. Estonia's Andrus Veerpalu became the oldest winner at 38 in the men's 15 km event. Kristin Størmer Steira was Norway's only medal in the women's events with a silver in the 7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit event. For the women's events, the biggest winner was Finland's Aino-Kaisa Saarinen with four medals, including three golds (Team sprint, 10 km, and 4 x 5 km relay) and one bronze (7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit). Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk won three medals at the championships with two golds (7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit and 30 km) and a bronze (10 km). The only gold not awarded to either Kowalczyk or Saarinen was the women's individual sprint won by Italy's Arianna Follis. In that same event, Kikkan Randall became the first American woman to medal in cross country skiing at the world championships with her silver.
Medal table – men's cross country skiing
| Event | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual sprint freestyle | 24 February | Ola Vigen Hattestad (NOR) | Johan Kjølstad (NOR) | Nikolay Morilov (RUS) |
| Team sprint classical | 25 February | Ola Vigen Hattestad Johan Kjølstad Norway |
Axel Teichmann Tobias Angerer Germany |
Sami Jauhojärvi Ville Nousiainen Finland |
| 15 km classical interval start | 20 February | Andrus Veerpalu (EST) | Lukáš Bauer (CZE) | Matti Heikkinen (FIN) |
| 15 km + 15 km double pursuit | 22 February | Petter Northug (NOR) | Anders Södergren (SWE) | Giorgio Di Centa (ITA) |
| 50 km freestyle mass start | 1 March | Petter Northug (NOR) | Maxim Vylegzhanin (RUS) | Tobias Angerer (GER) |
| 4 x 10 km relay | 27 February | Eldar Rønning Odd-Bjørn Hjelmeset Tore Ruud Hofstad Petter Northug Norway |
Jens Filbrich Tobias Angerer Franz Göring Axel Teichmann Germany |
Matti Heikkinen Sami Jauhojärvi Teemu Kattilakoski Ville Nousiainen Finland |
Medal table – women's cross country skiing
| Event | Date | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual sprint freestyle | 24 February | Arianna Follis (ITA) | Kikkan Randall (USA) | Pirjo Muranen (FIN) |
| Team sprint classical | 25 February | Virpi Kuitunen Aino-Kaisa Saarinen Finland |
Anna Olsson Lina Andersson Sweden |
Arianna Follis Marianna Longa Italy |
| 10 km classical interval start | 19 February | Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) | Marianna Longa (ITA) | Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) |
| 7.5 km + 7.5 km double pursuit | 21 February | Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) | Kristin Størmer Steira (NOR) | Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN) |
| 30 km freestyle mass start | 28 February | Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) | Yevgeniya Medvedeva (RUS) | Valentina Shevchenko (UKR) |
| 4 x 5 km relay | 26 February | Pirjo Muranen Virpi Kuitunen Riitta-Liisa Roponen Aino-Kaisa Saarinen Finland |
Katrin Zeller Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle Miriam Gössner Claudia Künzel-Nystad Germany |
Lina Andersson Britta Norgren Anna Haag Charlotte Kalla Sweden |
Read more about this topic: FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2009
Famous quotes containing the words cross and/or country:
“If any want to become my followers, let them deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
—Bible: New Testament, Mark 8:34,5.
Jesus.
“... the trouble is that most people in this country think that we can stay out of wars in other parts of the world. Even if we stay out of it and save our own skins, we cannot escape the conditions which will undoubtedly exist in other parts of the world and which will react against us.... We are all of us selfish ... and if we can save our own skins, the rest of the world can go. The best we can do is to realize nobody can save his own skin alone. We must all hang together.”
—Eleanor Roosevelt (1884–1962)