Skiathlon champion Andersson cruises solo to ‘replay’ 30km victory

Ebba Andersson crowned a glorious campaign at the 2023 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia, with a gold in the women’s 30km mass start classic on Saturday.

The stadium speakers played ABBA’s “The winner takes it all” as the Swedish 25-year-old skiathlon world champion crossed the finish line to claim her second title of the championships, 53 seconds before runner-up Anne Kjersti Kalvaa from Norway. Sweden’s Frida Karlsson took bronze.

Andersson stayed with the rest of the field for the first 12km. Then she put the pedal down and got herself a gap that she would only extend for the rest of the race, leaving the skiers behind her to fight for silver and bronze.

“It feels amazing to once again become a world champion,” said Andersson.

“It was an amazing day. I felt strong from the very beginning and just tried to stay calm in the first laps. After that I tried to go a little bit faster and I felt that ‘OK, this is my day, now I just have to push it a little bit faster’. I also had amazing skis so I really enjoyed it out there.”

At the last world championships in Oberstdorf, Germany, in 2021, Andersson finished fourth in the event, missing the podium by 1.5 second. This time, she had a big margin on her side. The move to get herself a big lead mid-race and go alone for the victory for a big part of the course reminded Andersson of how she had won the skiathlon gold medal on Saturday 25 February.

“It almost feels like a replay of last Saturday when I got it (the world title) last time,” she said.

“When I got the gap to the others it was just to stay calm and keep focused on my skiing and go as fast as I could to the finish line.”