Veteran Norwegian skier Therese Johaug made a spectacular comeback in Norway’s ski season opener at Beitostølen on Saturday. Johaug won the women’s 10-kilometer classic, and was so far ahead that commentators called it a warning to anyone else keen on winning in the upcoming World Championships in Trondheim.

“She outclassed everyone,” exclaimed state broadcaster NRK’s Jann Post. The now-36-year-old Johaug, who won multiple Olympic gold medals and World Championships during her earlier skiing career, held the lead at one point by fully one minute and 35 seconds. When she skied over the finish line, she was 39.6 seconds ahead of her closest competitor Heidi Weng.

Therese Johaug is back, front and center on the Norwegian women’s ski team. PHOTO: NSF

Johaug officially retired in the spring of 2022 after deciding to marry, have a baby, follow up her various business interests and and become an expert commentator for NRK herself. “Life is so much more than sports,” she still claimed at a press conference just before Norway’s traditional season opener in the mountains of Valdres over the weekend.

She clearly missed competition and not least the thrill of victory, though, and it didn’t take long before she was back training and ready to race again. Now she’s once again left Norway’s other elite-level skiers in the snowdust, many of them nearly half her age. The season opener is important because it gives a strong indication of how they measure up against one another, even when they’re all on the same team.

Johaug herself was most keen to know how Sweden’s top women skiers had performed in their own season opener, even asking an NRK reporter during a live post-race interview what their status was. Norwegian and Swedish skiers view one another as arch-rivals, and the Swedes’ skiing stars Frida Karlsson, Ebba Andersson and Linn Svahn were sking the same distance this weeken. They quickly had to acknowledge that “now she’s back,” and Johaug said she looked forward to racing against them in a World Cup race next week.

Norway’s comeback queen Therese Johaug has won lots of medals during her skiing career, like here after a triumphant World Championships in 2019. Now she wants more. PHOTO: GEPA pictures/ Harald Steiner/ WSC Seefeld2019

Johaug had already parked teammate Weng, with Kristin Austfulen Fosnæs placing third on Saturday, 56.2 seconds behind Johaug, who had skied the 10 kilometers in just 26 minutes, 32.1 seconds. “I’m well-satisfied,” Johaug told NRK after her victory, adding with a smile that “I could have been even a bit better.”

Her utter dominance in the season opener surprised many, with teammate Kjersti Kalvå ruefully noting that she hadn’t thought Johaug would be so good. “I need to eat my words,” Kalvå told NRK. “It’s impressive, and she’ll be strong this year.”

Johaug has also had many setbacks over the years, not least being banned from competition several years ago after she’d used a prescribed lip cream that got her into doping trouble. Just a few weeks ago, she also didn’t feel that she was fit enough for top competition. On Saturday she was also gearing up for the 10K freestyle race on Sunday while setting her sights mostly on winning the first 50-kilometer ski race for women at the World Championships in March. She’s won the 30K event many times.

Johannes Høsflot Klæbo, meanwhile, won the men’s 10-kilometer classic, 15 seconds ahead of Martin Løwstrøm Nyenget. Harald Østberg Amundsen came in third. Klæbø has also dominated the men’s ski team both at home and internationally for years, and commentators claimed he was “in a class of his own” during the season opener.

Unlike Johaug, though, Klæbo dropped the 10K freestyle race set for Sunday. He preferred to “go home, take it easy and get a good build-up” for the first race on the World Cup circuit

NewsinEnglish.no/Nina Berglund