Janik Riebli achieves the best result for the Swiss team in the sprint at the World Cup in Ruka. Despite a penalty, he finished in 12th place.
Riebli was the only Swiss athlete to qualify for the semi-finals. There, the 26-year-old from Obwalden changed lanes early and got in the way of the Swede Emil Danielsson, who crashed as a result. The race organizers punished the Swiss with a relegation to the end of the semi-final classification. He could still be satisfied with 12th place, as Riebli has never finished better in a sprint in the classic technique. Team colleague Valerio Grond missed the semi-final qualification and finished in 15th place.
The men's race was won by Norway's Johannes Hösflot Klaebo, who celebrated his eighth sprint victory in a row this season. He was followed by his compatriot Erik Valnes and Finland's Lauri Vuorinen.
In the women's race, the Swiss Nadine Fähndrich and Anja Weber reached the quarter-finals. After finishing sixth in qualifying, Fähndrich was only ten hundredths off the pace in the quarter-finals to qualify for the semi-finals as the lucky loser. The 29-year-old had to settle for 13th place. Weber finished in 23rd place.
In the final, Norway's Julie Myhre prevented an all-Swedish podium. She finished second behind Johanna Hagström, who won a World Cup race for the first time in her career. Maja Dahlqvist completed the podium.
SDA
