Johaug completes perfect World Championships with fourth gold

Therese Johaug romped to her fourth gold medal of the cross-country World Championships with a crushing victory in the 30km classic.

The Norwegian earlier won gold in the 15km skiathlon, 10km freestyle and 4x5km relay and eased to another victory on Saturday, crossing the line in 1:24:56.3 – two-and-a-half-minutes clear of compatriot Heidi Weng.

The win marked Johaug's tenth individual world title and she was in command almost from the get-go, moving out to an early lead and steadily pulling further and further away.

There was a thrilling battle for silver and bronze on the final lap and Weng made a daring overtake on Sweden's Frida Karlsson and Ebba Andersson to pull through and finish second.

Karlsson came back at her down the final straight but Deng held on by just 0.6s to make it a Norway 1-2, while Andersson was two seconds back in fourth.

Sportsbeat 2021