Johaug continues doping ban return with Lillehammer Triple triumph

Therese Johaug's doping ban return continues to go from strength to strength as she clinched her second cross-country skiing World Cup win of the weekend in Lillehammer to also seal victory in the Lillehammer Triple mini-tour.

The Norwegian star recorded her first World Cup victory in over 1000 days in Finland last week after testing positive for anabolic steroid clostebol in 2016 – meaning she missed out on the 2018 Winter Olympics – and followed that up with a pair of successes on home soil.

Having already secured the women's 10km freestyle on Saturday, Johaug stormed to victory in the 10km pursuit 24 hours later, as she attacked at the 2.5km mark and never looked back to cross the line in 29:35.5.

That was enough for the Norwegian to beat Sweden's Ebba Andersson by 16.8 seconds, with Johaug's compatriot Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg taking third, a little more than a second behind Andersson.

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Another Swede, Charlotte Kalla, was left in tears after finishing fourth despite leading early on.

Therese Johaug of Norway wins the women´s Cross Country Skiing 10 km Interval Start Free event at the FIS Nordic Skiing World Cup.

Image credit: Eurosport

And after victory meant she also topped the overall standings for the three-day Lillehammer Triple mini-tour, Johaug was understandably ecstatic.

"It's nice to be back and to be on the podium again," said Johaug. "It was a great race, even though my skis were a bit slippery and I had to fight uphill.

"The crowd were great and it's fun to ski at a home World Cup.

"My plan was to stay behind Kalla for the first 2.5km and then I would attack. It was hard out there and you have to push yourself the whole way.

"You know that the other girls can see your back and are trying to catch you. I was really happy, especially for Ingvild to get third as well after so many fourth-places for her."

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