Skistad was at his best in the prologue and continued to put in a strong showing in the heats all the way to the final. In the final, runner Konnerud was the only Norwegian and thus had to defend the Norwegian honor against four Swedes and an American.

Skistad led from the start and controlled the race all the way to the finish. Emma Ribom came in second ahead of Maja Dahlqvist in third.

The win was a clear signal of Skistad in good form ahead of WC.

– The plan was actually for the WC to be in good shape, so it’s coming a bit ahead of schedule. I just have to focus on getting even stronger, the 23-year-old told Viaplay after the race.

Anna Svendsen and Lotta Udnes Weng didn’t quite make it to the top and were eliminated in the semifinals. The remaining Norway advanced to the quarter-finals.

Maria Hartz Melling got off to a bad start to her heat when she was unable to make a joint start with the other runners. The Norwegian runner places the pole between his legs and remains on the starting line for five or six seconds. That made it difficult for the 20-year-old to advance in the competition.

Mathilde Myhrvold was also less fortunate in her quarterfinals. Myhrvold was struggling to get ahead, but slipped backwards and crashed on the way to the race.

Ane Appelkvist Stenseth also did not progress from the quarter-finals of the competition.