Cross-Country Skiing-Sweden's Karlsson wins women's 50km mass

TRONDHEIM, Norway : Sweden's Frida Karlsson powered away in the final kilometre to win the first-ever women's 50km mass start at the Nordic Ski World Championships in Trondheim, Norway on Sunday.

Norwegian duo Heidi Weng and Therese Johaug were second and third, and defending champion Ebba Andersson came fourth after falling towards the end of the final lap.

For 25-year-old Karlsson, it was a first individual gold medal at the World Championships, adding to her relay victories in 2019 and this week.

The women's freestyle mass start, which was held over 30km until the previous edition of the world championships, played out in challenging conditions, with competitors forced to battle their way through deep and loose snow.

Andersson, Johaug, Weng and Karlsson began to pull away after 10km and increased their lead on the chasing pack, with the lead continuously changing hands between the four breakaway skiiers.

Johaug, who has won the event four times, twice made attempts to drop the three other contenders, but was foiled by the Swedish duo's persistence and tactical defending.

Andersson, bidding for her fourth gold medal at the championships, made a rare error as the quartet picked up the pace heading into the final kilometre, going down after bumping skis with compatriot Karlsson.

In the confusion, Johaug moved into the lead, but she could not find enough pace to hold off Karlsson and Weng who passed her with ease.

Veteran Johaug, a four-times Olympic champion in cross-country skiing, retired from the sport shortly after winning three gold medals at the Beijing Winter Games in 2022 before reversing that decision in August last year.

The 36-year-old was beaten to the women's 20km skiathlon gold by Andersson in a thrilling finish