The German Franziska Preuss – who leads the overall standings in the World Cup – won the race, but was only two tenths of a second ahead of the Frenchwoman Lou Jeanmonnot, who is second in the overall standings.
The two will engage in a tough battle for the overall victory during the World Cup finals in Norway.
"Very pleased"
On Saturday, a pursuit race awaits, and Hanna Öberg will start around 46 seconds behind the top duo. Elvira Öberg finished eleventh in the sprint (+50.6).
Two misses in all sprints this year are too bad, says Elvira Öberg to SVT.
She won the mass start in the World Championship and took silver in the pursuit in Lenzerheide in February, but fell ill after the championships. Elvira Öberg made her competition comeback last weekend.
I'm very pleased with how my body feels anyway. I can ski controlled and still notice that I'm skiing fast. When I get the lactic acid on the final lap, I feel that I'm not quite able to push through it, but that's not so surprising. The last time I skied like that was in Lenzerheide, says Elvira Öberg.
Anna-Karin Heijdenberg (two misses) finished 33rd and Johanna Skottheim (two) 54th.
No Halvarsson on Sunday
The World Cup season ends on Sunday with a mass start, and there was talk of Ella Halvarsson, who took a surprising World Championship silver in the distance race, being on the starting line.
That will not happen now, according to national team coach Johannes Lukas for SVT.
It's a consideration of the overall picture. She hasn't been in top form in recent weeks. She had a very tough time coming back after the illness. She's healthy and is here to watch the competition, but won't be racing, he says.
