When the World Cup season kicked off in Ruka, all eyes were naturally on Therese Johaug, the Norwegian superstar who would measure herself against the world elite again for the first time in over two and a half years.
After the long competition break, Johaug had to start early, before the seeded group.
"So incredibly good"
And the 36-year-old showed that she still can, if anyone had doubted it.
But Johaug's skiing in the tracks was still nothing compared to Frida Karlsson's furious advance in Ruka.
It felt so incredibly good today, it just flowed, says the Swede to Viaplay.
Already after one and a half kilometers, Karlsson was 8.4 seconds ahead of the Norwegian. After 3.1 kilometers, the distance was up to 17.9 seconds.
A sensational opening by Frida Karlsson, who has had her preseason disrupted by foot problems and has mostly loaded up with alternative training on Teneriffa.
I got four weeks of hard training on Teneriffa and four weeks of high altitude, so I've probably got a boost from that actually.
"Really sweaty"
Karlsson sometimes has a tendency to open her races a bit too hard, but not this time. The lead just kept increasing, and when Frida Karlsson raised her arms in the finish area, the victory was complete. The 25-year-old won 46.5 seconds ahead of Johaug, and the duo was joined by another Norwegian, Astrid Øyre Slind, on the podium.
Frida was incredibly strong today. To come second is huge, says Therese Johaug to Viaplay after her comeback.
Another who was impressed by Karlsson's performance was national team coach Stefan Thomson.
It was really sweaty, brutally good, he says.
Thomson stated that "Frida is always Frida", but was still surprised after the almost incredible performance.
Beforehand, the biggest Swedish hopes were on Ebba Andersson, who has won two years in a row in Ruka and who impressed the most in last weekend's Swedish premiere in Bruksvallarna.
But Andersson was more than a minute slower than Karlsson and finished sixth.
Linn Svahn finished tenth, Emma Ribom 13th, Jonna Sundling 14th, and Märta Rosenberg 24th.
Born: August 10, 1999 (25 years old).
Club: Sollefteå.
Main merits: OS: 1 bronze. VM: 1 gold, 5 silver, 4 bronze.
