FALUN, Sweden (AP) — Marit Bjoergen of Norway won the 2.5-kilometer freestyle prologue at the cross-country skiing World Cup finals on Friday.
The prologue and a sprint on Wednesday set the time differences for the start of the 10K classic mass start on Saturday. Bjoergen will go out 17 seconds ahead of Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland, and 24 seconds ahead of Charlotte Kalla of Sweden.
Kowalczyk, who was fifth on Friday, has already clinched the women’s overall World Cup title.
On Friday, Bjoergen finished the short course with four uphill sections in just over six minutes. Kalla was 4.4 seconds slower, followed by World Cup sprint champ Kikkan Randall of the United States, 6.6 back.
Norway placed five skiers in the top 10 and three for the U.S.
