LAHTI, Finland (AP) — Triple Olympic champion Marit Bjoergen of Norway won the women’s 15-kilometer pursuit Saturday at the Lahti Ski Games.
Bjoergen beat World Cup leader Justyna Kowalczyk of Poland by 11.1 seconds, and Norway’s Therese Johaug of Norway was another 6.7 seconds back in third.
Bjoergen also won the pursuit at the Vancouver Olympics, where Kowalczyk was third.
The leading trio pulled away during the classical portion of the race and skied alone during the freestyle half.
With seven events left, Kowalczyk is close to clinching the overall World Cup title as second-place Petra Majdic fractured her ribs in Vancouver and is out for the season. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen of Finland is in third place but did not race on Saturday.
