TRONDHEIM (NORWAY) (ITALPRESS) – Federico Pellegrino is still a silver medalist in the opening free technique sprint at the World Championships in Trondheim. And it is the seventh rainbow medal of Pellegrino’s beautiful career, after the title obtained in Lahti in 2017 and the silver in Seefeld 2019, and the four medals obtained in the Team Sprints (2 silvers and 2 bronzes), the last of which at the 2023 World Championships in Planica. Not forgetting the two Olympic silvers in PyeongChang and Beijing, the maximum possible in the era of cross-country alien Johannes Klaebo. And even in today’s race, the 34-year-old policeman from Nus, baptized just Klaebo, both in the semifinals and in the finals, and kept himself glued to him, taking advantage of his wake to disperse all opponents along the way, and thus arrive at silver, which is worth a gold, and represents the maximum possible goal for the Italian. Gold, then, to Klaebo, and bronze to Finland thanks to Lauri Vuorinen. And glory for Pellegrino, a champion without end, who, 14 years after his first participation in the 2011 World Championships in Oslo and six years after his last individual medal, returns to the world podium in a big way, in the last possible rainbow occasion of his career, for which he has already decreed the end at the 2026 Olympic Games. “It’s a sprinter’s track,” Pellegrino had said on the eve of the race, and the world’s two best sprinters proved it by taking the most precious metals. For Klaebo, this is the fourth consecutive gold in the format at the World Championships: a sign of a supremacy that has lasted for years and does not seem to want to see an end. In the quarters, Pellegrino had ruled with a great finish Norway’s Evensen and especially Sweden’s Anger, who were ahead of him on the last climb of the course. The Italian’s tactical finish had put all opponents in trouble, and Pellegrino had crossed the finish line in first place. The semifinal was going to be tough, with Klaebo, Northug, Evensen, Jouve and Anger. Pellegrino started in the lead and kept Klaebo’s wake until the final sprint, where he and the Norwegian crossed the finish line almost neck and neck, pulling away from all rivals. It’s final. And it will be silver.- Photo Ipa Agency -(ITALPRESS).
