8.05pm – Northug beats Hellner also at the Bislett stadium

In front of a sold out and fully packed stadium, two of the greatest cross-country skiers raced against each other on rollerskis. The “Atea Cross Country Mile” contested between Petter Northug jr. and Marcus Hellner was a kind of a revenge for the fights at the Nordic Ski World Championships at the Holmenkollen earlier this year.

In the heart of Oslo, Hellner took the lead with Northug on his heels. At the end of the second lap, Northug attacked and passed the Swede. The lead changed again in the third and second-last lap. With 100m to go, Northug attacked again and secured victory in this show-race.

In the meantime, Cuba’s Yargeris Savigne and Kazhachstan’s Olga Rypakova gave life to an exciting duel in the Women’s Triple Jump. Until the last round, both athletes had achieved 14.71m in their best attempts, and 14.70m (Savigne) and 14.69m (Rypakova) in their second best. With her last jump, the two-time World Champion from Cuba put ten centimetres between her and the rest of the field and won with 14.81m. Third place went to her compatriote Mabel Gay who jumped 14.31m.