Klæbo makes shock exit as Russians return; Prevc family celebrates

Norwegian superstar Johannes Høsflot Klæbo failed to get beyond the quarter-finals of a cross country sprint race for the first time since his World Cup debut almost a decade ago.

Klæbo has ruled the sprint over the years by winning the last two Olympic golds and four world titles, and he came into Saturday's race at the Swiss venue of Davos with 18 straight World Cup victories in the discipline.

But the winner of 100 overall World Cup races crashed out in the first knock-out round by coming fourth in his heat, and not getting through as lucky loser. It was his worst result since coming 15th in his first World Cup race in February 2016 on in Drammen.

Wins for Chanavat and Sundling

That opened the door for Frenchman Lucas Chanavat to pip Italy's federico Pellegrino by three-hundredths of a second for a fifth career success. Oscar Opstad Vike partially salvaged Norwegian pride with third place.

The women's race was won by world and Olympic sprint champion Jonna Sundling of Sweden, ahead of Norway's Mathilde Myhrvold and Nadine Fähndrich, who delighted a Swiss home crowd with third place.

Russians return

The sprints also featured the first Russians to compete in more than three years as neutral athletes.

Neither reached the top 30 for the knock-outs as Dariya Nepryaeva came 39th in women's qualifying and Saveliy Korostelev 52nd on the men's side.

Russian and Belarusian athletes were banned from events run by the governing ski and snowboard body FIS since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

But the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled last week that FIS must allow them to compete again as neutrals in its events, if they pass a strict vetting process. The FIS has so far clear 13 athletes to compete as neutrals in its sports.

Unstoppable Prevcs

In other Nordic action, large ski jumping in Klingenthal, Germany, was dominated by the Prevc family, with Nika Prevc winning the women's event and brother Domen Prevc the men's competition.

Large Hill world champion Domen Prevc soared to his third straight victory and 12th overall in utterly dominant fashion by soaring close to 10 metres further than anyone else with 142.5 metres and 143m.

World Cup champion Stefan Kraft trailed by a massive 25.5 points with 132.5m and 133.5m, and Raimund Philipp from hosts Germany was third.

Twice reigning World Cup champion Nika Prevc saved the best for last to beat Japanese rival Nozomi Maruyama with a competition best 138m after a first jump of 135m for a third season and 25th career win.

Maruyama, who had beaten Prevc for a fourth season victory on Friday on the same hill, trailed by four points from jumps of 134m and 135m. Norway's Anna Odine Stroem was third.

Sunday's events are 10km races for mewn and women in Davos and another men's large hill event in Klingenthal.