Sport.cz: Beranová caps off season with Tallinn performance, matching personal best

While the Czech men did not make it into the top 30, neither did the finalist from the World Championships in February, Michal Novák, both Czech women runners advanced from the qualification. Kateřina Janatová from 18th place, Tereza Beranová was twenty-eighth.

For Janatová, the race ended right in the quarter-final heat, two tenths of a second separated the Czech competitor from the second-placed Skistad. Beranová advanced from second place and, as a semi-final “lucky loser”, slipped from third place thanks to a better time to fight for medals. In the final run, however, she was unable to break away from last place and, just like in December in Beitostölen and in January’s Tour de Ski stage in Val di Fiemme, she finished sixth.

At the same time, Beranová missed the previous races in Falun due to health problems. “Terka didn’t feel well for the races in Falun, so we let her rest. But she will go in Tallinn, it’s the end of the season and there’s probably nothing to wait and nothing to save on. Her condition hasn’t worsened, so we’ll try it from the volley and see how it goes it will turn out,” coach Jan Franc said before the race on the association’s website.

“Yesterday I bought a ticket instead of Helsinki to Tallinn, I told myself that it couldn’t get any worse, and I risked the last races. After Drammen I couldn’t get out of bed for four days and yesterday I almost ended the season early. And today is of the final, which is a big boost for me,” said Beranová after the race.

But with each start, she felt her strength waning. “Qualification surprised me and I gradually worked my way forward in each heat and it didn’t hurt much. When the break started to get shorter and I didn’t have time to recover anything by the final. That’s what separates me from the podium, perseverance. Now I wish the competitors to the implementation team, all the strength in the world, let us manage Lahti and improve the previous highs,” she added.

In the finish, Skistad beat Sundling by 13 hundredths and followed up on the triumphs from Drammen and Falun. Twenty-six-year-old Klaebo also completed the winning hat-trick under the lights in the Estonian capital, winning the final by more than two and a half seconds ahead of Lucas Chavanat from France. He added the big globe to the small sprinter’s, which he already secured on Saturday.

The best of the Czech representatives was Ondřej Černý, who in 33rd place was 33 hundredths of a second short of advancing to the elimination heats. Novák was another 61 hundredths slower and finished thirty-eighth.

The last three SP races will take place from Friday to Sunday in Lahti, two of them will be individual. If Klaebo dominates them both, she will equal the absolute maximum of compatriot Therese Johaug, who collected 20 victories in the 2019/20 season.