Oslo, Norway – U.S. Ski Team athlete Noah Hoffman, of Aspen, Colo., led the U.S. charge in 30th Sunday in the men’s 50k freestyle technique, the closing event of the 2011 Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo. Norway’s Petter Northug won the race, picking up his third 2011 World Championship gold medal.nOn a course packed with a massive crowd of nearly 100,000 chanting fans, Hoffman went out of the start strong challenging his strength and endurance as he hung onto the big guns. Impressively staying in the lead pack for most of the first half of the race, Hoffman unfortunately lost a pole heading into a hill opening a gap between the main field and him that he was unable to close, finishing in 30th.

“It was hard, but my energy seemed good. I was pretty psyched with how I felt. I lost a pole and to go up the big hill with one pole, that’s where I started getting dropped,” explained Hoffman. “I feel like there’s a lot more there sometime in the future. Those guys aren’t that fast.”

However, Northug was fast enough for the host country to clinch the final event of the Championships. Sunday’s result marked his third Championship title and fifth podium while competing in the heartland of nordic skiing as well as his home country.

“It’s easier to ski in the front of the pack then the back,” said Hoffman of his strategy of sticking with cross country stars like Northug for a good portion of the race. “I felt like I belonged up there, hopefully sometime in the near future I will.”

Russia’s Maxim Vylegzhanin grabbed silver, stopping a Norway podium sweep with Tord Asle Gjerdalen taking bronze and Sjur Roethe finishing just outside the medals in fourth.

Hoffman’s World Championship teammates Lars Flora (Anchorage, Alaska), Tad Elliot (Durango, Colo.) and nordic combined Olympic Champion Billy Demong (Vermontville, N.Y.) also competed putting forth solid efforts to strongly represent the USA.

The World Cup will resume next weekend in Lahti, Finland before heading to Sweden for the remaining to races.

The men’s 50k freestyle technique concludes the 2011 Nordic Ski World Championships in Oslo, Norway. FIS officials expressed gratitude to Norway for successfully hosting the event.

“Oslo 2011 will surely be remembered as spectacular championships,” stated Gian Franco Kasper, FIS President. “Only in Norway, the birth land of Nordic Skiing, could we expect such masses of spectators making their way to the venue, day in and day out, regardless of the weather. The atmosphere at the new Holmenkollen National Arena was simply unforgettable. Besides the success of the host nation Norway that led the medals table, from an international perspective it is important to have a broad distribution of medals.”

Kasper also expressed optimism that women’s ski jumping will now be approved by the International Olympic Committee for inclusion in the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia.

“With 12 nations winning a medal at Oslo 2011, FIS can be pleased about the development of our Nordic disciplines and especially with the progress of ladies’ Ski Jumping in the last two years since the premiere FIS World Championships at Liberec in 2009,” he said. “There has been significant increase in both the breadth and depth of the discipline including in the number of participating nations and athletes.”

A total of 270,000 tickets were sold for 11 competition days at Holmenkollen, along with estimated 50,000 spectators for the opening ceremony and a total of 650,000 fans at the evening ceremonies in the city center of Oslo. In addition, 300,000 spectators are estimated to have followed the competitions outside of the stadiums and along the outer cross-country trails while some 35,000 campers stayed overnight in the woods on Holmenkollen.

“Our mission for the Oslo 2011 Championships was to enthuse and spread winter joy and we can say with conviction that we have achieved this,” said Svein Aaser, Chairman of the Board of Oslo 2011 organizing committee.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Nordic World Ski Championships
Oslo, Norway – Mar. 6, 2011
50k Freestyle Technique

Gold: Petter Northug, Norway, 2:08:09.0
Silver: Maxim Vylegzhanin, Russia, +1.7
Bronze: Tord Asle Gjerdalen, Norway+6.3