Grateful winners

It was very emotional in the city centre of Alta during the ceremony. An obviously moved Mona Kolstad had focused on completely different things than prices, ceremonies or ranking while she was on the trail. - I had to take Elly, my lead dog, out of the team and suddenly the whole race was open. One of the other dogs was put into the leading position and had to fill those shoes. But she managed marvellously, explains a touched Kolstad. It was this dog that in bad weather with poor visibility and loose powder snow took the responsibilty, even though she had not played any significant role in the team before. When I needed it most, this dog was there for me.

That was incredibly well done, said Kolstad. She had chosen to take out Elly, since she was more tired than the rest and was slightly hurt, a minor paw injury. The injury is not serious, points Kolstad out and says that massage and rest will be sufficient to help the healing process.

Only the winner and the bronse medallist showed up during the ceremony on tuesday. Silver medallist Katy Meier had to go back to Sweden earlier that day and could therefore not be there. Thus we did not get to see three women on the podium this year either.- That's sad, says Kolstad.