In what was the first World Cup event to take place in the Swedish resort for 20 years, Bjørgen, who won the Tour de Ski title in January, finished in a time of 2min 46.82sec.

That proved enough to beat Olympic sprint champion and team-mate Maiken Caspersen Falla, who was 1.8 seconds off the pace, while home favourite Stina Nilsson came through to take third.

"It's great to have 90 World Cup victories," the 34-year old from Trondheim said.

"I was not sure how I would feel today after coming from altitude in Seiser Alm [in Italy].

"After the Tour de Ski I took a week of rest and simply had good training before the Norwegian Championships but I did not race at my best.

"But it was good that altitude and I am happy with my shape from today's result."

Bjørgen hadn't competed since her Tour de Ski triumph but continued to add to her impressive achievements in her career to date with a victory that extends her lead in both the overall standings and the sprint standings.

Finn Hågen Krogh's second win of the season saw him overtake Italian Federico Pellegrino at the top of the overall sprint standings ©Getty Images



The Norwegian dominance of the cross country discipline continued as Krogh claimed his second win of the season, sprinting round the 1.2km course in a time of 2:25.28, 0.47 seconds ahead of nearest challenger, Canada's Alex Harvey.

Harvey's second place finish was the first time he had been on the podium so far this campaign, while it was also a particularly enjoyable outing for Norway's Timo Bakken as he earned his maiden top three spot in his first-ever World Cup final.

Krogh's win ensured he climbed above Federico Pellegrino on the overall sprint leaderboard, and he now has a 42-point advantage over the Italian, who made history last month by claiming three successive sprint victories.

"It is great to have another win this season," the 24-year old said.

"It was really challenging today and it was important to race smart and stay out of trouble.

"I always tried to stay near the front and in the end it worked for me.

"I do not have a starting position yet in Falun [for the World Championships] but hopefully strong results this weekend will give me a better chance."

This event in Ostersund was the last before the World Championships are due to begin in another Swedish resort, Falun, next Wednesday (February 18).

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