Double Olympic gold medallist Kalla finished in a time of 23min 26.1secs which gave her a comfortable win, with yesterday's Norwegian winner Marit Bjørgen claiming second, which proved enough for her to seal the overall World Cup crown for the fourth time

Bjørgen was 36.4 seconds behind the Swede, while her fellow Norwegian Therese Johaug rounded off the podium by taking third.

"It feels great to win a World Cup again," Kalla said.

"The crowd here in Ostersund was so encouraging.

"I know the courses here very well and I felt strong.

"The 15th of February is a special day for me as I won Olympic Gold in Vancouver on this day and again last year in Sochi we won the relay on this day, and now a World Cup win today."

The result sees her lay down a marker ahead of the Cross Country World Championships, which begin on February 18 in Falun, the Swedish venue where she earned her last World Cup victory.

Despite an excellent performance from Kalla, the day's plaudits belong to Bjørgen, whose second place finish put her on an unassailable total of 1,768 points, 565 in front of Johaug with four competitions remaining.

Marit Bjørgen added the overall World Cup title to the Tour de Ski crown she won last month thanks to her second-place finish in Sweden ©Getty Images



"I didn't feel as strong today as yesterday," Bjørgen admitted.

"But I am really happy for Charlotte.

"It is so nice to see her back on the podium.

"It's great for her and it's important for the sport, especially with the World Championships here in Sweden."

In the men's 15km race, Norway's Finn Hågen Krogh claimed his second consecutive World Cup win as he powered round the course 13.5 seconds quicker than Frenchman Maurice Manificat in a time of 32:46.0, while local favourite Marcus Hellner was third.

Krogh's  victory was his first-ever distance triumph, while Manificat and Hellner both found themselves on the podium for the first time this season.

"I am obviously happy with today's result," Krogh said.

"I didn't expect that I could win today.

"I hope it's enough now for a start at the World Championships.

"I felt a little tired from yesterday's sprint but I was prepared to race both races this weekend so I could show how good my shape is."

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