Haakon Hjelstuen Named Overall Champion at China Tour de Ski

BEIJING, China - Two former Michigan Tech Nordic skiers raced at the China Tour de Ski in Beijing, China last week. The China Tour de Ski is an international race with six stages of ski competitions in different areas of the country.

Didrik Fjeld Elset and Haakon Hjelstuen, both from Norway, proved to be the fastest sprinters in the freestyle sprint held in Inner Mongolia. Both former Huskies had outstanding performances, Haakon taking first place and Didrik taking second in the fifth stage of the China Tour de Ski.

"It is great to see Haakon and Didrik continuing to ski at a high level after their time here at Michigan Tech," Tech Nordic ski coach Joe Haggenmiller said. "For the two of them to share an international podium like this is very cool. It shows we are doing the right things in our program to develop our skiers to continue their ski careers after their NCAA competition days are done."

Both Hjelstuen and Elset are part of the NTNU (Norwegian University of Science and Technology Exchange Program) and spent a year of their college career skiing with the Huskies. Hjelstuen competed in the 2014-15 season and took the podium in third place at the US Nationals hosted at the Tech Trails. Elset joined the Huskies the following year, 2015-16, and also took third at the US Nationals for the Black and Gold.

Out of six stages, Haakon Hjelstuen was named the overall champion for the men with a total of 402 points in the ranking. He was 78 points ahead of Saumel Rege Gianasso of France, who took second. Didrik Fjeld Elset finished 12th overall in the competition. 

The former Huskies are finishing their studies at NTNU and are continuing to ski at the elite level.