Month: February 2009

Liberec, Cazech Republic.  Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) won her second gold of the 2009 World Championships, skiing to victory in the woen’s 30km freestyle mass start.  Liz Stephen led the US in 17th.

Kowalczyk made a move with under a kilometer to go, opening a gap she was able to hold to the finish.  Evgenia Medvedeva (RUS) was second, +8.8.  The battle for silver was extremely tight.  Medvedeva outsprinted bronze medalist Valentina Schevchenko (UKR) and 4th place finisher Therese Johaug (NOR).

“I’m very tired, really tired.  This is really a huge and amazing success – it was a dream for me. During the race I tried to be in the leading group and then at the end I planned to attack on the last uphill – my tactic worked  and I was able to ski away. It’s good that there was so many people from Poland here and I’m happy that there is Evgenia and Valentina with me on the podium – they are my friends.”

Kowalczyk also won a bronze in the 10km classic.

Said Medvedeva, “I’m very satisfied. The entire race was very good for me. All was really perfectly prepared. I was little bit worried about the downhills, but after my last change of skies, I felt very happy with them. I knew that the last climb and the last downhill would decide the race and I felt confident because of my skis. It was also the reason that I tried to attack in the finish.“

For the frist time in a World Championship or OIympic event, skiers were allowed to exchange skis during the race.  Many skiers took advantage of this opportunity and changed skis in the stadium at 11.25km and at 18.75 km.

Schevchenko liked this opportunity.   “I felt very well and my skis were good. I really do not like mass starts, because there are too many issues that can influence your race. But I was changed my skis twice and I think it’s a very good thing. Most of the girls used this opportunity, except the Italians and I felt that in some parts of the track, they were a little worse.”

It has been 10 years since a Ukrainian won a World Championship medal – Irina Terelia won a bronze in Ramsau.

Liz Stephen and Morgan Arritola continued to post impressive results in their first World Championships.  Stehpen, who finished 15th in the pursuit, cracked the top 20 again, finishing 17th in today’s freestyle race.  Arritola just missed the top-30 in the pursuit, made that mark today.  She finished 22nd, 30 seconds behind her teammate.

Stephen was 2:42 behind winner Justyna Kowalzcyk of Poland.  One third of the way through the race, the pack remained large and Stephen was hanging at the back.  But by 13km, along with skiers like Charlotte Kalla and Claudia Nystad, she fell off the back and a smaller chase pack formed.

“It was not the best start ever. I had a couple falls and a few tangle ups. Mass starts are kind of crazy,” Stephen said. “We just worked our way up through the field. It takes some energy to get up to the pack, then I just focused in and tried to chip away and keep pushing.”

“To have two in the top 25 in a distance race, I don’t know if we’ve ever done it,” U.S. Cross Country Head Coach Pete Vordenberg said. “It’s unbelievable, this is their first real taste, their first World Championships. The future is really exciting.”

“I started bib 42 and the start is always crazy. We were way back for first lap or two, but then worked our way up,” Arritola said from the finish area at Worlds where she and Stephen watched Billy Demong win gold in the final Nordic combined event. “You just have to trust your fitness and just be calm. This is a good confidence builder, to know your hard work is starting to pay off.”

Caitlin Compton finished 48th as the final US skier in the event.

Top Canadian Sara Renner did not start the race, and teammate Dari Gaiazova did not finish, leaving Shayla Swanson as the lone representative.  Swanson skied to 40th place.

The women are done racing at the World Championships.  Only the men’s 50km remains.

Women’s World Championship 30km Freestyle Mass Start – Complete Results

Watch the race on Universal Sports

Liberec, Czech Republic – Petter Northug is on his way to cementing his position as one of the all time great Norwegian relay anchors, once again overcoming a deficit before powering it on in the finish to claim the men’s 4x10km relay gold over Germany.

Northug, at 23, already has anchored a number of impressive relay victories, and now has a World Champinship gold in the event.  This was Norway’s fifth consecutive World Championship relay gold.

The race broke apart quickly, a rare occurance in these mass-start events.  Usually a large lead pack stays together through the first leg.  But by 8 kilometers the lead group was down to six teams, and one kilometer later, Canada and Germany were 10 seconds off the front.  At the first handoff, the field was stretched out and a minute separated 1st and 7th.

Devon Kershaw (CAN) skied an impressive first leg, leading the break with Germany’s Jens Filbrich.  The two had 13 seconds on third place Estonia, and Norway was a full 25 seconds back in 6th.

Over the next five kilometers, Finland and Estonia caught Germany, while Canada’s George Grey was unable to hold the pace.  Veteran Odd-Bjorn Hjelmeset worked to bring Norway back into contact with the leaders.

At the halfway point, it was Germany and Finland tagging first, 14 seconds up on Estonia, and 22 up on Norway.  Tore Ruud Hofstad skied the first skate leg for the Norwegians and took 8 seconds out of Franz Goering’s (GER) lead.  Finland, with the relatively inexperienced Teemu Kattilakoski skiing slipped back to third 41 seconds out.

Northug took the tag 14.5 seconds behind Axel Teichmann.  The young Norwegian did not wait to close the gap, and just two kilomters in, the two were skiing together.  Northug let Teichmann lead, sitting behind the tall German, before making his move and cruising to victory in the home stretch.

“I closed the gap to Axel quite fast on the first two kilometers and then I tried to relax a bit,” said Northug.  “I launched the attack before the finish on the uphill and saw that Axel could not follow we and I knew I would take the win. I am not dangerous- not dangerous at all, but I know that I have a strong finish.”

Teichmann was not happy to settle for silver.  “I tried to go away during the race but I wasn’t able to do it. These conditions are not my favorite and I tried to change my way of skiing as my coaches suggest.  But I couldn’t manage it on this wet snow. For sure, at this moment I am disappointed, but a bit later I will be happy to have a medal.”

The Norweigan classic skiers struggled a bit today, starting with scramble leg Eldar Roenning.  “I skied very fast in the first two laps of my round but in the third one I was tired and my skis were not the best anymore. It is great to get a gold medal and I must say that Petter again did a great job for us.”

Added Hjelmeset, “I felt like Eldar, I was trying to close the gap. It was hard work as I was alone and also I felt very tired in my last lap. I have to say that I’m proud of our team and especially of Tore Ruud  – he had an amazing race today. When he changed to Petter I said to Petter that you have now to go and take it – the gold medal.”

Finland maintained position in third, and continuing a strong showing at the World Championships.  The Finnish men have been overshadowed by the women’s team in recent years, but with a bronze in the Team Sprint and another in today’s relay, they are enjoying success at a level unmatched since before the team was decimated by the 2001 doping scandal.

Said Matti Heikkinen ““This is really a great day for the Finnish Ski Team. It is the first relay medal after 2001 for the Finnish men. In today’s race, I tried to follow the leading group and not lose too much. I am happy about my second medal in this World Championships and will celebrate together with my team.”

Canada turned in a very impressive performance, finishing 5th, just behind Italy.  The Italians did not ski well in the classic portion of the race – Roland Clara and Valerio Checchi combined to leave the team 1:22 down and in 10th place at the halfway point.  But Pietero Piller Cottrer posted the fastest time on the third leg and brought the Italians back into the top 5. Meanwhile, Canadian Grey handed off to Ivan Babikov in 5th place.  Babikov overtook Estonia, and with 10km to go, Canada was in 4th, under 40 seconds off the podium.

20-year old Alex Harvey took over, leading Italy’s Giorgio DiCenta and Sweden’s Mathias Fredriksson by 18 seconds.  The rising Canadian star was unphased and held the lead for the first 5km.  But the experienced DiCenta was closing, and by the 6.5km mark, had caught Harvey.  Fredriksson, hoever, had not been able to stay with DiCenta, and remained well back in 6th.  With one kilometer to go, Italy and Canada remained together, but DiCenta had more left at the end and was able to ski away by 9 seconds.

“That was by far the best result we’ve ever had. It takes four guys to ski well and we knew we could be competitive. Personally I have had a hard World Championships and it just feels so great to crank it open,” said the 26-year-old  Kershaw

This is the first time that the Canadian men have ever cracked the top 10 in a World Championship relay.

“That was an absolutely bullet-proof performance,” said Dave Wood, team leader, National Ski Team. “We had super good legs today and were in the fight for fourth until the final kilometer. That really was an incredible day for us.”.

The US, led by Kris Freeman, started very well.  Freeman, in his last race before season-ending surgery continues to demonstrate that he is in top form.  Freeman skied the 4th fastest leg, coming in 16.8 seconds off the pace, and ahead of Norway, Finland, Sweden and Russia among others.  He tagged to Chris Cook who battled to maintain position.  Halfway through his leg, Cook still had the US in sixth, but continued slipping back and was 9th at the next tag.   At this point the US was still mixing it up with several teams, and held a sizable gap on Russia and the Czech Republic.   James Southam took over for the first skate leg.  He was no match for Russian Alexander Legkov, who skied the 4th fastest leg time, but kept the US within striking distance of the top 10.  Andy Newell took over for the anchor in 11th.  Newell has not completted a World Cup distance race since the early season.  It showed, and while there was no lack of effort, he lost between 10 and 20 seconds per kilometer to the leaders, and the US team slid into last place.

Australia and Great Britain were lapped and had to withdraw.

Of Note:

– Emmanuel Jonnier (FRA) skied the fastest anchor leg of the day ,moving up from 12th to 9th.

– The home Czech team did not fare well, finishing 12th.

Men’s World Championship 4x10km Relay – Complete Results

Watch the race on Universal Sports