January 26th, 2008
The official results are in. Read here!
We apologize for any mistakes in the live updates. Garrott Kuzzy was intially announced as advancing to the A-Final as a lucky loser, but after reviewing the photo finish, he just missed out.
Emil Joensson (SWE) won his first ever World Cup besting last year’s World Junior sprint champion Ivan Ivanov of Russia and Matias Strandvall of Finland. Strandvall edged Nikolay Morilov (RUS) in a photo finish for the final podium spot. Josef Wenzl, back from injury showed he is still in fine form, finishing 5th. Vassili Rotchev (RUS) took 6th - making it three Russians in the A-Final.
Garrott Kuzzy (USA), racing his first World Cups this week finished third in the B-Final for a stunning 9th place overall. Teammate Torin Koos led the B-final into the homestretch but ran out of legs and settled for a still impressive 11th. Drew Goldsack of Canada took 12th.
Andy Newell was boxed out in his quarterfinal and was unable to advance, finishing 17th on the day after qualifying in 2nd. Canadians Phil Widmer and Devon Kershaw were 13th and 20th respectively.
In the women’s event, hometown hero and defending Olympic Gold Medalist in the sprint, Chandra Crawford, looked strong all day as she pounded the final 200meters to take the victory over Pirjo Muranen (FIN) and Magda Genuin (ITA). Arianna Follis (ITA) and Virpi Kuitunen (FIN) took the final two spots in the A-Final. Kuitunen’s finish moved her into the overall World Cup lead ahead of Swedish Tour de Ski winner Charlotte Kalla. kalla was supposed to be in Canada, but became ill and did not make the trip.
American Kikkan Randall took second in the B-Final to finish 8th on the day. Randall led the first part of the B-Final, and was in a strong position heading into the last 300 meters. But she was unable to overtake Slovenian Petra Madjic. World Cup sprint leader Astrid Jacobsen (NOR) was 10th.
Sara Renner (CAN) capped a successful week with a 16th place finish - she was edged at the line in her quarterfinal by Genuin. Sara Daitch (CAN) captured her first World Cup top-20 with a 19th place effort. Teammate Perianne Jones took the final World Cup point in 30th place.
Former SuperTour Champion Karin Camenisch (SUI) who has raced out of Bozeman, MT for the past 3 years finished 24th and scored her first World Cup points.
Racing on the fast relatively flat fast course made for extremely tight heats. ALmost every round came down to a sprint between 4 or 5 athletes.
More to follow.
