Drammen, Norway – Andy Newell (USA) skied to 3rd place, and his third career World Cup podium.  Newell qualified in 11th, and advanced through one of the toughest World Cup fields imaginable.  It is hard to find a deeper and stronger group of racers than what you get in a classic sprint in Norway.

That didn’t phase Newell, however, and the top American sprinter advanced to the finals, placing second to eventual winner Emil Joensson (SWE) in both the quarterfinals and semis.

Joensson pulled away from the group to win the race by 1.9 seconds over Petter Northug, gaining a measure of redemption after a disappointing Olympics.  Northug barely edged Newell, crossing the line just .1 seconds in front.

Newell last finished on the podium in 2008, when he finished 2nd in the freestyle at the Lahti Ski Games.  He was also 3rd in the freestyle sprint in Changchun, China in 2006.

Over the last months, Newell has consistently stated that his fitness is the highest it has ever been.  But he has struggled to reach the finals, and the Olympics were the ultimate disappointment when he crashed during qualifying.

But today proved him correct, and he moved into 4th in the overall Sprint Cup standings, with 2nd within striking distance.

Newell has 278 points, two behind John Kristian Dahl (NOR) and 28 in back of Northug.  Joensson is now clear in the lead with 427 points.

Two sprint races remain – one this weekend in Oslo, and then next Wednesday in Stockholm.

Newell is also ranked 15th in the overall World Cup standings.

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 11th, 2010 at 12:02 pm and is filed under Results, Sprint. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.