February 17, 2005 – Canada’s Beckie Scott opened the 2005 Cross-Country Skiing World Championships with a 14th-place finish in Oberstdorf, Germany on Thursday.

The 2002 Olympic gold medallist, of Vermilion, Alta., who took the first half of the season off to prepare for this week’s World Championships, completed the 10-kilometre skate event with a time of 27 minutes 47.2 seconds.

Edmonton’s Tara Whitten was the only other competitor to wear the maple leaf in the women’s event. Whitten, who is a rookie on the World Cup circuit this year, ended the day in 49th place with a time of 30:22.2, just over three minutes off the leading mark.

Katerina Neumannova of the Czech Republic clocked the fastest time of the day to take home the gold medal when she crossed the finish line with a time of 26:27.6. Russia’s Julija Tchepalova crossed the finish line a mere 1.2 seconds behind Neumannova to grab the silver medal with a time of 26:28.8, while Norway’s Marit Bjoergen secured the final spot on the podium after stopping the clock at 26:42.8.

“It was not a bad start, but we definitely want to finish a little better,” said Dave Wood, head coach, Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team. “We have assembled a great group here in Germany that combines veteran leaders and talented youngsters, and we’re going to look at them to continue to improve over the course of the event.”

Leading the Canadian men in the 15-kilometre skate event was Chris Jefferies of Chelsea Que., who overcame a foot injury to make his way through the German track in 56th place. The 27-year-old, who joined the rest of the Canadian team on the World Cup circuit in January, crossed the finish line just 2:46.1 seconds off the pace, posting a time of 37:35.8.

After getting shut out of the medals at last year’s World Championships, Italy rebounded to take a stranglehold of the podium. Pietro Piller Cottrer set the time to beat 34:49.7, to win the gold medal Piller Cottrer’s teammate, Fulvio Valbusa, finished just 11.2 seconds behind to claim the silver medal at 35:00.9, while Norway’s Tore Ruud Hofstad rounded out the top-three, taking the bronze medal with a time of 35:03.9.

There were three other Canadians making their mark on the international stage in the men’s event. Dan Roycroft of Port Sydney, Ont. skied his way into 64th place (38:05.2), while Gordon Jewett of Toronto was 69th (38:29.2). Rounding out the Canadian results was Red Deer, Alta., native, Drew Goldsack, who finished the day in 77th position at 39:21.9. There were 122 of the world’s best cross-country skiers in Wednesday’s event.