January 27, 2012 (Cable, WI) – At the end of the day and at the awards ceremony, Chris Klebl, who has overcome much, was beaming from ear to ear. As well he should, garnering the top North American performance in the opening IPC World Cup cross-country ski events.

Canada’s Klebl returned to elite competition just four months after breaking his leg in November to capture his first ever IPC World Cup cross-country skiing race of the season on Thursday in the shadow of the Telemark Lodge, at this well-know resort, that gave birth to the American Birkebeiner.

The 30-year-oldKlebl, who won a gold medal the 2011 World Championships in sit-skiing for Canada, powered his way to the silver step of the podium in a tight battle in the men’s 15-kilomtre sit-ski race where he posted a time of 45:22.7.

“I’m so excited and relieved to know the long hard summer of training with the team has paid off,” said Klebl, who had the word YEAH programmed into his heart rate monitor for additional motivation. “It is a relief to that I was able to recover from my injury and be competitive at this this level.”

Klebl battled it out in the lead group with two Russian skiers who were working together to save energy, which proved to be a winning formula. Working with fellow Russian teammate Irek Zaripov, Klebl’s rival, Roman Petushkov vaulted to the lead the final lap to post a time of 45:07.7. Zaripov took the bronze at 45:58.7. The top American was Dan Cnossen in 10th in 50:22.4. US High Performance Director John Farra was impressed by Cnossen’s prowess, “Dan had a great race, and he continues to improve in each race he enters, he’s still very new to the sport but he is starting to master it. We look for great things from him.”

Klebl, who moved to Canmore, grew up in Austria. He became paralyzed from the waist down in 1995 in a snowboarding accident. The two-time Parlaympian began competing in cross-country skiing in 2005, and finished fourth overall on the World Cup in 2011 with one World Cup bronze medal.

In the women’s 12km LW 10-12 event Norway’s Marianne Marthinsen took an early lead and held on to win gold in 47:57.4, followed by Italy’s Francesca Porcellato who was 3:27.9 behind the Norwegian. The top American was Alicia Brelsford Dana of Putney, Vermont who placed seventh in 57:34.5. USA Paralympics Nordic Director Farra said he was very encouraged by Dana’s performance, “…given that she has had just three weeks on snow, we are excited about her result and look forward to Monday’s race to see continued improvement.”

USA athlete Kelly Underkofler of St. Paul took fifth in the LW 2-9 race won by Poland’s Katarzyna Rogowiec in 55:16.2.

Other Canadian results on Thursday included: Quebec’s Sebastien Fortier in 15th (51:22.3), and Yves Bourques in 16th (58:01.5) in the 15-kilometre sit-ski race; Ontario’s Christy Campbell finishing 10th (1:13:07), and Quebec’s Christine Gauthier in 13th (1:21:44) in the women’s 12-kilometre sit-ski; Louis Fortin, of New Brunswick, in 17th (1:38:12) in the men’s 20-kilometre standing race; Newfoundland’s Erica Noonan narrowly missed the podium in fourth in the women’s 15-kilometre standing race with a time of 1:13:10; while Ontario’s Margarita Gorbounova and guide Brian Berry finished fifth in the women’s 15-kilometre visually impaired category.

For complete results visit HERE.

With files from Cross Country Canada.