February 7, 2005 – Canada’s Max Thompson fought long and hard, but struggled to keep up with the pack during the 7.5 kilometre sprint at the nordic combined World Cup B event in Karpacz, Poland on Sunday.

After skiing to an explosive best-ever result in Europe during the cross-country ski portion of yesterday’s event, Thompson ran out of energy during Sunday’s sprint to finish the day in 35th place. The 20-year-old Calgary native crossed the finish line two minutes 29.4 seconds off the leading pace.

“I had a rough time on the course today,” said Thompson, who had been looking to build off the momentum from yesterday’s race to secure another top-30 result. ” I felt quite fatigued and couldn’t race as fast as I wanted to. I just ran out of steam right from the start.”

Some familiar faces made it to the podium in the 7.5 kilometre sprint event. Germany’s Marc Frey moved up one spot from yesterday’s competition to claim the gold medal. Carl Van Loan of the United States grabbed the silver medal at +22.2, while Switzerland’s Ivan Rieder rounded out third to take the bronze medal at +22.3.

Calgary’s Wes Harris was the only other athlete to wear the maple leaf in Sunday’s event. Harris, of Calgary, finished the day in 44th spot at +3.31.3.

The Canadian Nordic Combined Team will head to Oberstdorf, Germany to compete at the World Championships, which kick-off on February 18th.