February 22, 2006 – It was a great start in the quarterfinals for Canada as Beckie captured 1st in her heat, qualifying for the semis along with Kikkan Randall of the US. In heat 4 Sara started hard but ended up 4th, just off qualifying, in a tough group that saw hometown favourite Follis and Sweden’s Dahlberg advance. Chandra Crawford skied the final heat and stayed with the top group for the first half of the race, before putting the hammer down and skiing away from all challengers, to win by a second and a half. Gjomle from Norway also qualified as World Champion Lina Andersson missed the semis.

In semi 1 Beckie took the early lead before being passed midway by Claudia Kuenzel, finishing just behind the German to qualify for the A final. In semi 2 Chandra took the early lead and blew the field away on the second half of the course winning the semis by over a second and a half.

Chandra Crawford dominated the final, trading the lead with Germany’s Claudia Kuenzel, before pulling away and leaving the field in her snowflakes, over the last half of the race. Beckie had trouble finding a clear line to the lead throughout the race and finished in 4th just a bit back from 3rd. It was the latest, greatest day in Canadian Cross Country skiing.

Sara ended 16th and Amanda Ammar 49th. Kikkan Randall from the US had a great race with a 9th place result.

Womens Final Results: http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/IDF/CC/C75D_CCW601000.html

In the Mens final Swedens Bjoern Lind won followed by France’s Darragon and Thobias Fredriksson from Sweden grabbed bronze.
Mens Results: http://www.torino2006.org/ENG/IDF/CC/C75D_CCM601000.html