March 17, 2007 (Travisio, Italy) – Brent McMurtry put in a steady performance to lead all Canadians against the world’s best young racers with a 24th-place finish at the Under-23 World Championships on Saturday in Tarvisio, Italy.

The Calgary native, who battled stomach problems for the first two of three classic laps in the men’s 30-kilometre pursuit race, rebounded during the skate-portion of the race to finish with a time of one hour 24 minutes 58.3 seconds. The pursuit races combine 15 kilometres of classic skiing with 15 kilometres of skate skiing. Athletes enter a transition zone to change equipment while the clock is still running between the two legs.

Three other Canadian men and two young women also hit the start line for Canada. David Nighbor, of North Bay, Ont., was 35th (1:26:54.1); while Chris Butler, of Thunder Bay, Ont., was 37th (1:27:02.9); and Phil Wood, of Orangeville, Ont., was 55th (1:32:33.0). Olympian, Amanda Ammar, of Onoway, Alta., led the two Canadians in the women’s 20-kilometre pursuit field. Ammar was 29th after stopping the clock at 44:21.0, while Perianne Jones, of Almonte, Ont., was 40th (47:17.9).

Switzerland’s Dario Cologna won the men’s race with a time of 1:21:50.4. Russia’s Stanislav Volzhentsev finished tied for second at 1:21:52.0 with Switzerland’s Curdin Perl.

Russia also made its way to the podium in the women’s race. Loulia Tchekaleva set the time to beat at 41:53.8 on Saturday, while Coraline Hogue, of France, was second at 42:00.2, and Ivana Janeckova, of the Czech Republic, was third (42:08.8).

World Cup in Oslo, Norway

Meanwhile, Brian McKeever, of Canmore, Alta., was the lone Canadian to battle the 50-kilometre classic race on the World Cup in Oslo, Norway on Saturday. McKeever finished in 40h spot with a time of 2:31:14.3.

Norway’s Odd-Bjoern Hjelmeset won the gold medal in front of the hometown crowd with a time of 2:17:22.0, while Germany’s Tobias Angerer was second at 2:17:31.8, and Norway’s Frode Estil was third (2:17:53.8).

Cross Country Canada is the governing body of cross-country skiing in Canada. Its 45,000 members are athletes, coaches and officials, including members of the Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team and Canadian Disabled Cross-Country Ski Team. Cross-country skiing is Canada’s optimal winter sport and recreational activity with more than one million Canadians participating annually.

Complete World Cup and Under-23 World Championship Results www.fis-ski.com