December 11, 2005 – Following the heart-stopping action of yesterday’s men’s and women’s Pursuit, spectators are pouring in to view the exciting spectacle of the World Cup Sprints. The sprint course is 1.3K for lung-busting, high-speed, full-out race action. The day is dawning with promise of clear skies and temperatures around the zero mark.

The courses at Sovereign Lake have been hailed by the athletes as some of the best in the world. Germany’s Axel Tiechmann, 2nd in yesterday’s 30K Pursuit said, “Skiing in Canada is big, everything is big, your cars, your mountains and your trails. They are so wide that we can pass on the hill climbs easily. We like that.”

The qualifying heats start at 9:30 am this morning, with athletes leaving the stadium at 15-second intervals, with the top 30 times over the course advancing to the quarter finals and the final heat downs, starting at 11:30 am.

On the women’s side, there’s a start field of 60 women. Norwegians Marit Bjoergen and Hilde Pedersen start 7th and 18th and Canada’s Chandra Crawford starts in 4th, Beckie Scott in 21st, Sarah Renner in 22nd and Melainne Theriault is out of the blocks in 33rd. USA’s Wendy Wagner follows in 36th and Rebecca Dussault starts in 44th.

The men will compete with a field of 65 athletes. Yesterday’s winner Germany’s Tobias Angerer is starting in 16th, Axel Tiechmann is in 42nd. None of the other German top-five finishers are competing in the sprints.

American Andrew Newell starts first for the US in 32nd spot, with Torin Koos in 36th. Drew Goldsack leads off for the Canadians in 37th position, Chris Jeffries is in 44th.

Both the US and Canadian teams can enter large fields of athletes since the World Cup is in North America. The following athletes will be competing as well, most of them for their first time in an international event:

Canadian women – Perianne Jones, Christine Bisson, Daria Gaiazova, Tasha Betcherman, Tara Whitten, Shayla Swanson, Magi Scallion, Kerrie Fabius and Medeleine Williams. For the USA women’s team – Lindsay Williams, Kate Whitcomb, Allison Crocker, Lindsey Weier and Abigail Larson.

The rest of the Canadian men include Sean Crooks, Phil Widmer, Gord Jewett, Graham Nishikawa, Ian Murray, Kit Richmond, Mike Argue, Eric Carleton and Brian McKeever.

The US squad includes Colin Rogers, Chris Cook, Kevin Hochtl, Lars Flora and Leif-Orin Zimmermann.