December 31, 2011 (Obertsdorf, Germany) – Russian blue put the hurt to the field in the men’s 1.2km classic sprint as rain and snow pelted skiers making for tough conditions. Nikita Kriukov, the 2010 Vancouver Olympic classic sprint champ, lead a Russian sweep of the final podium with Alexey Petukhov in second and Nikolay Morilov in third – Dmitriy Jarapov took fourth for good measure.

In the final Petter Northug (NOR) had a surprising fall at the base of the final hill forcing Dario Cologna (SUI) to falter but remain on his skis as the two could not regain contact with the four Russian leaders finishing fifth and sixth.

Canada’s Devon Kershaw told SkiTrax conditions today were “Horrendous – the worse I’ve seen in 7 years.” Kershaw qualified 16th behind teammate Alex Harvey in 14th and controlled his quarter final with smart skiing as he moved up on the first hill and then took over the lead on the second hill before coming into the final stretch. Russian speedster Dmitriy Japarov nipped him at the line as the two advanced.

But Kershaw’s strategy was foiled in his semi. “It’s disappointing as I got boxed in by Cologna and almost came to a dead stop and couldn’t recover,” said Kershaw by phone. Still his efforts saw him finish 11th on the day and moved the Canuck into 4th overall behind Northug, Cologna, and  Japarov.

Harvey, who favours longer sprint courses, looked strong in his quarterfinal as well but took a final corner too wide and lost some ground. He recovered well in the final sprint and tied for 3rd but his heat was not one of the faster ones and he did not advance as a lucky loser. “We had great skis today despite the tough conditions. I was hoping to do better but couldn’t make up enough ground when I was forced to take a corner too wide. Still I moved up 8-9 places overall [Harvey is 19th] and there’s lots of racing to come.”

The USA’s Andy Newell also looked strong as his quarterfinal got underway but he was not able to hold the pace as it picked up. Racing in his heat was defending WCup Sprint champ, Emil Joensson (SWE), who was another crash victim on one of the final corners and both he and Newell were out.

Newell’s teammates Simi Hamilton (34th) and Kris Freeman (43rd) did not qualify but Hamilton was only 1.11s off the mark. “Today was totally nuts. It rained super hard all day,” said Hamilton. “I think my classic sprinting has improved and I’m making gains in the right direction. I would have liked to have skied a little more relaxed and found some more speed in my glide today.”

Freeman told us, “My energy was good today. I wanted more but I was only two seconds from qualifying which is not a bad day.” Freeman in 30th overall is looking for more redemption in Sunday’s Skiathon (10kmCL+10kmFR). Canada’s Ivan Babikov ended the day in 81st.

For Russia it was a picture perfect result – unlike the weather – sounding the alarm to the rest of the competing nations that when it comes to sprinting they’re the country to beat – with eight qualifiers and three top finishing spots the proof is on the scoresheets.

Men’s Sprint results HERE.
Men’s TdS Overall Standings HERE.