March 1, 2008 (Lahti, Finland) – Canada’s Chandra Crawford won today’s 1.2km Sprint over Natalia Matveeva (Rus) in second and Evi Stehle-Sachenbacher (Ger) in 3rd, while USA’s Andy Newell from Vermont, who qualified first, took 2nd in the men’s 1.2km final behind winner Anders Gloersen (Nor) with Ola Vigen Hattestad (Nor) in 3rd. Kikkan Randall (USA) placed 5th while Devon Kershaw (Can) was 5th as well.

“It feels awesome to win again today. I am so relaxed, comfortable, happy and psyched about what this does for our program,” said Crawford in a Cross Country Canada release, who believes her strength in skate-skiing comes from her years in the sport of biathlon as a kid before switching to cross-country skiing. “For me getting into a pack of girls on skate skis and racing for one kilometre to get to the finish line first is my idea of fun.”

“I am just very relaxed out there. When I get on my skate skis I am so agile and feel like can scoot around anyone,” said a beaming Crawford, whose mission with her Olympic and World Cup gold medals is to inspire young girls around the world to get involved in sport, notably cross-country skiing, through her Fast and Female program that she has created in Canada. “A big part of competitive racing is the mental side of things and not to be so stressed.”

“I think I have to start applying some of the aggressive mindset I have from skate-sprinting to classic. I have been working so hard in classic, but the key though is to just stay relaxed and not be so stressed about it,” added Crawford. “I think our team environment really helps with having Sara around she doesn’t let anyone get too uptight, and for Devon to be around and doing so well today also is very special.”

For Newell it was his best World Cup finish since he placed third in a World Cup sprint in China in 2006. “Today, to be first by nearly two seconds in qualification and then to go on and have his best World Cup finish was really gratifying,” said Sprint Head Coach Chris Grover in a USSA release. “It’s Andy’s best sprint ever.”

“It was awesome today to be able to get second. That’s my best World Cup finish in my career so far so I can’t complain,” said Newell. “In the back of my head I knew I had what it took to get on the podium.”

Newell was inspired by several recent events that helped him reach the podium Saturday.”I kept thinking about a few things. One was the fact that I had a bad race last weekend and I wanted to prove to myself that I could get on the podium again. Second, I was inspired by our girls’ results at the U23’s yesterday with Liz Stephen on the podium,” Newell said. “Third, I was thinking about Paul Robbins coming into the final. I wanted to win and dedicate it to Paul because he’s been such a good friend to us and to the U.S. Ski Team. Those three things were keeping me motivated today.”

Canada’s Kershaw was also happy with his performance. “I raced extremely well today and have to be happy with fifth because that was a pretty messy final,” said Kershaw, who got tangled up several times searching for holes and a clear lane. “You always want to do better until you’re on top, and then when you get there, you want to win every race – that is pretty much the life of an athlete.”

Results

Women

1. Chandra Crawford (Can)
2. Natalia Matveeva (Rus)
3. Evi Stehle-Sachenbacher (Ger)
4. Petra Majdic (Slo)
5. Kikkan Randall (USA)

Men

1. Anders Gloersen (Nor)
2. Andy Newell (USA)
3. Ola Vigen Hattestad (Nor)
4. Bjorn Lind (Swe)
5. Devon Kershaw (Can)

Women’s qualification

Women’s final

Men’s qualification

Men’s final