February 04, 2012 (Rybinsk, Russia) – Canada’s Devon Kershaw scored BIG today with a historic win bringing home his first World Cup distance gold medal taking the men’s 15km Freestyle race in Rybinsk, Russia, to earn his third consecutive World Cup victory.

Kershaw was in excellent form racing near the front for most the competition putting the hammer down in the final straightaway sprint to the finish line to win by just under a second over Ilia Chernousov (RUS) in second with Germany’s Tobias Angerer in third. Kershaw sits fourth in the overall standings and is in striking distance of Marcus Hellner (SWE) in third only 29 points ahead.

Fellow Canuck Alex Harvey posted a strong 5th place result while Ivan Babikov, who was 3rd at the 12.5km mark, got tangled up as the race wound down and ended up 17th.

“Yes it’s a big day for me and the team,” Kershaw told SkiTrax in a brief interview just before doping control. ‘My first distance win feels good. The course suited me with a long finishing sprint and I’m sprinting super well right now. I’ve got really good energy and my confidence is building with three podiums in a row in three races.”

“The body has been feeling stunning since the Tour de Ski – I’ve really felt good over the past month and things are doing well. We have such a super strong team and the dynamics are really a big part of our success.” (check back for more of our audio interview with Kershaw and with Justin Wadsworth, Canadian Head Coach)

The last time a Canadian man stood on the top step of a regular World Cup podium was in 1988 at the Holmenkollen in Norway, and that skier was the legendary Pierre Harvey – Alex’s father. Pierre won three World Cups between 1987 and 1988. Babikov won the final stage of the Tour de Ski up Alpe Cermis in 2009, also considered a World Cup for points, and Kershaw won his first skate sprint gold medal at a Tour de Ski last year in Toblach, Italy.

“I tried to stay up front as much as I could but was loosing position in the downhills. The body felt great, legs never felt heavy. On the last climb I was able to follow the move where the top 5 took a gap on the rest of the field,” explained Harvey.

“I was right in the draft behind Chernousov, Legkov, Kersh and Angerer but lost contact with them in the last downhill into the stadium. I was very pleased with top 5 but I’m still looking for some more podiums!

“Kersh winning was huge! He’s been close a couple of times but to finally do it is awesome! The whole team is pumped for tomorrow and the rest of the season!”

Leading the USA today was Kris Freeman who was as high as 11th near the end but hit some traffic and ran out of gas to finish in the points in 28th.

“This was one of the crazier races I have ever done,”  Freeman told us. “Constant contact and crashes. Short hills and long flats kept the pack together. I made a hard move to go from 30th to the front of the group with one lap tp go. Then I ran out of gas.”

Tad Elliott also had a great day on snow skiing as high as 13th but took a hard tumble near the end when a Russian skier passed him on the inside of a corner and went over his skis – he ended up 39th. Sylvan Ellefsen was also in the mix for the USA finishing 43rd.

“I felt so good. Amazing today. Had rocket Salomon skis thanks to Peter our wax tech,” wrote Elliott by email. “The course and mast start format was good for me. Right near the top ten then on the second to last downhill one k out. A Russian passed me on the inside of a corner and pushed me just as his ski went over mine.

“I went down hard and fell out of the top 30. I am bummed now but so excited to be able to move up into the top ten to top 15 at will. Another day tomorrow.”

Full men’s results HERE.
World Cup standings HERE.