February 05, 2015 (Almaty, Kazakhstan) – North Americans are performing well at the FIS U23 Nordic World Championships in Almaty, Kazakhstan, but Europeans continued to dominate as Norway’s Barbro Kvaale (NOR) and Germany’s Florian Notz (GER) won the 10/15km FR individual start women’s and men’s competitions, respectively. Athletes have made several comments about the smoggy conditions in Almaty making breathing more difficult.

The top North American performance was delivered by the USA’s Scott Patterson (USA) in the men’s event, where he placed a strong 11th, while Canada’s Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (CAN) delivered a solid 17th in the women’s race.

Patterson said, “…I left the start quite aggressively. … This strategy placed me quite high in early splits, but even then I could feel that I was going to be struggling to maintain the pace throughout the second and third laps. As each lap came by and my standing dropped in the splits, my concern was becoming reality. Good cheering from the US juniors and wax techs helped keep me going but I was definitely in survival mode by the finish.”

Patrick Caldwell (USA) also had a very strong performance, placing 15th. “My strategy was to ski smooth and try to really nail all the transitions. I am very pleased with how the race played out, great to have a solid race over here,” he said.

Other North American results include Kyle Bratrud (USA) 19th, Logan Hanneman (USA) 40th, Raphael Couturier (CAN) in 41st, Knute Johnsgaard (CAN) was 47th, Scott Hill (CAN) 48th and Colin Ferrie (CAN) 50th.

The conditions were very similar to yesterday with firm conditions in the AM with slightly softening conditions through the men’s race,” commented Bryan Fish, US Coach. “There was a great deal of movement within the top twenty of the men’s field. At 2.5km, I had Scott in 6th, Paddy and Kyle in a 3-way tie for 16th and Logan in 34th. The final winner was in 9th at that point.  At 7.5km, I had Scott in 8th, Kyle in 12th and Paddy in 16th.  Lap 3 (12.5km) – Scott 10th, Kyle 16th and Paddy in 19th.  Seconds meant places.

“Scott, Patrick and Kyle all went out strong and put themselves within striking distance. These guys have been quietly preparing and focused on today and their attitudes and attention to detail each day here in practice reflected their strong results they posted today. I am sure they felt they fell just short of a top ten, but they skied with aggressive intent, kept themselves within reach and fought the entire way. It was inspiring to watch,” he added.

In the women’s race, Canada’s Bouffard-Nesbitt was ranked 25th at the 5k mark, but she turned it on in the second half of the race to make up eight spots. A fall on the downhill into the stadium likely cost her, but she still had a strong performance.

“I’ve been really surprised and happy about how I’ve been approaching the races at worlds mentally. I’ve been really excited and positive before my races when normally I’m much more anxious, I think that’s contributed to some good fun racing!” said Bouffard-Nesbitt. “I couldn’t tell how my race was going on my first lap, but I was really happy to find that I had enough energy to have a strong second lap. I really hammered the second lap and pushed the second half of it as hard as I could and luckily had a great feeling and a strong finish! I’m super pleased with my result today! I had no idea what to expect going into it, and couldn’t stop smiling when I realized how well my race had gone!”

Top-ranked Team USA skier Joanne Reid (USA) commented: “The course climbs for almost 4 kilometers without any real recovery before pitching down into hills that require a lot of technique, and so make it difficult to rest.  Also, I’ve never seen a course with so many 180 degree turns, which makes for an interesting ski.”

Other North American results include Cendrine Browne (CAN) in 23rd, Reid 25th, and Dahria Beatty (CAN) 30th Cambria McDermott (USA) 32nd, Annie Pokorny (USA) 36th, and Paige Schember (USA) 38th.

We heard more from Team USA and Team Canada skiers and they had lots of insight about their experiences in Kazakhstan so far. Stay tuned for their comments coming soon to SkiTrax.com.

Results

Women here
Men here