March 11, 2010 (Drammen, Norway) – “It was a real international final,” pointed out Marty Hall, former coach of both the US and Canadian XC ski teams. Thursday’s FIS XC World Cup in Drammen, Norway featured an A-final consisting of athletes from Norway, Sweden, Japan, Finland and the US. In the end it was Sweden, Norway and the U.S. on the podium.

Emil Joensson was untouchable throughout the heats, and won by 1.9 seconds over Petter Northug. The USA’s top sprinter, Andy Newell, finally made good on capturing his first WCup podium of the season claiming  third – 1/10th of a second behind Northug. Eirik Brandsdall (NOR) and Yuichi Onda (JPN) were 4.0 and 4.5 seconds out, while Kalle Lassila (FIN) finished 33.5s back in 6th.

The Drammen course is one of the toughest on the WC circuit, with two climbs, including one to the finish line. Tactics began in the qualification rounds, as athletes had to judge how much energy to expend. Some just found it plain tough, as the amount of time between first and 40th over the 1.2km loop was nearly 8 seconds.

Newell led a young team to Drammen incluing US Olympian, Simi Hamilton, and CXC’s Mike Hinckley and Brian Gregg – they finished 53rd, 59th and 65th respectively.

The Canadians jumped back into World Cup action in Drammen after skipping the Lahti World Cups. Stefan Kuhn and Devon Kershaw did not advance from the qualification round, finishing 54th and 55th, and Graham Nishikawa did not start.

Final results here.

Results (brief)

1.    Emil Joensson (SWE) 2:57.9
2.    Petter Northug (NOR) +1.9
3.    Andrew Newell (USA) +2.0
4.    Eirik Brandsdal (NOR) +4.0
5.    Yuichi Onda (JPN) +4.5
6.    Kalle Lassila (FIN) +33.5

Qualification Results here.

Did not Advance from Qualifications
53. Simi Hamilton (USA)
54. Stefan Kuhn (CAN)
55. Devon Kershaw (CAN)
59. Mike Hinckley (USA)
65. Brian Gregg (USA)
DNS. Graham Nishikawa (CAN)