January 26, 2008 (Canmore, Alta.) – It was an afternoon for Northern and Eastern European men as the final saw three Russians, a Swede, a Finn and a German dueling it out for the top six spots. Sweden’s Emil Joensson led from the qualifier on as he skated to a 1:56:38 finish, 0.08 seconds ahead of American Andrew Newell, who looks to be skiing faster with each race on the Word Cup circuit.

Joensson skied brilliantly through the quarter and semi final heats, to also take the final. He said after that it had been his goal to take this as his first World Cup. Like Crawford the day was magical. “It is very beautiful. You are always happy to be here,” said Joensson after the race. “You cannot be sad when you are here.”

It was Joensson’s first World Cup, and he orchestrated it beautifully. “My plan was to take the lead and have control of the pace. I wanted to make it my race. It worked perfectly. It was a perfect day!”

Ivan Ivanov, who skied the fifth fastest qualifying time, 1.38 seconds back, took second in the sprint final. “I realized my first win of my career” said Ivanov. “I wasn’t expecting to be on the podium today because of the competition like I have to my left” he joked, as he turned to Joensson in the press room, “but it turns I was strong today and that is good.”

Ivanov is a rising talent. He is young enough to ski in junior categories still, but commented, “Until this point I was planning to ski in the world juniors but I will continue to ski in the world cup circuit.”

Taking the bronze was Malias Strandvall of Finland who had the 9th fastest qualifying time, 1.80 seconds behind Joensson.
“I had an almost perfect day. I could only have had a better day if I had won the race. My best place ever so I am very satisfied with today,” said the Finnish skier, who had to battle Russian Ivanov on one side and Ivanov’s teammate Nikolay Morilov, who placed fourth, on the other.

“I was very tired at the finish line. I just tried to get my boots over the finish line. I’m glad that I have such big boots! First I thought I was fourth but my coach said that I had taken third place so I was very happy,” added Strandvall. Josef Wenzl of Germany took the fifth spot in the final with Vassili Rotchev, the third Russian in the final, in sixth place.

North American men fared very well. Canadians and Americans had fast qualifying times as they powered around the 1.2 km course, with American Andrew Newell taking the second fastest qualifying time just 0.08 seconds behind the 1:56.38 winning standard of Joensson. Canada’s Phil Widmer had the fifth fastest time, 1:19 seconds back, followed by team member Drew Goldsack in 11th, 1:94 seconds back, while American Torin Koos qualified 17th, 2:50 seconds back, Canada’s Devon Kershaw took 20th spot, 2.83 seconds back, with Garrott Kuzzy of the USA taking the 29th spot, 3:85 seconds back.

The quarter finals saw Goldsack and Kershaw in the first heat up against Joensson, Finns Jylhae and Nousiainen and Russian Nikita Kriukov. As the track warmed up, the skiers just got faster, including Goldsack, who placed second in his heat and moved on to the semi-final. Kershaw placed a strong fourth, and ended up 20th overall.

Meanwhile in the second heat Koos of the American team hit the line in a photo finish for third place and had skied quickly enough to also qualify for the semis because he was one of two skiers who had the fastest times outside of the top two in each quarter final heat so he advanced as a “lucky loser”. In the third heat Widmer took fourth which eliminated him from the semis, but still placed him a very strong 13th overall.

Heat four included USA teammates Newell and Kuzzy, but they couldn’t match the speed in the strong field of two Finns, a Swede, and Austrian. But Kuzzy was flying and his speed, like his teammate Koos, was fast enough to give him the one other position in the semi finals.

The semi finals saw all North Americans relegated to the B Final where Kuzzy skied to an exceptionally strong third place in the sprint, which put him 9th overall, Koos took the 5th place for 11th overall, and Goldsack captured 12th.

Results

Men

1. Emil Joensson (Swe)
2. Ivan Ivanov (Rus)
3. Matias Strandvall (Fin)
4. Nikolay Morilov (Rus)
5. Josef Wenzl (Ger)
6. Vassili Rotchev (Rus)
7. Christoph Eigenmann (Sui)
8. Mickail Devjatiarov (Rus)
9. Garrott Kuzzy (USA)
10. Bjoern Lind (Swe)
11. Torin Koos (USA)
12. Drew Goldsack (Can)
13. Philip Widmer (Can)
14. Martti Jylhae (Fin)
15. Harald Wurm (Aut)
16. Tord Asle Gjerdalen (Nor)
17. Andrew Newell (USA)
18. Johan Kjoelstad (Nor)
19. Tor Arne Hetland (Nor)
20. Devon Kershaw (Can)
21. Dusan Kozisek (Cze)
22. Kalle Lassila (Fin)
23. Cristian Zorzi (Ita)
24. Cyril Miranda (Fra)
25. Nikita Kriukov (Rus)
26. Ola Vigen Hattestad (Nor)
27. Anders Gloersen (Nor)
28. Robin Bryntesson (Swe)
29. Ville Nousiainen (Fin)
30. Oeystein Pettersen (Nor)
31. Martin Koukal (Cze)
32. Roddy Darragon (Fra)
33. Chris Cook (USA)
34. Giorgio Di Centa (Ita)
35. Damien Ambrosetti (Fra)
36. Yuichi Onda (Jpn)
37. George Grey (Can)
38. Vahur Teppan (Est)
39. Stefan Kuhn (Can)
39. Sean Crooks (Can)
41. Boerre Naess (Nor)
42. Petter Jr. Northug (Nor)
43. Anders Soedergren (Swe)
44. Marcus Hellner (Swe)
45. David Nighbor (Can)
46. Brent Mcmurtry (Can)
47. Pietro Piller Cottrer (Ita)
48. Anti Saarepuu (Est)
49. Peeter Kummel (Est)
50. Peter Von Allmen (Sui)
51. Janusz Krezelok (Pol)
52. Graham Nishikawa (Can)
53. Rene Sommerfeldt (Ger)
54. Leif Orin Zimmermann (USA)
55. Colin Rodgers (USA)
56. Mats Larsson (Swe)
57. Anders Eirik Haugen (USA)
58. Lars Flora (USA)
59. Vincent Vittoz (Fra)
60. Maxim Vylegzhanin (Rus)
61. Ian Murray (Can)
62. Maciej Kreczmer (Pol)
63. Tobias Angerer (Ger)
64. Mike Argue (Can)
65. Skeets Morel (Can)
66. Toni Livers (Sui)
67. Marshall Greene (USA)
68. Paul Murray (Aus)
69. Brian Gregg (USA)
70. Jesse Winter (Can)
71. Jens Filbrich (Ger)
72. Martin Stockinger (Aut)