March 19, 2005 – Canada’s Beckie Scott skied to her third consecutive seventh place finish in a World Cup pursuit race in Falun, Sweden on Saturday, marking then end of the 2004-05 season.

The Olympic gold medallist completed the 7.5 kilometre pursuit course with a time of 41 minutes 13.6 seconds. The pursuit combines 7.5 kilometres of classic skiing with an additional 7.5 kilomtres of skate skiing. Athletes enter a transition area between legs to change equipment while the clock still running.

“It was a really good day today for me. I was in medal contention the whole race, but just faded in the end so I’m really happy,” said Scott.

The seventh-place result caps off a successful season for Scott, who hails from Vermilion, Alta. Scott took the first half of the year off to prepare for the world championships in February, and to gain more rest heading into the Olympic year.

“I’m really happy with my season overall and I feel I surpassed any expectations I had,” said Scott. “I wasn’t sure how I would be after taking time off, but I was competitive throughout, and the break proved to be good to me. I’ll take some time off and then prepare again as normal for the Olympic year.”

The highlight of the season and world championships for Canada belonged to Scott’s longtime teammate, Sara Renner, who captured the nation’s first ever cross-country skiing medal at the world championships – a bronze in the women’s sprint.

The Canmore, Alta. native also suited up on Saturday and finished 19th with a time of 42:24.5.

“I made up a lot of ground in the sprint today so I was happy that I was tough out there all day,” said Renner, who along with her husband and alpine skier Thomas Grandi, enjoyed breakout seasons. “It (getting on the podium) gives you such extreme motivation for training to know that you have achieved something you worked so hard for. Now it is about being able to do it over and over again.”

Meanwhile, Marit Bjoergen of Norway locked up the women’s overall World Cup title with another victory in Sweden. The international speedster claimed the gold medal with a time of 40:51.7. Joining her on the podium was the Czech Republic’s Katerina Neumannova in second at 41:04.0, while Russia’s Julija Tchepalova was third at 41:05.4.

Two Canadian men also competed in a 15-kilometre pursuit race on Saturday. World Cup rookie, Devon Kershaw of Sudbury, Ont., led the Canadian duo, finishing in the middle of the pack in 40th spot with a time of 1:16:55.2. George Grey of Rossland, B.C. was the only other Canadian to enter and finished in 61st spot with a time of 1:18:50.9.

Eugeni Dementiev of Russia won the men’s race in a photo finish with a time of 1:14.02.5. Germany’s Tobias Angerer claimed the silver medal with a time of 1:14:02.5; while Slovakia’s Martin Bajcicak rounded out the top-three at 1:14:03.2.