February 5, 2003 (Pontresina, Switzerland) – Canadian National Cross Country ski team members Beckie Scott and Sara Renner stood on the medal podium together this evening after a successful sprint race at the Grand Prix Pontresina Invitational put them in first and third place respectively.

A possible gold-silver Canadian sweep was split by German sprinting specialist Isabelle Klaus who managed to finish just ahead of the pursuing Renner. There were a total of 30 women competing today.

On the men's side, Italy took the first two podium spots with Christian Zorzi standing high and teammate Giorgio Di Centa to his right. The top Canadian was twenty-one year old Vincent Renart of Sherbrooke, who came in 8th. Other Canadian finishes include Rossland, B.C' s George Grey in 14th and Red Deer, Alberta's Drew Goldsack in 15th.

Head Coach Dave Wood believes the shape is coming around. “We've been doing lots of volume training the last few weeks,” says Wood. “Some are obviously tired right now.”

The race was a held on the main street of downtown Pontresina, and was as an invitational event for those World Cup teams training in the area before the World Championships to be held at the end of the month in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

The Canadian Senior National Team will leave for Val di Fiemme on Monday for a few days of training before continuing on to the next World Cup race in Asiago where they will compete of February 14th. The Under-23 World Championship athletes will leave for the Bormio race series this Sunday. These Championships begin on February 13th.

CCC is the national sport governing body for cross-country skiing in Canada, servicing over 45,000 members in 375 clubs. The corporate vision: “It takes a ski community to raise Olympic medallists”, embraces the Association's focus from entry level club development to the enhancement of the National Ski Team program.

For more information, please contact: Amanda Fortier (514) 971-3145 or (514) 528-6419, cccmedia@telusplanet.net or go to our web page at http://canada.x-c.com