January 25, 2004 – Jason Myslicki literally ran into his competition today, and crashed with five other nordic combined athletes as they started the 10 kilometre Mass Start race in Sapporo, Japan.

The crash set him back almost 30 seconds, but he regained his composure and finished the cross-country ski in a time of 26:49.4. The points from that race, along with his jump score from the K120 tower, put him in 37th spot for the day.

“Usually, my jumping is stronger than my racing, but today I had a good start on the cross-country skis, but couldn't get the speed I needed coming down the jump,” said Myslicki, who is Canada's first World Cup nordic combined athlete. “I'm feeling stronger on the cross-country trails than I have all year and with some good training on the jumps, I'll be ready to go again in two days.”

Two athletes from Finland took the gold and silver medals in Sapporo when the jumping was over. Hannu Manninen finished with the day's highest score of 244.8 points, while teammate Samppa Lajunen was a close second with 244.6 points. Third place went to Germany's Christoph Bieler, who jumped for 233.1 points.

Canada's nordic combined development team was also in action today in Karpacz, Poland, at a World Cup B event. Three Canadians were entered in the field of 56 athletes, who jumped from a K85 tower and skied the 7.5 kilometre course. Wes Harris and Max Thompson, both of Calgary, finished side by side in 43rd place and 44th place respectively. Denny Lynch, of Calgary ended the day in 47th place.

Canada's Jason Myslicki will continue in Sapporo, Japan on January