October 23, 2005 – Canada sent a team that combines veteran leadership with youthful energy to the start line on Sunday when Sara Renner and Chandra Crawford competed in the women’s World Cup team
sprint relay in Düsseldorf, Germany.

With 21-year-old World Cup rookie, Crawford, who was competing in her first team sprint relay, setting the pace, and 29-year-old Renner
anchoring, the Canadian duo finished in 15th spot out of 24 teams, just missing out on qualifying for the finals. The 6 x 0.8-kilometre relay
consists of two athletes who both complete the course three times after tagging each other in the exchange area. There are two heats of 12
teams, with the top-five in each heat advancing to the finals. Canada was seventh in their heat.

“Chandra and I both skied extremely well today, but we had some troubles in the exchange area which cost us a spot in the final,” said Sara
Renner. “I think the point of this weekend though was to get one World Cup race in us before we host the World Cup in Canada, and get a feel for
the pace. I know I’ve trained hard over the summer, I’m confident, and I’ll be expecting good results.”

While the Canadian squad did not perform as they had expected, the trip to Germany for the opening World Cup of the season will be valuable for
their preparation.

“I think today was definitely better than yesterday’s individual sprints,” said Dave Wood, head coach, Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team,
where World Cup rookie Chandra Crawford led the Canadian charge with a 28th-place result. “There are a lot of positives we can take out of a trip like this, and now we’ll have some measuring sticks to look at what we need to do to make sure we’re ready for the next World Cup.”

It was the Norwegian women who finished one-two in the women’s sprints. Norway I completed the final heats with a time of 10 minutes 5.7
seconds, while Norway II was four seconds off the pace (10:09.7) in second. Russia I rounded out the top three finishing in the bronze medal
position with a time of 10:10.4.

The Canadian men’s team did not compete as George
Grey of Rossland, B.C. was ill with the flu.

While the Canadian squad will now head back to
Canada in chase of snow for final training preparations before the meat of the World Cup season gets underway, 2005 World Championship
bronze medallist, Sara Renner, will meet up with her husband and World Cup gold medallist in alpine skiing, Thomas Grandi in Italy. The two
will have a final site review of their Olympic venues.

“I had the same strategy heading into the 2002
Games, and spent a lot of time getting to know
the course,” said Renner. “I’ll take this time to
really get a feel for it, spend a lot of time on
the imagery of the course, and run the trails so
that I’m fully prepared.”

Renner and Grandi will return home to hold a
joint media conference on Thursday, October 27,
2005 at Canada Olympic Park in Calgary at 11 a.m.
It will be the final day the two will be together
before the Olympics.