November 18, 2012 (Bruksvallarna, Sweden) – Chandra Crawford got an early birthday present by winning the silver medal on Sunday in her final cross-country ski tune-up race in Bruksvallarna, Sweden.

One day removed from her 29th birthday, the Olympic gold medallist led all four Canadian men and women that suited up for the skate-sprint races into the head-to-head heats with the top-30 qualifiers when she posted the seventh-fastest time. The 2006 Olympic gold medallist carried that momentum with her in the knockout rounds, advancing her way to the final heat around the 1.2-kilometre Swedish track against some of the top sprinters in the world.

“My theme this year is to be fast, female and fearless,” said Crawford, who leveraged her Olympic victory to launch a Fast and Female program that encourages young girls to get involved in sport. “The women’s program took a lot of risks in training this summer and I feel like that paid off today. I just attacked and it was exciting out there.”

The two-time Olympian of Canmore, Alta., who won her quarter-final heat, and secured her spot in thefinal after finishing second in the semifinals, came up just short in a sprint finish against Sweden’s high-powered Ida Ingemarsdotter who Crawford says will be a force forCanadians to watch when the top skiers on the planet descend on Quebec Citynext month for the World Cup. Slovenia’s Katja Visnar, who led for the first half of the final heat, held on for the bronze medal.

The podium performance has Crawford right where she wants to be heading into the critical pre-Olympic season after battling through a number of difficult years, before and after the 2010 Games, that have been plagued with injuries and family illness.

“I feel really positive about where I am right now for sure,” said Crawford, who won her first individual medal in three seasons last year when she was second in Rogla, Slovenia. “I feel so strong from the adversity I’ve been though <in my career>. There is so much out there that can go wrong and when you get through it you are just so appreciative of the opportunities you have.”

Crawford’s teammates, Daria Gaiazova, of Banff, Alta., and Perianne Jones, of Almonte, Ont., also qualified for the heats. Gaiazova drew a tough draw being matched up in her opening heat with Crawford. Her day came to an end after finishing third in the heat – only the top-two of the six athletes in each heat move on to the next round. The 27-year-old Jones, who qualified 16th, also headed to the sidelines to cheer on Crawford after finishing fourth in her quarter-final heat.

On the men’s side of the draw, Alex Harvey, of St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que., was the lone Canadian to hit the start line, and finished eighth.

After qualifying for the round of 30 in 11th spot, the 24-year-old Harvey punched his ticket into the semifinals with a comfortable opening heat where he finished in second spot. Racing shoulder-to-shoulder with some of the top Swedish sprinters, it was a challenging semifinal round for the talented Canuck. Harvey dropped to the back of the pack after a slow start, and didn’t have the kick at the finish to earn a spot into the final. A fourth-place finish in the semifinal heat relegated Harvey to the B final where he was second to cross the line, finishing eighth overall.

It was a Swedish sweep of the men’s podium with Teodor Peterson on top, followed by Emil Jönsson in the silver-medal position, and Calle Halvarsson skiing to third

As the lone Canuck in the men’s 1.4km FR Sprint, Alex Harvey took on the Swedes with a decent 11th-place finish as Sweden’s speed king Emil Joensson lead a sweep by the host country with Johan Edin in second and Simon Persson third.

Full results HERE.