January 30, 2014 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – Clouds appeared and dropped new snow on the second day of XC competition in Val di Fiemme at the FIS Nordic U23 World Ski Championships – the Individual Start CL races.

Canada’s XC Team Leader, Lisa Patterson, commented on how the change in conditions affected waxing: “Waxing was challenging for the women’s race as it started snowing moderate to heavy just minutes before the race. Our wax team did a super job staying on top of the changes”.

Norway’s Martine Ek Haggen (NOR) took home the gold by a margin of 15s after logging a winning time of 29:18.4 in the 10km race. France’s Celia Aymonier (FRA) and yesterday’s sprint champ Elisabeth Schicho (GER) finished second and third, respectively. The fresh snow made skiing difficult at times and created big gaps in the field.

A Sochi-bound Heidi Widmer (CAN) led the North Americans in 30th place, followed by Cendrine Browne just 8s behind her teammate in 31st. USA’s top skier was Annie Pokorny (USA) in 33rd, followed by Mary Rose (USA) in 34th. Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt (CAN) placed 35th, Rosie Frankowski (USA) finished 38th, and Mackenzie Kanady (USA) was 49th.

“Kanady wore bib #1 and had a tough go as the race starter, breaking the fresh snow,” said US Development Coach Bryan Fish. “We’re happy with our tech team who did a great job with skis that were competitive for our athletes to race hard.”

After the race, Widmer packed her bags to meet up with the Canadian Olympic team and race the World Cup in Toblach, Italy.

U23 Women 10km CL results here