December 13, 2009 (Vernon, BC) – Canadian athletes defended home snow by winning double gold in the opening Teck Sprint Series race of the Haywood NorAm event taking place at Sovereign Lake near Vernon, B.C. on Sunday. Phil Widmer and Dasha Gaiazova, both of Banff, Alta., bolted their way around the 1.1-kilometre skate-sprint track at the picturesque Sovereign Lake Nordic Ski Club to win gold in both the men’s and women’s races.

The 26-year-old Widmer, who is one of the country’s strongest sprint athletes and competed at the 2006 Olympics, was first out of the gate in the qualification round and fought his way through the challenging heats to hold off the hard-charging Americans.

“It was a good day for me despite the qualifying round not going well for the team as a whole, but to get two Canadians on the podium is great,” said Widmer. “My energy was good today. I was nervous after not qualifying well but things got better in the first heat. I gained confidence as I went along and it was great to get Garrott at the line. I have a lot of respect for him.”

In the sprint competition, the top-30 athletes after a qualification round advance to the head-to-head heats, which has six athletes racing head-to-head. The top-two athletes in each race move onto the next round.

With Garrott, Kuzzy, of the United States in second spot, Widmer’s teammate, Sean Crooks of Thunder Bay, Ont., scrapped his way into third place the podium in the tight men’s final. Crooks, who also competed for Canada at the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, had a strong start to the season after reaching the podium at the US Super Tour two weeks ago.

Meanwhile, Dasha Gaiazova continued her winning ways after sprinting to the gold in the women’s race. The 25-year-old was strong from start-to-finish on Sunday finishing as the lone Canadian on the podium. Gaiazova fought off Americans Holly Brooks who grabbed the silver medal, while Katie Ronsse powered her way to the bronze.

Full results here.

Results (brief)

Women

1. Dasha Gaiazova, Banff, Alta., CAN
2. Holly Brooks, USA
3. Katie Ronsse, USA
4. Kasandra Rice, USA
5. Rebecca Dussault, USA

Men
1. Phil Widmer, Banff, Alta., CAN
2. Garrott Kuzzy, USA
3. Sean Crooks, Thunder Bay, Ont., CAN
4. Mark Iverson, USA
5. Leif Orin Zimmermann, USA