December 04, 2010 (Dusseldorf, Germany) – Sweden’s Emil Joensson added another top podium finish to his resume winning the men’s 1.7km freestyle sprint in a squeaker over Italy’s Fulvio Scola with Oystein Pettersen (NOR) in third. Andy Newell (USA) was the lone North American to advance with a top qualifying time in 3rd but was knocked out in his quarter final heat against some heavy hitters including Sweden’s Joensson and Mats Larsson along with Norway’s Ola Vigen Hattestad – he ended up 13th overall.

Conditions saw soft snow in the field of 72 starters with some big names such as Petter Northug (NOR) and Marcus Hellner (SWE) not racing. Organizers brought in 3,000 cubic meters of man-made snow to make the course ready for the 128 skiers in total from some 18 nations.

For Joensson it was a bit of roller coaster day as he was 13th in the qualifications and advanced to the finals getting stronger and more confident with each round. “I wasn’t sure I would win today,” he said post race. “It was my worst qualifier ever but I felt better and better in every heat. It was a pretty strange race for me but I am happy I won.”

Joensson edged out Scola in the final by a boot as the Italian was leading as they approached the finish. The Swede was barely able to catch him and in the final lunge had a longer leg stretch to cross the line first.

“I made it to the finals for the first time and claimed my first podium today so I feel great,” said Scola.” I did not believe I could make it today. I was very focused on myself and did not think about the others. I had perfect, fast skis and this year the snow was the best ever here.”

The USA’s Newell obviously wanted more but the cards did not go in his favour. “We were supposed to be here Thursday but arrived late on Friday – about 10:30pm – which was not ideal but I still felt ok and ready to go on race day. Qualifying 3rd was a good sign that I was ready,” said Newell. “But my quarter final was a tough one and I couldn’t hold off Joensson and just missed the cut.”

“It’s a good course but tricky and quite narrow in some sections so you have to pick your spots well when trying to pass. Sometimes things don’t go your way – I know I can do better and will chalk it up and look forward to racing with Simi [Hamilton] in the relay on Sunday.”

Hamilton, who is recovering from an IT band injury, is excited to be on the World Cup and made his debut in Kuusamo, Finland last weekend. “For me, things over here are starting to get up to speed. I was sidelined from racing with an IT band injury for the first few weeks I was over here, but recovery is going well and I’m very close to being back to 100%. As far as race shape goes, it’s getting there. It was pretty hard jumping into the Kuusamo weekend without really having done any hard intensity work or races (because of my injury). But my body is waking up and remembering what race speed and effort feels like.”

His 51st placement in the qualification today left him wanting more.

“Today was certainly not the best day for me personally, but I’m still confident that my fitness is where I want it to be at this point. Because the course here in Dusseldorf is almost completely flat and the snow was fairly deep in places, the conditions did not suit me particularly well. But first hand experience is the only one way to learn to ski better in conditions that aren’t ideal for you. The atmosphere here is very cool… lots of enthusiastic and energetic spectators and skiing right above the banks of the Rhine is a pretty wild experience. I’m super psyched to sprint with Andy tomorrow and conditions for the day are looking good.”

Torin Koos, who was back with the US team following his strong performance at the BulSprinten in Norway (he was second in the qualifications and second in the A final) was not on his best form. “Today wasn’t my greatest day but I feel fit and just need to get my speed up there. I’m looking forward to the relay on Sunday.” Koos and Chris Cook will be the USA’s second team in the relays.

The top Canadian today was Stefan Kuhn in 33rd followed by Len Valjas, at only his second WCup, in 34th – both were just out of the running to advance to the quarter finals.

“Stef and Lenny were close in qualifying, but not quite enough,” commented Justin Wadsworth, Head Coach. “We were dealing with all the athletes missing their luggage, which was totally lost. They were racing in suits from the technicians, hats from the coaches and a wide variety of other combos. They also didn’t have any ski poles, so Lenny had to ski on 172.5cm when he normally skis on 177.5 cm – not ideal for a flat course. We did have them bring their boots on the plane, so that was a saving grace.”

“For tomorrow we have two men’s teams – Stef  and Lenny will be the first team, and Phil [Widmer] and Brent [McMurtry] are on the second running in that order.

Qualifications HERE.
Final Results HERE.
Video of final HERE.

Results (brief)

1. Emil Joensson (SWE)
2. Fulvio Scola (ITA)
3. Oystein Pettersen (NOR)
4. Alexei Petukhov (RUS)
5. Mats Larsson (SWE)
6. Jesper Modin (SWE)

13. Andrew Newell (USA)
33. Stefan Kuhn (CAN)
34. Len Valjas (CAN)
51. Simi Hamilton (USA)
53. Phil Widmer (CAN)
56. Brent McMurtry (CAN)
63. Torin Koos (USA)
70. Chris Cook (USA)