February 03, 2012 (Minneapolis, MN) – Canada’s Chris Klebl continued his medal haul at the IPC World Cup in Minneapolis with his fourth-straight podium result on Thursday, Feb. 2, the final day of competition, taking home the bronze in the 10-kilometre men’s sit-ski race with a time of 34:38.8 – he snagged a bronze in Wednesday’s sit-ski sprints .

Canada’s Klebl Takes Fourth Straight Medal – 10k Sit-Ski
Feb. 2 – Klebl, the 40-year-old Canmore, Alta. resident won bronze despite an equipment malfunction: “I had super fast skis today and was feeling great until my binding broke on my fifth of eight laps,” said Klebl, who also won two silver medals last week in Cable, Wisconsin. “I was only able to hold onto third place which is kind of a bummer, but fortunately I’m progressing towards third in the overall and stoked for Finland.”

Russia’s Roman Petushkov posted a golden time of 34:01.6, while Irek Zaripov claimed the silver medal at 34:28.43.

Two Quebecers also suited up in the sit-ski race. Sebastien Fortier was 14th at39:02.7, while Yves Bourques finished 19th (44:10.7).

Saskatoon’s Colette Bourgonje was the top Canadian in the women’s 5.2-kilometre sit-ski event after posting a time of 22:58.0 – just under two minutes behind Norway’s Mariann Marthinsen who finished on top at 21:02.

Quebec’s Christine Gauthier finished ninth at 31:03.1.

Other Canadian results included: New Brunswick’s Louis Fortin in 21st at 1:08:05 in the men’s 18-kilometre standing class. Caroline Bisson and Erica Noon finished fifth and sixth respectively in the women’s 12-kilometre standing race. Bisson clocked-in at 48:48.0, while Noonan was 51:58.5.

Ontario’s Margarita Gorbounova and guide Brian Berry were sixth in the 12-kilometre visually-impaired category after posting a time of 45:46.0.

Canada’s Klebl Bronze in Sprint – USA’s Cnossen Notches 5th Top 10 World Cup Finish
Feb. 1 – Canada’s Chris Klebl remained nearly perfect after reaching the podium in his third straight race of the IPC World Cup season, claiming the bronze medal in the sit-ski sprint race on Wednesday  here in the Twin Cities, with one day of racing still to come.

After qualifying third around 600-metre track at Theodore Worth Park, the Canmore, Alta. resident powered his way through the head-to-head heats until a final stacked with the two powerful Russians, a Frenchman and Klebl, who has won two silver medals in as many starts.

“After a qualification round and three heats the soft tracks got beat up quite a bit,” said Klebl. “The course did suit me, and there were some fierce battles out there today.”

Kleble’s main rival, Russia’s Roman Petushov, won the gold medal. Irek Zaripov, also of Russia, claimed the silver, while Klebl surged ahead of Romain Rosique of France, down the finishing stretch to lock up third spot.

Meanwhile Saskatoon’s Colette Bourgonje narrowly missed the podium in the women’s sit-ski, finishing fourth. The legendary Paralympian qualified third but came up short in her final heat.

“I don’t often make the sprint finals so I was glad to make the final heat today and happy with my result,” said Bourgonje, who is a distance specialist.

Norway’s Mariann Marthinsen won the women’s race. Germany’s Anja Wicker was second, while Italy’s Francesca Porcellato grabbed the bronze.

Ontario’s Christy Campbell finished 10th, while Quebec’s Christine Gauthier was 14th.

Other Canadians to qualify for the heats on Wednesday included: Ontario’s Erica Noonan and Caroline Bisson finished sixth and seventh respectively in the women’s 1.3-kilometre standing classic-ski sprint race. Ontario’s Margarita Gorbounova and guide Brian Berry placed sixth in the women’s visually impaired category.

From the US a seasoned Paralympian skiing before her home crowd and a cadre of up-and-coming sit-skiers offered a peak into the future of US hopes.

Three-time Paralympian and St. Paul native Kelly Underkofler had the crowd on its feet as she came up on the shoulder of Japan’s Momoko Dekijima as they headed down the home straight-away as the duo vied for the last qualifying spot into the women’s standing division finals.

Underkofler pulled even with Dekijima, as the two lunged at the finish line. Judges would later determine Dekijima edged out Underkofler for the final spot into the four-skier final.

“Kelly has great classical technique and skis with a lot of power,” U.S. Paralympics Nordic head coach James Upham said. “It was an incredible race. She has a lot of potential in the sprints.”

Underkofler, who was born without one of her forearms, began skiing at age 3 and grew up training and racing on the trails at Theodore Wirth Park.

In the finals, Finland’s Maija Jarvek claimed the victory for her third gold medal during the U.S. portion on the World Cup tour, which started Jan. 26 at the fabled Telemark Lodge in Cable, Wis.

Lt. Dan Cnossen (Topeka, Kan.), a former Navy SEAL who lost both legs in 2009 after stepping on an explosive device in Afghanistan, also provided a thrilling finish in his semi-final race in the sit-ski division. The top two finishers from each qualifying heat advanced to the finals.

“Dan was yo-yo’ing down the home stretch with (Irek) Zaripov of Russia, who’s an extremely accomplished Paralympic skier,” Upham said. Zaripov edged out Cnossen at the end for the final qualifying spot. He would go on to win silver in the finals.

Russian sit-skier Roman Petushkov claimed the gold to remain undefeated in every World Cup race during this U.S. tour.

The young U.S. squad was well-represented in the quarter-finals, with an American skiing in each of the four quarter-final heats.

“They were almost all rookies, but they led the charge today,” Upham said.

U.S. team members who qualified to the quarter-finals, but didn’t advance to the semi-finals included Air Force veteran Sean Halsted (Spokane, Wash.), Marine Corps veteran Eric Frazier (Pittsburg, Pa.) and U.S. Army Reserves veteran Jeremy Wagner (Nanakuli, Hawaii).

Paralympic medalist and Army veteran Andy Soule (Pearland, Texas) might have made it five Americans into the quarter-finals had it not been for a mid-race spill. He ended up finishing one spot out of advancing.

In the other races for the day, Norway’s Vegard Dahle won the men’s standing division. Russian Mikhalina Lysova won the women’s visually-impaired division, while countryman Nikolay Polukhim claimed the men’s title. Norway’s Mariann Marthinsen won the women’s sit-ski division.

It’s the first time the United States has hosted a major Paralympic Nordic ski event in seven years.

IPC Nordic World Cup racing concludes March 20-April 1 in Vuokatti, Finland. The U.S. portion of the World Cup Jan. 26-Feb. 2 was the first time the United States has hosted a major Paralympic Nordic ski event in seven years.

U.S. Paralympics, a division of the U.S. Olympic Committee, hosted this year’s IPC Nordic Skiing World Cup in partnership with Central Cross Country Ski Association (Madison, Wis.) and the City of Lakes Nordic Ski Foundation (Minneapolis, Minn.). For more information on these organizations, visit www.cxcskiing.org and www.loppet.org.

Official results can be found HERE.

With files from CCC and USOC.