February 25, 2009 (Liberec, Czech Republic) – Canada’s Sara Renner and Perianne Jones powered to a solid 6th place in the women’s 1.3km Team Sprint on Wednesday won by Finland (Aino Kaisa Saarinen/Virpi Kuitunen) with Sweden (Anna Olsson/Lina Andersson) in second and Italy (Marianna Longa/Arianna Follis) 3rd. Team USA consisting of Laura Valaas and yesterday’s silver bullet Kikkan Randall finished 11th.

In the women’s sprint relay final Finland absolutely dominated at one point leading by 30 seconds over the rest of the field. A strong move on the final leg for Sweden by Andersson secured them the silver. Follis – yesterday’s sprint champion – perhaps felt the previous day’s effort and was unable to match Andersson’s move and Italy had to settle for third. Renner and Jones for Canada advanced to the final as the second “lucky losers” from the first semi-final heat where they were 5th. A strong effort by both women saw them take 6th ahead of Germany and Russia in the final.

“We had two goals at the beginning of the day. Get into the top-six and buy diapers and I’m so happy I was able to get both accomplished,” said Renner, who is travelling with two-year-old daughter Aria. “Perianne skied exceptionally well today and when you get into the top-six in the world that shows you have arrived.”

“I was so happy to cap off the World Championships with this result,” said Jones, who will catch a flight this evening back to Canada to race in the national championships. “This is a super important result for me. It is an Olympic qualifier so I don’t have that hanging over me anymore, but to finish in the 40’s all the time on the World Cup is hard to take, and this gives me some confidence for sure.”

In the men’s 1.6km race Canada’s George Grey and Devon Kershaw lead the North American charge in 9th with the USA (Kris Freeman/Torin Koos) in 11th. Norway (Johan Kjoelstad/Ola Vigen Hattestad) took the gold over Germany (Tobias Angerer/Axel Teichmann) in second with Finland (Ville Nousianinen/Sami Jauhojaervi) 3rd.

The men’s sprint came down to the final 100m as Ole Vigen Hattestad had to come from behind on the homestretch to overtake Finland’s Jauhojaervi who skied so well all day for Finland. In a photo finish at the line Teichmann of Germany was just able to claim second with a huge lunge from behind. Finland had to settle for third as much deserved reward for their effort.

The Canadian’s were unable to stay with the lead pack throughout the finals. They were always just in there but unable to match the effort as the pace picked up on the final lap. Like the women Grey and Kershaw advanced to the final’s from one to four lucky loser positions. The US men looked strong in their quarterfinal final but coming into the final climb to the stadium Koos ran out of gas and moved from 1st to 5th just missing out on the finals.

Women’s results here.
Men’s results here.

Women

1. Finland (Aino Kaisa Saarinen/Virpi Kuitunen) 19:43.7
2. Sweden (Anna Olsson/Lina Andersson) 20:03.7
3. Italy (Marianna Longa/Arianna Follis) 20:07.5

6. Canada (Sara Renner/Perianne Jones) 20:47.3
11. USA (Laura Valaas/Kikkan Randall)

Men

1. Norway (Johan Kjoelstad/Ola Vigen Hattestad) 22:48.5
2. Germany (Tobias Angerer/Axel Teichmann) 22:49.0
3. Finland (Ville Nousianinen/Sami Jauhojaervi) 22:49.0

9. Canada (George Grey/Devon Kershaw) 22:58.2
11. USA (Kris Freeman/Torin Koos)