February 10, 2011 (Fort Kent, Maine) – Emil Hegle Svendsen of Norway missed last week’s competitions in Presque Isle, but made up for that today by winning the men’s 10km sprint in Fort Kent in 24:51.4. Svendsen had a single penalty in the standing stage, yet still finished 7.2 seconds ahead of the clean-shooting Michal Slesingr of the Czech Republic. Tarjei Boe of Norway also shot clean in third place, 9.3 seconds back.

The Svendsen who won today looked like the man who won the first two competitions of the year in Östersund, Sweden; confident, strong and in control. Last season’s overall World Cup Champion and dual Olympic gold medalist arrived in the US on Sunday evening, after skipping the first US World Cup in Presque Isle last weekend.  He showed no effects of his long travel just days ago, commenting, “It is much easier travelling west, so I had no problems. I have felt good all week and felt especially strong yesterday in training.”

He added that travelling alone to Maine was an experience, “I flew to Boston and then came up here to Maine in the smallest airplane I have ever seen; I felt like a rock star!”

Svendsen took control early with clean shooting on a day with little wind, sunny skies and cold minus sixteen Celsius temperatures. No one challenged his top spot in prone, although 20 men were within 20 seconds of him, all with clean shooting. Martin Fourcade (Fra), who had shot clean in prone slipped ahead of Svendsen after a one-penalty standing stage and some fast skiing. Germany’s Daniel Böhm, starting at bib 69 moved ahead of both of them. Yet Svendsen showed to be the strongest of the group over the arduous final 3.3km loop, as Böhm and Fourcade both slowed. Slesingr and Boe benefited from their clean shooting and steady skiing over that final loop which helped them reach the podium.

Fourth went to Martin Fourcade of France, with one penalty, just four tenths of a second out of third place. Late-starting Böhm shot clean to claim fifth, 17.6 seconds back

Today’s win was the fourth of the season for the Norwegian. He spent the last two weeks training at home. “I think the extra time helped me; it sure looks like it. After Antholz, I wanted to go home to Norway and get some training. Since I was sick during Christmas, I felt like I needed some training. I decided to pass on the first World Cup here in the US and I think that was a clever decision. I feel a lot better than I did in January. Today I felt strong and am back to a pretty good shape and looking forward to the World Championships. I am glad I made that decision to stay home.”

Slesingr had his best result since the 2007 World Championships in Antholz and his second podium of the year. He competed here in 2004 and was looking forward to the “easy” tracks. “The tracks here in 2004 were pretty different. They were much easier and I expected that they were not changed. I was looking forward to coming here after Presque IOsle for some nice easy skiing. But then I saw the climb here and they were super hard. I think it is probably one of the hardest tracks on the World Cup.”

The Yellow/Red Bib wearing Boe was 10.1 second behind his teammate after the standing stage and made a run for the top spot. “You always think you can win. I knew Emil is very strong; he has been home training. I saw him yesterday doing intervals and he looked so strong! I thought I had a fair chance in the last two kilometers. I tried on the first hill, but after that he was too strong.” He added, “Emil is always strong; you have to have your “A” game to beat him.”

The US and Canadian teams were again fairly quiet, although Canada’s Scott Perras and the USA’s Lowell Bailey had solid competitions, in 30th and 31st, respectively. Perras missed one prone shot to finish1:25.1 back, while Bailey missed one in each stage, yet was breathing down Perras’ back, just 4.4 seconds behind him. Although they will be in the middle of Saturday’s pursuit field, both are close enough to the top group to give some of the top men a good scare, if they shoot well. JP Le Guellec of Canada was just five places behind Bailey. He matched Bailey with two penalties, but was 1:45.4 back.

American Jay Hakkinen once again shot clean, but his lack of training showed as he was 45th, 2:06.9 back. Hakkinen missed time early in the season with an extended illness. Notable was the USA’s Tim Burke in 47th. He missed two of the past three weeks due to illness, but was only 2:16.3 back with three penalties; all in the standing stage.

Full results HERE.