February 9, 2003, Solleftea, Sweden – The men and women's Russian teams had
little competition today as they blew away their fields in the 4×10 km and
4×5 km relay in the last of a four race series at the World Junior Cross
Country Ski Championship held in Solleftea, Sweden.

Russia's men's team, composed of Maxim Bulgakov, Artern Norin, Evgueni
Dementiev, and Alesey Pethukov, all had top, or close to top individual
races making their combined time for the hilly course an unbeatable
1:45:39.7. They were followed 2 minutes and 12 seconds later by the
Norwegians in their final time of 1:47:51.4, and the bronze went to Germany
who finished nearly a full minute later.  The Canadian team came in 16th.
They were made up of classical skiers Dave Nighbor from North Bay and
Graham Nishikawa of Whitehorse, Sudbury's sprinting sensation Sean Crooks
from Thunder Bay and anchor member Cyrus Kangarloo of Calgary who both
skied the last two skating portions.

On the women's side, the Russian team of Valentina Novikova, Elena
Plotskaia, Irina Artemova, and Ekaterina Vorontsova earned gold in a final
time of 58:51.3 for their combined 20 km race.  Artemova and Vorontsova
both caught up to the pack and forced the lead after teammate Plotskaia
skied a disappointing leg that pushed the Russians into 5th. The silver
medal went to the Finns, who crossed the line nearly 30 seconds later.  The
bronze went to the Swedes who were safely ahead of any other pursuing teams
and finished in 59:36.5.  The Canadians finished neck in neck with the
Swiss, eventually taking 12th in a final time of 1:02:44.8.  Montreal's
Daria Gaiazova and Edmonton's Madeleine Williams skied the opening two
classical legs, followed by Perianne Jones from Almonte, Ontario, and
Chandra Crawford of Canmore, Alberta in the anchoring position.

The Canadian Junior National Team will head back to Canada shortly where
some will prepare for the upcoming Canada Winter Games to be held in
Charlo, New Brunswick later in the month.  The Junior National
Championships will be held in conjunction with the Senior National
Championships and will take place at the beginning of March in Duntroon,
Ontario.

CCC is the national sport governing body for cross-country skiing in
Canada, servicing over 45,000 members in 375 clubs. The corporate vision:
“It takes a ski community to raise Olympic medallists”, embraces the
Association's focus from entry level club development to the enhancement of
the National Ski Team program.

Results:

Women
1) Russia 58:51.3
2) Finland 59:20.3
3) Sweden 59:36.5
4) Czech 1:00.12.1
5) France 1:00:56.1
6) Germany 1:00:56.1
7) Norway 1:01:09.8
8) Poland 1:01:46.4
9) Italy 1:02:18.2
10) USA 1:02:20.1
11) Switzerland 1:02:44.4
12) Canada 1:02.44.8

Men
1)Russia 1:45:39.7
2) Norway 1:47:51.4
3) Germany 1:48:50.6
4) Kazakhstan 1:49:44.6
5) Finland 1:50:53.7
6) Switzerland 1:50:53.7
7) Italy 1:51:32.7
8) USA 1:51:50.0
9) Austria 1:52:49.1
10) Japan 1:53:12.7
16) Canada 1:58:18.1

For complete race results: jvm2003.nu