February 02, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Holy cow, today’s been an absolutely huge day! With 4 races going on I have no idea how the coaches and wax techs kept up with it all! First we had the junior women’s 4×3.3km relay, in which we finished 7th. I’m so totally excited because we moved up a place from last year!

The relay went like this: Amy Glen scrambled (classic) and tagged off to Kinsey Loan, who then tagged of to me for the skate half of the relay. I tagged Joanne and she anchored us for a solid 7th place. I’m also extremely excited about finishing second for lap splits to Heidi Wang (Norway) by 5.4 seconds. It was definitely a successful day – and we definitely had some crazy fast skis (yeah Salomon!)

After the relay, we travel waxed our skis, packed out bags and set out for a long day of spectating! And we did some HARD CORE cheering. We had numerous US flags and signs, and I do believe we also had the loudest voices on the whole course.

The junior men’s 4x5km relay went second, and they ended up finishing 10th in a close sprint with Canada. Then a short while later, the women’s 15km pursuit race set off, and Sadie led the US with a 17th place finish.

The last race of the day was the men’s 30km pursuit, and it was so much fun to cheer as the sun came out and it was an absolutely gorgeous day!

Noah led the US men with a 22nd place finish, but the coolest part of the whole day was seeing Alex Harvey crush it today and WIN THE WHOLE DARN RACE!!!! It was totally inspiring to hear an anthem other than Norway being blasted in the stadium.

I’m giving a huge shout-out to all the coaches and wax techs for all their hard work and patience in dealing with US. And thanks also to NCCSEF for all the support. It wouldn’t have happened without you!

So now I’m headed over to Madona, Latvia, with the Scando Cup team… and pretty much the only thing I know about Latvia is that car-jacking is basically a sport. The next week should be very interesting!

January 30, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – If you looked closely at today’s results for both men and women at the World Junior Championships in Estonia, Sunday was a fine day for the young junior skiers coming from Germany that is rebuilding its program – the men’s event especially so.

Joining the exclusive club of world junior winners was Germany’s Markus Weeger who took the gold medal in the 10km+10km Pursuit event and finished with a lead of 19.5 seconds over runner up Konstantin Kuleev of Russia. The talented Perttu Hyvarinen of Finland scored the bronze medal with a brilliant skating leg. Weeger’s time was 53:31.1.

The top North Americans in the field were Andy Shields of Canada in 31st in 56:29.0, with the USA’s Scott Patterson in 35th in 56:40.0.

Weeger, who skis for the strong and long-respected Nordic club in Hirschau, has had an impressive week indeed, winning silver as well at this week’s JWC in the 10km free race.

As the race got underway the field remained close together for nearly the entire 10km classic leg. About 20 athletes came into the exchange zone with nearly the same time.

In the first loop of the 3.3km skating leg Weeger tested his opponents daring them to match his tempo, and on the second loop he attacked on an uphill and no one was able to respond to his torrid pace. He continued to build precious seconds all the way to the finish line to take the win.

The battle for second and third was another matter entirely. Thomas Wick (GER) tried to make a break and was chased down, while Slovenian Rok Trsan pushed the pace as well. Then the Finn Hyvarinen moved up and gained ground, settling into a battle with Russian Kullev. At the finish Kuleev had just enough left to take second.

Weeger told the FIS Press Service that he felt very good today. “The wind was very strong, but the race was amazing. The win was a surprise for me, I didn’t (really) understand how I won. I didn’t have any tactics for this race. I just wanted to see, how does it go and now I am a champion.”

Rounding out the North American finishers included Russ Kennedy (CAN) in 42nd, George Cartwright (USA) in 43rd, Andrew Dougherty (USA) in 51st, Tyler Kornfield (USA) in 56th and Canada’s Jordan Cascagnette in 70th. Patrick Stewart-Jones did not finish for Canada.

Full results HERE.

January 30, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – The Norwegian duo of Heidi Weng and Martine Ek Hagen scored first and second on Sunday in a strong display of power in the Junior women’s 5+5km Pursuit at the FIS Junior World Championships in Estonia. Weng, a star performer who had not yet won a gold at the championships, pushed hard past Hagen in the home stretch to claim the title. Helene Jakob of Germany, who is one year younger then the both of the Norwegians, surprised many in taking the bronze medal.

The USA’s Jessie Diggins, a CXC skier who hails from Afton, Minnesota once again led the North Americans in 12th place in 31:50.2 despite a crash early in the competition. Fellow American Joanne Reid was a solid 24th. The top Canadian woman was Annika Hicks in 31st on fresh packed snow and in windy conditions.

“Today was a solid day for the US junior women,” Diggins told SkiTrax post-race. “We had a 12th (Diggins), 24th (Reid), 40th (Glen), and 50th Heather Mooney – with 78 girls racing, I’m proud to have all our girls in the top 50.

“I’m also super excited because the US women rocked the pit exchanges in the pursuit,” continued the rising US star. “We’ve been practicing and it’s exciting for me to finally have a good equipment switch under my belt because I haven’t had much luck in the past – it was a mental road block I had to get over. But after I crashed and broke a pole at the start of the race, I relaxed a lot more and decided to just try to have a technically good race and see how far I could pull myself back up. So I was thinking a lot more instead of being in the lead pack and letting adrenaline take over, which I think helped me ski smarter.”

Diggins was grateful as she was given a pole by a Canadian coach following her crash.

“I’m also extremely grateful to the Canadian team; I was given a pole a little farther down the trail by one of their coaches. North Americans have each other’s back!”

Other North American finishers included Canada’s Janelle Greer in 36th, Amy Glen (USA) in 40th, Heather Mehain (CAN) in 43rd, Heidi Widmer (CAN) 47th and Mooney in 50th.

Team USA’s Reid was pleased with her 24th place finish: “It went really great today, all the girls were especially happy with our exchanges, we all stayed pretty calm and did good work in the pits. It was really sweet to be skiing with Amy and Jessie and Heather. There was a point in the race that we were all skiing together before Jessie took off and got after it. I ended up right next to Amy for a while and we worked together but I lost her when we went through the exchange,” said Reid.

Weng and Hagen, who are neighbors in Norway, know each other well having been in the same class at school. Today it was their day in the pursuit. The starting field remained compact after two 2.5km classic laps. Following the ski exchange Weng lost a bit when Elena Soboleva and Anna Scherbinina pushed hard and created a gap.

Weng came charging back in the second uphill. Then Hagen moved in front and accelerated on the final lap. Weng seemed to have some difficulty to follow but hung in with Hagen and the Norwegian duo appeared together in the stadium. In the finishing straight Weng summoned what power she had remaining and sprinted ahead of Hagen to take the win.

Germany’s Jakob was sixth after the classic part and was in contact with the lead group. During the free technique leg she dropped the Russian girls in her group and posted the second fastest time skate time to take the bronze medal.

As for Weng, it marked her second championship medal after placing third in the 5km individual start competition. “Everything was fantastic today and went as I planned,” Weng said in a FIS Press interview. “During the last lap I got really tired and I was very close to let Martine go. I thought about the gold medal in this race but I didn’t believe I could win it.”

As for her long-time friend Hagen the event was great. “The race was fun. I had a very good feeling through the whole race and I enjoyed it a lot. I didn’t expect two Norwegians to be on the podium. I expected only Heidi to win but not me. She is in a very good shape.”

This marked the second to last day of the Junior Worlds in Otepaa.

Full results HERE.

January 29, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – The powerful Olympic silver medalist from Vancouver, Alexander Panzhinskiy (RUS), was dominant today in Otepää and took the gold medal in the men’s 1.4km U23 sprint classic picking up where he left off last season on the tracks at Whistler Olympic Park.

Panzhinskiy was strongest in the qualifications but the Canadian men loomed large, especially so with Hardwood’s Len Valjas, perhaps the tallest international skier of the day, with an impressive second behind the Russian. What’s more Jess Cockney qualified on the bubble in 30th, only a scant .21 seconds of being out of the big show. The lanky Valjas brings to mind images of the 1960s Norwegian star Harald Gronningen, a giant of the sport for Norway who had five OWG medals.

Timo Andre Bakken of Norway finished second and secured the silver medal. Magnus Moholt of Norway was fighting hard in the finishing straight with Dietmar Noeckler of Italy but Moholt edged out the Italian and captured bronze.

Overall it was a great day for the Canucks with Cockney of Canmore and Valjas, who hails from both Estonian and Swedish heritage, finishing sixth and seventh respectively. Looking back a year ago, Valjas was sixth in the U23 Championships in France. The top American today was Fairbanks, Alaska’s Reese Hanneman in 24th, who went out after the quarterfinals after qualifying in 29th. Canada’s Michael Somppi (CAN) did not start.

Following the race SkiTrax spoke with Valjas who commented about his race. “I felt Super good today out there. It was hard to get by the leaders in the heat because there was only one good glazed track to ski in, around the course. The rest of the tracks got completely filled in with windblown snow from the 40km/h wind. In my semi I came into the last 200 meters with the leaders, but I was forced into the very left lane which no one had skied in all day and it was filled with snow. I really didn’t have any other option out there. I had to break trail in the final sprint while the other guy beside me skied in a fast glazed track. I am very disappointed with my result today. I had the fitness to finish top 3 today, but ran into some bad luck.”

Cockney, who was second in his quarter final round losing out to Russian speed king Panzhinskiy, advanced to the final via a fast semi taking one of the lucky losers spots. SkiTrax caught up with the elated Canuck post race.

“Today was a mix of very different feelings for me and thankfully it ended with pure joy,” said Cockney. “I skied very poorly in the qualifications and I consider myself very lucky to have even made the heats. From then on I felt like I was playing with house money and figured the best thing to do was relax and ski my ass off in the heats.

“I am generally a smart heat skier and my goal is always to move higher in position than my qualifying result. This worked out and I was able to move from 30th qualifier to 6th overall on the day. This is a very new feeling for me as the last time I qualified for heats in Europe was two seasons ago in a German OPA race. Needless to say I’m ecstatic with how the day ended and I am already looking forward to next season and doing what I can to put up a better fight in the A final,” added Cockney, who skis out of the Foothills Nordic Ski Club.

Canadian coach Eric de Nys was happy with his young racers. “A great day for us today. Jesse had strength, speed and LUCK on his side today. He had a very strong quarter final just being nipped at the line by the Olympic silver medalist Panzhinskiy. Then in his semi, a Swedish athlete was DQ’d for a technique violation which moved Jess up to 4th. His semi ended up being quicker than semi number 2 in which Len placed third but lost the lucky loser spot to Jesse. Len had an amazing qualifier and first heat that he won easily.

“In his semi the cards didn’t fall Lenny’s way with two places on the track where he was forced to ski, not by choice. The clutch was the finishing stretch where Len was forced into the third track which no one had skied all day. He was strong enough to hold his own but not strong enough to get by and with the wind and falling snow, this track was a clear disadvantage but overall still a good day,” de Nys told SkiTrax.

Qualifications HERE.
Final Results HERE.

January 29, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Finnish ace Kerttu Niskanen won the gold medal in the 1.2km sprint classic final at the U23 World Championships on Saturday morning. She started the day as the top qualifier and went on to dominate every heat on her way to the final. It was Niskanen’s second U23 Worlds gold – her first was in a 10km classic at Hinterzarten, Germany.

Niskanen came home with a clear margin in the A-Final to secure her victory. In the battle for silver and bronze Norway’s Britt Ingunn Nydal edged out Sweden’s Jennie Oeberg by a toe length to claim the silver.

“It feels great to be a U23 World Champion,” said Niskanen in a FIS post-race interview. “I wanted to win and this was a very good day for me. I was feeling very good during the whole race. My tactic today was to go as fast as possible after the shot. I had some problems to ski always in front because it was snowing.”

It was a solid day for North American skiers with six women advancing to the quarterfinals as the USA’s Sadie Bjornsen led the charge in 11th followed by Canada’s Alysson Marshall in 14th, Jennie Bender (USA) in 18th, Canada’s Emily Nishikawa in 19th, Ida Sargent (USA) in 21st and Sara Hewitt (CAN) in 30th. Canada’s Erin Tribe was 31st at 2s behind Tribe while Rebecca Rorabaugh was further back in 36th – only the top 30 advance.

Marshall was the only skier to make it through to the semis placing second in her quarter final but faced a fast and very close semi-final round ending up in 6th to finish 12th overall.

“My qualification round felt messy but I still had a decent time. I felt really strong and controlled in my quarter- final and finished in 2nd spot,” Marshall told SkiTrax post-race. “My semi-final was very fast and close. I fought the whole way but didn’t quite have the double pole strength left in the finishing stretch and I finished in 6th.

“It was a tight finish with all six of us crossing within 1.3 seconds. It was also 7 seconds faster than the other semi-final so my time in 6th spot was faster than the winner of the other semi-final. I am happy to be top-12 but I was disappointed to miss out on the final in such a tight finish,” she added.

Canadian coach Eric de Nys commented on Marshall’s performance: “Alysson Marshall skied strong all day. She was second in her quarter final and just got out-muscled in the finishing stretch in the semi, but it was a fight to the end. She should be happy with this result.”

The USA’s Bjornsen ended up 17th, Bender was 21st while Ida Sargent was 23rd. Taking 22nd overall was Nishikawa with Hewitt ending up in 30th.

Qualifications HERE.
Final results HERE.

January 28, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Russia’s Sergey Ustiugov won the gold medal in the Junior men’s 1.4km classic sprint over Norwegian Sondre Turvoll Fossli, while Russia took third place with Gleb Retivykh winning the bronze.

American Erik Bjornsen of the Methow Valley, WA, lead the way for the North Americans as the lone qualifier with a strong 10th place. Canada’s Andy Shields in 31st narrowly missed advancing to the quarter finals by .19s as the two skiers ahead of him tied in 29th. Bjornsen was 4th in his quarterfinal heat and did not advance as a lucky loser finishing 14th overall.

The men’s final told the story featuring only Russians and Norwegians. In the qualifying round Fossli was the class of the field but in the end Ustiugov had more power.  It was a great battle between the pair as Fossli was leading from the start but Ustiugov was close behind with epic doubling poling and made his move to pass the Norwegian. Fossli was unable to counter and down the final stretch the Russian won by about a ski length.

Ustiugov was thrilled with his race, telling the FIS News Service, “This was a special day for me, because this is the first time I have beaten Gleb. This track was very difficult for me. I saw the race where the Russian girl crashed and I was really disappointed about it. It added strength to me because now, I had to bring the medals to the team.”

Fossli, was gracious and looked at things with perspective saying, “I felt pretty good out there today, but Sergey was just faster than me. I am not disappointed at all, because this is my first year at the junior championships. I am very satisfied.”

Other North American men who did not advance included Skyler Davis (USA) in 35th, Patrick Stewart-Jones (CAN) in 36th, Tyler Kornfield (USA in 38th, George Cartwright (USA) in 49th and Canada’s Jordan Cascagnette who was 73rd.

Qualifications HERE.
Final Results HERE.

January 28, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Germany’s Lucia Anger claimed the Junior Women’s classic 1.2km sprint title as the two leading skiers Elena Soboleva (RUS) and Germany’s Hanna Kolb crashed over the final hill in the final leaving the door open for Anger. Norway grabbed the remaining spots with Kari Oeyre Slind taking the silver medal, while her teammate Ragnhild Haga won the bronze.

Canada’s Janelle Greer and Heidi Widmer both qualified but did not advance past the quarter finals and finished 21st and 28th respectively. American Heather Mooney (USA) missed qualifying by 0.29s, placing 31^st, followed by Amy Glen (USA) in 42nd, Heather Mehain (CAN) in 45th, Izzy Caldwell (USA) in 57th, Kinsey Loan (USA) in 58th and Canada’s Annika Hicks who placed 61st.

“It was a disappointing day for me today,” said Widmer. “I was hoping to improve on last year’s 15th place qualification and 22nd overall sprint results but I just didn’t have access to those top gears today. In my qualifier, I skied the first half with decent speed, but during a transition on one of the small climbs, I wasn’t aggressive enough with my kick which cost me.”

“I quickly put the mediocre qualifier behind me and set my sights on the afternoon heats. I lost contact with the group on the second climb and made up some time on the descent thanks to some fast skis finishing 28th. Today taught me a lot and reminded me that I still have a long journey ahead and I’m excited to see what the future has in store,” added Widmer.

Kolb, the fastest qualifier, was the favourite and she and Soboleva advanced to the final winning their quarters and semis. The dramatics for the women’s Junior World title unfolded during the final match up as Soboleva was leading with Kolb right behind and Anger in tow as the others trailed.

Over the final uphill Kolb tumbled and took out Soboleva. That’s when Anger, reacting to what happened made her move and burned it to the finish line to take the win. The Norwegian Slind also came up from behind and finished 0.3 seconds back. Haga, the winner of the opening junior 5km free race, was third.

Anger basked in the spotlight saying, “I had hoped to win a medal in a competition here, but the sprint gold is a surprise for me. My tactics were to go as fast as I could. I saw what happened when the crash took place. I looked that I could pass them from the left and it was very close for me as well.”

Slind was happy with her finish. “The crash is part of the game, but I feel lucky. I passed them and did not get involved in the accident….you just have to be a little lucky to get there.”

Qualifications HERE.
Final Results HERE.

January 27, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Johannes Rydzek is the first Nordic Combined winner at the FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships in Otepää (EST) today. The German athlete won the Normal Hill/10 km event in front of Marjan Jelenko (SLO) and Kaarel Nurmsalu (EST).

Clifford Field (USA) was the top Team USA skier in 19th place and Sebastien Dandurand (CAN) was the top Canuck in 34th. Other American finishers included Nick Hendrickson (Park City, UT) in 22nd, Michael Ward (Aspen, CO) in 36th and Erik Lynch (Steamboat Springs, CO) in 42nd. Canada’s Chanon Pretorius did not finish.

Nurmsalu won the ski jumping portion on the Tehvandi hill (HS100.0m). The athlete of the Skiclub Telemark jumped 96.5 m for a total of 128.0 points and relegated Germany’s Johannes Rydzek (93.5 m/121.0 points) on the second and Marjan Jelenko (SLO/93.5 m/120.5 points) on the third place.

Therefore, Nurmsalu, who has gotten first place at a COC competition in Klingenthal recently, started with an initial advantage of 28 seconds in front of Rydzek and 30 seconds in front of Jelenko. Japan’s Reruhi Shimizu was already 44 seconds behind, and the gap of fifth placed Manuel Faisst (GER) was more than one minute (1:06). Ole-Christian Wendel from Norway, 27th at half-time, trailed by 2:40 minutes.

As expected, Rydzek and Jelenko closed the gap to the leader; after 2.5 km, Nurmsalu’s advantage was just 7 seconds. In the second lap, a trio led the race. Then, Rydzek increased the speed. First Nurmsalu, then Jenko weren’t able to follow the strong German.

At the finish line, Rydzek was the new World Champion, 47.8 seconds in front of Jelenko and 1:02.5 minutes ahead of Nurmsalu. Fourth place went to Wendel who had an impressive cross-country race. He delivered the fastest time (25:18.3)

Rydzek’s victory is the 17th Junior World Championships Gold Medal for Germany (including GDR and FRG) in Nordic Combined since 1968 (when this competition was held for the first time) and the first since 2007, when Eric Frenzel won the Sprint competition. Former and current World class athletes like Ulrich Wehling, Hermann Weinbuch or Bjoern Kircheisen have won this competition before Rydzek did it today.

QUOTES

Johannes Rydzek
When I competed last year (in Hinterzarten, Germany) I was really nervous, because everybody was looking at my performance and so I couldn’t handle the pressure. This year I was better prepared, especially mentally. I showed my best performance today. I tried to make my race to get Kaarel and then see how strongly I can go. It worked very well for me.

Marjan Jelenko
My tactic was to be with Johannes as long as I could. I was really satisfied with my performance. I think when I do my best jump at the next race I can get the podium again.

Kaarel Nurmsalu
I am very happy, my job is done now. I got the medal. I know that Johannes is very good skier and he started with Marjan so I expect that they would catch me and if it’s possible I go with them. But it wasn’t possible. All the time I got information about who is following me and I expected medal. And I got it. Of course I got nervous when Christian got closer and closer, but after third lap I was 90% sure that I would get the medal.

More: www.fisnordiccombined.com
Complete Results HERE.

Results (brief)

1. Johannes Rydzek (GER) 121.0 (2)/26:09.7 (9) 26:37.7
2. Marjan Jelenko (SLO) 120.5 (3)/27:40.72(33) +1:02.5
3. Kaarel Nurmsalu (EST) 128.0 (1)/26:55.5 (18) +47.8

19. Clifford Field (USA) +2:58.9
22. Rick Hendrickson (USA) +3:08.1
34. Sebastien Dandurand (CAN) +3:31.3
36. Michael Ward (USA) +3:34.0
42. Erik Lynch (USA) +4:14.1
DNF Chanon Pretorius (CAN)

January 27, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Canadian National Team skier Kevin Sandau wanted to be in the top 10 in today’s men’s 15km Free Race at the U-23 World Championships in Otepaa, Estonia, and when the race was over he had turned in a stellar performance finishing 5th with a time of 36:04.8. Mission Accomplished!

”My goal today was a top 10, so I’m ecstatic about the result,” Sandau told SkiTrax post-race. “I started out the race conservatively so I could really push the final lap and finish strong.”

The USA’s Noah Hoffman also skied well today making the top ten finishing in ninth. The Aspen, CO native turned in a time of 36:42.4.

It was a Russian podium sweep as Evgeniy Belov took top honours as expected in today’s race, claiming the victory in 35:26.3, a comfortable 16.1 seconds ahead of his teammate Pavel Vikulin. Completing the hat trick for Russians today was Raul Shakirzianov placing third at 23.4 seconds behind Belov.

For Belov this marked the best day of his career so far after he was second last year in the interval start event at the FIS Junior Worlds. Reflecting on his win he told the FIS Press Service, ”My classical technique is better than my free, so I was prepared for a tough fight today. I had to speed up at the finish. All four laps were good for me. I want to win more medals here in Otepaa.

“I am familiar with this track because we have had training camps here,” he added. “And I also competed here last week at the World Cup.”

Another wonderful story played out with the skiing of the UK’s Andrew Musgrave. The hard-working athlete who has been training in Norway had the fastest time in the first lap but then lost some time to the Russians. At day’s end Musgrave had turned in an admirable performance finishing sixth one spot behind Sandau.

Demonstrating both smart and savvy skiing Calgary’s Sandau was very impressive. The skier-based out of Canmore-who grew up on the trails in Kananaskis Country told SkiTrax described his race.

“My first splits were top six, and by the half way point I was skiing around third. I still felt pretty fresh, so I was able to maintain and push myself further. I caught teammate Michael Somppi on my final 3.75km lap and he stuck with me until the finish, so he really pushed me till the end.”

Reflecting on an exciting, motivating day Sandau added, ”Before coming here I had my sights set on a strong pursuit race, so I’m really hoping for a podium spot on Monday.” The way he’s skiing that could well become a reality.

“The race today was hard. The course was technical and demanding,” the Hoff related to SkiTrax by email. “You had to constantly be working. I didn’t feel great, and I had a tough second lap.

“Then the German Andreas Katz caught me, and I was able to hang on him for the rest of the race. We caught Tad [Elliott] and the three of us skied together. It was really helpful to be able to follow Katz. I’m looking forward to watching some sprint races over the next couple of days. I think there is potential for some great results. Then the pursuit on Monday should be fun as well.”

Other North American finishers included Michael Somppi (CAN) 14th in 37:03.7, Tad Elliott (USA) in 19th with a time of 37:18.3, Jesse Cockney (CAN) in 27th stopping the clock at 37:36.2; in 32nd place was Graeme Killick (CAN) in 37:48.6, the USA’s Alex Treinen placed 35th in 38:04.9, and David Norris (CAN) in 39:03.0 was 46th.

“Awesome day for Sandau,” said an elated Eric de Nys, Canadian coach, “He skied consistent and strong. Michael Somppi and  Emily Nishikawa also had very strong races which was great to see.  Overall, today was a fabulous day and we know we have our strongest races still to come so we’re looking to build on these results.”

Full Results HERE.

January 27, 2011 (Otepaa, Estonia) – Using her experience as a former Junior World champ, Finland’s rising star Krista Lahteenmaki dominated Thursday’s U-23 10km free technique in Otepaa. Her winning time of 26:33.3 was one minute ahead of runner up Mariya Guschina of Russia while third place went to Norway’s Hilde Lauvhaug.

Lahteenmaki, recently a remarkable 8th overall at this year’s Tour de Ski, controlled the race from the start. On the 3×3.3km course she was in the lead after every lap. The talented Swede Hanna Brodin was not far off her Finnish rival’s pace on the first lap, but the sprinter who was impressive this past weekend in Otepaa finishing second claiming her first world cup podium, paid the price for starting too fast on the challenging course and finished 14th.

Lahteemaki was pleased with her effort today. “I am happy about the victory – the feeling of being the U-23 World Champion is nice. The weather was very cold, but everything else was very good. My skis were good, the track was good. It’s a demanding course here in Otepaa. Now I will concentrate on my next race.”

For the North Americans, it was Canada’s Emily Nishikawa leading the way with a top-20 results placing a strong 16th in 28:41.5. Sadie Bjornsen was the top US skier in 23rd in 29:31.1 followed by Canuck Alysson Marshall in 25th with a time of 29:34.5.

“I was pretty happy with how things went today,” Nishikawa told SkiTrax. “I started off pretty smooth and relaxed, then on my 2nd lap I caught a sweet ride from a German girl who was just starting.  I felt strong, pushed my hardest, and I paced it pretty well so I’m really happy with this race.

“It was pretty cold today, but being from the Yukon I’m used to it and prefer racing at colder temps.  I’m looking forward to the rest of the week, it should be really exciting,” added Nishikawa.

“I had a decent race today. I was careful not to start too hard and I focused on being strong and relaxed throughout the race,” Marshall told SkiTrax by email. “The course had some difficult climbs but there were downhills after which allowed for some recovery.

“A Norwegian passed me about 1.5km before the finish and I stayed with her into the stadium so I got a good ride up the last couple climbs. I am excited to race the classic sprint on Saturday!”

Caitlin Patterson (USA) who was recently on the podium at collegiate races in Lake Placid was 26th in 29:34.8. Sara Hewitt (CAN) finished in 28th, Becca Rorabaugh (USA) was 29th and Erin Tribe (CAN) placed 36th.

Full results HERE.