Asiago World Cup Weekend: Skari Wins Again, Scott 2nd in ITA

ASIAGO, Italy —
Friday – Sprint Relay
Carl Swenson (Boulder, CO) had the fastest time on each of the first two laps Friday in a World Cup two-man, 10-lap, freestyle relay but Germany-2 and Italy wound up duking it out for the win with Cristian Zorzi edging German Tobias Angerer by three-tenths of a second for the win. Swenson and Dave Chamberlain (Bethel, ME) finished 11th as each skier went five times around a 1.4-km track. Germany-2 (Claudia Kuenzel and Evi Sachenbacher) won the women's 6×1.4-km by 6.9 seconds over Russia-2 (Alena Sidko and Natalia Korotoleva).
<Men's Sprint Relay Results
<Women's Sprint Relay Results

Saturday – 10/15K Classic
Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team member Beckie Scott celebrated her one-year Olympic medal winning anniversary today by winning silver in the World Cup 5 km classic event held in Asiago, Italy. Norwegian Bente Skari collected her ninth victory of the season Saturday and ran her World Cup points lead to 200 over Kristina Smigun of Estonia, winning a 5-km classic race by nearly a half-minute over Scott, who took a near-photo finish with Russian Olga Savialova.
 
This day bears special memories for the Vermilion, Alberta native, for on February 15, 2002, Scott made history by becoming the first Canadian to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing.  In today’s World Cup event, only days from the approaching World Championships, Scott lunged her foot across the finish line to capture second place in what was a tight top-4 finishing lineup.  Teammate Sara Renner, who joined Scott on the podium last week at the Pontresina Grand Prix sprint event, was just 13 seconds from the medals today and only .1 of a second from the top-10.  For both Scott and Renner, these are their best results in a 5 km classic event on the World Cup.
 
“We’ve had some really good preparation time and training,” said Scott.  “ My body feels great right now and it’s really exciting for Sara and me.”
 
Head Coach Dave Wood is very optimistic about the World Championships, which begin February 18th in Val di Fiemme, Italy.  “The shape is going in the right direction now.  The confidence is high and the spirits are really good.”
 
Renner is equally excited for the approaching events.  “I knew my form was coming along,” said the bubbling Canmore native.  “Things are rolling into place perfectly.”
 
Today’s winner in the women’s 5 km was the seemingly unbeatable Norwegian Bente Skari.  Her final time of 13:16.7 was just over 25 seconds ahead of Scott’s 13:43.2.  The bronze medal went to Russia’s Olga Savialova in 13:43.4.  Renner crossed the line in 13:58.2. 

Wendy Wagner (Park City, UT) was 34th and Aelin Peterson (Fairbanks, AK) 62nd.
There were 63 competitors in this event.
 

In the men's 10-km CL, Estonian Andrus Veerpalu won in 24:21.3. finishing 24 seconds ahead of Norway's Frode Estil. Justin Freeman (Andover, NH) was 63rd, Carl Swenson (Boulder, CO) 72nd and Lars Flora (Anchorage, AK) 82nd.
George Grey and Chris Jeffries, from the Canadian Men’s Team, placed 69th and 81st respectively. 
 
<Women's 5K Classic
<Men's 10K Classic

Sources: US Ski Team and Cross Country Canada Press Releases