Exceptionally cold weather (minus 29 degrees C) and frost forced World Cup organizers to cancel sprint events and push back Estonia's Otepae Resort mass start events to Sunday.
Bente Skari of Norway comfortably claimed the women's 15 K classic mass start race. Skari, the reigning Olympic champion and current World Cup leader, crossed the finish line in 42:38. Kristina Smigun of Estonia, runner-up in World Cup standings, delighted her home crowd with a hard-fought second place, 14.3 seconds behind Skari. Finishing third was Finland's Kaisa Varis, while fourth and fifth went to Slovenia's Petra Majdic and Germany's Manuela Henkel. The victory increases Skari's lead in the overall World Cup. Smigun maintains her second place while Norway's Marit Björgen lies in third.
< Women's 15K Results
Sweden's Joergen Brink won the men's 30 K mass start, with Norway's Anders Aukland in second and local favorite Andrus Veerpalu in third. It was a close finish with Brink crossing the finish line just 1.3 seconds ahead of Aukland and 1.5 seconds ahead of Veerpalu.
