Kris Freeman is in the elusive 30 member Red Group for the next period of Cross-Country World Cup racing. This is the first time an American skier has been in the prestigious World Cup Red Group for over 25 years. Canadian Beckie Scott is currently in 21st on the women’s list.
The World Cup Red Group is also called the seeded group. This group of skiers gets “special” treatment in form of preferred start positions relative to the rest of the World Cup skiers, as well as travel and accommodation paid for by the event organizers.
The World Cup ranking is determined by the accumulation of points each racer scores throughout the season’s competitions. The season is divided into three periods; Nov – Dec, Jan – mid-Feb, mid-Feb – March, and the Red Group stays the same within each of the periods.
WORLD CUP OVERALL STANDINGS, MEN, AS OF DECEMBER 23, 2003
1 SOMMERFELDT Rene GER 388
2 FREDRIKSSON Mathias SWE 358
3 TEICHMANN Axel GER 349
4 SOEDERGREN Anders SWE 300
5 SVARTEDAL Jens Arne NOR 251
6 ANGERER Tobias GER 249
7 VEERPALU Andrus EST 246
8 PILLER COTTRER Pietro ITA 215
9 SKJELDAL Kristen NOR 190
10 AUKLAND Anders NOR 168
11 ESTIL Frode NOR 143
12 FILBRICH Jens GER 136
13 BAUER Lukas CZE 135
14 SCHLUETTER Andreas GER 133
15 PANKRATOV Nikolai RUS 129
16 HETLAND Tor Arne NOR 116
17 FREEMAN Kris USA 113
18 LARSSON Peter SWE 108
19 HOFSTAD Tore Ruud NOR 105
20 VITTOZ Vincent FRA 101
21 HOFFMANN Christian AUT 100
22 VALBUSA Fulvio ITA 97
23 CHECCHI Valerio ITA 95
24 MAE Jaak EST 88
25 DAHL Jon Kristian NOR 87
26 BOTVINOV Mikhail AUT 85
27 FREDRIKSSON Thobias SWE 83
28 SANTUS Fabio ITA 82
29 KOUKAL Martin CZE 80
30 DI CENTA Giorgio ITA 76
31 ROTCHEV Vassili RUS 75
32 HASLER Markus LIE 68
33 PASINI Renato ITA 62
34 DOLIDOVICH Sergei BLR 58
35 VILISSOV Vladimir RUS 55
36 BJERKELI Haavard NOR 52
37 ROENNING Eldar NOR 50
38 LIND Bjoern SWE 50
39 PYYKOENEN Lauri FIN 47
40 OESTBERG Mikael SWE 45
41 SWENSON Carl USA 44
42 ONDA Yuichi JPN 43
43 BAJCICAK Martin SVK 43
44 NOVIKOV Serguei RUS 43
45 OLSSON Johan SWE 41
46 IVANOV Mikhail RUS 38
47 CHEBOTKO Nikolay KAZ 38
48 BRINK Joergen SWE 36
49 BERGER Lars NOR 36
50 IVERSEN Trond NOR 35
WORLDCUP OVERALL – WOMEN 2003/2004
1 SMIGUN Kristina EST 576
2 SHEVCHENKO Valentina UKR 540
3 PARUZZI Gabriella ITA 431
4 KUENZEL Claudia GER 351
5 BJOERGEN Marit NOR 340
6 PEDERSEN Hilde G. NOR 332
7 SAVIALOVA Olga RUS 316
8 SKOFTERUD Vibeke W NOR 292
9 KUITUNEN Virpi FIN 269
10 SIDKO Alena RUS 213
11 SACHENBACHER Evi GER 192
12 VALBUSA Sabina ITA 175
13 DAHLBERG Anna SWE 163
14 SAARINEN Aino Kaisa FIN 130
15 MAJDIC Petra SLO 121
16 EK Elin SWE 111
17 HENKEL Manuela GER 108
18 VAELIMAA Kirsi FIN 107
19 MUERER STEMLAND Kristin NOR 101
20 NEUMANNOVA Katerina CZE 100
21 SCOTT Beckie CAN 86
22 STEIRA STOERMER Kristin NOR 78
23 YOKOYAMA Sumiko JPN 74
24 BJOERNAAS Kine Beate NOR 73
25 SALONEN Satu FIN 72
26 KURKINA Larisa RUS 72
27 VASILIEVA Lilia RUS 63
28 HAHINA Evgenia RUS 62
29 VORONTSOVA Ekaterina RUS 61
30 KELDER Christina ITA 55
Sara Renner, Canada, in 61st with 6 points.
