Vassili Rotchev of Russia posted the fastest qualifying time in the preliminary round of the World Championship classic sprint in Oberstdorf, Germany. Bjoern Lind was second, leading fellow Swedish qualifiers Mats Larsson and Thobias Fredriksson, the former World Champion in the freestyle technique. Norway managed to put all four of their starters into the top 16, with recent World Cup sprint winner Eldar Roenning replacing Jens Arne Svartedal who was reportedly sick.
The exciting news for North American fans is that both Canada and the US each have a skier advancing to the quarterfinals. Devon Kershaw skied a fantastic prelim, posting the 13th fastest time, only 3.51 seconds behind first. Andrew Newell wasted no effort whatsoever, squeeking into the top 16 by two-hundredths of a second. Newell and Kershaw will have the chance to race head-to-head against the World's best later today.
These were not the only noteworthy North American results however: Canadians George Grey and Drew Goldsack finished 19th and 21st respectively, while Torin Koos of the US team just missed the top 30, finishing 32nd behind Australian Paul Murray.
Stay tuned for results of the elimination heats later today, which will decide the final ranking of the top 16. You can follow the heats live here on fasterskier.com by clicking on the “Live World Cup Results” link on the lower right hand side of the home page.
Results — Oberstdorf World Championships, Men's Classic Sprint Qualification:
1 46 Rotchev Vassili RUS *11:11:30 2:33.52 0.00 Q
2 40 Lind Bjoern SWE *11:10:00 2:34.25 +0.73 Q
3 26 Chebotko Nikolay KAZ *11:06:30 2:34.26 +0.74 Q
4 13 Larsson Mats SWE *11:03:15 2:34.97 +1.45 Q
5 49 Hetland Tor Arne NOR *11:12:15 2:35.83 +2.31 Q
6 37 Iversen Trond NOR *11:09:15 2:35.87 +2.35 Q
7 41 Fredriksson Thobias SWE *11:10:15 2:35.90 +2.38 Q
8 30 Pyykoenen Lauri FIN *11:07:30 2:36.20 +2.68 Q
9 45 Hjelmeset Odd-Bjoern NOR *11:11:15 2:36.39 +2.87 Q
10 35 Saarepuu Anti EST *11:08:45 2:36.65 +3.13 Q
11 48 Krezelok Janusz POL *11:12:00 2:36.78 +3.26 Q
12 42 Roenning Eldar NOR *11:10:30 2:37.02 +3.50 Q
13 21 Kershaw Devon CAN *11:05:15 2:37.03 +3.51 Q
14 34 Kurttila Keijo FIN *11:08:30 2:37.09 +3.57 Q
15 29 Narusk Priit EST *11:07:15 2:38.37 +4.85 Q
16 28 Newell Andrew USA *11:07:00 2:38.40 +4.88 Q
17 23 Kreczmer Maciej POL *11:05:45 2:38.42 +4.90
18 10 Schluetter Andreas GER *11:02:30 2:38.97 +5.45
19 18 Grey George CAN *11:04:30 2:39.04 +5.52
20 2 Goering Franz GER *11:00:30 2:39.07 +5.55
21 20 Goldsack Drew CAN *11:05:00 2:39.82 +6.30
22 5 Koschevoy Yevgeniy KAZ *11:01:15 2:40.20 +6.68
23 24 Pasini Fabio ITA *11:06:00 2:40.24 +6.72
24 44 Oestberg Fredrik SWE *11:11:00 2:40.26 +6.74
25 31 Joutsen Jari FIN *11:07:45 2:40.42 +6.90
26 32 Frasnelli Loris ITA *11:08:00 2:40.45 +6.93
27 47 Brink Joergen SWE *11:11:45 2:40.60 +7.08
28 55 Martsyv Vitaly UKR *11:13:45 2:40.73 +7.21
29 50 Eigenmann Christoph SUI *11:12:30 2:40.74 +7.22
30 43 Pasini Renato ITA *11:10:45 2:40.88 +7.36
31 17 Murray Paul AUS *11:04:15 2:41.11 +7.59
32 25 Koos Torin USA *11:06:15 2:41.39 +7.87
33 38 Schwienbacher Freddy ITA *11:09:30 2:41.49 +7.97
34 39 Alypov Ivan RUS *11:09:45 2:41.54 +8.02
35 51 Darragon Roddy FRA *11:12:45 2:42.83 +9.31
36 52 Geliang Li CHN *11:13:00 2:43.17 +9.65
37 6 Jewett Gordon CAN *11:01:30 2:43.24 +9.72
38 19 Kozisek Dusan CZE *11:04:45 2:43.28 +9.76
39 56 Leybyuk Roman UKR *11:14:00 2:43.36 +9.84
40 27 Fafalis Lefteris GRE *11:06:45 2:43.49 +9.97
41 14 Komamura Shunsuke JPN *11:03:30 2:43.83 +10.31
42 11 Brodar Nejc SLO *11:02:45 2:44.09 +10.57
43 9 Holencik Stanislav SVK *11:02:15 2:44.16 +10.64
44 33 Von Allmen Peter SUI *11:08:15 2:45.37 +11.85
45 15 Chauvet Benoit FRA *11:03:45 2:45.40 +11.88
46 68 Gumenyak Mikhail UKR *11:17:00 2:46.39 +12.87
47 3 Malak Michal SVK *11:00:45 2:46.40 +12.88
48 1 Kondroschev Andrey KAZ *11:00:15 2:47.24 +13.72
49 16 Moeller Martin Troels DAN *11:04:00 2:48.51 +14.99
50 8 Legkov Alexander RUS *11:02:00 2:48.60 +15.08
51 53 Ye Tian CHN *11:13:15 2:48.92 +15.40
52 54 Flora Lars USA *11:13:30 2:48.96 +15.44
53 7 Norin Artem RUS *11:01:45 2:49.19 +15.67
54 57 Sim Ben AUS *11:14:15 2:50.39 +16.87
55 59 Ivanov Aleksey BLR *11:14:45 2:50.50 +16.98
56 22 Stoeggl Thomas AUT *11:05:30 2:50.76 +17.24
57 69 Putsko Olexandr UKR *11:17:15 2:51.42 +17.90
58 64 Galiteanu Mihai RUM *11:16:00 2:51.67 +18.15
59 4 Kraas Oliver RSA *11:01:00 2:51.86 +18.34
60 67 Li Zhiguang CHN *11:16:45 2:52.51 +18.99
61 62 Dawei Han CHN *11:15:30 2:53.34 +19.82
62 60 Novoselki Aleksei LTU *11:15:00 2:53.54 +20.02
63 61 Soerensen Sebastian DAN *11:15:15 2:55.64 +22.12
64 12 Tagscherer Zoltan HUN *11:03:00 2:55.73 +22.21
65 58 Klobucar Denis CRO *11:14:30 2:57.90 +24.38
66 71 Mock Andrew AUS *11:17:45 2:58.42 +24.90
67 66 Jurcevic Damir CRO *11:16:30 2:59.65 +26.13
68 72 Jakobsson Jakob ISL *11:18:00 3:00.15 +26.63
69 65 Kuzmin Daniel ISR *11:16:15 3:00.89 +27.37
70 70 Bariakov Ivan BUL *11:17:30 3:01.77 +28.25
71 63 Derrick Ben AUS *11:15:45 3:02.93 +29.41
72 89 Khah-Erdene Khurebaatar MGL *11:22:15 3:03.51 +29.99
73 73 Kirilarslan Muhammet TUR *11:18:15 3:06.16 +32.64
74 75 Tzinzov Veselin BUL *11:18:45 3:09.02 +35.50
75 83 Cseke Csaba HUN *11:20:45 3:09.95 +36.43
76 79 Sargsyan Hovhannes ARM *11:19:45 3:10.49 +36.97
77 76 Bianchi Martin ARG *11:19:00 3:12.00 +38.48
78 86 Khachatryan Edmond ARM *11:21:30 3:14.80 +41.28
79 78 Eason Alan GBR *11:19:30 3:16.15 +42.63
80 36 Jallai Erki EST *11:09:00 3:18.02 +44.50
81 80 Oglago Burhan TUR *11:20:00 3:18.02 +44.50
82 74 Hollo Matyas HUN *11:18:30 3:18.09 +44.57
83 88 Ilieski Igor MKD *11:22:00 3:23.51 +49.99
84 82 Ferreira Berau RSA *11:20:30 3:27.72 +54.20
85 77 Icoski Gjoko MKD *11:19:15 3:32.14 +58.62
86 81 Jovanoski Borce MKD *11:20:15 3:45.20 +1:11.68
87 87 Spaseski Ile MKD *11:21:45 3:48.87 +1:15.35
88 84 Silva Danny POR *11:21:00 4:27.76 +1:54.24
89 85 Freitas Helio BRA *11:21:15 4:38.41 +2:04.89
