Sara Renner has long lived in the shadow of her Canadian teammate and Olympic Gold Medalist, Beckie Scott. This was true right up through the qualification round of the World Championship individual classic sprint, where Beckie qualified for the head-to-head elimination heats with a strong 5th place effort and Renner managed “only” 12th, still within qualification range.
But when it came down to business in her quarterfinal heat, Beckie Scott could not match the pace of her teammate; nor could the top Norwegian qualifier, Ella Gjoemle. Renner finished comfortably behind Viola Bauer of Germany and advanced to the semifinals. Beckie Scott was out.
Quarterfinal 2:
1 13 Bauer Viola GER *12:34 2:17.5 0.0 Q
2 12 Renner Sara CAN *12:34 2:19.0 +1.5 Q
3 4 Gjoemle Ella NOR *12:34 2:20.0 +2.5
4 5 Scott Beckie CAN *12:34 2:20.8 +3.3
![](http://images.fasterskier.com/oldsitearchive/upload/050222oldclassicpicbyCraigDouceCROPPEDbetter.jpg width=264 height=300 border=1><br />
<BR><font size=1 face=verdana>Sara Renner. Photo by Craig Douce</font></center><BR><br />
In the semifinal, Renner had to go up against not only Bauer of Germany, but the most recent world cup classic sprint winner Virpi Kuitunen of Finland, and the fastest qualifier of the day, Emelie Oehrstig of Sweden. There simply could not have been a tougher semi-final to advance from. The pre-race favorite, Marit Bjoergen, had her chance in the qualification round and could not deliver a top 16 performance.</p>
<p>Almost unbelievably, Renner stormed the semifinal blowing away Virpi Kuitunen and finishing clearly ahead of Viola Bauer, the German who had won her quarterfinal. Renner was into her first-ever World Championship A-final.</p>
<p>Semifinal 1:<br />
1 1 Oehrstig Emelie SWE * 2:18.3 0.0 QA<br />
2 12 Renner Sara CAN * 2:19.1 +0.8 QA<br />
3 13 Bauer Viola GER * 2:19.9 +1.6 QB<br />
4 8 Kuitunen Virpi FIN * 2:20.6 +2.3 QB </p>
<p>16,000 spectators stood riveted, as Emelie Oehrstig, Anna Dahlberg, Lina Andersson, and Sara Renner stepped up to the line. Renner was the lone Canadian in an otherwise Swedish A-final. After an explosive start, Renner was forced to the back of the pack, and towards the end of the short 0.9km course the stage looked set for a Swedish clean-sweep of the medals. </p>
<p>Then, in the final 200-meter finishing straight, Renner put on an incredible finish sprint that put Anna Dahlberg out of medal contention, and resulted in a photo-finish with eventual silver medal winner Lina Andersson. Just 0.1 seconds from silver and 1.4 seconds from Emelie Oehrstig's gold, Sara Renner has become the first Canadian woman ever to win a World Championship medal. </p>
<p>Women's A-Final:<br />
1 1 Oehrstig Emelie SWE * 2:15.5 0.0<br />
2 2 Andersson Lina SWE * 2:16.8 +1.3 FD<br />
3 12 Renner Sara CAN * 2:16.9 +1.4 FD<br />
4 3 Dahlberg Anna SWE * 2:17.9 +2.4 </p>
<p>Final Standings — Oberstdorf World Championships, Women's Classic Sprint:</p>
<p>1 1 1242958 OEHRSTIG Emelie 1978 SWE<br />
2 2 1283116 ANDERSSON Lina 1981 SWE<br />
3 12 1128886 RENNER Sara 1976 CAN<br />
4 3 1237817 DAHLBERG Anna 1976 SWE<br />
5 8 1166037 KUITUNEN Virpi 1976 FIN<br />
6 13 1133445 BAUER Viola 1976 GER<br />
7 6 3185003 MALVALEHTO Mona-Liisa 1983 FIN<br />
8 15 1255665 SAARINEN Aino Kaisa 1979 FIN<br />
9 4 1304165 GJOEMLE Ella 1979 NOR<br />
10 10 3425115 SOLLI Guro Stroem 1983 NOR<br />
11 11 1113754 HENKEL Manuela 1974 GER<br />
12 16 3435001 KOWALCZYK Justyna 1983 POL<br />
13 5 1128789 SCOTT Beckie 1974 CAN<br />
14 7 1367021 SIDKO Alena 1979 RUS<br />
15 9 1220648 KUENZEL Claudia 1978 GER<br />
16 14 1276714 MAJDIC Petra 1979 SLO<br />
17 17 1303777 BJOERGEN Marit 1980 NOR<br />
18 18 3705003 PROCHAZKOVA Alena 1984 SVK<br />
19 19 1293107 BOEHLER Stefanie 1981 GER<br />
20 20 1181848 JATSKAJA Oxana 1978 KAZ<br />
21 21 3485039 KURKINA Larisa 1973 RUS<br />
22 22 1129177 THERIAULT Milaine 1973 CAN<br />
23 23 1218611 VAELIMAA Kirsi 1978 FIN<br />
24 24 1155658 WAGNER Wendy Kay 1973 USA<br />
25 25 1296114 KELDER Cristina 1981 ITA<br />
26 26 1107837 EK Elin 1973 SWE<br />
27 27 1124424 ANTONOVA Elena 1971 KAZ<br />
28 28 1303874 BJOERNAAS Kine Beate 1980 NOR<br />
29 29 3485032 KOROSTELEVA Natalia 1981 RUS<br />
30 30 1365857 RANDALL Kikkan 1982 USA<br />
31 31 1345099 BOURGEOIS PIN Elodie 1982 FRA<br />
32 32 1169432 NATSUMI Madoka 1978 JPN<br />
33 33 1088922 SAVIALOVA Olga 1972 RUS<br />
34 34 1312701 MISCHOL Seraina 1981 SUI<br />
35 35 3565002 FABJAN Vesna 1985 SLO<br />
36 36 1350628 FUKUDA Nobuko 1980 JPN<br />
37 37 1319976 KOLOMINA Elena 1981 KAZ<br />
38 38 1305426 SKOFTERUD Vibeke W 1980 NOR<br />
39 39 1098622 SUIJA Silja 1974 EST<br />
40 40 3665001 VASILJONOK Olga 1980 BLR<br />
41 41 1217156 BALATKOVA ERBENOVA Helena 1979 CZE<br />
42 42 3535177 DUSSAULT Rebecca 1980 USA<br />
43 43 3125005 CHUNLI Jiang 1981 CHN<br />
44 44 3695000 MALETS LISOGOR Marina 1983 UKR<br />
45 45 1320267 VOLOSHENKO Yevgeniya 1979 KAZ<br />
46 46 3105013 CRAWFORD Chandra 1983 CAN<br />
47 47 3195001 JAEGGY Aurelie 1984 FRA<br />
48 48 1345390 VINA Emilie 1982 FRA<br />
49 49 3395005 SIRGE Kaili 1983 EST<br />
50 50 3695007 ZAVALIJ Tatjana 1981 UKR<br />
51 51 1365178 BOTTOMLEY Esther 1983 AUS<br />
52 52 3565000 SOKLIC Mirjam 1983 SLO<br />
53 53 1289227 SANNIKOVA Alena 1980 BLR<br />
54 54 3565001 BENEDICIC Maja 1982 SLO<br />
55 55 3785000 TERENTJEVA Irina 1984 LTU<br />
56 56 3125003 CHUNLI Wang 1983 CHN<br />
57 57 3245001 GYENESEI Judit 1986 HUN<br />
58 58 1327348 CALDER Katherine 1980 AUS<br />
59 59 1354799 GYORGY Monika 1982 RUM<br />
60 60 3665006 KALINOVSKAJA Natalia 1977 BLR<br />
61 61 3045004 BRUMLEY Clare-Louise 1977 AUS<br />
62 62 3385000 KEZELE Maja 1979 CRO<br />
63 63 3125006 HONGYAN Liu 1979 CHN<br />
64 64 3095004 MALCHEVA Teodora 1983 BUL<br />
65 65 3915001 GOROHOVA ELENA 1972 MDA<br />
66 66 3725003 OCHIRSUREN ERDENE Ochir 1985 MGL<br />
67 67 3525001 AYDIN Kelime 1982 TUR<br />
68 68 3745000 SARIBEKYAN Aida 1985 ARM<br />
69 69 3245000 ZAMBO Viktoria 1977 HUN<br />
70 70 3095008 KOUVA Rayna 1987 BUL<br />
71 71 3285000 KUZMINA Katrina 1983 ISR<br />
72 72 3085000 BECSKEHAZY Franziska 1966 BRA </p>
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