Vincent Vittoz captured France’s first ever Nordic World Championship gold on Sunday in the men’s pursuit race at the World Championships in Oberstdorf, Germany.
Here are interviews with Vittoz and Frode Estil, the bronze medalist.
Worlds Men’s Pursuit: Comments From Gold And Bronze Medalists Vittoz and Estil
FasterSkier · February 20, 2005
He was lying in the finish area for several minutes totally worn out after he crossed the finish line as the winner. He was almost run over by happy and joyous Frenchmen that wanted to congratulate him when he got up.
– I’m very, very happy and want to thank the entire French team and the support system, said Vittoz at the press conference.
He was in 11th place after the classic portion of the race, but the distance to the leader wasn’t impossible.
– I knew that I had a chance if I was within 20-25 seconds. I’m not as strong in classic as in skating. I had to push hard at the end because of the size of the lead group. I didn’t want it to become even bigger. At the same time I needed to conserve some energy. I decided that I didn’t want anyone ahead of me going up the last hill. It was hard, but I made it, said Vittoz.
 was happy after sprinting to a bronze medal. Giorgio Di Centa (to the right), took silver while Martin Bajcicak (on the left) protested Estil’s lane change at the end. The protest was denied. Photo: Stian Hœgland</font></center><BR></p><p>Frode Estil once again managed to be in peak shape at a big championship. Today’s bronze medal was his ninth championship medal, but he felt that he had skied better races earlier this season.</p></div><div class=)
– It wasn’t my best skate race. I felt that I skied faster at Nationals. Today I was just skiing in the pack, trying to conserve energy. I wasn’t a great skate race for me, says Frode Estil.
– I had a chance to take gold going up the last hill and tried to pass Di Centa, but it was too narrow and I had to slow down. That was too bad. It would have been exciting to see what could have happened if I had been able to pass. I lost speed and it’s hard to pick it up again. I knew that I had a chance to medal when I was fourth on top of the last uphill, says Frode Estil.
Estil wasn’t able to hang on and lost some ground when Vittoz, Di Centa and Sodergren made a move and pulled away in the second to last uphill.
– I knew it was a calculated risk to stay behind, but I didn’t think anyone would make a move on that hill. Luckily they didn’t manage to get that many seconds lead and I was able to catch them in the last hill. I knew that something was going to happen in that hill and tried to have some energy left, says Estil.
