Source: US Ski Team
SAPPORO, Japan (Feb. 23) – With the individual and team sprints completed at the 2007 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, the cross country focus turns to distance races with the first competition Saturday – the men's 30K pursuit, mixing a mass start 15K classic technique race which leads into a 15K classic technique race.
The sprints were staged at the Sapporo Dome while the remaining races are scheduled for Shirahatayama, a traditional outdoor race course. The pursuit will feature four laps in each technique.
Live interval timing is available at midnight ET at http://livetiming.usskiteam.com.
Coach Pete Vordenberg has named four starters – Kris Freeman (Andover, NH), Andrew Johnson (Greensboro, VT), James Southam (Anchorage, AK) and Lars Flora (also Anchorage). Freeman, Johnson and Flora have been teammates at the last two Olympics while Southam is a 2006 Olympian.
With temperatures expected again in the 30s, if not higher, waxing could be problematic. Vordenberg said, “It's changing daily, sometimes hourly. We've found very volatile weather,” he said Friday. “We expect it to be cool in the morning and then warm to zero [C. – or 32 F.]…and it again promises to be exciting in the waxing cabin.”
Click here to see the men's start list for the pursuit:
http://www.fis-ski.com/pdf/2007/CC/2498/2007CC2498SL.pdf
