MORA, Sweden (Oct. 22) – Andy Newell (Shaftsbury, VT), who ended a two-decade World Cup podium drought for U.S. skiers in 2006, showed Sunday he was ready for the upcoming World Cup season by dominating the final loop to capture Mora's annual Oktobersprint despite sluggish, slow snow conditions.
Teammate Torin Koos (Leavenworth, WA) led the quarterfinal and semifinal heats of the classic technique race, but Newell took charge on the final uphill and breezed to victory over the last few hundred meters; Koos finished fourth. It was a 1,200-meter course over snow which had been stockpiled last winter and then covered with wood chips to preserve it through the summer.
The sprint was a final tuneup for the World Cup season, which begins Saturday in Dusseldorf, Germany. Newell and Koos, who each has produced a World Cup top-3 result in the last two seasons, will be the U.S. entries. They have been training in a ski tunnel in nearby Torsby, an indoor facility where special refrigeration pipes provide weatherproof, near-winter conditions.
“The training's gone very well and, perhaps just as important, the guys have stayed healthy,” U.S. Sprint Coach Chris Grover said Monday. “This was a cool event, especially with snow from last season. The guys had poor start positions for the prologue [i.e., the time trial which determined the final 16 skiers in the round of heats], but they powered through to qualify.”
