Chandra Crawford is back! The Olympic Gold Medalist captured her first ever World Cup win on her home course in Canmore. The surprise winner of the Freestyle Sprint at the 2006 Olympics in Torino, Crawford struggled through a difficult season last year, unable to crack the top-20 on the World Cup circuit.
That is all a distant memory now as Crawford followed up a strong 12th in the classic sprint with the victory in the final event of the Canmore World Cup week.
Crawford appeared to be on a mission from the get-go, qualifying in the 2nd position. The course suited the style of the local hero. “Flat and fast is good for me,†she told reporters after the race.
The speed of the course was evident throughout the day. It was nearly impossible to break up the heats of 6 early in the 1.2km loop. Several tried, charging up the first climb and opening a gap, but the pack always closed back on the downhills. Nearly every heat was decided on the long gradual uphill to the finish, and most were closely contested — often between four or 5 athletes.
Crawford did not take the chance of getting boxed in, or tangled up in the crowd, charging to front of every heat and leading or sitting in second until the final sprint. The hometown crowd loved every minute of it, going wild as the tall Canadian crossed the line first in the A-final, with her usual beaming smile plastered across her face.
 finished 6th, taking the final spot in the women’s A-final. The finish was good enough to vault the defending World Cup Champion into first in the overall standings. </p>
<p>American Kikkan Randall finished 8th crossing the line 2nd in the B-Final. Randall qualified in 5th, bouncing back from a disappointing 33rd in the classic sprint — a result attributed primarily to slow skis.</p>
<p>Randall looked confident and skied aggressively in her quarterfinal, taking the lead up the first hill and maintaining her position to the finish. But the semifinal was a different story, and the first American woman to win a World Cup race hung back through the first half of the course, and was unable to get by the top two in the finish stretch. After the race, Randall told FasterSkier that this was a deliberate switch of tactics. She executed her plan of taking control of the heat in the quarterfinal — definitely a risk given the long downhills and the drafting effect, but one that paid off. </p>
<p>After watching the men’s quarterfinals, Randall noted the success of those that stayed back early and made a move down the hill into the hard finish. Unfortunately the switch to this tactic did not pay off and the Alaskan star was relegated to the B-Finals where she reverted to the earlier strategy and moved to the front from the start. A fast finish by Madjic gave Randall her final standing of 8th place on the day, a strong result heading into the second half of the World Cup season.</p>
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