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Schevchenko Skis Away With Women's 10km Freestyle in Canmore

FasterSkier · January 26, 2008

Valentina Schevchenko of Ukraine won the women’s 10km freestyle individual start. Evgenia Medvedeva was second with Justyna Kowalczyk (POL) third. Schevchecnko, an excellent skater who won the Tour de Ski Final Climb by over a minute, clearly took to the hilly 5km loop in Canmore. This was her second victory of the season, following the Tour de Ski stage win. After the race, the 32 year old raved about her skis and noted the challenging climbs – “This track was not easy for me, there are so many uphills. But my skis were very good and the race went well.”

Sara Renner of Canmore scored World Cup points for the third consecutive race, finishing 25th, just under 2 minutes behind the winner. Fellow Canadian Madeleine Williams had an excellent race taking 32nd amere .3 seconds out of scoring World Cup points.

“It was dog-eat-dog out there today and definitely a grind,” said Renner, who added the cold Rocky Mountain conditions contributed to dry, slow snow for the women’s race. “It’s slowly coming. I’m starting to adapt to the pain and starting to feel like a World Cup athlete again. I have come a long way considering I was 40 pounds heavier, and couldn’t even ski the World Cup trail at this time last year.” Renner is coming back from a year off to have her first child.

The top US finisher was Kate Arduser in 39th, +3:39. She was closely followed by Evelyn Dong in 40th. Tazlina Mannix, 44th and Lindsey Dehlin, 46th were the other American finishers. Lindsay Williams did not finish.

Complete Results
More photographs and race coverage can be found on the FasterSkier World Cup Blog.

Schevchenko Skis Away With Women's 10km Freestyle in Canmore – FasterSkier