Monday, February 19

Manninen and Hetland Take First Place

usskiteam.com

LAHTI, Finland - Pirjo Manninen, Finland?s new heroine-in-waiting, breezed to the first sprint title in World Championships history on Wednesday night, ignoring a continuing - but light - snowstorm while Tor Arne Hetland gave Norway the men?s gold medal.

Manninen, the 19-year-old who won the World Junior Championships sprint title three weeks ago (among her three gold medals in Poland), sailed through every round. She led the women?s prologue - the 1.5-km loop in which skiers race to qualify for the 16 spots in the quarterfinals - by nearly four seconds and barely was challenged for the gold medal on the seventh day of the 44th World Nordic Ski Championships.

The women?s silver medal went to another Finn, Kati Sundqvist, with Julia Tchepalova of Russia earning the bronze medal. Sabina Valbusa of Italy completed the final foursome.

A short time later, Hetland - dressed inNoray?s distinctive black uniform for its sprint team - out-skied Italy?s Cristian Zorzi for the gold medal in the men?s far-more-tense sprint final. Former University of Utah ski racer Haavard Solbakken took the bronze medal with Finn Ari Palolahti fourth.

For the U.S. skiers, Carl Swenson (Boulder) was on-course for at least the quarterfinals when he fell on Lahti?s infamous hairpin turn as he came back into the stadium. He finished 24th in 3:12.37; with 16th place timed out at 3:08.85, and figuring Swenson lost at least four seconds in getting up and back into the final 400 meters, he was a lock for the quarters. But he fell and no other U.S. skier reached the round of 16, either.

Among the men, Swenson was 24th with University of Utah racer Torin Koos (Leavenworth, WA) 29th, David Chamberlain (Bethel, ME) 42nd and Rob Whitney (Anchorage, AK) 46th.

In the women?s sprint, newly arrived Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, AK) - who got to Lahti earlier in the week after shaking a cold at home - had the top U.S. result. The 18-year-old high school senior was 34th in the field of 58 with Nina Kemppel (also Anchorage) 39th, Tessa Benoit (South Pomfret, VT) 42nd and Wendy Wagner (Park City, UT) 44th.

44th WORLD NORDIC SKI CHAMPIONSHIPS
Lahti, FIN
1.5-km Sprints (Four made finals)
Men
1. Tor Arne Hetland, Norway
2. Cristian Zorzi, Italy
3. Haavard Solbakken, Norway
4. Ari Palolahti, Finland
5. Anders Hoegberg, Sweden
6. Peter Schlickenrieder, Germany
7. Silvio Fauner, Italy
8. Rene Sommerfeldt, Germany

Women
1. Pirjo Manninen, Finland
2. Kati Sundqvist, Finland
3. Julia Tchepalova, Russia
4. Sabine Valbusa, Italy
5. Nina Gavriljuk, Russia
6. Elena Buruhina, Russia
7. Anita Moen,Norway
8. Elina Pienimaki, Finland