Cross-country skiing World Cup: Two Quebecers in the top 50

UPDATE DAY

The ice is broken at the 2022-2023 Cross-Country Skiing World Cup. Katherine Stewart-Jones had a good feeling in Friday's classic sprint in Finland and hopes to carry it over to the long distance this weekend. 

The Chelsea athlete finished 45th in this event at Ruka. She set a time of 3 min 01.33 s and narrowly edged her compatriot Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt, 46th with a time of 3 min 02.88 s.

“It was a good first race , I felt good and I had energy. I lacked a bit of speed, but it was definitely better than last year,” Stewart-Jones told Sportcom.

Now that she has tested her strengths, the Quebecer is looking forward to Saturday, at the 10 km classic in the individual start, to see if her impressions are good. COVID-19 did not limit her training this summer and she was able to take part in a few preparatory camps.

She has been skiing on snow since mid-October in Canmore, Alberta, which allowed him to make the final adjustments needed for the season.

“I think I'm in good shape! I had no expectations today and I especially wanted to prepare for tomorrow (Saturday)”, she specified.

The other Canadian in action, Dahria Beatty, is ranked 38th on Friday.

Sweden Emma Ribom signed the first victory of her career in the World Cup with a time of 2 min 49.22 s. His compatriot Johanna Hagstroem (+0.91 seconds) and the Norwegian Tiril Udnes Weng (+0.93 seconds) finished second and third.

On the men's side, Olivier Léveillé is in 56th place in the classic sprint . The Sherbrooke resident covered the distance in 2 min 37.58 s during qualifying.

Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo triumphed in 2 min 26 s, ahead of his Norwegian teammates Even Northug (+1.66 seconds) and Paal Goldberg (+1.94 seconds).