On February 3, the FIS Cross-Country World Cup Stage saw its last competition day at the "Laura" Cross-Country Ski & Biathlon Center in Sochi, Russia. The pre-Olympic ski week was the first international competition of this level at the venue which will host the 2014 Olympic tournaments in cross-country skiing and biathlon.
The organization and staging of the Test Event was attended by about 60 representatives of the Sochi 2014 Organizing Committee, who worked in the "Olympic mode" to test all the features and services at the venue and thus said "Yes!" to all the guests and participants of the competition.
On the last day of competition, Team Sprint classic technique races took place among ladies and men.
In the ladies’ event, the podium was topped by Mona-Lisa Malvalehto and Anne Kyllönen of Finland. Russia’s Julia Ivanova and Natalia Matveeva won silver in the tough finish battle against Perianne Jones and Daria Gaiazova of Canada.
In the men’s team sprint, Russia’s Dmitry Japarov and Maxim Vylegzhanin clinched a solid victory by 18sec over Teodor Peterson and Emil Joensson of Sweden. Axel Teichmann and Tobias Angerer of Germany finished third.
Quotes of the day
Mona-Lisa Malvalehto (FIN): "The track is very good, I hope it will be the same track for the Olympics. It's very nice here when it's sunny. When it was snowing so much, it was more difficult."
Perianne Jones (CAN): "We had different conditions every day. We raced on the real (Olympic) courses and we've been learning so much every day. We're having a great time here."
Maxim Vylegzhanin (RUS): "This is a very difficult course but it is hard to say that this course would be good for the classic skiers or for the freestyle skiers. Everyone has their preferences; some people like easier laps and some like more difficult laps. This is a good course for those people who like difficult laps."
Tobias Angerer (GER): "It's important to see the tracks and the whole venue. It shapes the training for the whole summer."
For more information contact: Xenia Reizhevskaya, Sochi 2014 Head of Press Office, +7 925 999 2551
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