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The north rules the white track again
Tuesday February 15 2011 04:58 PM
The white track race continued its second day on the Vesec slope, the only difference being that after the longest race of Cross Country Ski week, it was now time for the shortest track. On the 1.15 kilometre long course, the titles of king and queen of the sprint were at stake.
The qualification round started in the morning with the presence of the television cameras of ČT 4 and Eurosport 2. First, 79 female athletes tried to make the thirty-member final cut and subsequently a boys’ line-up containing six more people set out to fight for the quarterfinals.
One o’clock in the afternoon marked the beginning of a section that is very popular with the audience and featured four Czech athletes, unfortunately without David Nyč. In front of the local spectators David was in a tough position as the son of Kateřina Nyčová, Executive Director of the Organising Committee. However, this is no problem for this soon-to-turn-eighteen Cross Country skier. “I don’t feel limited by my Mum’s job at all,” said the sprinter from Dukla Liberec, who finished thirty fourth in the end. David thought his performance today was “kind of slowed down”.
The best thirty presented themselves in a total of ten quarter-final heats in both categories. The first girl to start after the qualifications was Sofia Henriksson, who won Monday's 7.5 km Classic technique. The fastest boy to qualify in the windy weather was Russian Artem Maltsev.
Even though the semi-final was without Czech participation, the spectators still witnessed a spellbinding fight for medals. In the girls’ case that meant an outright Swedish triumph, and they won the first two positions. Gold went to Stina Nilsson, who was a bit surprised at the finishing line. "On Monday I didn't present myself in the best way, but I hoped to at least get on the stage this time. And I did it."
Christoffer Lindvall, who was the winner, shouted fiercely "Yes!" at the finishing line. The eighteen year old Finnish skier, who started with the number 74, only just beat the big favourite, Malcev, with his final sprint.
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