NORWEGIANS DOMINATE WORLD CUP CROSS-COUNTRY: Norway demonstrated its superiority in the World Cup cross-country sprint with Haavard Bjerkeli taking the men's race and Anita Moen winning the women's event yesterday in Salzburg, Austria.
Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic and Bente Skari of Norway won World Cup cross-country races yesterday in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic.
Sweden's Per Elofsson defended his World Cup cross-country title after finishing eighth in the final race of the season yesterday in Lillehammer, Norway, the 58-kilometer Birkebeineren.
Finland's Jari Isometsa won a World Cup cross-country ski pursuit event in Lillehammer, Norway, yesterday, beating Johann Muhlegg of Spain by 15.1 seconds.
NORWEGIANS FINISH 1-2: Thomas Aledaard led a 1-2 Norwegian finish in the men's KO sprint of the World Cup cross-country competition yesterday in Brusson, Italy, while Finland's Pirjo Manninen gained her first victory in the women's race.
The victory made Randall, who was born in Salt Lake City and grew up in Anchorage, the first American to win a World Cup cross-country event since Bill Koch in 1983.
It was via one of his players that Scotland's head coach – born and bred in Somerset and a former England flanker and head honcho – was re-introduced into the pre-Calcutta Cup cross-border crossfire yesterday.
The American Kikkan Randall, who leads the World Cup cross-country sprint standings, fell in a quarterfinal, dashing her gold-medal hopes at the Nordic world championships in Oslo.
OLYMPIC COURSE CRITICIZED Pietro Piller Cottrer of Italy won a men's World Cup cross-country ski race on the site in British Columbia that will host the 2010 Winter Olympics, and then said it was a shame organizers had not built a better course.
Skari missed the 2001 World Cup overall title (she came in second), but she was almost unbeatable during the 2002 03 World Cup cross-country skiing season: she entered 17 World Cup races and won 14, and she also won the 2002 and 2003 World Cup overall titles.
