The second day of competition at the FIS Junior World Championships in Nordic Skiing and FIS World Championships in Cross-Country Skiing featured the sprint races for under-23 men and women. The 1.2-kilometer freestyle sprint saw numerous exciting and intriguing matchups.
Photo: Borut Živulović/BOBO
Canadian Surprise Over Scandinavians
In the women's competition, Canadian Sonjaa Schmidt was in peak form, narrowly defeating her favored opponents in the final by just 48 hundredths of a second. Finland's Hilla Niemela took second place, while Norway's Maria Hartz Melling settled for the consolation third place.
Among the Slovenian competitors in Planica, only Zala Šepič participated, but she ended her performance in the qualifications, finishing in 46th place.
Photo: Borut Živulović/BOBO
Norwegian Dominance
The second consecutive gold medal in cross-country skiing went to Norway. The top skier of the day was Aleksander Holmboe, who crossed the finish line in the final a staggering two seconds and 16 hundredths ahead of second-placed Italian Alessandro Chiocchetti, with American Brian Bushey taking third place.
Photo: Borut Živulović/BOBO
Slovenian colors were represented by four Slovenian competitors at the snow stadium in the Nordic center. Jošt Mulej was the only one to advance from the qualifications, while Boštjan Korošec and Anže Gros, who recorded the fifth-best time in the qualifications, concluded their performances in their respective quarterfinal groups. Nejc Štern showed more stamina this time, bidding farewell to the competition only in the semifinals and finishing in 9th place overall.
