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Canada’s Dasha Gaiazova celebrated Black Friday of the Thanksgiving holidays south of the boarder by winning her second medal of the week – this time silver – at the US Super Tour in West Yellowstone, Montana on Friday.
The 25-year-old, of Banff, Alta., powered her way along the flat 10-kilometer skate-ski course lined with hundreds of Nordic supporters, in a time of 24 minutes 41.4 seconds to capture second spot on the podium.
“I started out slower today because we are nearly 2,000-meters of altitude and I didn’t want to red line to early in the race,” said Gaiazova, who won the classic-sprint qualifier in Montana on Thursday. “I accelerated mid-way through the race and tried to ski as fast as I could so I’m happy with the day.”
An unusually flat course which winds itself outside the stadium, Gaiazova finished four seconds off the pace of the leading mark set by Holly Brooks, of the United States, who finished at 24:36.9.
“We train ourselves to ski fast on hills and it was a little different for me not to have hills to ski on today,” said Gaiazova. “It was a good day and I just want to keep improving and hopefully get on the podium again tomorrow.”
Edmonton’s Madeleine Williams locked up the final spot on the women’s podium after rounding the 10-kilometre course with a time of 2:46.6.
On the men’s side of the draw, it was Gord Jewett, of Canmore, Alta., who finished as the top Canuck in fourth spot. Jewett narrowly missed the podium after clocking-in at 32:14.0 in the men’s 15-kilometer skate-ski race.
The American sweep of the medals was led by Leif Zimmermann who was first to cross the finish line with a time of 31:38.4. Garrott Kuzzy, who won the men’s classic-sprint on Thursday, skated to the silver medal position on the podium at 31:53.3, while Noah Hoffman was third at 31:57.4.
The first stop of the US Super Tour, which consists of some the best cross-country ski athletes from across Canada and the United States racing at an elite level, wraps up on Saturday in Montana with the five- and 10-kilometer classic races. |
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