Freeman 29th in Kuusamo skiathlon, 20th in 15km CL

Freeman 29th in Kuusamo skiathlon, 20th in 15km CL{mosimage}USSA — Kris Freeman, scoring World Cup points for the third consecutive race, overcame two falls in the 15km classic race to finish 29th overall Sunday in a World Cup skiathlon (15km CL and 15km FR) while Carl Swenson was 34th. Germany’s Axel Teichmann won the race, with Swede Anders Soedergren just six-tenths of a second back.

Estonian Andrus Veerpalu led after the 15km classic leg, but he lost the lead early in the skating portion of the two-race race. Soedergren took a lead going into the final couple of kilometers, but couldn’t hold off Teichmann and teammates Rene Sommerfeldt and Jens Filbrich.

Teichmann, the reigning world 15K champion, finished in 1:15.52.8 with Soedergren second at 1:15.53.4 as the top seven skiers were within 5.5 seconds of the winner. Freeman, despite the two spills, finished in 1:18.22.6 with Swenson 34th in 1:19.33.9.

“I’m not sure what it was but Kris went down at the bottom of two downhills during the first race, but he got up and back into it,” said head coach Trond Nystad. “Without that, obviously he’d have been a lot farther up. Carl had just an average classic race [he was 43rd] and then turned it up in the skate race, so he’s starting to ski faster.”

In the women’s skiathlon Saturday, Estonian Kristina Smigun led both sides of the race and won in 43:18.1, putting her 22.3 seconds ahead of Russian Olga Savialova with Germany’s Evi Sachenbacher third. No U.S. women competed.

The next men’s World Cup races are a 30km mass-start, freestyle race and two-man team sprint December 6-7 in Dobbiaco, Italy.

Cross-Country World Cup
Kuusamo, Finland
Men’s Skiathlon (15km CL+15km FR)
1. Axel Teichmann, Germany, (13/2) 1:15.52.8
2. Anders Soedergren, Sweden, (7/4) 1:15.53.4
3. Rene Sommerfeldt, Germany, (4/6) 1:15.54.2
U.S. skiers:
29. Kris Freeman, Andover, N.H., (30/28) 1:18.22.6
34. Carl Swenson, Boulder, Colo., (43/30) 1:19.33.9

Freeman 20th in 15km classic race on Day One at Kuusamo

Two days earlier, November 28, Freeman was 20th in a 15km classic technique World Cup race behind Norwegians Anders Aukland and Jens Arne Svartedal.

“It was quite a good race for Kris. I had him on my [timing] splits at 16th with 2.5km to go,” said Nystad. “It was tough conditions with the rain and about plus-1, plus-2 [35 Farenheit] weather but we had good skis and he skied into the race, moving up as it went along. Kuusamo has some tough hills.

“It was a good classic race for Carl [Swenson, the only other U.S. skier]. Things are so tight on the World Cup now — 10 seconds faster and Kris could’ve been in the top 15 and if he’d been 20 seconds faster, he’d have been in the top 10.”

Aukland won the three-lap race in 37:35.4, finishing 8.5 seconds ahead of his teammate with Freeman timed in 38:19.1.

Ukraine’s Valentina Shevchenko, the sensation of the young season, took the women’s 10km CL in 27:14.8 — the first World Cup win by a Ukrainian skier — with Norway’s Vibeke Skofterud runnerup (27:28.7).

Men’s 15km Classic
Kuusamo, FIN
November 28, 2003
1. Anders Aukland, Norway, 37:35.4
2. Jens Arne Svartedal, Norway, 37:43.9
3. Anders Doedergren, Sweden, 37:45.3
U.S. skiers:
20. Kris Freeman, Andover, N.H., 38:19.1
74. Carl Swenson, Boulder, Colo., 40:05.3

Women’s 10km Classic
1. Valentina Shevchenko, Ukraine, 27:14.8
2. Vibeke Skofterud, Norway, 27:28.7
3. Kristina Smigun, Estonia, 27:30.1
No U.S. women competed