Heikkinen takes 15k classic for Finn win at Worlds

By Published On: March 1st, 2011Comments Off on Heikkinen takes 15k classic for Finn win at Worlds

HeikkinenIn 2009 Matti Heikkinen was the bronze medalist in the 15k-c. This year it was all or nothing.

Pursued by a pair of Norwegians, Heikkinen staved off the attack with one of his own for a 13 second win over silver medal winner Eldar Roenning and bronze Martin Johnsrud Sundby to take the gold medal Tuesday (March 1) at the Nordic World Championships in Oslo.

Both Roenning and Johsrud Sundby were gracious toward the gold medalist. “My skis were excellent,” said Roenning. “Of course I was hoping for gold, but Matti Heikkinen really deserved to win. I didn’t stand a chance.”

Heikkinen said he thought it “healthy for the sport the Norwegians didn’t win again,” adding that the crowd was so loud as he entered the stadium he was inspired to go even harder. “I started skiing when I was nine years old and becoming World Champion was always my goal,” he said. “I knew I had the capacity and today everything was perfect. It is special to win in the legendary Holmenkollen.”

It was the first gold medal for the Finnish men’s team since 1999.

American Kris Freeman finished a respectable 24th with Noah Hoffman in 29th, Lars Flora 39th and Simeon Hamilton 51st. Canada topped out with Ivan Babikov in 30th.

“I latched on to Heikkinen for about 5k and blew up spectacularly,” said Freeman. “I was actually pretty surprised that I was still as good as I was at the finish. I was barely making forward progress. … I didn’t have it in the tank.”

Place   Oslo
(NOR)
  Discipline   15 km C
Date   01.03.2011   Category   World Ski Championships
Race codex   2121   Gender   M
Valid for FIS Points   NO – Waiting reports   TD Name   Pekk Tiit (EST)
       
  
Rank Bib FIS Code Name Year Nation Time FIS Points
 1  68  3180053 HEIKKINEN Matti  1983  FIN   38:14.7  0.00
 2  71  3420036 ROENNING Eldar  1982  NOR   38:28.0  4.64
 3  70  3420228 JOHNSRUD SUNDBY Martin  1984  NOR   38:46.6  11.12
 4  48  3480533 VOLZHENTSEV Stanislav  1985  RUS   38:51.3  12.76
 5  62  1344711 JAUHOJAERVI Sami  1981  FIN   38:58.9  15.41
 6  69  3190111 MANIFICAT Maurice  1986  FRA   39:03.5  17.01
 7  75  1217350 BAUER Lukas  1977  CZE   39:09.7  19.17
 8  56  3180054 NOUSIAINEN Ville  1983  FIN   39:11.0  19.63
 9  61  1178162 ANGERER Tobias  1977  GER   39:24.8  24.44
 10  73  3480013 VYLEGZHANIN Maxim  1982  RUS   39:25.7  24.75
 11  35  3670006 CHEREPANOV Sergey  1986  KAZ   39:35.0  27.99
 12  55  3300190 YOSHIDA Keishin  1987  JPN   39:40.9  30.05
 13  66  1221327 TEICHMANN Axel  1979  GER   39:42.8  30.71
 14  44  1098137 MAE Jaak  1972  EST   39:43.4  30.92
 15  52  3420280 ELIASSEN Petter  1985  NOR   39:45.0  31.48
 16  41  1292331 SIMILAE Tero  1980  FIN   39:47.6  32.39
 17  60  1283892 OLSSON Johan  1980  SWE   39:53.1  34.31
 18  72  3150069 JAKS Martin  1986  CZE   39:55.0  34.97
 19  54  1106867 BAJCICAK Martin  1976  SVK   40:11.5  40.72
 20  77  3480016 LEGKOV Alexander  1983  RUS   40:13.9  41.56
 21  51  3420605 ROETHE Sjur  1988  NOR   40:14.5  41.77
 22  65  1248293 SOEDERGREN Anders  1977  SWE   40:22.5  44.55
 23  38  3390034 KARP Algo  1985  EST   40:22.9  44.69
 24  67  1285347 FREEMAN Kris  1980  USA   40:24.4  45.22
 25  78  3510023 COLOGNA Dario  1986  SUI   40:26.5  45.95
 26  37  3390103 TAMMJARV Karel  1989  EST   40:29.8  47.10
 27  40  3290008 GULLO Giovanni  1983  ITA   40:32.8  48.15
 28  29  3300277 SHIMIZU Kouhei  1989  JPN   40:40.6  50.87
 29  43  3530489 HOFFMAN Noah  1989  USA   40:42.8  51.63
 30  59  3100190 BABIKOV Ivan  1980  CAN   40:42.9  51.67
 31  64  3670007 POLTORANIN Alexey  1987  KAZ   40:44.6  52.26
 32  58  1286608 PERRILLAT Christophe  1979  FRA   40:50.5  54.32
 33  53  1297957 MORIGGL Thomas  1981  ITA   40:56.9  56.55
 34  74  3500139 HELLNER Marcus  1985  SWE   41:00.6  57.84
 35  34  3660065 SEMENOV Michail  1986  BLR   41:04.9  59.34
 36  25  1277393 LEYBYUK Roman  1977  UKR   41:05.2  59.44
 37  63  3481161 BELOV Evgeniy  1990  RUS   41:05.4  59.51
 38  47  3290007 HOFER David  1983  ITA   41:08.5  60.59
 39  46  1196883 FLORA Lars  1978  USA   41:09.5  60.94
 40  26  3670022 VELICHKO Yevgeniy  1987  KAZ   41:12.8  62.09
 41  49  3290004 SCOLA Fulvio  1982  ITA   41:21.6  65.16
 42  76  3500015 RICKARDSSON Daniel  1982  SWE   41:27.1  67.08
 43  33  1106091 BATORY Ivan  1975  SVK   41:31.5  68.61
 44  27  3660013 LASUTKIN Alexander  1983  BLR   41:34.8  69.76
 45  45  3460018 PEPENE Paul Constantin  1988  ROU   41:37.0  70.53
 46  24  3090024 TZINZOV Veselin  1986  BUL   41:40.4  71.71
 47  50  3200208 DOTZLER Hannes  1990  GER   41:43.9  72.93
 48  23  3100097 VALJAS Len  1988  CAN   41:45.9  73.63
 49  42  3190059 DUFOURD Benoit-Gilles  1984  FRA   41:51.5  75.58
 50  36  3220002 MUSGRAVE Andrew  1990  GBR   42:00.2  78.62
 51  14  3530120 HAMILTON Simeon  1987  USA   42:08.3  81.44
 52  39  1321237 KUHN Stefan  1979  CAN   42:10.6  82.24
 53  13  1320849 GOLOVKO Andrey  1980  KAZ   42:17.7  84.72
 54  18  3430103 STAREGA Maciej  1990  POL   42:20.5  85.69
 55  28  1310470 KRECZMER Maciej  1981  POL   42:23.8  86.84
 56  8  3740021 MIKAYELYAN Sergey  1992  ARM   42:38.9  92.11
 57  57  1324729 GREY George  1979  CAN   42:42.3  93.29
 58  30  1311925 VILARRUBLA Vicenc  1981  SPA   42:45.1  94.27
 59  31  3040011 SIM Ben  1985  AUS   42:45.5  94.41
 60  16  3690023 SHVIDKIY Oleksiy  1986  UKR   42:55.1  97.76
 61  20  3690018 BILOSYUK Myroslav  1985  UKR   42:59.2  99.19
 62  10  3380033 DADIC Edi  1993  CRO   43:17.7  105.63
 63  32  3490026 GUTIERREZ Javier  1985  SPA   43:19.8  106.37
 64  7  3520004 OGLAGO Sebahattin  1984  TUR   43:21.6  106.99
 65  12  3020000 SOULIE Francois  1978  AND   43:40.7  113.65
 66  15  3040080 WATSON Callum  1989  AUS   43:56.4  119.13
 67  3  3040037 WATSON Ewan  1987  AUS   43:58.7  119.93
 68  2  3410002 KOONS Benjamin  1986  NZE   44:00.4  120.52
 69  19  3410009 KOONS Nils  1988  NZE   44:16.8  126.24
 70  4  3220019 SMITH Callum  1992  GBR   44:26.9  129.76
 71  1  3040028 VAN DER PLOEG Mark  1985  AUS   44:40.5  134.50
 72  22  3690014 BILOSYUK Ivan  1984  UKR   44:43.3  135.48
 73  5  3090025 BURGOV Ivan  1986  BUL   44:57.1  140.29
 74  6  3170013 MOELGAARD Asger Fischer  1983  DAN   45:19.1  147.96
 75  9  3550066 LIEPINS Arvis  1990  LAT   45:31.7  152.35
 76  11  3170006 WULFF Kristian  1985  DAN   45:49.9  158.70
Did not qualify for final race
 77  30  3040039 GRIMMER Nick  1983  AUS   30:53.4  
 78  46  1291070 THOR OLSEN Jonas  1978  DAN   30:57.3  
 79  27  3780015 VAICIULIS Modestas  1989  LTU   31:07.4  
 80  22  3770006 ROJIN Artem  1986  KGZ   31:27.1  
 81  42  3040001 DARLINGTON Chris  1982  AUS   31:45.3  
 82  34  3170012 HULGAARD Jens  1989  DAN   31:51.4  
 83  28  3550088 BIKERNIEKS Nauris  1991  LAT   31:56.3  
 84  43  3380009 BURIC Andrej  1989  CRO   31:57.5  
 85  19  3260013 SEYD Seyed Sattar  1987  IRA   32:05.2  
 86  26  3240019 KONYA Adam  1992  HUN   32:10.3  
 87  29  3090089 DEYANOV Simeon  1994  BUL   32:16.3  
 88  25  3220013 PLATT Simon James  1989  GBR   32:18.9  
 89  16  3230036 GKOUNKO Alexis  1975  GRE   32:26.6  
 90  20  3740023 POGHOSYAN Tadevos  1993  ARM   32:30.0  
 91  32  3780025 STROLIA Vytautas  1992  LTU   32:31.5  
 92  23  1254598 LANNES Carlos  1979  ARG   32:38.5  
 93  21  3030004 CICHERO Federico Pablo  1983  ARG   32:45.1  
 94  18  3260033 KANGARLOO Beejan  1985  IRA   33:10.2  
 95  33  3090093 SINAPOV Anton  1993  BUL   33:10.7  
 96  38  3320120 HA Tae-Bok  1992  KOR   33:19.0  
 96  13  3280000 KUZMIN Daniel  1978  ISR   33:19.0  
 98  15  3740033 GASPARYAN Shavarsh  1992  ARM   33:37.5  
 99  9  3240004 CSEKE Csaba  1974  HUN   34:33.9  
 100  14  3260049 SHEMSHAKI Yasin  1988  IRA   34:38.5  
 101  12  3230056 KAPPAS Dimitrios  1989  GRE   34:44.5  
 102  11  3230019 NAKAS Georgios  1978  GRE   34:47.7  
 103  24  3240016 GOMBOS Karoly  1981  HUN   34:48.5  
 104  10  3270003 BARRON Peter-James  1989  IRE   35:16.6  
 105  6  3240013 PALFY Mate  1988  HUN   35:24.3  
 106  8  3740010 SARGSYAN Hovhannes  1987  ARM   36:35.9  
 107  7  3260023 SAVEI Abolfazl  1989  IRA   36:48.8  
 108  2  1287384 BOIT Philip  1971  KEN   37:08.0  
 109  5  3080013 LUTZ Leandro  1982  BRA   39:04.4  
 110  17  3080005 RIBELA Leandro  1980  BRA   39:10.7  
 111  4  3920002 BAENA Cesar  1986  VEN   39:33.4  
 112  3  3270001 MORRISH Rory  1968  IRE   41:38.8  
 113  1  3920005 BAENA Bernardo  1990  VEN   44:22.6  
Did not start
   21  3050159 TRITSCHER Bernhard  1988  AUT     
Did not finish
   17  3460021 HOGIU Petrica  1991  ROU     
Did not finish in qualification race
   48  3220016 YOUNG Andrew  1992  GBR   

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About the Author: Hank McKee

In memoriam: The veteran of the staff, McKee started with Ski Racing in 1980. Over the seasons, he covered virtually every aspect of the sport, from the pro tours to junior racing, freestyle and World Cup alpine competition. He wrote the first national stories for many U.S. team stars, and was still around to report on their retirements. “Longevity has its rewards,” he said, “but it’s a slow process.”