Olivier Léveillé and Katherine Stewart-Jones Ski into Top-30 at Nordic World Championships
PLANICA, Slo.—Olivier Léveillé and Katherine Stewart-Jones both squeaked into the top-30 in the middle distance cross-country ski events at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia.
Léveillé, of Sherbrooke, Que., had his best result of the week finishing in 28th spot in the men’s 15-kilometre skate-ski race with a time of 34:29.9. Stewart-Jones, Chelsea, Que., grabbed 27th spot in the women’s 10-kilometre event.
The Norwegians swept the men’s podium. Simen Krueger won the men’s race with a time of 32:17.4. Harald Amundsen skied to the silver medal at 32:22.7. Hans Holund posted a bronze-medal time of 32:42.0.
American Jessie Diggins won the women’s race with a time of 23:40.8. Diggins was joined on the podium with two Swedish athletes. Frida Karlsson won the silver medal with a time of 23:54.8. Ebba Andersson clocked-in at 24:00.3 for third place.
Quotes by Olivier Léveillé
“I felt pretty good overall, I think my race shape and the race feelings are all coming together slowly but surely! It was a hard course with long climbs and long working sections especially in those slower fresh snow conditions, but I managed to push myself deep into that red zone and had great feelings especially on the climbs.”
“A huge thank you to the techs for the amazing work and the fast skis we had especially in those tricky conditions. I think it’s easy to have really high hopes result wise especially in a Championship, but today, with all the pressure I was already putting on myself, I told myself that if I was back in the top 30 I couldn’t go to bed angry or disappointed so I can say it’s mission done on that side. I think I can now build on this for the next races!”
Canadian Men’s 15km Results:
- Olivier Léveillé (Sherbrooke, Que.) 34:29.9
- Graham Ritchie (Parry Sound, Ont.) 35:33.7
- Xavier McKeever (Canmore, Alta.) 36:24.5
Canadian Women’s 10km Results:
- Katherine Stewart-Jones (Chelsea, Que.) 25:37.4
- Jasmine Lyons (Ottawa) 26:16.9
- Liliane Gagnon (Quebec City) 26:36.9
- Dahria Beatty (Whitehorse) 27:21.8