Success in the sprint!
The second race of the weekend was the skate sprint. I was really snowy and very slow with only one lane skied-in almost the whole way around. Usually I don't have very fast qualifiers but I ended up wining this one by a short 0.5 seconds! That gave me mixed feelings because it gave me a little confidence boost but it also made me worry a bit because (for whatever reason) it seems like the person who wins the qualifier doesn't usually win the day.
Through the quarter finals everything went smoothly, I stayed in 3rd position the whole way around and passed the two girls on the last corner coming into the finishing stretch. The semis however, wern't so smooth. I was in 3rd position again and on the last quick climb I got caught up in a little tumble allowing me to lose a couple of positions. Coming around the last corner and into the finish I was able to move back into the 3rd position with a big lunge. Because the heats were timed, I wouldn't know if I moved to the A-final until the next heat finished. My teammate and I were 3rd and 4rth in our heat and we were 'patiently' waiting for the organizers to write down whether we were the two lucky losers or not. Luckily our heat was faster than the other one and we both advanced to the final, whew!
For me the final went perfectly. I tucked into 2nd position and when one of the girls attacked on the long climb I crossed over and stayed right on her tails the whole rest of the way. That is until the last corner, where I made my attack and crossed the line in 1st place by a couple of meters!!
(Photo credit: Jesse Winter)
(Photo credit: David Greer)
Another yummy chocolate medal was received! I thought I would be nice though and gave it to the wax techs/coaches to enjoy.
Winning a race this weekend automatically means going to Turkey for the World Junior Championships, so this was really special for me! I have gone to WJC twice so far but for both of them I was taken as an 'overall' athlete - meaning I did well in all the races but didn't win any. So by taking the gold in the sprint was a big relief! It really took the pressure off of the next race.
Through the quarter finals everything went smoothly, I stayed in 3rd position the whole way around and passed the two girls on the last corner coming into the finishing stretch. The semis however, wern't so smooth. I was in 3rd position again and on the last quick climb I got caught up in a little tumble allowing me to lose a couple of positions. Coming around the last corner and into the finish I was able to move back into the 3rd position with a big lunge. Because the heats were timed, I wouldn't know if I moved to the A-final until the next heat finished. My teammate and I were 3rd and 4rth in our heat and we were 'patiently' waiting for the organizers to write down whether we were the two lucky losers or not. Luckily our heat was faster than the other one and we both advanced to the final, whew!
For me the final went perfectly. I tucked into 2nd position and when one of the girls attacked on the long climb I crossed over and stayed right on her tails the whole rest of the way. That is until the last corner, where I made my attack and crossed the line in 1st place by a couple of meters!!
Another yummy chocolate medal was received! I thought I would be nice though and gave it to the wax techs/coaches to enjoy.
Winning a race this weekend automatically means going to Turkey for the World Junior Championships, so this was really special for me! I have gone to WJC twice so far but for both of them I was taken as an 'overall' athlete - meaning I did well in all the races but didn't win any. So by taking the gold in the sprint was a big relief! It really took the pressure off of the next race.
