Olympic Update: February 19th The Olympic Sprints
By Erik Stange

Close to 20,000 spectators were again on hand for the first-ever Olympic sprint competition. Various sprint formats have been featured on the World Cup for three seasons now, but the International Ski Federation (FIS) seems to have settled on a single format which was part of the program at last year's World Championships in Lahti, Finland, and was used again here at the Olympics. A brief primer for those who are unfamiliar with this new medal event: All racers individually ski the 1.5 km course with 15-second interval starts. The top 16 finishers advance to the afternoon's elimination heats. These remaining skiers compete in four quarter-final heats of four skiers each, with the top two from each heat advancing to the semi-finals. Finish in the top two of the semis, and they can advance to the finals. There is also a B-final to determine which skiers will finish in places five through eight.

Many expected Canada's Beckie Scott to do quite well today, on the heels of her astounding sprint in the conclusion of the pursuit race a few days earlier. There was word that Beckie was listed at ten-to-one odds to take the gold medal today, and some of us were scrambling to place bets on the Norwegian on-line betting site before the qualifying race was held. Finnish National Team coach Jan-Olof Nas told me this morning that he considered Beckie his pick to win the gold. As it turns out, Beckie was forced to the inside on the last turn of her semifinal, causing her to lose precious speed. As she came out of the turn, there was just too much ground to make up. She was gaining on the others, but she ran out of real estate and did not move on. By winning the B-final she finished fifth overall. The silver lining in all this is that a North American can be disappointed with a fifth-place finish in an Olympic cross-country ski race. We should also note that Canada's Sara Renner finished ninth today, which is her best Olympic result ever.

The crowds appeared to love the format, and there is little doubt that the sprint format is spectator friendly. A few mishaps, tangles and broken poles marred the "fairness" of the races, but sprints are here to stay and add a new level of excitement to the sport. The stadium announcer asked the crowd to cheer if this was the first cross-country ski race they had attended, and a good number of people responded. When asked if these people would come back to another race, the same group responded with an even louder roar.