Cross-country skiing | Antoine Cyr finishes 16th in the sprint

Only 9 hundredths of a second deprived cross-country skier Antoine Cyr of a place in the semi-final of the classic sprint on Saturday, at the World Cup in Östersund, Sweden.

The Quebecer posted a time of 3 min 11.73 s and took third place in his fiercely contested quarter-final heat. Like his Norwegian opponents Ansgar Evensen and Haavard Solaas Taugboel did, he stuck out one leg at the finish line in an attempt to advance to the next round.

In the end, Evensen had the upper hand, followed by his compatriot, who finished 9 hundredths of a second ahead of Cyr.

“In waves, this is often the part where I excel and where I can perform well. [Samedi], it’s been a good day. My form is improving, but I’m still a little lacking in appetite,” Antoine Cyr shared with Sportcom. It points to 16^e rank in the final ranking.

Norwegian Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won gold ahead of Erik Valnes (+3.35 seconds), also from Norway. The American James Clinton Schoonmaker (+4.8 seconds) received the bronze medal.

The two fastest skiers in each quarter-final heat earned their ticket to the next round. Two other places are then offered in the repechage for the two best times of the non-qualified athletes. Cyr thought he would slip through, except that the Frenchman Jules Chappaz and the Swede Johan Haeggstroem beat him to it.

“I had the first spot and everyone told me that it was settled, that I was going to the semi-final, so of course it’s disappointing not to have made it. In the World Cup, small positioning errors are costly, especially in sprints,” added the man who ranked 25th.^e qualifying a little earlier.

Also in action on Saturday, Léo Grandbois concluded his day in 65^e place during qualifying. For her part, Katherine Stewart-Jones took 34^e ranked in the women’s event and did not qualify for the elimination rounds.

10 km freestyle events will take place on Sunday, still in Östersund.