Fourth places often have a bitter taste, especially at World Championships. The one signed by Antoine Cyr and Graham Ritchie on Sunday in the team freestyle sprint is no exception, although it has many features comparable to those of a victory.
The duo completed the six 1.4 kilometer laps in 17:51.09 in Planica, Slovenia, just over six seconds behind the French and a bronze medal. Norwegians Paal Golberg and Johannes Hoesflot Klaebo won gold ahead of Italians Francesco De Fabiani and Federico Pellegrino (+2.48 seconds).
“It’s really a superb performance and I’m extremely happy! That said, I would be lying if I said that there is no disappointment at all, ”specified Antoine Cyr in an interview with Sportcom.
The Canadian pair had finished seventh in this event at the 2021 World Championships, then fifth at the Beijing Olympics.
As usual, the Gatineau native was the first to start on Sunday. His only objective was to position his Ontario teammate well before each rally so that he could conserve his energy until the end.
The strategy seems to have paid off. Ninth in the second stint, they managed to quietly move up the standings and battle for fifth place at the halfway mark. On the last lap, Ritchie caught up with his Swedish opponent to take fourth place.
Our tactic worked really well. We have a good game plan and I like to think I did a good job. It’s a fantastic performance! Fourth, we come close to a medal and it goes up. In the future, we can start thinking about it and it’s very encouraging.
Antoine Cyr
This result gave a smile to Antoine Cyr, who had a difficult start at the World Cross-Country Skiing Championships, the second of his career as a senior. A cold and a lung infection greatly affected his preparation. He then took the 38e rank of the classic sprint on Wednesday. In the skiathlon presented two days later, he fell and broke his equipment before having to withdraw from the race, much to his chagrin.
He hoped to recover and forget his last presence on the track, so the motivation was not lacking on the starting line of the team sprint. She’s even bigger after coming within six seconds of a podium at worlds.
“In cross-country skiing, there are no miracles. I don’t want to speak for Graham, but personally, I think I lacked a bit to be worthy of a podium. We will aim higher than a fourth place next time, that’s 100% sure. It gives us a lot of confidence and it’s more than encouraging for the future. »
On the women’s side, Liliane Gagnon joined forces with Dahria Betty in the team sprint and they finished 12are (+1 minute 25.55 seconds). Eighth for a while, they finally got out of the top 10 in the second half of the course.
The Swedes Emma Ribom and Jonna Sundling were crowned world champions ahead of the Norwegians (+2.42 seconds) and the Americans (+5.33 seconds).
The World Championships will resume Tuesday in Slovenia, where Gagnon, Katherine Stewart-Jones and Olivia Bouffard-Nesbitt will be in the 10 km free in the individual start.