Women's sprint race was Poland's Justyna Kowalczyk's domination from beginning to the end. She was the fastest one in the semi-finals and kept her speed in the finals, finishing 0,9 seconds before Petra Majdic of Slovenia. Majdic had won the sprint in Ruka three times in row, but today her winning streak was broken. Alena Prochazkova (SVK) came third before Aino-Kaisa Saarinen (FIN).

The sprint victory was first in Kowalczyk's World Cup career. She was naturally very satisfied with her achievement.

“This was a great day for me. I had a good feeling when I woke up in the morning and I just kept on smiling. The race and the conditions suited me well. I didn't believe I would win, but right now I'm just really happy.”

Slovenia's Majdic was the second fastest to circle the 1,2 km circuit. She was pleased with her performance, even though the preparation for the race didn't go as planned.

“This was definitely a maximum effort from me. I didn't sleep the whole night and I was really tired in the morning. I knew Justyna would be the strongest today and I was just hoping to finish in the podium. Now I'm going straight to bed to get some sleep”, said the tired, but obviously happy Majdic.

Prochazkova and Saarinen had a fierce battle for the third place, but it was determined that Prochazkova crossed the finish line just before Saarinen. Evgenia Shapovalova (RUS) finished fifth and Maiken Caspersen Falla (SWE) came sixth.

Text: Oskari Vilkama / Laajasalon opisto

Nordic Opening Media Services:
JKPROMO OY, Annankatu 29 A 5, 00100 Helsinki, www.jkpromo.com 
Chief of Media Jaakko Kantola, puh. +358 40 550 1283, email: jaakko.kantola@jkpromo.com