(Planica) Quebecers Olivier Léveillé and Katherine Stewart-Jones have risen among the top 30while Dahria Beatty retired after the weekend’s cross-country marathon races at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia.
Léveillé was the best Canadian on Sunday with 23rd placee Location. The Sherbrooke resident completed the classic 50-kilometer mass start ski race in a time of two hours five minutes 55 seconds (2:05:55.0). Antoine Cyr from Gatineau took the 36e place in 2h 10:26.8.
The Norwegians took the first two places on the podium. Paal Golberg was first in 2:01:30.2. Johannes Klaebo took second place with a time of 2:01:31.2. Sweden’s William Poromaa was third, just over a second back in 2:01:31.4.
Three Canadians also caught up with the elite group in the 30-30 km mass start. Chelsea resident Katherine Stewart-Jones led the Canadians in 1:29:34.3 for the 28th rounde Position. Liliane Gagnon from Quebec arrived 32e Position at 1h31: 16.0.
All of the Canadian delegation’s attention was focused on Dahria Beatty, who marked the end of her career at 36e Place, in 1h34: 48.8.
Beatty, who hails from Whitehorse, has twice competed in the Olympics and has represented Canada nine times at the World Championships (Senior, U23 and Junior).
“It was really nice to end my career with such a legendary race. The 30K World Championships is always one of the toughest races of the season but also an amazing atmosphere to finish with,” said Beatty.
“Being a professional athlete for the last ten years is something I will always be grateful for. I’ve made so many friends across the country and around the world,” she added.
Swede Ebba Andersson was the first to cross the finish line with a time of 1:22:18.0. Norway’s Anne Kalvaa came second in 1:23:11.0. Frida Karlsson, also from Sweden, took third place in 1:23:12.2.
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