Norway Takes Men's 50K in Liberec

World Championships

Mon, Mar  2, 2009 - By US Ski Team

LIBEREC, Czech Republic (March 1) - Petter Northug of Norway finished in just under two hours to grab the last gold medal of the 2009 FIS Nordic Ski World Championships as he won the men's 50K Sunday in Liberec. Anchorage's James Southam led the way for the U.S. finishing 39th.

"Our athletes skied as hard and as fast as they could the whole day and that's all we can ask for," U.S. Cross Country Head Coach Pete Vordenberg said.

Russia's Maxim Vylegzhanin finished second with the silver and Tobias Angerer of Germany was third. Garrott Kuzzy (Hayward, WI) followed Southam for the U.S., finishing 44th.

According to Vordenberg, looking back at the accomplishments of the USA during World Championships, he is amazed at the success and happy to live up to the aspirations of the U.S. Ski Team.

"It was a great World Championships for us. The U.S. in nordic had great results and that's huge in comparison to anything we've done in the past," Vordenberg said.

The U.S. Cross Country Ski Team now heads to Lahti,  Finland, to resume the World Cup season.

"We have some skiers in great shape. Kikkan [Randall; Anchorage, AK], Andy [Newell; Shaftsburry, VT], Torin [Koos; Leavenworth, WA] , Liz [Stephen; East Montpelier, VT] and Morgan [Arritola; Ketchum, ID] are all heading up there in really good shape, so it should keep rolling," Vordenberg said.

In the end, the U.S. finished second in the medals standings for the FIS Nordic Ski World championships with six medals in total, including four wins. The action may be over, but fans can relive the historic moments from the World Championships on UniversalSports.com presented by High Sierra.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2009 NORDIC SKI WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Liberec, Czech Republic - March 1, 2009
Men's 50K

1. Petter Northug, Norway, 1:59:38.1
2. Maxim Vylegzhanin, Russia, 1:59:38.8
3. Tobias Angerer, Germany, 1:59:40.1
4. Giorgio Di Centa, Italy, 1:59:42.1
5. Sergei Dolidovich, Belarus, 1:59:43.7
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39. James Southam, Anchorage, 2:06:15.2
44. Garrott Kuzzy, Hayward, WI, 2:09:34.7
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For complete results click here.