Cross Country Canada – GATINEAU, Que.—Dahria Beatty battled to her first national championship crown of 2019, while Lenny Valjas finished on top of the podium for the second-straight day – this time in the pursuit races on Thursday at Gatineau, Que.

The two Olympic veterans of the sport mixed it up with the next generation of elite Canadian skiers at the Nakkertok Nordic Centre. 

Starting time-behind the leader based on Wednesday’s individual results, Beatty was in an all-out battle with three of her World Championship teammates, Emily Nishikawa, Katherine Stewart-Jones and Cendrine Brown in the women’s 10-kilometre skate-ski pursuit.

With Wednesday’s gold medallist, Emily Nishikawa, out front for most of the race, the trio of Canadian women worked hard to reel the two-time Olympian in over the two five-kilometre laps, setting up a pressure-packed dash for the line finish.

When all was said and done, it was Beatty from Whitehorse first across the line with a two-race time of 40:50.8.

“Today’s race was a hard one but lots of fun,” said Beatty. “Katherine and I were working hard to chase Emily down, and were able to catch her right at the end which made for an exciting finish. I had amazing skis today, which really helped on the last kilometre of this course. It is great to have another national championship title.

Nishikawa, of Whitehorse, finished in second after her win in the classic for a second-place time of 40:58.1.

 

Katherine Stewart-Jones, of Chelsea, Que., also skied onto the podium for the second-straight day. Stewart-Jones finished just under 10 seconds off the leading pace with a bronze-medal, and a two-day time of 41:00.6.

 

Toronto’s Lenny Valjas was able to hold off a charging field of young Canucks in the men’s 15-kilometre skate-ski pursuit to win for the second-straight day after clocking a two-race time of 1:00:18.6.

 

“Today was a lot tougher for me. The rest of the skiers were skiing well, and I was barely hanging on,” said the seven-time World Cup medallist, who started ahead of the field thanks to his win in the individual start classic-ski race. “They caught me, so I stayed at the back of the pack and recovered, got my energy back.

 

“I decided to attack early before the sprint hill because I know some of those younger guys are so quick. I couldn’t trust myself on that last hill, so I made them hurt with a couple of kilometres to go.”

 

Valjas topped two Quebec-based athletes for top spot on the podium. Philippe Boucher secured the silver medal after being edged at the line with a time of 1:00:19.3. Alexis Dumas was third at 1:00:19.6.

 

More than 800 skiers from across Canada are taking part in the event that runs from March 13 to 19, 2019 at the Nakkertok Nordic Ski Centre on the edge of Gatineau. A full schedule is available at https://championnatscanadiensdeski2019.engne.ca 

 

Complete Results: https://bit.ly/2VZPPgl

 

CCC is the governing body of cross-country skiing in Canada, which is the nation’s optimal winter sport and recreational activity with more than one million Canadians participating annually. Its 60,000 members include athletes, coaches, officials and skiers of all ages and abilities, including those on Canada’s National Ski Teams. With the support of its valued corporate partners – Haywood Securities Inc., AltaGas, Swix and Lanctôt Sports– along with the Government of Canada, Canadian Olympic Committee, Canadian Paralympic Committee, Own the Podium and B2Ten, CCC develops Olympic, Paralympic and world champions. For more information on CCC, please visit us at www.cccski.com.

 

For More Information:

Chris Dornan

Media and Public Relations

Cross Country Ski de fond Canada

T: 403-620-8731