SKI RACES

The leader of Ukrainian national ski team Iryna Terelia-Taranenko came in ninth in world rankings with 329 points after twelve stages. Larysa Lazutina of Russia with 773 points won the championship. Bente Martinsen of Norway and Stephania Belmondo of Italy won silver and bronze with 625 and 544 respectively. In the finals Holmenkollen, Norway, Taranenko came in eighth with 1:46.14.3. Lazutina won this race with 1:41.41.2. Aleksei Prokurov of Russia won the marathon with 2:32.25.3. Unfortunately in the cup’s summary he wound up with only 209 points and landed in fourteenth place. The 790 points of Thomas Alsgaard of Norway brought him victory and the gold medal. Vladimir Smirnov of Kazakhstan surprised everyone by winning third with 431 points.