Malheureuse lors du sprint individuel en étant victime d'une chute, la talentueuse Mona-Liisa Malvalehto a pris aujourd'hui à Sochi la plus belle des revanches.
Avec l'aide de sa coéquipière Anne Kylloenen, elles ont dominé du début à la fin cette finale du team sprint, toujours disputé sur cette boucle bien difficile.
A l'arrivée les Finlandaises devancent de cinq secondes l'équipe de Russie 2 avec Ivanova et Matveeva. Les Canadiennes battues au sprint prennent une belle troisième place gràce à Jones et Gaiazova (dont la grand-mère est de nationalité Russe).
La Norvège est battue et doit se contenter du 4e rang avec Jacobsen et Brun-Lie. On trouve ensuite les USA, sans Randall, la Russie 3 et la Suède.
La France n'avait pas inscrite d'équipe.
Prochaine étape de coupe du monde dans deux semaines à Davos, on sera alors à la veille des mondiaux !
Les réactions (source FIS)
Mona-Lisa Malvalehto (FIN)
"The last leg of the race was the most difficult leg but overall we didn't have any big problems here today. The track was very good, I hope it will be the same for the Olympics. It's very nice here when it's sunny. When it was snowing so much, it was more difficult. The snow is so different here from the snow we have in Finland. This is particularly difficult for the waxing team. Our waxing guys were out here for four days testing the snow so that they will be ready for Olympics. "
Natalia Matveeva (RUS)
"After the fall in the semifinal, initially we thought we would not make it into the final but somehow we still got through. It was a bit difficult for me at the end. I just didn't have enough in me but we still did well. The speed today was much higher than on previous days. It was wonderful to feel the support of all the Russian fans here today."
Daria Gaiazova (CAN)
"It's pretty cool. I was born in Russia and my grandmother still lives here, just outside Moscow. She was a little bummed that she couldn't come to the venue to see me but I know she'll be watching on TV and shouting and cheering. When it got to the end and I saw the TV cameras I thought of her. I thought how she'd probably be watching and she'd be really happy to see me on the screen at the Olympic venue."
Le classement complet ICI
Photo : Nordic Focus
