Raphael Couturier pulled an abrupt 180 and skied backwards across the finish line, seven seconds ahead of the second-place finisher at Otway Nordic Centre on Thursday.
It might have been the only time any of the other 52 skiers in Thursday's Canada Winter Games men's free technique 15-kilometre cross-country race caught a glimpse of the tips of Couturier's skis before he claimed gold.
"I wanted to start the race fast just to split the pack a little bit just so it's not one of those races that ends with a big pack at the end, so I started pretty fast," said Couturier, a 22-year-old from Levis, Que. "On the second lap, David (Palmer) went up front and I stayed behind him to rest. On the third lap I was ready to make a good move and finish strong."
Couturier, a senior national team member who competed in the under-23 world championships in Kazakhstan earlier this month, started the Games with a bronze-medal finish in the men's 10km classic on Monday. On Tuesday he won the classic sprint B final and finished seventh overall.
"I had a slow start this week so it's good to be back in top shape," said Courturier. "I struggled a lot on the first race. I was able to get that bronze medal but on that second lap I died pretty hard and almost got knocked off the podium."
Couturier finished the three-lap course Thursday in 35 minutes 13.6 seconds. Evan Palmer-Charette, of Thunder Bay, Ont., won silver (35:21.4) and Palmer took bronze (35:25.8).
Couturier loved the race route, which utilizes the newer trails at Otway in the Race Maze section. Snow conditions Thursday were fast.
"This course is amazing, I have never been here before and I can't believe it - it's one of the best courses and overall setup in Canada," said Couturier. "This is beautiful. The trails are wide and nice and the chalet is beautiful and it's nice weather. It's warm outside but the snow is still nice and firm so it's perfect for cross-country skiing."
Palmer's first medal of the Games was looking like a longshot in the early going when somebody stepped on his pole as he made his way through traffic heading out of the stadium on the first lap. But the Rossland native, who skis for his hometown Blackjack Ski Club and is coached by Prince George native Dave Wood, a former national team head coach, got some help from the sidelines.
"I lost a pole right out of the start gate, and it took probably 30 seconds or a minute to get a pole, but the Yukon coach gave me one and it happened to be the right size," said Palmer, who was seventh in the sprint race. "I started in the front row and of course, losing a pole you get way to the back, but it's an easy course to pass people on.
"I went up to the front on the first lap and I don't have a strong finish so I knew my only chance was to push the pace as soon as I can. I started to get a little tired but I did what I wanted to do and pulled the pack apart and it worked."
Palmer credited Wood for getting him prepared for the Canada Games.
"He's an incredible coach and he's the one who has really brought me all this way," said Palmer. "He's not here right now, he's coaching the rest of the (Blackjack) team, the younger kids, but he'd love to be here."
Colin Ferrie of Kimberley, a Blackjack member who won gold in the sprint, placed seventh Thursday, while another Blackjack skier, Geoffrey Richards of Rossland, just missed the podium, finishing fourth.
Anne-Marie Comeau of Quebec City captured her first medal of the Games and it was gold in the women's 10km free technique race. The 18-year-old finished in 26:36.14, 21.25 seconds ahead of second-place Katherine Stewart-Jones, her Quebec teammate from Chelsea, Que., (26:57.39), who was at the head of a pack of four skiers in mad dash for the finish.
Maya MacIsaac Jones of Athabasca, Alta., was the bronze-medalist, one-tenth of a second behind Stewart-Jones. Comeau, a top-25 finisher at the world junior championships in Kazakhstan, led Thursday from start to finish.
"I wanted to have fun today and I had a lot of fun - the 10K skate is my favourite race," said Comeau. "The uphills were nice and so were the downhills. The downhills are sketchy a bit but that's fun. I wanted to start fast so I went in front. That was not my strategy but I was able to do it."
The gold-medal winners in Thursday's para-nordic categories were as follows: Female - Sit-ski (5km) - Gold: Emily Suchy, Revelstoke; Silver: Tanya Quesnel, Sudbury, Ont; Bronze: Ana Lucas, Edmonton; Standing (5km) - G: Brittany Hudak, Prince Albert, Sask.; S: Em Weekes, North Vancouver; B: Maragrita Gorbounova, Ottawa; Male - Sit-ski (5km) - G: Yves Bourque, Quebec City; S: Derek Zaplotinsky, Smoky Lake, Alta.; B: Sebastien Fortier, Quebec City; Standing (5km) - G: Louis Fortin, Shippagan, N.B.; S: Jesse Bachinski, Kenora, Ont.; B: Gab Dennis, Matheson, Ont.
Skiers have a training day today to get ready for the free technique relays on Saturday.
