Nikki Kassel did it again.
She struck gold on the masters World Cup cross-country ski trails Thursday at Sovereign Lakes, winning the 34-39-year-old women's 30-kilometre race in 1:28:18.
"This was my race and I feel very proud of today, it was amazing," said Kassel. "It was a double-pole sprint [out of the stadium] and I outsprinted everyone and then just skied away."
Kassel won by 2:59 over second-place Inge Scheve of the U.S., 4:57 ahead of bronze medalist Marlene Farrell of the U.S.
"It was pretty hilly and we skied at 5,000 feet, so you could feel the elevation," said Kassel, a 37-year-old Prince George nurse. "It's a 15-kilometre loop, and the last five kilometres has a ton of climbing, so by the last 5km my legs went to rubber and my technique was falling apart, but I managed to hold it together."
Kassel also won gold in the 15km classic, silver in the 10km freestyle, and helped Canada's relay team to gold.
Larry McCulloch of Smithers was 14th in the men's 50-54 45km race in 2:18:54. Guido Masiero of Italy set the pace, winning gold in 2:01:07. McCulloch tripped just a few metres before the finish line and crawled across to stop the clock. Peter Krause of Smithers placed 14th with a time of 2:16:33 in the men's 40-44 45km race, won by former Canadian national team member Don Farley of Quebec in 1:55:50.
Kevin Woytula, who grew up in Prince George and now makes his home near Vernon, a short drive away from the ski trails at Sovereign, developed a sore back and was forced to drop out of the 30-34-year-old men's 45km race. Woytula works as a heavy-duty mechanic in Fort McMurray and knowing he was expected back at work today made it an easier decision for him to end his race early.
"The 30K and the 10K [earlier in the week] went really good, my times were pretty good compared to the other Canadians and people in a similar situation as me," said Woytula.
"It's not too often you get to race people of this calibre and I couldn't pass up the opportunity. The Russians and Italians we were racing against, and in pretty much every other category, were freaks of nature. A lot of them are ex-Olympic athletes or top national-level skiers and this is their avenue for skiing when they're to old to race the other stuff. It's just effortless when they ski. They're flying. It's pretty amazing."
The masters World Cup wraps up today with the distance classic technique events. Prince George skiers Scott Forrest (men's 50-54, 45km), John Hagen (men's 40-44, 45km, and Lauri Karjaluoto (men's 65-69, 30km) are entered in this morning's races.
