“I feel like I’m in a Jerry Seinfeld episode. If I had a pimple, I would have won.”
It was that kind of weekend for Banff cross-country ski racer Dasha Gaiazova, who made the quip on Twitter after a Saturday (Jan. 12) race.
She finished fourth in an extremely tight photo finish in Liberec, Czech Republic. One centimetre is all that separated Gaizova from the World Cup bronze medal, which was won by Norway’s Maiken Caspersen Falla.
“I did not realize I was in the running for the podium until the race was over and then it hit me how close I was. While in the race I was concentrating on skiing as well and as fast as I possibly could. I could not think about the other girls or where I was compared to them, I just wanted to get to the finish as quickly as possible,” Gaiazova said.
In what proved to be the best performance of her World Cup sprint career, Gaiazova qualified 10th in the heats and then tied eventual winner Mona-Lisa Malvaletho in a dead heat in the quarter-finals. She then finished second in her semifinal, which set her up for a star-studded final.
She stayed back, drafting off her fellow racers for much of the race and was part of the charging group in the final 100 metres.
“The snow conditions were really fast and the race course suited me well because it was an uphill to the finish stadium and then lots of double poling at the end ,which is something I am really good at,” Gaizova said.
The result left Gaiazova, 29, with the wooden fourth place medal, but it also booked her ticket to the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia. World Cup team members need a top 10 finish to meet Team Canada criteria. “It was a great joy to think that I was able to check off ‘qualify for the Olympics’ from my to-do list,” Gaiazova said. This will be her second Games, and a great chance to race in front of friends and family. Gaiazova was born in Russia, and later moved to Montreal as a young girl with her family.
The classic sprint specialist said the journey has been a team effort.
“I’m also very grateful to my team: all the staff and coaches on the team who have been believing in me for years and convincing me that I am good enough to be one of the best skiers in the world, because self-belief is something I have been struggling with. I am so lucky to be part of such a great team with amazing teammates and incredibly passionate staff at Cross Country Canada,” Gaiazova said.
Perianne Jones also cracked the top 10, finishing ninth and also earning a trip to Sochi in 2014 with an amazing day. It was an individual personal best for the 27-year-old Canmore skier, who qualified in seventh spot, finished fifth in the semifinals en route to her top performance.
“I’m super happy with how things went today,” Jones said. “I love classic sprinting and I’m feeling really strong.”
As for the men’s team, Len Valjas was the lone Canadian racing. He posted another incredible top 10 in his break-out year, after ending up fifth in his semifinal match-up.
On Sunday, Jones and Gaiazova ran into tough luck, finishing 11th in the team sprint.
Jones lost her pole and her glove during a steep climb after a fellow competitor stepped on it, and the team dropped from fifth to ninth. She skied 200 metres, legs only, before she was handed another. Gaiazova charged to get the team back in the running on her leg of the race, however, Jones faded on her last lap, having burned her legs out.
“Perianne lost her pole on the uphill after someone stepped on it. That cost us valuable time and we did not advance to the finals today. Sometimes bad luck happens and it’s not even our fault, but just part of sports,” Gaiazova said.
