Canada's Stewart-Jones, Cyr crack top 15 at cross-country skiing World Cup in Norway
Stewart-Jones earns career-best result, finishing 13th in women's mass start in 54:02.1
Canadian cross-county skiers Antoine Cyr and Katherine Stewart-Jones both managed top-15 finishes in their respective World Cup classic-ski mass start races on Sunday in Lillehammer, Norway.
The 24-year-old Cyr, of Gatineau, Que., finished five seconds off the pace to place 12th in the 20-kilometre men's race.
Paal Golberg of Norway placed first with a time of 48 minutes, 14.5 seconds. Countryman Sjur Roethe finished less than one second behind at 48:15.4 to take silver, while Martin Loewstroem Nyenget completed the Norwegian sweep of the podium with a time of 48:15.6.
"This feels awesome," said Cyr, who missed last week's season-opening event in Finland with an illness. "I needed this one bad. My morale was so down last week. I wasn't sure where my shape was so this one is for all of the support staff. It shows I'm still in the game."
The 27-year-old Stewart-Jones finished 13th in the women's race with a time of 54:02.1.
Sweden's Frida Karlsson won the gold medal with a time of 53:51.9, edging out Norway's Tiril Weng who placed 53:52.5. Ebba Andersson, of Sweden, was third at 52:53.1.
Stewart-Jones and her Canadian teammates will look to build off the performances next weekend when the World Cup travels to Beitostolen, Norway.
"It's been really good to be super consistent. I am confident that I have really good shape, and [this result] gives me the confidence I can trust my body," said Stewart-Jones. "It's been so fun on the World Cup this year. We have an awesome crew. The team dynamics are really good, and it is so fun."
