Russia's Gleb Retivykh was the fastest in today's sprint free at the U23 World Ski Championships in Erzurum. Retivykh was superior all the way through to the final as he had laid already the fastest time in the qualification. Retivykh dominated all the heats and in the finals he controlled the race from the start. He built up a margin on his compatriots and clearly went for his first gold medal at the U23 World Ski championships in his career.
Russian ski team celebrates today double victory as the silver medal went to Evgeniy Belov. Swiss Roman Furger claimed a surprising bronze medal as he was faster than Italy's Fabio Clementi. Ginluca Cologna finished fifth and Sweden's Anton Lindblad sixth.
Gleb Retivykh RUS
The race was perfect for me today as two Russian skiers were on the podium. For the first time in my life I have been competing in so high altitude. I have been preparing for this competition the whole year. I was working on the strength a lot before the season.
Evgeniy Belov RUS
I am immensely glad today. When I was a junior I was quite good at free technique sprints. When I in my best shape I am competitive in both sprint and distance competitions. The sprint competition helped to wake my body up. I am looking forward to the skiathlon on Saturday.
Roman Furger SUI
At the second climb I was little bit behind the others. My plan was to get the high speed in the downhill and to catch them again. It was a great race for me. I never expected I could win a medal here. I thought I would become fourth but when I saw a small contact between the Russian and the Italian I said to myself it was my chance and I went for it.
