The first leg of the fifth FIS Cross-Country Skiing China Tour took place on the 28th in Xiwuzhumuqin Banner, Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region. Nearly 80 top cross-country skiers from 10 countries competed in the day’s men’s and women’s long-distance events, with Swedish athlete Anders Högberg and Norwegian athlete Solveig Stanstrup taking first place in the men’s and women’s races respectively.
This marks the fifth consecutive year that Xiwuzhumuqin Banner has hosted this event, which is jointly organized by the Chinese Ski Association and Beijing Nordic Vision. The first two legs of this tour were held on the 28th and 29th in Balagai Gaole Town, Xiwuzhumuqin Banner, while the third leg will take place on January 2, 2012, at Jingyuetan National Forest Park in Changchun, Jilin.
After local residents performed distinctive Mongolian costume shows and folk performances, the race began at 3 p.m. that afternoon. The women’s 3.8-km long-distance race started first, with the starting gun firing and over 30 female athletes setting off together. They completed two laps on the 1.9-km course, and in the end, Norwegian athletes Solveig Stanstrup and Solveig Andresen claimed the top two spots with times of 10:37.1 and 10:37.8 respectively, while French athlete Elodie Bouva finished third.
In the subsequent men’s 5.7-km long-distance race, competitors completed three laps on the same course. After an intense battle, Swedish athlete Högberg won the title with a time of 13:44.4, while Finnish athlete Kusti Kittilä and Austrian athlete Philipp Bachler took second and third place respectively.
