Erzurum, Turkey –The U.S. Ski Team’s Noah Hoffman battled his way to a silver medal in the 15k classic cross country ski race at the U23 World Championships in Turkey on Thursday.
Hoffman, of Aspen, Colo., fought with Germany’s Hannes Dotzler for most of the race before pulling ahead in the final kilometers to take silver by just over two seconds. He became only the fourth American in history to medal in the U23 Championships as Russia’s Evgeniy Belov took the gold, 25 seconds ahead of Hoffman for his fourth U23 medal.
“I feel really good. That was fun to race today,” said Hoffman. “Evgeniy Belov was very fast. It’s my fifth time at the Junior/U23 Championships and I am happy for the podium. I was getting the split times on the course but I was trying to stay focused on my performance.”
Sadie Bjornsen (Winthrop, Wash./APU Nordic) was fifth in the women’s 10k classic. Norway’s Martine Hagen, Thursday’s bronze medalist, broke up a Russian podium sweep in a race won by Mariya Guschina. Polina Medvedeva won the silver.
“It was a great day for our whole squad with Sadie leading the charge for the women in fifth – just 5.2 seconds out of second Noah’s second place made today even more exciting,” said the Development Coach for the U.S. Ski Team, Bryan Fish. “The course, conditions and environment required a high focus on remaining consistent. The conditions today have been the same as what we have had every day in Erzurum. The morning low – a very chilly -30ºC and the intense sun warms to approximately -14ºC. The snow was dry, firm and squeaky slow – perfect for a classic ski race.”
Next up for the U23 Championships is a skiathlon Saturday (mixed classic and freestyle technique).
OFFICIAL RESULTS
U23 World Championships
Erzurum, Turkey – Feb. 23, 2012
Cross Country Classic
Men’s 15k:
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 70 | BELOV Evgeniy | 1990 | RUS | 37:40.1 | 9.62 |
| 2 | 61 | HOFFMAN Noah | 1989 | USA | 38:05.5 | 18.61 |
| 3 | 66 | DOTZLER Hannes | 1990 | GER | 38:09.1 | 19.89 |
| 4 | 71 | TSCHARNKE Tim | 1989 | GER | 38:14.7 | 21.87 |
| 5 | 68 | BING Thomas | 1990 | GER | 38:21.2 | 24.17 |
| 6 | 60 | TAMMJARV Karel | 1989 | EST | 38:23.1 | 24.84 |
| 7 | 69 | KROGH Finn Haagen | 1990 | NOR | 38:38.0 | 30.11 |
| 8 | 36 | LENTING Akira | 1990 | JPN | 38:38.2 | 30.19 |
| 9 | 65 | SHAKIRZIANOV Raul | 1989 | RUS | 38:39.3 | 30.57 |
| 10 | 72 | SEDOV Petr | 1990 | RUS | 38:45.6 | 32.80 |
Women’s 10k:
| Rank | Bib | Name | Year | Nation | Time | FIS Points |
| 1 | 39 | GUSCHINA Mariya | 1989 | RUS | 29:23.2 | 25.00 |
| 2 | 41 | MEDVEDEVA Polina | 1989 | RUS | 29:49.9 | 37.11 |
| 3 | 43 | HAGEN Martine Ek | 1991 | NOR | 29:51.2 | 37.70 |
| 4 | 36 | WIKEN Emma | 1989 | SWE | 29:51.6 | 37.89 |
| 5 | 17 | BJORNSEN Sadie | 1989 | USA | 29:55.1 | 39.47 |
| 6 | 27 | LOCATELLI Manon | 1989 | FRA | 30:24.3 | 52.72 |
| 7 | 26 | OEBERG Jennie | 1989 | SWE | 30:32.5 | 56.44 |
| 8 | 33 | AGREITER Debora | 1991 | ITA | 30:33.3 | 56.81 |
| 9 | 38 | SIEGEL Monique | 1989 | GER | 30:38.9 | 59.35 |
| 10 | 20 | CHERDANTSEVA Jaroslava | 1991 | RUS | 30:39.3 | 59.53 |