Qualifying races and snow galore as Liberec worlds set to start

Qualifying races and snow galore as Liberec worlds set to startLiberec, Czech Republic  - Xu Wenlong of China and Morgan Smyth of the United States won cross-country qualifying races and Frenchwoman Coline Mattel had the longest ski-jump as the Nordic skiing world championships were set to get underway.

The women's 10km cross-country ski race and the Nordic combined mass start event kick off the championships on Thursday.

Liberec has seen constant snowfall since Saturday and has turned into a winter wonderland for the 589 athletes from 61 nations who are competing for 20 gold medals in cross-country skiing, Nordic combined and ski-jumping until March 1.

"We rather have too much snow that not enough," ski supremo Gian Franco Kasper told a news conference.

"We hope the record participation is a sign that air aid and promotion has helped our members train their athletes for the world championship level."

The number of competitors has risen in such a way that qualifying races were needed for the first time to control the fields for the women's 10km and men's 15km races.

While Xu and Smyth led the way as the top 10 from 21 women and 55 men qualified, others were there for the learning experience, such as Indian skiers Bhuwnesthwari Thakur and Tashi Lundup, Venezuela's Cesar Baena or Sean Huggins-Chan of Trinidad and Tobago. Thakur and Baena finished last in their respective races.

"I actually wasn't that slow, but I had bad skis and bad wax. The course was hard and the fresh snow not easy," said Thakur.

The bad conditions allowed the women's jumpers only one round of training, their first as Tuesday's planned three rounds fell victim to the weather.

The 13-year-old Mattel soared her huge jump of 99m from a high gate, while the top favourites started from lower gates. German Anna Haefele had 97 metres, compatriot Ulrike Graessler 94.5m, Norwegian star Anette Sagen 93.5m while American ace Lindsey Van had only 83m.

The women have their inaugural jumping on Friday, with Kasper naming it an important milestone which will also decide on their Olympic inclusion from 2010 onwards.

"It is extremely important for the future. We wish them luck, it is an important milestone," said Kasper, whose federation FIS only officially recognized women's jumping in the late 1990s.

The women's 10km will see a new champion as the 2005 and 2007 winner Katerina Neumannova has switched sides and is now head of the local organizing committee after a major overhaul of the organization two years ago.

"I guess Justyna Kowalczyk (of Poland), (Slovenian) Petra Majdic and the Finns (Virpi Kuitunen and Aino Kaisa Saarinen) will decide the champion," Neumannova said.

Not competing is Swedish champion Britta Norgren, who has been suspended for five days due to an elevated amount of red blood cells at a mandatory pre-competition blood screening. The higher levels can be an indication of doping.

The ruling body FIS is conducting more than 1,000 doping tests around the Liberec championships, with FIS secretary general Sarah Lewis saying: "We can test for the newest substances." (dpa)

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