PLANICA, Slovenia
Canada claimed a second gold medal at the world under-23 cross-country ski championship with Sunday’s victory in the mixed relay.
Whitehorse’s Derek Deuling, Jasmine Drolet of Rossland, British Columbia, Mac Hollman of Thunder Bay, Ont. and Lilian Gagnon of Quebec City prevailed in heavy rain over runner-up France and bronze medallist Sweden.
Sonjaa Schmidt of Whitehorse became the first Canadian to win gold at the world under-23 championship on Feb. 6 in the women’s sprint.
Canada ranked sixth after the first two legs of Sunday’s 20k relay. Hollman closed a 15-second gap on the front-runners to 2.2 seconds when he handed off to Gagnon for the anchor leg.
Gagnon made her move over the final 150 metres in a sprint to the line.
Canada edged the French by seven-tenths of a second and Sweden by eight-tenths.
“I’ve been wanting one of these for a while,” said Gagnon, who finished eighth behind teammate Schmidt in the women’s sprint.