Wednesday, January 30, 2002
Rivalry put on hold
Klassen will wait for Salt Lake to tackle 'wunder woman'
By CAMERON MAXWELL -- Calgary Sun
It was supposed to be a pre-Olympic battle of the titans.
But Canadian long-track speed skater Cindy Klassen pulled out of yesterday's 3,000 metre race, ending what would have been a great duel with German 'wunder-woman' Anni Friesinger at the final day of a pre-Olympic meet at the Olympic Oval.
Battling a nasty cold, Klassen opted instead to skate a few easy training laps before the spring on her clap skate broke.
Friesinger went on to win the 3000m in a time of four minutes, 5.02 seconds.
"My coach didn't want to take any chances and thought it would be better if I didn't race," said Klassen, 22, of Winnipeg.
In only her second year on the World Cup circuit, Klassen is enjoying a better season than last and will compete in the 1,000m, 1,500m, 3,000m and 5,000m in Salt Lake City.
So will Friesinger, 24, who's the world's best in the 1,500m, 3,000m and 5,000m.
Klassen is well aware of who the competition will be once the Games begin on Feb. 9.
"Definitely Anni, she's ranked Number 1 in the world -- and (German) Claudia Pechstein and (American) Jen Rodriguez as well," said Klassen. "It's going to be pretty tight, everybody's peaking so it's going to be a good competition."
For her part, Friesinger isn't taking anything for granted as the Olympics approach.
"You can never go in saying 'I'm going to get a medal.' Just one bad cross-over or mistake is all it takes to drop you out of the top 10," said Friesinger, the 1,500m world record holder who's training in Calgary, partly to avoid the glare of the European press.
"It's been so busy lately that I just want to relax and get ready for the Games."
Klassen has never beaten Friesinger in competition, a fact that stokes her competitive fire.
"Usually, she skates last but if she skates before me, I can see her time and I go 'wow, I want to do that.' But it's pretty hard," she said.
"I've never come close to her but it motivates you to want to reach that level as well."
Looking to the Games, Klassen expects to do well in the 1,500.
"I usually think the 3,000 is going to be my best chance, I don't know why, but it always ends up being that the 1,500 is better for me," said Klassen, who made the jump from hockey to speed skating five years ago.
"But I'd like to do well in the 3,000, especially because it's the first (Olympic) race and if I can do well in that, I'll have confidence for the rest of the Games."
Kevin Marshall of Calgary continued fine-tuning for the Olympics, winning the men's 1,000 in 1:10.43.
"I'm just trying to get what we call easy speed. That is, trying to generate as much speed as possible but be relaxed as possible," said Marshall, 28, who will skate the 1,000 and 1,500 in Salt Lake, his second Games.
Marshall believes he's capable of a top-10 finish in the 1,000 and a top-five in the 1,500 at the Games.
2002 Games Long Track Speed Skating Coverage
