Latvian cross-country skier Patrīcija Eidukas reached the final stage of the sprint competition in the fourth stage of the World Cup season in Davos on Saturday, stopping in the first round or quarterfinals.
In the freestyle competition, Eiduka skied 1.5 kilometers in two minutes and 44.96 seconds in qualifying, which was 7.75 seconds slower than the selection winner Nadine Fendrich from Switzerland. The presented result gave Eiduka 20th place and 59.16 International Skiing Federation (FIS) points.
The 30 fastest skiers out of 39 qualifiers compete in the finals, and Eiduka competed in the first of five quarterfinals. Eva Urevca from Slovenia won this ski race, beating American Jessie Diggins by 0.42 seconds. Rosie Brennan finished 2.25 seconds behind the winner, but lost another 1.34 seconds to Eiduka, who was fourth.
The winners of the first two places in each skiing and two more “lucky losers” with the fastest results entered the semi-finals. Eiduka’s finish in two minutes and 38.84 seconds was not enough to overcome the barrier of the quarterfinals.
On Sunday at 11.45 a.m., 20 kilometers of freestyle skiing will start with a separate start.
Eiduka is the only representative of Latvia at this stage, but the leading domestic skier in the men’s competition, Raimo Vīgants, is competing in the Scandinavian Cup this weekend in Esteshund, Sweden.
At the previous stage in Beitustelen, Norway, Eiduka did not start, but this did not prevent her from maintaining the status of the leader of the U-23 standings, as her fiercest competitors in this competition did not participate in the stage either.
In the first stage of the World Cup, Eiduka took the 39th place in the classic sprint, the 30th in the ten kilometer classic, and the 21st place in the 20 kilometer freestyle pursuit. At the second stage in Lillehammer, she was 11th in the ten-kilometer distance with a separate start in freestyle, 12th in the sprint freestyle and took 25th place in the 20-kilometer classic style distance with a joint start.
The prestigious “Tour de Ski” series will start at the end of the year. The world championship this season is scheduled for the turn of February and March in the Slovenian city of Planačić.
