Latvian Cross-Country Skiing: Skujiņš & Kaparkalēja Win Sprint Titles

New Latvian champions in the sprint discipline

On Saturday, January 10, 15-year-old Valts Skujiņš from Riga became the winner of the championship title in men’s absolute rating and among juniors at the Latvian cross-country freestyle skiing championship held at the Fischer Ski Center in Sigulda, while Linda Kaparkalēja from Madonia won the women’s competition among juniors. This competition marked the beginning of the first stage of the FIS-status Latvian cross-country skiing championship.

Saturday’s program included the individual sprint freestyle, where skiers first qualified with an interval start, followed by an elimination race from the quarterfinals to the final.

Young talents dominate

In the men’s competition, without the participation of the three strongest sprinters, among whom were also participants of the World Cup stages Raimo Vīgants, Lauris Kaparkalējs and Niks Saulītis, the superiority was demonstrated by young people and juniors. Valts Skujiņš from RSS “Arkādija” convincingly won both the qualification and all elimination rounds, finishing first in the absolute rating. His teammates Dāvis Kalniņš and Jēkabs Skolnieks took second and third place, respectively, providing RSS “Arkādija” sports school with a full podium in the men’s competition.

Kaparkalė takes the second place in the women’s absolute rating

In the women’s competition, the Estonian athlete Taylor Ojast won a convincing victory in both the qualification and the final. Linda Kaparkalėja finished as the fastest representative of Latvia, taking the second place in the absolute rating. Kaparkalėja recently proved her strength at the stage of the Scandinavian Cup in Finland, where she showed herself as the third best Latvian lady in the competition after Patricijas Eidukas and Kita Auzina.

Success and continuation of RSS “Arkadija”.

In the first stage of the Latvian championship in cross-country skiing, which was held under the status of FIS, the students of the Riga sports school “Arkādija” showed themselves particularly successfully. In addition to the individual sprint on Saturday, there was also a team sprint on Sunday, in which Lauris Kaparkalējs and Silvestrs Švauksts from Madona won the men’s race, defending their title from last year. In the women’s competition, the team sprint was won by the leaders of the U16 group from Madona, Dārta Ruļukas and Sabīne Grudule.