Randall, Valaas Just Miss Team Sprint Finals

SAPPORO, Japan (Feb. 23) - U.S. sprinters Kikkan Randall (Anchorage, AK) and Laura Valaas (Wenatchee, WA) narrowly missed qualifying for the freestyle team sprint final heats Friday, finishing just 2.7 seconds out of the top-5 as Finland moved on to take women's gold on Day Two of the 2007 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships.

Italy won the men's 1.4K event with the U.S. team (Andy Newell - Shaftsbury, VT, and Torin Koos - Leavenworth, WA) in 15th.

Kikkan Randall and Laura Valaas pose in the finish area following the team sprint, the second competition held in the Sapporo Dome (credit: Doug Haney/U.S. Ski Team)

Multimedia:
Photos from Sapporo are available at http://ussa.smugmug.com.

Audio of Randall and Valaas is available at www.ussamedia.com.

For complete results:
http://www.fis-ski.com/uk/604/1228.html?cal_suchsector=CC&event_id=22246