Aussie Teams Give Their All in Cross Country Sprint
Published Wed 16 Feb 2022
It was a tough day at the office for Australian in the gruelling men's and women's team sprint classic in Zhangjiakou.
With teams needing a top-four finish in their semi-final, or needing one of the next two fastest times to qualify for the 10 team medals race, it was always going to be a tough assignment to be in that elite company.
The men's team of Seve de Campo and Phil Bellingham began with the main pack but couldn't keep that pace going, eventually finishing their semi-final in 11th place and 22nd overall with a time of 21:17.35.
Phil believes competing in the team event brought out the best in him.
"I've always loved the team events. There's different types of pressure as you are not controlling everything, but there's certainly pressure as you don't want to let your teammate down," Phil said.
"It was great to be working alongside Seve, he's a legend."
Earlier the Australian pair of Jess Yeaton and Casey Wright finished in 8th place in their semi-final, and 16th overall in a time of 25:13.42.
Despite the calm conditions at the National Cross Country Skiing Centre, the Australian pair did find the course anything but idyllic.
"I think it was the toughest sprint course either of us have ever done and I'm really proud of our performance. It was a good effort," Jess said.