New Zealand Olympic cross-country skier Ben Koons has won the first qualifying race for next week's world championships, in competition held this week in Oslo, Norway.
The former Otago Boys' High School pupil, now living in Canada, won the men's 10km classic race on Thursday, giving him automatic entry into the world championships.
Koons was 19.6sec faster than second-placed Callum Smith (Britain). Sergey Mikayelyan, of Armenia, was third in the 47-man field, according to a report by fasterskier.com.
Koons is now on track to qualify for world championship starts in the sprint, 30km pursuit, 15km classic, the team sprint with younger brother Nils, and the 50km endurance race.
"It has been a rough couple of days trying to track down friends and family in Christchurch [after the earthquake] and I have just recently found out that everyone is OK. That, plus this [the win], is great," Koons said after the race.
New Zealand cross-country skiing official John Burridge yesterday described Koons' win as the best possible start for next week's world championship races.
"This is the world champs and Ben had to qualify as his FIS point record had slipped due to his efforts trying to qualify for the Biathlon World Cup. Winning this qualification race is massive and we are all thrilled," Burridge said.
