Phil Widmer

No. No idea at all. I tried to ski just like I have during the other sprints this year. My body felt good. I focussed on skiing technically well, being explosive, maintaining a long glide phase and not rushing or panicking.

How did things go for you in the heats?

To make a long story short it was made clear to me that I need more experience with racing in the heats. It was certainly a good learning experience. There are no pushovers in that kind of racing and everybody is fast. I should have asserted myself better. I also made a big move to get to the front (in which he went from last to first in about 100m) too early. I was too far behind at the start which made it necessary to spend quite a bit of energy trying to get to the front.

Does placing fourth in qualifying change your perspective at all?

It definitely gives me a bit more confidence. It is good to know that basically I am fast enough to be competitive at the World Cup level. Now it is basically a matter of improving my endurance and becoming more experienced with head to head racing.

Is there anything in particular that you think has helped you this year?

I didn’t make any major changes to my training but it has been great to live with Chris Jeffries and Devon Kershaw (both of the Canadian National Team). Both of them are very experienced and have been very helpful.

Phil Widmer primed for the start of the quarter finals.

Phil Widmer leading the quarter final after an extremely impressive move at halfway taking him from 6th to 1st in 100m against the best in the world.