Washington native takes 37th place in cross-country sprint

LANDON HALL, THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Originally published Wednesday, February 20, 2002

MIDWAY, Utah -- It's back to school for U.S. cross-country skier Torin Koos, whose Olympic experience lasted exactly 3 minutes, 1.32 seconds.

Koos, a 21-year-old junior at the University of Utah who's from Leavenworth, competed in his only race of the Olympics on Tuesday, finishing 37th in the qualifying heat of the 1.5-kilometer sprint.

"It's not exactly what I was hoping for," he said. "I really don't know why it wasn't what I was looking for."

In any other year, Koos might have been asked to compete in multiple races. But this American team is deeper than any in years, which has helped the squad produce six top-25 individual finishes for the first time. The 4x10K relay team also finished fifth, its best showing ever.

With skiers like Kris Freeman, Patrick Weaver, Andrew Johnson and John Bauer performing so well, Koos was left to compete in only the sprint, which he grudgingly calls his specialty.

Koos finished 11th in his very first World Cup sprint, in January 2001 on the same Soldier Hollow course. But the competition was as brutal as the hilly course on Tuesday, and Koos didn't come close to qualifying. He was 11.25 seconds behind the leader and 7.45 behind the 16th and final qualifier.

He isn't scheduled to ski in the final race, the 50K classic-style on Saturday.

"I've really been pretty focused, especially for my first Olympics," Koos said. "I wanted this performance to be the defining moment of the Olympics. I don't know why I was 11 seconds out; I felt like I skied the course clean, I skied it aggressive.

"I visualized myself finishing in the top 16, that's for sure. I played that race in my head at least a hundred times."

The 1.5K sprint is a new event at the Olympics, and judging by its speed and popularity with the fans, it will become a fixture. But even though many countries already are putting together teams built specifically for the event, Koos wants to diversify and enter longer races.

"When people put that sprinter's label (on me), I don't know," he said. "I'm 21."

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