Carter Takes Empire State Winter Games Gold
The 2004 Empire State Games 5,000 Meter Freestyle Cross Country Ski Championships were decided in Lake Placid, New York on February 21 at 9:15 am. A wet snow, and seasonable 28 F degree temps proved to be ideal conditions for Think Racing’s, Todd Carter. Todd made an explosive start that catapulted him to an early lead. From there, he cranked up the heat in a flat out, wire-to-wire 14:32 effort, earning winter gold by a margin of 15 seconds.
The racing action continued on Sunday, February 22 with the 5,000 meter classical technique event. Again, Todd stole the lead from the gun, but this time was overtaken on the first serious climb of the day. Todd fought back on the flats, but was dropped on each of the day’s subsequent three climbs. The race concluded with Todd taking the silver medal in a dramatic sprint finish. The margin to gold was less than a second.
