Yukon was on the international stage early this morning as two Whitehorse skiers raced as Team Canada in the women’s cross-country ski team sprint.

Emily Nishikawa and Dahria Beatty were the two representatives for Canada on the women’s team who competed in the second semifinal just after midnight this morning.

The race was structured in six 1.25-kilometre loops with each competitor racing three but switching after each one.

The veteran Olympian Nishikawa started the race for the two skiers who grew up on the Yukon ski team.

Out of 21 teams competing in two semifinals, the Canadians had the 12th fastest time missing out on a spot in the final by just two positions.

The top two finishers in each heat as well as the next six fastest times overall qualified for the final race.

On the first lap, Nishikawa came into the stadium in sixth spot out of the 10 teams in a leg time of 2:38.62.

Handing off to Beatty, the Olympic rookie had a slightly slower second leg of 2:41.28 but it was the second fastest overall in the race, just behind the United States team who won the gold medal.

Canada finished the race seventh overall in a time of 17:01.54. The finishing time for the final qualifier Germany was 16:51.67.

In the semifinal race, the Whitehorse skiers beat the teams from Italy, China and Ukraine.

On the men’s side, the Canadian team of Alex Harvey and Len Valjas were able to qualify for the final and finished in eighth place.

Next up for the cross-country skiers is the men’s 50-km mass start classic race Friday night. It is possible Whitehorse skier Knute Johnsgaard will be competing, but the start list has yet not been confirmed. Only four of the seven Canadian men on the team will participate.

The final race for the women will be Saturday night at 10:15 p.m. Yukon time. Nishikawa will compete in the 30-km mass start classic. The team sprint was likely the last race for the sprint specialist Beatty in her first Olympic Games.