Chandra Crawford recently confirmed that she will not train with Canadian Ski Team this summer, but rather with a personal coach in an effort to peak at the 2014 Winter Olympics. If all goes according to plan, she’ll be back with the squad this winter. World Cup coach Eric de Nys weighs in and explains the state of his team.
Following the death of Shirley Firth, who rocked the Canadian cross-country scene with her sister, Sharon, a provincial coach remembers the significance of the Firth twins and how the two aboriginal women paved the way for generations of skiers.
Kikkan Randall was an easy choice for her fifth Skier of the Year Award, while Andy Newell took his second title.
Brian McKeever continued to impress this season, and Colette Bourgonje and Mark Arendz further showed the strength of Canada’s Para-Nordic squad. New to skiing, Tatyana McFadden stood out as the top American female.
These nominations include athletes who qualified for nomination based on the published criteria and the CCC High Performance Committee selection process April 12-14, 2013. An announcement of the athletes who accept their nominations will take place later this spring.
Canadian World Cup Team members Dasha Gaiazova and Lenny Valjas demonstrated how classic sprinting is done at Canadian Nationals on Thursday, winning their respective qualifiers and later commanding the finals to achieve national titles.
With the conclusion of Period IV of the 2012-2013 season we tally who’s in and who’s out of the coveted Red Group in the most recent World Ranking Lists, from the American and Canadian perspectives.
Fresh off a flight from Sweden, Dasha Gaiazova entered her first race of Canadian Nationals firing all cylinders, beating Japan’s Chisa Obayasi by nearly 1 1/2 minutes in Tuesday’s 10 k classic interval start in Whistler, B.C. Brent McMurtry captured his first national title in the men’s 15 k, 23 seconds ahead of Norway’s Rune Ødegärd.
Seventeen weeks and 120 days after the World Cup season started in Gällivare, Sweden, it ended in Sunday in Falun. For most of the Canadians who finished outside the top 30, it could not have come soon enough. Head coach Justin Wadsworth and team veteran Devon Kershaw reflect on the season.
We know, we know: it’s FAHL-IN. But still. The World Cup wrapped up with spectacular races and plenty of sun in Stockholm and Falun, with Justyna Kowalczyk and Petter Northug winning the season-long titles and Kikkan Randall taking home not only the Sprint Cup but also third place in the overall. Plus, racing on this side of the pond at Whistler and Craftsbury.
The Canadians missed the wax in the men’s race on Saturday and ended up with Alex Harvey posting the team’s top finish of 30th. “That combination of not-perfect bodies and bad skis is not so much fun,” head coach Justin Wadsworth said.
A year after Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw topped the podium in the World Cup Finals prologue, the Canadian team was looking for some positives on Friday, but would have to settle for two top 30s on a challenging day.
From Drammen to nearby Oslo, to a frigid and snowy biathlon weekend in Siberia, and Norwegian dominance and U.S. junior nationals – a lot of exciting racing this weekend, much of it with extra significance as the end of the season draws near.
Devon Kershaw was the top Canadian in the men’s 50 k freestyle mass start in Holmenkollen in 29th, not quite his 10th-place result in the 50 k classic there last year, but an improvement over his recent outings. Ivan Babikov followed in 33rd, and Alex Harvey did not finish because of back pains.
Starting hard in her quarterfinal but missing out on advancing, Dasha Gaiazova led the Canadians in 15th in the Drammen classic sprints. Qualifying in 29th and 30th, Lenny Valjas and Alex Harvey were glad to make it through, but wanted a little more after finishing 16th and 20th, respectively.
With only a few weeks left of racing across the nordic sports at each competitive level, the season is beginning to show distinct signs of drawing to a close. Most notably, Kikkan Randall (USA) won her one and only shot at [...]
Typically known as a sprinter, Dasha Gaiazova is knocking on distance racing’s door. The 29-year-old notched her second-best result of the season in a distance event, placing 33rd in Sunday’s 10-kilometer classic individual start at the World Cup in Lahti, Finland.
Len Valjas (CAN) led the Canadian men on Saturday in Lahti, Finland, with an strong eighth place finish. His performance was just as fueled by frustration as it was fitness. Valjas toed the line today after a miserable run of sickness. [...]
Andrea Dupont was called up by Canada to race in the sprint at World Championships, and offered a World Cup start the weekend before. But it seemed silly, she thought, to go to Europe for just a few days – and so she managed to gain a start spot in Sweden’s famed Vasaloppet, where she double-poled her way to 11th place.
The classic races of World Championships took place in Val di Fiemme: interval start, relay, marathon. Biathletes competed in Oslo, Americans held their own in Slavic Cup action, and Swedes (and everyone else) gave it their all in the Vasaloppet. Summaries of the action, along with links to reporting and results.
