Under 23 Questions with Antoine Blais

Antoine Blais (Skibec) racing in the 15 k freestyle at 2017 U.S. nationals earlier this month at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. (Courtesy photo)

In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2017 USANA Nordic Junior World Championships and U23 Cross Country World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 20-year-old Antoine Blais, of Skibec, who’s representing Canada at his second Junior Worlds. On Monday, Blais finished 31st in the men’s classic sprint on the first day of Junior Worlds, just 0.05 seconds out of qualifying, as the third best Canadian man on the day.

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“My full name is Antoine Blais, but you can call me Antoine. I was born in Lévis, Quebec, raised in Lévis, and one thing you should know about my hometown is Lévis was named in honor of
François-Gaston de Lévis (1719-1787), hero of the Battle of Sainte-Foy in 1760!

I started cross-country skiing when I was 12, thanks to my parents. I currently train in Lévis and Quebec City with Skibec.

If I’m not skiing, you might find me at school. If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘Of Mice and Men‘.

One of the things I’m most excited about for Junior Worlds at Soldier Hollow is racing. One race I’m especially targeting there is the classic sprint.

The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was ‘You can always go faster‘. One of the best race memories I have is when Ryan Jackson was speaking Finnish.

If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Finn Hågen Krogh.

If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably work in the field of medicine.

I’m missing 2 and a half weeks of school to be here, and my teachers are probably thinking, ‘He’s in trouble.’ ”