In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at next 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 21-year-old Katherine Stewart-Jones, of the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay and the Canadian National U25 Team, who’s representing Canada at her first U23 World Championships after racing at 2013, 2014 and 2015 Junior Worlds.
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“My full name is Katherine Stewart-Jones, but you can call me KSJ.
I was born in Ottawa, raised in Chelsea, QC, and one thing you should know about my hometown is it has the best bakery.
I started cross-country skiing when I was two, thanks to my parents. I currently train in Thunder
Bay with NTDC Thunder Bay.
If I’m not skiing, you might find me napping. If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘The Glass Castle‘.
One of the things I’m most excited about for U23/Junior Worlds at Soldier Hollow is racing on familiar courses. One race I’m especially targeting there is the skiathlon.
The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was race fast, good things happen.
One of the best race memories I have is racing the Ski Tour Canada.
If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Maiken Caspersen Falla.
If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be a small business owner.
I’m missing zero days of school to be here, and my professors are probably thinking, ‘Good thing she is only taking online courses.’
You can follow me on Instagram @kath_sj or Twitter @Kstewartjones.”