Under 23 Questions: Annika Richardson

In an effort to showcase the North Americans who competed at last week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2018 Nordic Junior/U23 World Championships in Goms, Switzerland, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 20-year-old Annika Richardson, of the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay, who represented Canada at her second Junior Worlds. 

Last week, Richardson raced to 52nd in the freestyle sprint, 67th in the 5 k classic, and 15th with the women’s 4 x 3.3 k relay.

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“My full name is Annika Meghan Richardson, but you can call me Young Rich.

I was born and raised on the West Coast (best coast) in Vancouver, and I learned to ski at Hollyburn in rain pants (most of the time).

I spent the time between Mont Sainte-Anne trials and Junior/U23 Worlds thinking about catching up on school work.

The slipperiest (it poured with rain) workout I did in the last training year to prepare for this was the Canada 150 rollerski mass start with Caitlin Compton-Gregg and the NTDC women’s team.

This is my second time in Switzerland (in the last two weeks) and fourth time racing internationally, and so far it’s been full of crazy fast skiers.

One difference I’ve noticed between Switzerland and Canada is they don’t say sorry as much.

Skiing and racing in the Alps has been very snowy so far. Usually racing at altitude is a lactate party for me because when I’m racing I forget that it’s harder at altitude. There are lots of mountains around where I live in Vancouver but not really any in Thunder Bay.

One of the things I’m most excited about for Junior/U23 Worlds in Goms is the big hill in the skate sprint course.

One race I’m especially targeting there is the skate sprint qualifier.

I really hope I can chat/make friends with someone from Germany and ask them if they own a pair of Lederhosen.

My favorite thing at the breakfast where we are staying is definitely the strong coffee (finally).

Fondue is not something I have had the opportunity to try yet but I bet it’s delicious. The cheese here is quite abundant and there is tons of variety. And the chocolate is very, very rich and a bit too available.

If I had a totally free day here and didn’t have to worry about race fitness or training, I’d spend it practicing my downhill shredding skills on a powder day.

The best way to follow me on social media is on Instagram @annika.richardson.”