Under 23 Questions: Graham Ritchie

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 19-year-old Graham Ritchie, of the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay, who represented Canada at his first Junior Worlds. 

Last week in Goms, Ritchie qualified for the freestyle sprint heats in 28th and went on to place 12th overall. 

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“My full name is Graham Ritchie, but you can call me Graham.

I was born and raised in Parry Sound, Ontario, and I learned to ski at Georgian Nordic.

I spent the time between Mont Sainte-Anne trials and Junior/U23 Worlds in Thunder Bay.

The funnest workout I did in the last training year to prepare for this was shinny with the TBay boys.

This is my second time in Switzerland and second time racing internationally, and so far it’s been dandy.

One difference I’ve noticed between Switzerland and Canada is there are no beavers.

Skiing and racing in the Alps is thrilling! Usually racing at altitude is tricky for me because there are no mountains around where I live.

One of the things I’m most excited about for Junior/U23 Worlds in Goms is racing for Canada for the first time.

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

I really hope I can chat/make friends with a girl from Norway and ask them out.

My favorite thing at the breakfast where we are staying is cappuccino.

Fondue is noice. The cheese here is noice. And the chocolate is noice.

If I had a totally free day here and didn’t have to worry about race fitness or training, I’d spend it adventuring and taking pictures.

The best way to follow me on social media is on Instagram @grahamritchie and Twitter @grahamritchie23.”

https://www.instagram.com/p/BeqvyiqHhk8/?taken-by=grahamritchie