While Alex Harvey was the only Canadian to make the heats on Friday, at least two of his teammates -- Perianne Jones and Jess Cockney -- were less than a second off the mark in the World Cup skate sprint in Lillehammer.
Before the first stop on the IBU World Cup circuit continues in Östersund on Wednesday, we bring you a synopsis of last weekend's racing action and links to full reports.
Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw always want podiums, that's a given, but at this point in the season -- at the first World Cup weekend in Kuusamo, Finland -- they were pleased with top-15 results. Also on Sunday, Emily Nishikawa pulled off a career best in Europe in 38th in the women's 10 k classic.
Alex Harvey came close to making the semifinals in the classic sprint, but like many in the field he struggled with icing klister over the top of one of the course's biggest hills. The rest of his team - Lenny Valjas, Devon Kershaw, and Perianne Jones - didn't make the heats.
Sunday was for the distance racers in Gällivare, Sweden, with five Canadians -- four men and one woman -- getting a chance to test their form in the 10/15 k classic races. Alex Harvey notched his second-podium performance in third, Emily Nishikawa was fourth, Devon Kershaw fifth, Ivan Babikov sixth, and Graeme Killick eighth.
Regulars for the last week in Gällivare, the Canadians put themselves in the mix in Saturday's classic sprints with Perianne Jones winning the women's final, Alex Harvey taking second to Russia's Sergey Ustiugov in the men's final, Lenny Valjas placing fourth and Jess Cockney bringing it home in sixth.
Good workouts never get old. This week, we bring back a Pro Workout of the past, which Devon Kershaw wrote almost exactly four years ago, just before leaving for Europe in early November. "A great workout this time of year – especially if you are coming off some volume (at altitude or not) and feel your body needs that lactate tolerance work to 'shock' the system," Kershaw writes.
Alex Harvey and personal coach Louis Bouchard were the first from the Canadian World Cup Team to arrive in Gällivare, Sweden, last Thursday. They spent the earlier part of the month acclimating to altitude in Davos, Switzerland.
While two Americans won Friday's Frozen Thunder sprints, Canada had its revenge on Monday, taking four of six podium spots. In the men's 10.8 k skate race, Devon Kershaw bested Kris Freeman by five seconds to take the win. In the Women's 7.2 k race, biathlete Rosanna Crawford edged Liz Stephen for the win.
There are a couple things one can count on in Canmore, including solid tracks and quality snow, even in October. At the first unofficial sprint of the North American season on Friday, more than 120 racers found both for the Frozen Thunder classic sprint, and organizers added what could be a new tradition to the mix: a zero-elimination format.
Emma Lunder placed 30th in her World Cup debut last season. The Canadian biathlete has since gained funding, training partners, and motivation: "Anytime I'm doing a really brutal workout, I just think to myself, if you can get through this, you're one step closer to racing in Pokljuka again!"
With the help of U.S. Ski Team head coach Chris Grover and Canadian National Team Head Coach Justin Wadsworth, Tor-Arne Hetland and the Canadian World Cup Team ended up in Vermont last month. "Andy Newell can train here for many years … That’s the reason we are here," Hetland explained.
FasterSkier tagged along with the Canadian World Cup Team and Stratton Mountain School T2 squad for a morning over-distance rollerski on Aug. 15 in Stratton, Vt.
The Canadian World Cup Team and about 23 training-centre skiers ventured south to Bend, Ore., in late June for a 12-day camp that was more about finding good pavement than snow. "We felt like it was the best place for an all-around camp with a big group," coach Justin Wadsworth says.
Nous avons joint Bilodeau à sa demeure savoyarde, battue derechef par une forte pluie contraignant le passionné de pêche à délaisser temporairement le Rhône. L’homme revient avec humour sur ses débuts en 1995, nous présente ses compagnons d’armes oeuvrant au sein de l’équipe canadienne et se prononce sans détour sur les déconvenues de Sochi.
Dasha Gaiazova was on the fence about continuing her ski career after the 2014 Olympics.The Russian-born Canadian had competed at back-to-back home Olympics, and in May, she wasn't named to Canada's World Cup or senior development teams. "I felt like I wanted to keep racing," she recalled. “The team got announced and I didn't get on the team, and I was like, I gotta think about some things.”
In his first week as president/chair of Cross Country Canada, Jamie Coatsworth -- a longtime financial supporter of Canadian nordic skiing -- talks about the position and how he ended up filling the vacancy left by Richard Lemoine. "Sort of looking up around the room, I spoke to some of the other board members," Coatsworth said. "And I said somebody’s gotta do it."
Chandra Crawford stuck with skiing long after winning gold as a U23 at the 2006 Olympics because she remembered when Beckie Scott and Sara Renner explained "it would take ten years to get good." She committed, and after three Olympics, Crawford, 30, retired from the sport to pursue higher education -- cutting right to the chase with an MBA to better serve Fast and Female.
Tor-Arne Hetland is officially part of the Canadian crew after wrapping up his first training camp with the Canadian World Cup Team in May. Onboard since April, he says he's eager to give the perspective and stability that Cross Country Canada wants. "It is asked for new ideas into the team and I’m ready to give this," Hetland says. "And also more stability in the World Cup."
In an interview on Friday, Canadian head coach Justin Wadsworth discussed how he will work with Tor Arne Hetland in the coming year for Canmore-based World Cup athletes - "I’ve already had fun talking training with him" - and the other part of his new job, getting the national training centers aligned with the World Cup team to improve the development pipeline.