In the mix for most of Sunday's freestyle team sprint at World Championships, Canada's Perianne Jones and Dasha Gaiazova couldn't stick close enough to the leaders and missed advancing to the finals by two places to end up 13th overall.
Nikita Kriukov did it again at World Championships, winning gold for Russia, this time in the 6 x 1.5 k freestyle team sprint with Alexey Petukhov on Sunday. Sweden took second and Kazakhstan was third, edging Canada's defending champs by 0.03 seconds for bronze.
Aiming for another podium, Canada's Alex Harvey stayed in the mix for most of Saturday's 30 k skiathlon before getting caught behind too many men on the last lap and climbing several places to 13th. Ivan Babikov finished 31st after a strong classic leg, Graham Nishikawa was 51st and Brittany Webster placed 57th for Canada.
After narrowly qualifying in 26th, Alex Harvey went on to have the race of his life in Thursday's World Championships classic sprint, placing third to make history for Canada, which he hopes will lift the rest of the team after sub-par finishes.
The Canadian World Cup Team's journey through the season hasn't been as picture-perfect as last year, or even 2011 when Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey won gold in the team sprint. Aiming for the podium in Val di Fiemme, they have two World Championships medals in mind and reason to believe they can achieve at least that.
Canadian biathlete Zina Kocher raced the 10km freestyle cross-country World Cup in Davos on Sunday, fresh off biathlon World Championships.
Ivan Babikov dropped out and Alex Harvey finished 56th on an inauspicious day for the Canadian men. But head Coach Justin Wadsworth is not worried.
Canada's Lenny Valjas gave it his all and drained the tank for sixth, a season-best, non-stage result, and Devon Kershaw continued to his ascent into fighting form in eighth at Saturday's World Cup classic sprint in Davos, Switzerland.
A few days after calling it a season and flying home to Canmore, Alberta, Chandra Crawford and her coach Eric de Nys talk about her decision and what's next for Canada's Olympic gold medalist as she tries to recover for Sochi.
Skiers and jumpers tested out the Sochi trails - quite successfully for the U.S. and Canada; biathletes finished up World Youth and Junior Championships with another medal for Sean Doherty and two Canadian top-tens; Americans turned to longer marathon racing at the Boulder Mountain Tour and Craftsbury Marathon; Canadians mini-toured through Eastern Championships.
Canadians Perianne Jones and Dasha Gaiazova hung tough and charged late to pick up their first podium of the season, notching third in Sunday's classic team sprint at the Sochi World Cup. Finland's Mona-Liisa Malvalehto and Anne Kyllönen skied away from Russia for the victory, winning by more than five seconds.
After falling ill with food poisoning for the second time in a month, Devon Kershaw was unable to bring his A-game to the team sprint in Sochi, Russia. He and teammate Lenny Valjas placed 11th.
The prognosis is good for Alex Harvey after a shoulder dislocation, but he will still skip the remaining Sochi World Cup races.
Devon Kershaw skied to his best result of the 2013 season, placing 8th in the freestyle sprint. On the Canadian women's side, Dasha Gaiazova placed 12th, a season-best in a skate sprint.
After a bad crash while training in Sochi, Alex Harvey dislocated his shoulder and will not be competing in the upcoming World Cups Friday through Sunday. The Canadian national team member will take four to five days off, but should be OK for World Championships.
Twelve athletes, including five domestic skiers, were nominated for selection to Canada's 2013 Senior World Championship team, which will compete in the Davos World Cup Feb.16-17 and the WSC in Val di Fiemme, Italy Feb.20 – March 3. Updated with quotes.
Sixteen youth, junior, and U23 World Championship races, SuperTour Tours, NorAms that served as the last selection races for Canada's World Champs team, nordic combined in Germany, two college series - it was another busy weekend in the nordic world. Here's everything you need to know.
Annika Hicks led the Canadian team at U23's with a 32nd-place finish in the 15 k skiathlon; Patrick Stewart-Jones was the best of the men, finishing 47th. After a tough week that included illness for some team members, Andy Shields and Colin Abbott were lapped and unable to finish the men's 30k.
Note: This article has been updated. There’s something about La Clusaz. Liz Stephen can’t put her finger on it, but it works for her. A week after her 26th birthday, she notched another career best in the French alpine village -- this time in a classic race.
Sometimes the wrong wax call can be disastrous. The Canadian men were reminded of that in La Clusaz, France, on Saturday during the mass start 15 k classic, when they chose a mixture of hard wax and klister on a day that ended up better suited for hairies. Ivan Babikov posted the top Canadian finish in 39th.