Canadian National Ski Team – Page 26

Canadian National Ski Team Racing US Ski Team World Cup

Notes and Quotes: Gallivare edition

Chelsea LittleNovember 26, 2012

With so much happening in Gällivare, Sweden, this weekend, we didn’t have the chance to put quite everything into our main feature stories. Here are some leftovers from the races, as well as some small pieces about the U.S. men’s and Canadian women’s relays. Women’s Relay When asked about the U.S. women’s relay podium, Development Coach Bryan Fish initially didn’t get too specific… he was just impressed. “That was exciting to watch,” he told FasterSkier...

Canadian National Ski Team Racing World Cup

Fifth Place for Canadian Men is All-Time Best World Cup Relay Finish, but They’re Itching for More

Chelsea LittleNovember 25, 2012

GÄLLIVARE, Sweden – When Alex Harvey said yesterday that Canada could win today’s 4 x 7.5 k World Cup relay, he wasn’t kidding. It might seem surprising after the results the Canadians turned in on Saturday, with just one racer breaking the top 20 in the 15 k skate. But Sunday was a new day, and relays always generate a little extra something for the athletes. “I love racing the relay,” Devon Kershaw told FasterSkier....

Canadian National Ski Team Racing World Cup

With No Need for Finishing Sprint, Northug Finds New Way to Irk Swedes

Chelsea LittleNovember 25, 2012

Norway's relay anchor Petter Northug didn't have to use his signature finishing sprint to embarrass the Swedes on their home soil. With the extra time he had on Marcus Hellner near the finish, Northug picked up a Swedish flag and skied across the line.

Canadian National Ski Team Racing US Ski Team World Cup

Babikov Leads North American Men with 14th-Place Finish, 3.6 Seconds out of Top-10

Chelsea LittleNovember 24, 2012

GÄLLIVARE, Sweden – With all of the success by U.S. women at the opening World Cup race today, it is easy to forget that lots of other North American skiers competed, too. And several had strong results – headlined by Ivan Babikov of Canada, who placed 14th in the men’s 15 k skate. Babikov declined to comment to FasterSkier after the race, but appeared to have followed the same strategy he took to a podium...

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

World Cup Descends on Gällivare; Athletes to Be Tested on Unrelentingly Technical Courses (With Photo Gallery)

Chelsea LittleNovember 23, 2012

Any number of Swedish men seem capable of topping the podium on home turf. Here, Marcus Hellner leads teammates on some pickups. Otherwise, the heavy hitters come at the end: Dario Cologna and Marit Bjørgen hold the honors of being last season’s World Cup winners, and so will kick off this season wearing their yellow bibs and starting last (that puts the Norwegian as bib 78 and the Swiss star as bib 97). The last...

Canadian National Ski Team General Interviews Racing Training

Canadian Para-Nordic Guide Carleton Prioritizes Alberta World Cup

Alex KochonNovember 20, 2012

Entering his third straight season with the Canadian Para-Nordic World Cup Team, Erik Carleton has already made some big decisions this year. Among them, he had to choose whether to race the Alberta Cross Country World Cup in Canmore or go for gold at the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) World Cup opener in Vuokatti, Finland. It must be tough to be Carleton, a competitive-nordic racer who doubles as a Para-Nordic guide for Brian McKeever, arguably the...

Canadian National Ski Team Continental Cup

Johan Olsson Paces to Bruksvallarna Victory; Using New Tactics, Babikov Surges to Third

Chelsea LittleNovember 17, 2012

Devon Kershaw had a good start in Bruksvallarna, Sweden today. So did Daniel Richardsson. But in the end, for both the Swedes and the Canadians, it was steady pacing that garnered skiers a top finish: Johan Olsson bested Richardsson for the win, and Ivan Babikov placed third for Canada while Kershaw faded to tenth. At 4.6 k into the 15 k, interval-start skate race, the second competition in the opening series of FIS races, Richardsson...

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing

Harvey, Crawford Break Up Swedish Sweep in Bruksvallarna

Alex KochonNovember 16, 2012

In and around Scandinavia on Friday morning, several nordic races kicked off the season. While the International Ski Federation (FIS) events in Bruksvallarna, Sweden, were among some of the shortest, few likely complained about a 5- and 10-kilometer classic race at this point in the year. It’s November. The World Cup races start in a week. Let’s just get the kinks out. Several skiers across Europe tweeted about their legs feeling a little syrupy, which...

Canadian National Ski Team General

Canadian World Cup Team Preview: Even Bigger Expectations

Alex KochonNovember 15, 2012

Without a doubt, the Canadian World Cup team faced some challenges last season even though its results didn’t really show it. Sure, every team has its ups and downs and occasional tizzy, but Canada generally kept it under wraps. Devon Kershaw continued to podium one weekend after the next and ended up second overall in the World Cup. Simultaneously, most of his teammates also notched personal bests: Alex Harvey finished sixth overall, Lenny Valjas tallied three...

Canadian National Ski Team General News World Cup

Alberta World Cup Chair Promises Plenty of Competition (Updated)

Alex KochonNovember 14, 20123

(Note: This article has been updated to reflect the number of competitors registered as of Friday, Nov. 16, and approximate number of red-group skiers.) With the Alberta World Cup in Canmore less than a month (more precisely, four weeks) away, Organizing Committee Chair Ken Hewitt said it’s been a whirlwind at work. The phone rings by the minute, emails are piling up in his inbox, but it’s all good. As of Friday, Hewitt wrote in...

Canadian National Ski Team General Interviews News

Just Before Leaving for Sweden, Valjas Breaks Hand Bone

Alex KochonNovember 8, 20122

One of the first things Lenny Valjas did upon arriving in Östersund, Sweden, on Thursday was put a pole strap on. His Canadian World Cup teammate Alex Harvey went out for a ski shortly after arriving in Europe early that evening, but not Valjas. He stood in his hotel room testing out the strap on his left hand. Valjas, 23, is going to be paying a lot of attention to that hand and more specifically,...

Canadian National Ski Team General Interviews Lifestyle Training

Gaiazova on Her ‘180-Degree Turn’ with Training, Team

Alex KochonNovember 6, 2012

There’s Dasha2: It Takes More.’ If you talk to the 2010 Olympian, that’s exactly how she’s approached this season. After largely individualized plan while complying with national-team standards. In doing so, she chose to train with Louis Bouchard, the World Cup men’s assistant coach and head of the Pierre-Harvey Training Centre (CNEPH) in Mont Sainte-Anne. That required a cross-country move and parting ways with Rocky Mountain Racers and its coach, John Jacques. She also signed...

Camps Canadian National Ski Team General Training Uncategorized

Canadians Choose Sweden for Skiing, Coffee; Australian Picks Canmore

Alex KochonOctober 31, 2012

This week, World Cup cross-country skiers across North America are checking their lists, checking them twice, loading up on supplies and then cutting their luggage in half to prepare for a long season over in Europe. The Canadian national team is headed over to Sweden next Wednesday on Nov. 7, about 2 ½ weeks before the World Cup opens in Gällivare, Sweden. Meanwhile, several U.S. Ski Team members are flying to Finland within the next...

Canadian National Ski Team Continental Cup General Racing US Ski Team

Frozen Thunder Sprint Showdown: Notes and Quotes

Alex KochonOctober 29, 2012

While it was great to hear from several top skiers on the Canadian and U.S. nordic ski teams on Friday, we weren’t able to fit everything into the recaps of the men’s and women’s time trials. Here are some extras and outtakes from the WinSport Frozen Thunder Classic, an unofficial sprint showdown between North American teams in Canmore, Alberta. (Original race stories with link to results: women) On pre-race problems: I was PO’ed because I...

Canadian National Ski Team Continental Cup General News Racing Training US Ski Team

Crawford Catches Jones, Lunges for Frozen Thunder Sprint Title

Alex KochonOctober 26, 2012

There’s only so much warming up one can do on a 1.8-kilometer course with more than 70 other people using it. That’s why Chandra Crawford spent part of her 45-minute prep before the WinSport Frozen Thunder Classic at the Canmore Nordic Centre dancing with Jessie Diggins. While the first unofficial race of the season and certainly the largest sprint in North America so far tested both Canadian and U.S. national team skiers, it also brought...

Canadian National Ski Team Continental Cup General News Racing US Ski Team

Newell Does Ol’ Switcheroo to Win Frozen Thunder Sprint

Alex KochonOctober 26, 2012

Andy Newell didn’t have time to make a game plan. It all came kind of naturally. The 27-year-old U.S. Ski Team veteran (who also skis for the Stratton Mountain School T2 Team) was pretty busy worrying about whether he’d have enough time to warm up for the inaugural WinSport Frozen Thunder Classic on Friday, and how late that school bus he was following was going to make him. Turns out he had just enough time...

Canadian National Ski Team Continental Cup General Interviews News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

The ‘Opinionated and Controversial’ Marty Hall Holds Forth

Nathaniel HerzOctober 22, 20125

You can say a lot about Marty Hall—and, in fact, most of it has probably already been said. The former coach of the American and Canadian national cross-country ski teams is an outspoken and prolific observer of the sport today, but that’s nothing new. He famously implied that the Russians were doping at the 1988 Olympic Games, and an Ottawa newspaper story upon his departure from the Canadian squad referred to him as the “opinionated...

Camps Canadian National Ski Team General News Other Training US Ski Team

Canada’s Frozen Thunder Offers Goods to All

Alex KochonOctober 20, 2012

Before the sun rises in Canmore, Alberta, those near the ski trails can probably hear the sounds of striding and skating along hard-packed snow this time of year. That’s likely accompanied by voices, chit-chatting as skiers compete 1.8-kilometer loops around the Canmore Nordic Centre before trail passes go on sale at 9 a.m. They’re not exactly renegades, night owls or extreme enthusiasts. For the most part, these individuals belong to clubs – some of which...

Camps Canadian National Ski Team Dryland General Training

Goodbye Park City, Hello Frozen Thunder: Canadians Fine Tune Training

Alex KochonOctober 10, 2012

It’s safe to say the Canadian cross-country teams enjoyed their stay in Park City, Utah. Between their tweets and Instagrams of bluebird days and college football games, it’s not hard to see why. While the Canadian women headed south on Saturday for a Noah Hoffman the only one that hopped in some workouts? JW: Yeah. We would’ve enjoyed having the other guys around, but he was the one that was in town and ready to...

Camps Canadian National Ski Team Dryland General News Regional / Local Training US Ski Team

USST Athletes Descend on Park City, Join Several Others

Alex KochonOctober 5, 2012

The U.S. Nordic Ski Team’s final dryland camp of the season starts in earnest on Monday, but many of its athletes are already getting after it in Park City, Utah. Liz Stephen, Noah Hoffman and Tad Elliott generally live in the high-altitude training mecca when they’re not traveling, and Jessie Diggins arrived almost a week ago. According to U.S. Ski Team (USST) head coach Chris Grover, the Alaska Pacific University (APU) athletes rolled into town...

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