Canadian National Ski Team – Page 30

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing World Cup

Led By Kershaw’s Bronze, Canadians Produce Solid Distance Races in Otepää

Audrey ManganJanuary 23, 2012

Devon Kershaw’s rebound from a disappointing classic sprint in Otepää to a third-place finish in the 15 k the next day certainly had the Canadian excited. He’d been gunning for gold, but the World Champion found it hard to be too upset with a podium finish on what many are referring to as the toughest course on the World Cup. In a phone interview on Sunday, Kershaw was just as happy to learn that some...

Canadian National Ski Team Continental Cup General News Racing Results

Sandau Rallies to Overcome Deficit, Beat McMurtry (updated)

Alex KochonJanuary 22, 2012

Note: This story has been updated to include quotes from third-place finisher and overall NorAm leader Brent McMurtry. If there’s one thing an athlete dreads besides injury, it’s sickness. Kevin Sandau felt the latter coming on Saturday in Canmore, Alberta, the night before the last race of the Western Canadian Championships. With most other NorAm races, the Alberta World Cup Academy and Senior Development Team skier would have found it easier to simply sit one...

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing Results World Cup

Cologna Sweeps Otepää; Kershaw Channels Frustrations for Third

Alex KochonJanuary 22, 2012

Devon Kershaw had it in his head. He wanted redemption. The Canadian National Team veteran hadn’t been entirely pleased with his season so far despite finishing fourth in the Tour de Ski two weeks ago. After several top 10 performances this season, Kershaw took a big hit on Saturday, finishing 40th in the World Cup classic sprint after his pole shattered in his hand and he struggled to find a replacement. With one chance to leave...

Canadian National Ski Team Continental Cup Racing Results

McMurtry Opens NorAm Mini Tour with Definitive Win

Alex KochonJanuary 20, 2012

It’s not as if one of the top two men on this year’s NorAm circuit really had an advantage. While Kevin Sandau had more recently heaved himself up the grinding hills at the Canmore Nordic Centre with his Alberta World Cup Academy teammates, both he and Brent McMurtry (Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre) spent plenty of time training there with the Canadian National Ski Team. Both Senior Development Team members, Sandau and McMurtry also grew up...

Canadian National Ski Team US Ski Team World Cup

Crawford, Jones Jet into Milan Semifinals, Set to Make Waves in Team Sprint Tomorrow

Chelsea LittleJanuary 14, 20121

Kikkan Randall might have been the only North American to appear in the final of today’s sprint in Milan, Italy, but several other women joined her in the heats, with pretty much across-the-board success; two had personal-best finishes. For Canada, both Perianne Jones and Chandra Crawford skied their way into the semifinals. After the heats were drawn, it seemed that the team had bad luck; both women were placed in heat five, making it unlikely...

Canadian National Ski Team US Ski Team World Cup

After Making Quarterfinals, North American Men Done In By Narrow Courses In Milan

Chelsea LittleJanuary 14, 2012

The narrow, winding sprint course through Milan’s Parco Sempione was not good to the North American men on Saturday. While three of them made the heats, not a single one advanced to the semifinals, done in by the narrow course which left little room to maneuver. “It was really tight from the gun and with such a monotonous course you’re not going to get a lot of shifting around,” said American Simi Hamilton, who finished...

Canadian National Ski Team Continental Cup General News Racing

Sandau Maintains NorAm Distance Streak

Alex KochonJanuary 12, 2012

Despite not feeling it in the beginning, Kevin Sandau had time to figure his body out in the Haywood NorAm men’s 30 k skiathlon on Thursday at Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, British Columbia. For the first half of the eight-lap race, Sandau, a member of the Alberta World Cup Academy and Canadian National Ski Team, decided to let others lead. By others, that mostly meant Brent McMurtry of the Pierre-Harvey National Training Centre (CNEPH)....

Canadian National Ski Team Continental Cup Juniors

As Bailey Prepares to Say Farewell, NDC-Thunder Bay Has Guns Blazing Into U23 Trials

Chelsea LittleJanuary 12, 20122

When National Development Center Thunder Bay (NDC-TB) Head Coach Eric Bailey announced in December that he was going to retire at the end of the season, the Canadian ski community wondered who, if anyone, could possibly replace him. Over the last eight years, Bailey had quietly built a reputation as a leader at the remote training center, situated at the head of Lake Superior in Ontario. While Canmore gets most of the press these days...

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing World Cup

Eight Down, One to Go, as Kershaw Guns for Podium

Nathaniel HerzJanuary 7, 2012

VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – For Canadian Devon Kershaw, the toughest thing about the nine-stage Tour de Ski may not actually be physical pain of racing. It might, instead, be keeping his head screwed on straight. “I overanalyze a lot,” he said Saturday. “I’ve been pretty nervous the last few days, and just trying to tick [the stages] off one by one.” For the last two stages of the Tour, though, Kershaw has kept it...

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing World Cup

Harvey Powers to Podium in Val di Fiemme, With Help from Secret Weapon

Nathaniel HerzJanuary 7, 2012

VAL DI FIEMME, Italy – Before Stage 8 of the Tour de Ski, a secret weapon arrived at the Canadian hotel here. It didn’t come in a box; it wasn’t a hi-tech ski wax, or special food or drink. And it wasn’t

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing Tour de Ski World Cup

Cologna Rises Above the Fray to Win TDS Stage 7; “Game Over” for Northug

Nathaniel HerzJanuary 5, 20121

TOBLACH, Italy – The Dolomites were the site of brutal battles between the Austrians and Italians during World War I. Nearly 100 years later, members of European and North American countries once again waged war among these mountains in the depths of winter—this time, in a cross-country ski race. Perhaps appropriately, it was a Swiss athlete who rose above the fray here on Thursday, winning a 32-kilometer freestyle pursuit by skiing his own race and...

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing Tour de Ski World Cup

Babikov Will Race Tour’s Stage 5, Despite Injury

Nathaniel HerzJanuary 3, 2012

TOBLACH, Italy – Ivan Babikov (CAN) will race Stage 5 of the 2012 Tour de Ski, according to Canadian Head Coach Justin Wadsworth. “He’s for sure going to race today,” Wadsworth said. Babikov had a catastrophic crash at the end of Stage 4 of the Tour in Germany, breaking a ski and a pole. Canadian staff initially feared he had broken his wrist. X-rays came up negative, and after an examination by Mireille Belzile—the mother...

Canadian National Ski Team News Racing Tour de Ski World Cup

Kershaw and Harvey Back to Fighting in Stage 4, Take Fast Train to Italy

Nathaniel HerzJanuary 1, 2012

OBERSTDORF, Germany – That was more like it. Such was the prevailing mood in the Canadian National Ski Team camp after Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey finished sixth and seventh in Stage 4 of the Tour de Ski here on Sunday. The day wasn’t perfect,

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing Tour de Ski World Cup

Babikov’s Bones Intact After Hard Fall in TDS Stage 4; Could Race Stage 5

Nathaniel HerzJanuary 1, 2012

OBERSTDORF, Germany – Ivan Babikov’s arm isn’t broken, according to his coach Justin Wadsworth. X-rays at a local hospital Sunday afternoon revealed that Babikov’s bones were intact, after a hard crash at the end of Stage 4 of the 2012 Tour de Ski that busted Babikov’s pole and one of his best skis, Wadsworth said. Local physicians gave Babikov a brace, and told him to let pain govern his decisions about racing. Wadsworth said in...

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing Tour de Ski World Cup

Canadians Can’t Find Winning Wax Combo, Miss Opportunity in Oberhof

Nathaniel HerzDecember 30, 20111

OBERHOF, Germany — There’s no shortage of grit among the top men on the Canadian cross-country ski team. Each year, Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, and Ivan Babikov train for hundreds of hours, climbing dozens of steep hills through sun, rain, and snow. The training has powered the athletes to some pretty impressive accomplishments this season. But even after all that preparation, Stage 2 of the Tour de Ski on Friday threw a challenge at the...

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing Tour de Ski World Cup

After Auspicious Tour Start, Canucks Eye Stage 2

Nathaniel HerzDecember 29, 2011

OBERHOF, Germany – Thursday’s freestyle prologue will probably not end up being significant in the grand scheme of the 2012 Tour de Ski, which includes eight more competitions and 100 kilometers of racing spread across two countries. But that doesn’t mean good results here didn’t give athletes a boost. Led by Alex Harvey’s sixth-place finish, the Canadian men are flying high after Stage 1 of the Tour. With Harvey just seven seconds away from the...

Canadian National Ski Team Juniors

Youth Olympic Games Presents: Maya MacIsaac-Jones

Chelsea LittleDecember 27, 2011

How fast is Maya MacIsaac-Jones? At a recent NorAm sprint in Rossland, British Columbia, the Albertan had the fastest qualifying time of any junior, covering the course more than eight seconds faster than any of her competitors. She went on to win the junior race, despite the fact that she’s only sixteen – three years younger than the other podium finishers. And if that isn’t impressive enough, MacIsaac-Jones’ time in the qualifier would have put...

Canadian National Ski Team US Ski Team World Cup

For North Americans, First Period of World Cup Creates Short-Term Changes in Red Group, Long Term Changes in Quotas

Chelsea LittleDecember 25, 2011

Lenny Valjas and Ivan Babikov are in, Kris Freeman is out, and the U.S. is looking forward to more quota spots for its women’s team next year During the first period of World Cup racing, the U.S. and Canadian ski teams had plenty of notable results. Kikkan Randall won and won again, much to the delight of the Americans. She and Sadie Bjornsen shared a team sprint podium, while Holly Brooks notched a couple of...

Canadian National Ski Team World Cup

“Overshadowed” By Crawford, Gaiazova Races to Ninth Place in Sprint, a Personal Best for Skating

Chelsea LittleDecember 18, 2011

Coming off a season in which Canada got its first-ever World Championships gold in the team sprint, the winners, Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw, are the Canadians you’d expect to see in sprint finals. But while the duo certainly haven’t been slacking on the World Cup this year, in Rogla, Slovenia it was the women who impressed in a fast and furious one-kilometer skate sprint on Sunday. 2006 Olympic gold medalist Chandra Crawford returned to...

Canadian National Ski Team Racing US Ski Team World Cup

US and Canada Field Strong Teams for First World Cup Mass Start

Topher SabotDecember 16, 2011

The 2012 World Cup season is already a month old, and there has yet to be a mass start. That changes on Saturday in Rogla, Slovenia when women ski a 10km classic and men 14k. The races feature intermediary sprints for World Cup points—once for women at 5.2k and twice for men at 5.2k and 11.2k. In a new twist, points will be awarded to the top-10 at the intermediary marks, instead of just the...

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