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Canadian Nationals

Canadian Nationals is the premier event of the season domestically in Canada. The top skiers in the country battle for championship titles. Coverage of events and related news.
Canadian Nationals/US SuperTour Finals: Ritchie and Kern Top 45 k Podium in Equal-Distance Event

We’ve arrived at the final act, the culmination of a week of racing in Canada and a season of international racing before that. Piloting a gender-equal distance, both men and women raced a 45 k mass start skate on Sunday, completing six laps of a 7.5 k loop at the Whistler Olympic Park. Continuing a pattern of challenging weather conditions, the day started with temperatures around 37° F with rain, making for soft and wet...

Canadian Nationals/US SuperTour Finals: Team sprint yields another win for Kern with Sonnesyn for SMS T2, University of Utah’s Jager and Keefe take men’s race

“You need some Gordie Howe elbows out there today” said the commentator on the live feed at one point during Friday’s Team Sprint in Whistler. You know, just in case you needed a reminder that this is Canadian Nationals. Alongside his legacy as one of hockey’s greatest players of all time, leaving his mark on the sport as an indomitable force with both his goal scoring and dynamism on the ice,   Howe was known as...

Canadian Nationals/US SuperTour Finals: Julia Kern wins again, while Xavier McKeever takes first Canadian title in Classic Sprint

Racing at the joint Canadian Nationals/US SuperTour Finals resumed on Wednesday, showcasing some of the best racers in North America facing off for a classic sprint.  As the Whistler Olympic Park was home for cross country skiing during the 2010 Vancouver Games, the classic sprint course on Wednesday was one that played host to an important stepping stone in North American skiing history. In that competition, both American and Canadian skiers solidified the inroads they...

Martin and Kern Stride to the Top on Day Two in Whistler

Carrying the momentum from the first day of racing into a second distance event, athletes lined up once more at the Whistler Olympic Park for a 10 / 15-kilometer interval start classic. Over 130 men and 90 women participated in the open categories, representing clubs across Canada and the United States.  Adding a springtime layer of complexity to remind us that we are officially past the equinox, temperatures in Whistler hovered above freezing while a...

Diggins and Drolet Top 5/10 k Skate Podium to Kick Off Combined Championships in Whistler

Sunday kicked off a week of racing at the combined Canadian Cross-Country National Championship and U.S. Super Tour Finals event held in Whistler, British Columbia. Hosted by the Black Tusk Nordic Events Society (BTNES) on the Whistler Olympic Park courses, this event also offers junior and U23 skiers a preview of the courses for next year’s Junior and U23 World Championships. With Paranordic, Nordic Combined, and both junior and senior cross-country events, it looks to...

(Press Release) Ritchie and Cyr Ski to Historic Fifth Place in Team Sprints, Stewart-Jones and Beatty place 12th in Women’s Race

Graham Ritchie and Antoine Cyr combined to deliver Canada’s best-ever team sprint result in the classic-skiing discipline at an Olympic Winter Games when they finished fifth on Wednesday near Beijing. The 23-year-olds, who were seventh at their first Nordic World Ski Championships last year in the skate-ski format, matched strides with the fastest cross-country skiers on the planet for the historic result. “This is so incredible to pull this off and throw down such a...

Nordiq Canada Revises 2021 Competition Plans for Canadian Athletes Due to Ongoing Pandemic (Press Release)

  FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 30, 2020 National Body Cancels Canadian World Championship Trials in Whistler and Canadian Ski Championships in Gatineau; Still plans on Sending Canadian Teams to Targeted International Races   CANMORE, Alta.—The long-term health and safety of athletes, coaches, staff and volunteers is Nordiq Canada’s top priority. Using this statement as the beacon to guide the organization through the ongoing global pandemic, Nordiq Canada, in consultation with its members (Divisions) and national...

Nordiq Canada Reworks Domestic Calendar to Emphasize Regional Racing (Press Release)

    Nordiq Canada Keeps Cross-Country Ski Athletes on Track During Pandemic by Unveiling FIS Cup Regional Race Series World Championship Trials set for Whistler; Canadian Ski Championships head back to Capital region   Press Release CANMORE, Alta.— In an effort to provide a safe and competitive domestic race series while keeping athletes close to home during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Nordiq Canada has created an East-West FIS CUP Regional Race Series for the 2020-21...

Masters Racing: Getting Lapped At Nationals

A middle of the pack master would have to be an idiot to sign up to race 50km against the best skiers in North America on a FIS-approved World Cup course. The top skiers will be fresh from World Cup Finals in Canmore and competing for important titles, national team selection, and future World Cup starts. With 2020 Nationals combined with US SuperTour Finals, the field will be deep. So why is my name on...

Canadian Nationals 2019: Notes, Quotes, and Galleries

Canadian Ski Championships has come to an end with the mass start classic for the younger age groups. While is is hard to prove that this is the largest nationals ever, it is clear that Évènements Nordique Gatineau Nordic Events (ÉNGNE) has organized a successful week of racing for roughly 700 athletes. ÉNGNE is a collaboration between Chelsea Nordiq Ski Club, Nakkertok Nordic Ski Association, Club Skinouk and the Gatineau Loppet. One of the reasons this...

The Canadian Ski Championships party at Nakkertok trails in Gatineau, Québec is in the final days. While ski fans might see this as a pre-party for World Cup Finals in Québec City, the athletes are pursuing titles, personal goals, and the chance to test themselves against 700 peers. FasterSkier, like the World Cup athletes, is not immune to travel challenges. There will be a few quotes from Tuesday’s mass starts, the result 0f flight cancellations...

Canadian Nationals: Skate Sprint and WCF qualification

This article has been updated with final WCF selections and a video of the sprint A finals. Nationals rolled on at Nakkertok trails with free technique sprints on Saturday. The women raced a 1.3km course while the men added one more hill for 1.4km.  The jury described the conditions as ‘soft icy’, which seems to mean ‘fast spring skiing’ with a soft layer over a firm base. Maya MacIsaac-Jones (CNST) took her second consecutive national...

Canadian Nationals: Two Day Pursuit and WCF Qualification

This article has been updated to correct an interpretation of the selection criteria. Day two of nationals was day two of the pursuit at Nakkertok trails in Gatineau, Québec. The two-day pursuit format (classic interval start on day one, free technique pursuit start day two) was held for the second time at nationals. With both national titles and starts at World Cup Finals in Québec City up for grabs, it was always going to be...

Wednesday Rundown: Canadian Nationals

Canadian Ski Championships, better known as ‘nationals’, kicked off today at the Nakkertok trails in Québec with individual start classic racing. 342 men started the 10km and 293 women started the 5km, both using the same 5km loop on an overcast day at -8C. The field is more stacked than usual, with only two athletes (Alex Harvey and Jack Carlyle) in Europe right now. Lenny Valjas (CNST) won the 10km in 25:09.3, 9.9 seconds ahead...

Connecting the Dots: World Cup Finals, Nationals, and Developing the Sport

North American World Cups are becoming a fixture on the schedule, with the season ending in Canada in 2016, 2017, 2019, and 2020. In 2020, Minnesota will join in with a city sprint- that race falls between the Quebec City and Canmore events. These races are important for athlete development as both Canada and the U.S. are granted ‘host nation’ start allocations. Fifteen male and 15 female athletes may represent each country with the added...

2018 Canadian Nationals: 30/50 k Classic Recap

(Note: This article has been corrected to reflect that Evan Palmer-Charrette won his second national title last weekend.) 2018 Canadian Ski Nationals (Thunder Bay, Ontario): 30/50 k classic mass starts On the final day of racing at Canadian Ski Nationals in Thunder Bay, two National Team Development Centre (NTDC) Thunder Bay athletes topped the podium on their local trails at the Lappe Nordic Centre on Saturday. Katherine Stewart-Jones and Evan Palmer-Charrette won national titles in...

2018 Canadian Nationals: Skate Pursuits and Sprints

Canadian Ski Nationals (Thunder Bay, Ontario): Freestyle pursuits and sprints Ski Nationals continued Tuesday and Wednesday at Lappe Nordic in Thunder Bay, with 10- and 15-kilometer freestyle pursuits (based on second-straight title as the first Canadian in the pursuit, placing second overall, 1:03.4 behind Gregg. Annika Hicks (AWCA) was the second Canadian in third overall (+1:16.3), up from fifth in the classic race. Katherine Stewart-Jones (NTDC Thunder Bay/National U25 Team) placed fourth in the pursuit...

2018 Canadian Nationals Weekend Recap: Days 1 and 2

Canadian Ski Nationals (Thunder Bay, Ontario): Team sprints + 5/10 k classic  Canada’s 2018 Ski Nationals opened this past weekend at Lappe Nordic in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with classic team sprints on Saturday followed by 5- and 10-kilometer classic interval starts on Sunday. Nakkertok topped the podium in both the open men’s and women’s team sprints. In the men’s final, Nakkertok’s Dominique Moncion-Groulx and Patrick Stewart-Jones won by 1.95 seconds over Barrie Cross Country (BXC)...

Canadian Nationals: Notes, Quotes and Gallery

CANMORE, Alberta — Canadian Nationals went to Canmore for 2017 and Canmore delivered. Famous for challenging courses, well-trained volunteers, and erratic weather; the Canmore Nordic Centre showed all three at their best during the eight-day event. Each day delivered warm sun, cold winds, snow flurries, and warm winds (often all occurring in a single race lap) to more than 600 racers. The first races each morning were held on fast, transformed snow that transitioned to slow and soft in the afternoon. While...

Saturday Rundown: Canadian Nationals 30/50 k

2017 Canadian Ski Nationals (Canmore, Alberta): 30/50 k freestyle mass start On the final day of racing at 2017 Canadian Ski Nationals, the men’s 50-kilometre freestyle mass start came down to a two-way battle for first and the women’s 30 k win went to the champion of two other individual races this week — Emily Nishikawa — on Saturday at the Canmore Nordic Centre. Graeme Killick, of the Canadian World Cup Team, outlasted Andy Shields (Lappe...