Why did World Cup veterans Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw sometimes race on what looked like antiquated Fischer skis? The duo talks about the almost-magic qualities of those boards, which belonged to a former team tech, and what life is like without them. “If I see Poltoranin on those skis, that will weird me out big time,” Kershaw says.
Head coach of the Canadian World Cup and national team, Justin Wadsworth spoke to FS at length about the team this season and how its athletes have handled summer and fall training. Bottom line: most everyone starting on the World Cup is healthy, and several are in the best shape of their lives.
Fresh off of marrying his new wife Kristin Størmer Steira in northern Norway, Devon Kershaw drove to Oslo and then jetted off for a high-elevation dryland training camp in the Italian Alps with his Canadian teammates and buddies, Jesse Cockney and Alex Harvey.
Liz Stephen and Alex Harvey are FasterSkier's cross country skiers of the year for their impressive feats in the 2014/2015 season.
FasterSkier's cross country performances of the year come from Alex Harvey at the 2015 World Championships where he won silver and bronze medals in the sprint and skiathlon. Jessie Diggins and Caitlin Gregg are co-recipients of the women's award for their historic 2-3 finish in the 10 k freestyle at Worlds.
Alex Harvey's personal coach and the head coach of the Pierre-Harvey Training Centre for more than a decade, Louis Bouchard has been recognized as one of Canada's top coaches for some time. This year, FasterSkier picked Bouchard -- the man behind two individual World Championships medals -- as its 2015 Coach of the Year.
Cross Country Canada announced its national-team nominations Tuesday with little change to the World Cup and Development rosters. The 2015/2016 Senior National Team will feature 12 athletes ranging from the World Cup to U23 Development Teams.
Canadian star Alex Harvey went under surgery twice this spring to correct a problem with his iliac arteries. Both operations went well and the 26-year-old will return to training May 1.
(http://swixcreator.com/). “This fantastic contest will engage our community, and make our athletes feel ‘closer’ to home while competing abroad,” noted MacIntosh. “The partnership with Swix will contribute greatly to the evolution and promotion of our sport, and the 2015-16 National Ski Team Race suit Design Contest is a perfect way to kick things off right. The Swix partnership also provides our team with critical technical support which will benefit us during each race,” said Alex...
Alex Harvey hung with the main pack until just a few kilometers from the finish of the Holmenkollen 50 k, then outsprinted Toni Livers of Switzerland for 13th place. With Ivan Babikov placing 27th, the Canadian camp seemed happy with they way their 2015 season finished.
Andy Newell narrowly qualified in 28th, but made it into the semifinals and finished 12th overall in the season's final World Cup sprint. Canada's Lenny Valjas just missed out the semifinals and took 14th overall. Sadie Bjornsen was the lone North American woman to qualify and finished 26th overall after racing in the fastest quarterfinal heat.
After winning two medals at the 2015 World Championships, Alex Harvey finished 17th in Sunday's 15 k freestyle in Lahti, Finland. Meanwhile, Emily Nishikawa led the Canadian women in the 10 k and earned her best World Cup result of the season.
Never count Petter Northug out of a ski race. In the final race of the 2015 FIS Nordic World Championships, the Norwegian never cracked the top-10 of the 50 k until the last kilometer where he out-sprinted the competition to take his fourth victory of the Championships.
Alex Harvey stayed at the front of the pack for most of Sunday's 50 k classic mass start, the final race of 2015 World Championships in Falun, but he couldn't quite get into the position he needed before a four-man finishing sprint -- which he was just behind. Also for Canada, Graeme Killick notched a career-best 19th, and Ivan Babikov placed 30th after leading as well.
Canada and the U.S. men's teams battled for a close 10th and 11th positions in Friday's 4 x 10 k relay at the 2015 FIS Nordic World Championships in Falun, Sweden. While both teams acknowledged a desire for improvement, they were pleased with their respective efforts.
FasterSkier sat down with Alex Harvey on Monday to talk about the two medals he's racked up in his two races so far at 2015 World Championships, and what they mean to him and for Canadian cross-country skiing.
Alex Harvey approached Saturday's 30 k skiathlon with a winning mindset and came out with bronze, his second medal in as many races so far at 2015 World Championships. "A medal today is as good as gold," Canadian National Team Coach Justin Wadsworth says, "We couldn’t want anything more." Russia's Maxim Vylegzhanin outlasted Switzerland's Dario Cologna for his first world title.
FasterSkier’s coverage of the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Falun, Sweden, is brought to you by the generous support of Kikkan Randall training wear. Norway’s Didrik Tønseth was looking at a podium finish in his very first FIS Nordic World Ski Championships event. Now he’s looking at doing more pushups. Twenty-three-year-old rookie Tønseth was leading for part of the way in the men’s 30-kilometer skiathlon on Saturday. “I was thinking that, ‘This is it. I’m...
A day after Alex Harvey rose to silver in the men's classic sprint on the first official day of 2015 World Championships in Falun, Sweden, Cross Country Canada Athlete Director Colin Abbott caught up with high-performance director Tom Holland about the significance of silver.
The opening race of the 2015 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships saw Norway's Petter Northug out lunge Canada's Alex Harvey for victory in the 1.4 k classic sprint in Falun, Sweden. Harvey spent much of the final in last position and skied a tactical race to overcome the strong field.