After feeling like health issues stunted her career two seasons ago, two-time Olympian Perianne Jones decided to give it one more year and go out on a high note. She did so, staying healthy and logging some career-best distance results in her final season with the Canadian national team.
(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...
In the final race before a break in World Cup racing, Canada's Alex Harvey recovered from a rough classic portion of the men's 30-kilometer skiathlon in Rybinsk, Russia, to take ninth. Ivan Babikov cracked the top-20 and finished in 19th.
Canadians Lenny Valjas and Jesse Cockney skied well enough to finish in the points in the final race before the holiday break, a 1.3 k freestyle sprint on Sunday in Davos, Switzerland. It was Cockney's best individual World Cup result in more than two years.
While Alex Harvey was the only Canadian to make the heats on Friday, at least two of his teammates -- Perianne Jones and Jess Cockney -- were less than a second off the mark in the World Cup skate sprint in Lillehammer.
Chandra Crawford stuck with skiing long after winning gold as a U23 at the 2006 Olympics because she remembered when Beckie Scott and Sara Renner explained "it would take ten years to get good." She committed, and after three Olympics, Crawford, 30, retired from the sport to pursue higher education -- cutting right to the chase with an MBA to better serve Fast and Female.
Two weeks ago, Richard Lemoine learned that he would not be reelected for a second term as president of CCC's Board of Directors, should he run again. He resigned and an acting chair and former president is filling the void until CCC's Annual General Meeting, an open board meeting, this weekend.
Justin Wadsworth's not sure how it got out there, but he said incorrect information reached the press on Tuesday regarding the Canadian World Cup Team's coaching and waxing staff for the 2014/2015 season.
A tough wax day plagued the Canadians, but Ivan Babikov persevered and knocked off 56 places to finish 19th in Wednesday's 15 k classic mass start at Stage 4 of the Tour de Ski in Lenzerheide, Switzerland. Meanwhile, Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw finished 40th and 47th.
The high hopes for today’s final stage of the Ruka Triple, in Kuusamo, Finland failed to materialize for the Canadian National Team, as they were unable to place anyone in scoring position. The Canadian men fell short of their expectations with Ivan Babikov, a traditionally strong distance skate skier, giving the team it’s best result in the 15k pursuit, with 37th place overall.
Moving on from last season, the Canadians are a calculated bunch and ready to get the World Cup season started -- with a goal of not overemphasizing early results in order to peak for the Olympics. For the entire team, the Tour de Ski is part of the plan.
During his recent visit to California for a training camp with his Black Jack Ski Club, former Canadian National Team Head Coach Dave Wood met up with FasterSkier's Nancy Fiddler and shared some intimate thoughts on the sport. "You can’t improve by just going to Europe to race,” Wood says. “You have to figure out a way to cut 45 seconds over 15 kilometers before going.”
The first World Cup in Kuusamo, Finland, isn’t until the end of November, but when you start to break down the North American training schedules by camp and month, the off-season suddenly looks much shorter. The Canadian and U.S. national teams will be training in New Zealand, Canmore, Alaska, Truckee, Bend, Lake Placid and Park City at various points between now and when the season begins.
Heidi Widmer, 22, isn't one for hanging around. Recently promoted to the Canadian Senior Team, Widmer ended the season with a backcountry trip then flew to El Salvador and New Orleans before training in Switzerland, where she'll spend a month with World Cup and national team skiers.
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...
Looking out at his athletes plugging along during a workout last fall, Mike Cavaliere of the Alberta World Cup Academy sat inside the team van and listened to his coaches. A few years ago when Cavaliere started the Canadian national training centre in Canmore, Alberta, he and his staff recognized the lack of high-level female skiers. Back then, they resolved to work toward producing more, but at a training camp in Whistler, British Columbia, all...
MONT SAINTE-ANNE, Québec — Alex Harvey had a lot going for him on Thursday. The hometown course and its accompanying fans, the helicopter and a little luck were just a few of the things in the 23-year-old’s favor in the 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint final at Canadian Ski Nationals. Heck, organizers even pushed the weeklong event back in March to accommodate Harvey and his national team’s return. When Harvey nearly missed his quarterfinal on Thursday, they gave...
MONT SAINTE-ANNE, Québec — Whipping along the first of two downhills on a chemically enhanced sprint course at Canadian Ski Nationals on Thursday, Chandra Crawford could feel the vibrations in the stadium. Everyone there could. A helicopter soared directly ahead, swaying above one end of the 1.4-kilometer freestyle sprint loop to the other for an unrivaled viewpoint of the nation’s cross-country skiing finale. Spectators buzzed that the mayor of Québec was inside. In fact, it...
For the better part of the last three months, the Canadians, like many national ski teams, have spent a lot of time together. Fortunately for the three men currently on the World Cup circuit, they seem to get along pretty well. Self-dubbed the “3 Amigos” on Twitter, Devon Kershaw, Alex Harvey and Lenny Valjas spend much of their free time goofing around and posting pictures of their collective shenanigans while traveling Europe. They must fit...
Note: This is the first of a new series about working out with high-performance athletes. The idea is to shed light on the daily routine of someone dedicated to training and share a regular Joe’s story of trying to keep up. ALMONTE, Ontario — Upon my early arrival in Almonte, I decided to explore the hometown of Canadian Cross Country Ski Team member Perianne Jones. A few lefthand turns and I had completed the grand...