Strength. Balance. Agility. Jesse Cockney had all of those qualities as a child growing up in Yellowknife, Northwest Territories — just like most Inuit kids — according to his father, Angus. But what he could do with that talent was what Angus hoped to nurture. Since he had put his son on skis at age 3, Angus reflected in an email that he “knew then that [Jess] had incredible potential to succeed.” And so the...
In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Biathlon Union (FIS) 2018 Youth and Junior World Championships in Otepää, Estonia, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 17-year-old Rory Gilliland of Calgary, who is representing Canada at his first Youth World Championships. On Wednesday’s 3 x 7.5 k relay. *** “My full name is Rory Gilliland...
In this 20-something-question, fill-in-the-blanks series, we checked in with the world-class U.S. and Canadian biathletes before they competed at 2017 International Biathlon Union (IBU) Youth & Junior World Championships Feb. 22-28 in Osrblie (also known as Brezno-Osrblie), Slovakia. Here’s 16-year-old Élise Sauvé , of Foothills Nordic, who represented Canada at her first Youth Worlds. In two individual races, she finished 78th in the youth women’s 10 k individual and 86th in the 6 k sprint. *** “My full name is Élise Sauvé, but...
QUEBEC CITY – Two tiny specks charging toward the finish, Graham Nishikawa and Jesse Cockney appeared to merge into a single lane, and then suddenly jolted in opposite directions. Whatever made them move must have been significant, and it could have explained why Nishikawa lost his lead and ultimately the classic team sprint at the Canadian Ski National Championships on Saturday. Turns out it was just water in the tracks on a balmy afternoon at...