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.
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. FALUN, Sweden — It was another almost-there day for Emily Nishikawa of Canada, who finished 32nd in the 30 k classic at World Championships on Saturday. After scoring her first World Cup points in Davos, Switzerland, earlier this season, Nishikawa has been hovering around the top 30. The placed 30th...
The Canadians placed seventh in the second men's semifinal at 2015 World Championships on Sunday, missing out on a spot in the final and placing 13th overall. “Everything worked to plan, it was just we were a little bit too far back, a second or two," anchor Lenny Valjas said.
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.
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.
Alex Harvey wasn't the only Canadian to race in Thursday's World Champs classic sprint. Lenny Valjas finished 14th overall for the men after placing third in his quarterfinal, while Perianne Jones placed 24th.
FasterSkier discusses the selection of nine skiers to the Canadian 2015 Nordic World Ski Championships with Canadian National Team Head Coach Justin Wadsworth. "In every race we have good opportunity. It is just putting it together on the right day," he said of the team's chances in Falun, Sweden.
The four-man Canadian World Cup Team we've come to know over the years is back at it again, and has been training for the last two weeks with four other top domestic skiers -- Perianne Jones, Emily Nishikawa, Graeme Killick, and Jesse Cockney. This week, most of the team will test its stuff with the best of them at the World Cup opener in Kuusamo, Finland.
Tor-Arne Hetland is officially part of the Canadian crew after wrapping up his first training camp with the Canadian World Cup Team in May. Onboard since April, he says he's eager to give the perspective and stability that Cross Country Canada wants. "It is asked for new ideas into the team and I’m ready to give this," Hetland says. "And also more stability in the World Cup."
In an interview on Friday, Canadian head coach Justin Wadsworth discussed how he will work with Tor Arne Hetland in the coming year for Canmore-based World Cup athletes - "I’ve already had fun talking training with him" - and the other part of his new job, getting the national training centers aligned with the World Cup team to improve the development pipeline.
Cross-Country Ski de Fond Canada (CCC) has changed its leadership structure in an effort to ramp up for the 2018 Winter Olympics, with Justin Wadsworth overseeing all national-team programs and training centres, and Louis Bouchard and Tor-Arne Hetland as World Cup Team coaches.
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.
Canadian Women's World Cup Coach Eric de Nys is in the process of starting a new junior-training program in Canmore after parting ways with the national team. “With the World Cup team being what it will be next year, it just can't justify having that many coaches there,” he says. “We had to do some restructuring and part of that was eliminating a job.”
Alex Harvey rocked the 30 k skiathlon, executing a tried-and-tested strategy to a 'T' and staying out of the way of trouble. The Canadian won the penultimate race of World Cup Finals to put himself in podium contention for the overall World Cup, which would be the icing on his most successful season to date. Devon Kershaw placed 12th, and Ivan Babikov finished 23rd for Canada.
When Alex Harvey tripped over a pole broken by U.S. skier Noah Hoffman, it summed up the whole Olympics for the Canadian team: if one piece was there, the rest was unlucky. Harvey, Ivan Babikov, and Graeme Killick finished 19th, 20th, and 28th, while Jesse Cockney was "just thrilled to have the start."
The Canadian team sprint pair of Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey was eliminated from the race without even qualifying for the final round. Head Coach Justin Wadsworth said: "This is the worst feeling I've had since I've been with the team."
Devon Kershaw said he felt better skiing Friday than previously at this Olympics, but it was hard to tell with too much grip on a klister day in extremely soft and warm conditions. Kershaw placed 35th, his teammate Ivan Babikov finished 39th, Graeme Killick was 65th and Alex Harvey did not finish.
Two days after running a ski down to a Russia's Anton Gafarov, Canadian head coach Justin Wadsworth joked that he'll think twice about doing the same in the future after the gesture prompted a significant amount of media attention.
As if individual starts aren't mentally hard enough, add summer-like conditions to the Winter Olympics and it gets just plain sloppy out there. Brittany Webster was the top Canadian in 42nd in Thursday's 10 k classic race, and Dasha Gaiazova followed in 44th.
“It can be so many things,” Kikkan Randall's coach, Erik Flora, said in an interview after Tuesday's Olympic sprint race. “I’ll go back and review this and see—I’m sure it’ll play over and over in our heads.”