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Harvey, Crawford Break Up Swedish Sweep in Bruksvallarna

Alex KochonNovember 16, 2012

In and around Scandinavia on Friday morning, several nordic races kicked off the season. While the International Ski Federation (FIS) events in Bruksvallarna, Sweden, were among some of the shortest, few likely complained about a 5- and 10-kilometer classic race at this point in the year. It’s November. The World Cup races start in a week. Let’s just get the kinks out. Several skiers across Europe tweeted about their legs feeling a little syrupy, which...

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Canadian National Ski TeamGeneral

Canadian World Cup Team Preview: Even Bigger Expectations

Alex KochonNovember 15, 2012

Without a doubt, the Canadian World Cup team faced some challenges last season even though its results didn’t really show it. Sure, every team has its ups and downs and occasional tizzy, but Canada generally kept it under wraps. Devon Kershaw continued to podium one weekend after the next and ended up second overall in the World Cup. Simultaneously, most of his teammates also notched personal bests: Alex Harvey finished sixth overall, Lenny Valjas tallied three...

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Canada World Cups: Who Gets to Go?
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Canada World Cups: Who Gets to Go?

Alex KochonNovember 9, 2012

This past spring, nine Canadians learned they prequalified for their nation’s World Cups in December. Most had an inkling they were in the mix; last season’s NorAm winners Kevin Sandau and Alysson Marshall automatically guaranteed themselves starts in every Québec and Alberta World Cup race, as did the second-place finishers Brent McMurtry and Emily Nishikawa. But then there were some wild cards, like Canadian national-team biathlete Rosanna Crawford. In March, Crawford jumped into a couple...

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Canadians Choose Sweden for Skiing, Coffee; Australian Picks Canmore
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Canadians Choose Sweden for Skiing, Coffee; Australian Picks Canmore

Alex KochonOctober 31, 2012

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...

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Kershaw Targets Repeat World Championships Victory for 2013
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Kershaw Targets Repeat World Championships Victory for 2013

Audrey ManganOctober 22, 2012

For someone who finished the World Cup last winter ranked second in the overall standings, Canada’s Devon Kershaw flies relatively well under the radar. While his own teammate Alex Harvey is treated as a “pseudo-god” in Quebec, Kershaw is rarely mentioned by name when European journalists ask Dario Cologna (SUI) or Petter Northug (NOR) whom they’re watching out for in the coming year. This relative anonymity, Kershaw says, is just fine by him. “It’s pretty...

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Canada’s Frozen Thunder Offers Goods to All
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Canada’s Frozen Thunder Offers Goods to All

Alex KochonOctober 20, 2012

Before the sun rises in Canmore, Alberta, those near the ski trails can probably hear the sounds of striding and skating along hard-packed snow this time of year. That’s likely accompanied by voices, chit-chatting as skiers compete 1.8-kilometer loops around the Canmore Nordic Centre before trail passes go on sale at 9 a.m. They’re not exactly renegades, night owls or extreme enthusiasts. For the most part, these individuals belong to clubs – some of which...

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Testing, One Two Three
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Testing, One Two Three

Audrey ManganOctober 18, 2012

The U.S. Ski Team’s cross-country athletes finished their final round of pre-season testing last week in Park City, Utah. Athlete blogs currently abound with documentation of skiers pushing themselves to the point of falling off the treadmill in order to collect data on how much they’ve each progressed since their last test. The importance an athlete attaches to his or her test results varies by individual, but in the lab and in training they can...

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What Skiing Can Take Away from Armstrong Saga
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What Skiing Can Take Away from Armstrong Saga

Audrey ManganOctober 12, 201210

The U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) delivered a definitive indictment to the world on Wednesday morning with the release of its reasoned decision regarding seven-time Tour de France winner Lance Armstrong. In the 1,000-plus page document sent to the International Cycling Union and the World Anti-Doping agency, USADA found Armstrong guilty of using of performance-enhancing drugs throughout his career and of playing a central role in enforcing a systematic doping program on the U.S. Postal team....

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Goodbye Park City, Hello Frozen Thunder: Canadians Fine Tune Training
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Goodbye Park City, Hello Frozen Thunder: Canadians Fine Tune Training

Alex KochonOctober 10, 2012

It’s safe to say the Canadian cross-country teams enjoyed their stay in Park City, Utah. Between their tweets and Instagrams of bluebird days and college football games, it’s not hard to see why. While the Canadian women headed south on Saturday for a Noah Hoffman the only one that hopped in some workouts? JW: Yeah. We would’ve enjoyed having the other guys around, but he was the one that was in town and ready to...

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Canadian Men Leave NZ ‘Feeling Good,’ Cracking Jokes
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Canadian Men Leave NZ ‘Feeling Good,’ Cracking Jokes

Alex KochonSeptember 7, 2012

Just over two weeks ago, the Canadian men’s cross-country ski team made the long journey to New Zealand in search of some low-altitude, on-snow volume training. According to head coach Justin Wadsworth, they Snow Farm – New Zealand – August 2012” to sum up their time there, which was mostly a laughing matter. In one scene, the four men stand stand on a treeless trail high above the landscape while taking a break during training....

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Canadian Men En Route to New Zealand; Plan to Meet Hoffman and Freeman

Alex KochonAugust 20, 2012

Scattered throughout Canada on Sunday, four World Cup team members and their coaching and support staff started their long journey to the land down under – that is, New Zealand. Alex Harvey ate handmade chocolates and sipped a steamed drink while waiting for his 16-hour flight out of Québec International Airport, then got upgraded to business class, according to first time in 10 years, the U.S. Ski Team will not be training in New Zealand...

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Canadian National Team Wraps Up Maui Training Camp
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Canadian National Team Wraps Up Maui Training Camp

Audrey ManganJuly 5, 2012

Justin Wadsworth, head coach of the Canadian National Ski Team, made a deal with his athletes two years ago: if they collectively produced four or more World Cup podiums, he would bring them to Hawaii for a summer training camp. The team surpassed that benchmark and delivered six podiums in 2010-2011 in addition to World Championships gold. Off to Maui they went in June 2011 for Canada’s first camp on the islands. Wadsworth raised the...

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National Teams’ Presence in Bend a Boon for Local Junior Teams
CampsJuniorsLifestyleWorld Cup

National Teams’ Presence in Bend a Boon for Local Junior Teams

Chelsea LittleMay 24, 2012

BEND, Ore. – The U.S. and Canadian national teams are here in Bend to get on snow, and they seem to be loving it. But what about skiers who are already located in the Oregon Cascades? On several days, local high school athletes have also made the drive up to Mount Bachelor to ski and soak in the atmosphere at North America’s own version of the Dachstein glacier. Unlike senior World Cup athletes, most juniors...

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Canadian National Team, World Cup Academy on Same Track
Canadian National Ski TeamGeneralNewsRacingWorld Cup

Canadian National Team, World Cup Academy on Same Track

Alex KochonMay 11, 20121

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...

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In World Cup Debut; Szklarska Poreba Set to Host World Uphill Trophy
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In World Cup Debut; Szklarska Poreba Set to Host World Uphill Trophy

Audrey ManganFebruary 16, 2012

The cross country World Cup moves to Szklarska Poreba, Poland this weekend, beginning with Friday’s skate sprint. This marks the first time Poland has hosted a World Cup event, and with the queen of the home team, Justyna Kowalczyk, only 12 points behind Marit Bjoergen (NOR) in the season-long battle for the overall World Cup title, there should be plenty of excitement for the local crowd. As part of the International Ski Federation’s (FIS) effort...

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Canadians Use Smarts in Nove Mesto; Kershaw Tightens Grip on Third Overall
Canadian National Ski TeamGeneralNewsRacingResultsWorld Cup

Canadians Use Smarts in Nove Mesto; Kershaw Tightens Grip on Third Overall

Alex KochonFebruary 11, 20121

With every seemingly spontaneous sprint to the front of Saturday’s World Cup classic race in Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic, Devon Kershaw appeared as eager and energetic as a kid in a candy shop. Naysayers or nervous Nellies might have questioned the Canadian’s strategy in the 30 k mass start. The head coach of the Canadian national ski team, Justin Wadsworth wasn’t worried. Kershaw simply followed the plan the two carefully crafted before the...

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