Laura Leclair – FasterSkier.com

Canadian National Ski Team News Olympics Racing

Canadian Journey to Beijing

Gerry FursethFebruary 4, 2022

Canada was successful in delivering the team to Beijing and getting them on snow in Zhangjiakou. The decision to go above and beyond in isolating athletes before a carefully planned drive to a charter flight worked, although other countries also succeeded with a more laid-back approach. What can fans expect from the Canadian team in Beijing? It all comes down to qualifying and performing. Qualifying Canada had an Olympic quota of four women and three...

Camps Canadian National Ski Team News Olympics

An Inside Look at the Canadian Olympic Prep Camp

Gerry FursethJanuary 29, 2022

The Canadian Prep Camp in Sovereign Lake and SilverStar, BC prior to the 2022 Beijing Olympics sounds like a nordic skier’s heaven. A two-week ski vacation with 100 kilometres of perfectly groomed snow. A private room above a great coffee shop (pain au chocolate!) and next door to some great beer. January weather just below freezing with enough falling snow to make every day a hardwax day. Two weeks of what locals call superhero snow. A...

Continental Cup News Racing

Eastern Canada Cup #3,4: Back to Business

Gerry FursethDecember 22, 2021

The Eastern Canada Cup series wrapped up in Mont Sainte Anne (MSA), Québec, with distance racing for over 300 skiers each day. As with Westerns, the second weekend brought results and execution a little higher in the athletes’ focus, but the almost universal use of the words ‘fun’ and ‘excitement’ remain a reflection of a return to racing after a season without. MSA is just outside Québec City and is very accessible for most...

Continental Cup News Racing

Eastern Canada Cup #1 & 2: Getting Started in Nakkertok

Gerry FursethDecember 16, 2021

Once again, there was a great weekend of racing on the Nakkertok trails in Gatineau, QC. It was almost like the pandemic pause hadn’t happened: lots of racers, live results on Zone4, great support for media. But it isn’t really just Nakkertok. ENGNE, a coalition of local clubs, puts on great races using Nakkertok trails and the NakkerTrak snowmaking magic. As with the first Western Canada Cup (WCC) race, the theme of the weekend was...

Racing World Cup

Svahn Strikes Again in Falun; Diggins 8th

Rachel PerkinsJanuary 31, 2021

This World Cup coverage is made possible through the generous support of Marty and Kathy Hall and their A Hall Mark of Excellence Award. To learn more about A Hall Mark of Excellence Award or to learn how you can support FasterSkier’s coverage please contact info@fasterskier.com. If you had any question about the strength and depth of the Swedish sprint team, look no further than the qualification list from today’s classic sprint in Falun. Led...

Racing World Cup

Norway Returns with Gusto, Sweeping the Women’s Podium in the 7.5/7.5 K Skiathlon; Diggins 5th

Rachel PerkinsJanuary 23, 2021

In case you missed the discussion on the Devon Kershaw podcast, the Norwegian team made its World Cup return today in Lahti, Finland after nearly two months of training and competing domestically. As predicted, neither their form nor racing gears have not been from this decision. The women in red went 1-2-3 in the 7.5/7.5-kilometer skiathlon, led by powerhouse Therese Johaug who notched her third consecutive win in the event and third career skiathlon win...

News Team nominations

Nordiq Canada Announces National Senior Development Team (Press Release)

FasterSkierMay 1, 2020

Juniors News Racing

U23 World’s Mixed Relay Rundown

Jason AlbertMarch 7, 2020

U23 World’s closed out today in Oberwiesenthal, Germany with the 4 x 5 k mixed relay. Norway, which had struggled in both the junior women’s and junior men’s relay won in 54:40.5 minutes. Russia followed in second (+26.7), and Italy third (+40.2). The U.S. placed fifth (+54.6) of the 15 teams finishing the event. Canada’s foursome of U23 skiers finished in 14th (+4:00.6). Results

Juniors News Racing US Ski Team

Julia Kern Third in World U23 Skate Sprint (With Audio Interview)

Rachel PerkinsMarch 1, 2020

Racing continued amidst a snowstorm in Oberwiesenthal, Germany in today’s U23 1.2-kilometer freestyle sprint event. Coming down lightly at some times and in heavy bursts at others, the precipitation accumulated on the tracks creating some excitement in the form of repeated starts and untimely crashes. Two Americans qualified on the women’s side, with Julia Kern (USST/SMST2) near the top in third, exactly 1 second behind the top racer, Sweden’s Johanna Hagström. Hailey Swirbul (USST/SMST2) was...

Continental Cup Juniors Racing

MSA Trials Wrap-up: Tactics, Selections, Photos, and Videos

Gerry FursethFebruary 3, 2020

Mont Sainte-Anne brought great ski conditions on a weekend where the best in Canada fought to qualify for four different race trips: U20/U23 World Championships in Oberwiesenthal, Germany; Falun and the Scando Tour; the sprint tour of Québec and Minnesota; and World Cup finals in Canmore. Combine this with the usual NorAm action and COC leader competition and you have all the ingredients for a great weekend. Over 400 athletes raced in five age groups...

Continental Cup Juniors Racing

MSA Trials Rundown: Qualifying for U23, U20 and More

Gerry FursethJanuary 31, 2020

In Canadian domestic ski racing, it doesn’t get much bigger than this. Mont Sainte-Anne (MSA) is hosting the NorAm weekend that also serves as U23/U20 World Championships qualification and has special significance in selection for World Cup starts. Any skier who hasn’t already qualified for National Team selection for next season start with top 30 results on either the World Cup or U20 World Championships. Most of these paths start at MSA Trials. For U20...

Continental Cup Racing

Nakkertok NorAm Weekend Round Up

Gerry FursethDecember 16, 2019

The NorAm circuit moved east to the Nakkertok trails for three days of racing jointly hosted by Nakkertok Nordic, Club Skinouk, Chelsea Nordiq, and Kanata Nordic. Friday featured classic sprints, Saturday interval start free, and Sunday interval start classic. The event was also the Candy Cane Cup for the younger categories, as well as Ontario Cup 1 and Coupe Québec 1. 374 athletes in the U16, U18, and Open categories competed on Friday with many...

Continental Cup Racing

Canadian Eastern Championships: Weekend Wrap-up

Gerry FursethFebruary 5, 2019

The NorAm series went to Duntroon, Ontario, for the Canadian Eastern Championships: three days of varied weather, new race formats, and new faces on the podium, all hosted by Highlands Trailblazers. Easterns is possibly the most storied ski race in Canada. Most years, it is the largest FIS event in North America. This year, the Polar Vortex froze out the travel ambitions for many families and lower budgets in the post-Olympic season persuaded many western...

Continental Cup Racing

Sunday Rundown: Canadian Easterns Pursuit

FasterSkierFebruary 3, 2019

Canadian Eastern Championships wrapped up in Duntroon, Ontario, Sunday with the skate portion of the two day pursuit. Tthe men and women skied the same distance on the same course, a two lap 15km free technique pursuit. Start times were based only on Saturday’s 10km classic races, with no bonus points applied. Highlands Nordic showed a lot of different weather over the weekend, slowly warming from -18 on Thursday to Sunday’s freezing drizzle changing to...

Continental Cup Racing

Saturday Rundown: CEC Two Day Pursuit

Gerry FursethFebruary 2, 2019

The NorAm weekend at Duntroon, Ontario, continued Saturday with an individual start 10km classic race, the opening half of the first two day pursuit at this level in many years. The two day pursuit race format was replaced in 2002 with the same-day pursuit. This is the event in which Beckie Scott famously won all three medals at the Salt Lake Olympics. In 2003, the skiathlon format was introduced under the name ‘continuous pursuit’ which...

Continental Cup Racing

Friday Rundown: Canadian Eastern Championships

FasterSkierFebruary 1, 2019

The NorAm series rolled on with Easterns, hosted by Highlands Nordic in Duntroon, Ontario, with 1.5km classic sprints. The weather cooperated, despite a massive cold front sweeping through much of North America, allowing for comfortable racing after a delayed start. There were over 340 racers registered for Friday’s races, with more racers and younger categories waiting for Saturday. On the women’s side, Zoë Williams (Nakkertok) continued her strong start to 2019 with her first NorAm...

Canadian National Ski Team Racing

Bishop’s University NorAm and World Selection: Weekend Summary from Canada

Gerry FursethJanuary 21, 2019

The third NorAm weekend of the season was also Canadian selection trials for 2019 World Nordic Ski Championships and a Quebec Cup event on the Bishop’s University trails in Lennoxville, which is a neighborhood in Sherbrooke, Québec. With variable weather the Mont Orford club rallied and held races all three days of the competition schedule. On the line were NorAm series points, COC leaders’ bibs, and six automatic selections for the World Championships in Seefeld....

News Racing Results

Friday Race Rundown (Updated)

FasterSkierJanuary 18, 2019

IBU World Cup Ruhpolding, Germany 4 x 7.5 k / 4 x 6 k Relay In relatively calm weather on Friday in Ruhpolding, Germany the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup sent the men’s 4 x 7.5-kilometer relay on its way. Under overcast skies, a slight 5 mph wind and temps trying to break freezing saw Norway’s team of Lars Helge Birkeland, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen,Tarjei Bø, and Johannes Thingnes Bø win in 1:09:54.3 hours. The...

Canadian National Ski Team Canadian Nationals General News Racing

2018 Canadian Nationals: Skate Pursuits and Sprints

FasterSkierMarch 14, 2018

Canadian Ski Nationals (Thunder Bay, Ontario): Freestyle pursuits and sprints Ski Nationals continued Tuesday and Wednesday at Lappe Nordic in Thunder Bay, with 10- and 15-kilometer freestyle pursuits (based on second-straight title as the first Canadian in the pursuit, placing second overall, 1:03.4 behind Gregg. Annika Hicks (AWCA) was the second Canadian in third overall (+1:16.3), up from fifth in the classic race. Katherine Stewart-Jones (NTDC Thunder Bay/National U25 Team) placed fourth in the pursuit...

Canadian National Ski Team Canadian Nationals General News Racing

2018 Canadian Nationals Weekend Recap: Days 1 and 2

FasterSkierMarch 12, 2018

Canadian Ski Nationals (Thunder Bay, Ontario): Team sprints + 5/10 k classic Canada’s 2018 Ski Nationals opened this past weekend at Lappe Nordic in Thunder Bay, Ontario, with classic team sprints on Saturday followed by 5- and 10-kilometer classic interval starts on Sunday. Nakkertok topped the podium in both the open men’s and women’s team sprints. In the men’s final, Nakkertok’s Dominique Moncion-Groulx and Patrick Stewart-Jones won by 1.95 seconds over Barrie Cross Country (BXC)...

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