Louis Bouchard – FasterSkier

Nordiq Canada: Ringing in the Changes

Gerry FursethNovember 5, 2019

When Cross Country Canada announced last March that they would be rebranding as Nordiq Canada, they were emphatic the new name was a symbol of their readiness to make changes. Those changes are starting to happen. One holdover from last season is Erik Bråten, the young Norwegian brought in to shape the development pipeline. After one year on the job, Bråten is still enthusiastic and now the sole head coach. Louis Bouchard has stepped down...

Canadian National Ski Team General News

Meet the Coach: CCC’s Erik Bråten

Gerry FursethNovember 23, 2018

Cross Country Canada hired Erik Bråten as the new national team coach on November 1st, joining Louis Bouchard. After a short delay to get a work permit, Bråten arrived in Canada on November 15th. Regular readers will know the highlights of his resume: Graduate of the Norwegian School of Sports Science. Winner of the coach of the year from the Norwegian ski federation. Previously Head Coach at Team Kollen, the junior team constituted from clubs...

Canadian National Ski Team General News

Bouchard Announced as Canada’s Head Coach while Norway’s Bråten Joins CCC as a National Team Coach

FasterSkierNovember 1, 2018

It has been a transition year for Cross Country Canada (CCC). Back on June 7th, CCC announced the hiring of Nic Lemyre as its High-Performance advisor. Lemyre is Canadian but lives and works in Oslo, Norway. With the reshuffling of Canada’s staff, up until today, CCC had not formally announced its World Cup coaching roster for the 2018-2019 season. Back on August 11th, CCC posted a job announcement for “Head Coach, Canadian Senior Cross Country...

Canadian National Ski Team General News Para Nordic Team nominations World Cup

Cross Country Canada Nominates 2018/2019 National Team

FasterSkierMay 10, 2018

press release. Notably, the World Cup A-team is made up of one man — Alex Harvey — after three athletes from Devon Kershaw, Jess Cockney and Knute Johnsgaard). Graeme Killick, of last season’s World Cup B-team, also retired. Len Valjas was nominated to the B-team, a demotion, he said, that was a result of him ending his season immediately after the PyeongChang Olympics. “The reasoning is that I … didn’t show up to [the World...

Canadian National Ski Team Continental Cup General Interviews News Olympics Racing World Cup

Proving Her Place: Browne’s Unplanned Route to the Olympics

Alex KochonFebruary 7, 2018

Since March of last year, Cendrine Browne has been waiting and trying, with all her might, for another top 30. She achieved it twice last season, placing 26th in the World Championships 30-kilometer mass start and 35th in the World Cup 10 k skate in Ulricehamn, Sweden (30th with Olympic-style scoring, which counts the top-four athletes for each nation in a given race). To meet Cross Country Canada’s (CCC) alternate qualifying criteria for the 2018...

News Olympics Team nominations

Cross Country Canada Names 11 to Olympic Team

FasterSkierJanuary 29, 2018

announced its 2018 Olympic cross-country ski team for the upcoming Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea. The team includes 11 athletes: seven men and four women. According to the

Canadian National Ski Team General Team nominations

CCC on Team Selections and ‘Moving Ahead’ with Half the Budget of Sochi

Gabby NaranjaMay 30, 2017

What a year for Cross Country Canada (CCC). For the first time in history, its men’s team stood on a World Cup gold and its women’s team pulled off its Canada’s 2017/2018 national-team nominations earlier this month, FasterSkier caught up with CCC’s High Performance Director Thomas Holland and the World Cup co-coach Ivan Babikov to discuss the program moving forward. What’s changed since last year? Not much. With a strong season behind them, an Olympic season ahead and a solid coach...

Canadian National Ski Team News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

Harvey Delivers Again at Home, Wins First Race of World Cup Finals in Quebec

Alex KochonMarch 17, 2017

QUEBEC CITY — Friday started off about as good as the Canadian men’s team could have hoped for, with five skiers finishing in the top 30 to qualify for the heats in the 1.5-kilometer freestyle sprint on the first day of World Cup Finals. According to Cross Country Canada, that’s the first time five Canadian men have qualified in a World Cup race. Racing one lap around the Plains of Abraham in the heart of Quebec...

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing World Cup

An Air-Guitar Solo: Harvey Closes Out Championships with 50 k Win

Gabby NaranjaMarch 5, 2017

LAHTI, Finland — Here’s the basics: fast and firm tracks, cloudless skies, and once again a stacked field for the final event of the 2017 Nordic World Championships: the men’s 50-kilometer freestyle mass start. Over the course of the 50 k, Canada’s Harvey had to think about one thing: be up front near the top three in order to shadow Norway’s Martin Johnsrud Sundby’s inevitable gut punch in the last kilometer. What he didn’t have...

Canadian National Ski Team News Racing US Ski Team World Cup

Niskanen Wins Another Ruka 15 k; Harvey 11th

Gabby NaranjaNovember 27, 2016

The opening World Cup races came to a close this Sunday, with Finland's Iivo Niskanen taking the overall win in the men's 15-kilometer classic race for the second time in a row. The Finnish skier held off the likes of Norway's Martin Johnsrud Sundby in order to secure the victory. "This was a really important victory, because last year was so difficult," Niskanen said during a T.V. interview.

Canadian National Ski Team Interviews News

Harvey Seeks More World Champs Hardware and a Possible World Cup Overall

Jason AlbertNovember 15, 2016

Canadian World Cup Team member Alex Harvey is no stranger to success. Always lurking near the top end of the World Cup overall, Harvey has his sights set on more World Championships hardware -- specifically a second skiathlon medal -- and the season-culminating Crystal Globe.

Camps Canadian National Ski Team General News

The Canadians at Altitude: Livigno to the Stelvio and Back

Jason AlbertSeptember 13, 2016

For the Canadian World Cup Team, September entailed a trip to the Italian Alps for altitude training. Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, Lenny Valjas, Graeme Killick, and their coaches ventured to Livigno and Stelvio Pass, and joined the Norwegian men's team for some workouts.

General Interviews News Podcasts

FS Podcast: Boom! Babikov Retires, Becomes Canada’s New Coach

Jason AlbertJuly 1, 2016

Prior to June 24, Canada's Ivan Babikov was training in Canmore, prepping for the upcoming World Cup season. Then "boom", he's retired and named Cross Country Canada's national-team coach. We caught up with coach Babikov while he was in Quebec, where he is helping lead the national team's first camp of the summer.

Canadian National Ski Team General News Racing

CCC on New Coach Babikov: ‘If Anything, We’ll Have to Slow Him Down’

Chelsea LittleJune 28, 2016

Longtime Canadian World Cup skier Ivan Babikov is retiring to take on coaching responsibility for his former teammates Devon Kershaw, Lenny Valjas, Jess Cockney, and Graeme Killick. "Ivan has been in our system and his job is to execute the plans," Cross Country Canada High Performance Director Tom Holland explains.

Canadian National Ski Team General News

Babikov Retires to Join Canada’s National Coaching Squad

BrainspiralJune 26, 2016

On Friday, Cross Country Canada announced its veteran skier Ivan Babikov has retired from racing to help coach the Canadian World Cup Team. Babikov will work specifically with Devon Kershaw and the men’s World Cup level athletes based in Canmore, Alberta, while also serving as B-Team coach.

Canadian National Ski Team Racing World Cup

Newlywed Kershaw Jumps from Livigno Training Camp to Toppidrettsveka

Chelsea LittleAugust 20, 2015

Fresh off of marrying his new wife Kristin Størmer Steira in northern Norway, Devon Kershaw drove to Oslo and then jetted off for a high-elevation dryland training camp in the Italian Alps with his Canadian teammates and buddies, Jesse Cockney and Alex Harvey.

Camps Dryland General Interviews News Training

More Than 40 Skiers ‘Align’ at First Camp of Its Kind in Canmore

Eric ByramAugust 10, 2015

What do you get when you bring a couple dozen of Canada's best up-and-coming and veteran skiers together to train? National-team head coach Justin Wadsworth explains, and reflects on how the first-ever Alignment camp went.

Canadian National Ski Team General News

FasterSkier’s Coach of 2015: Louis Bouchard

BrainspiralMay 14, 2015

Alex Harvey's personal coach and the head coach of the Pierre-Harvey Training Centre for more than a decade, Louis Bouchard has been recognized as one of Canada's top coaches for some time. This year, FasterSkier picked Bouchard -- the man behind two individual World Championships medals -- as its 2015 Coach of the Year.

Canadian National Ski Team General News World Cup

‘You Can Just Feel the Energy,’ Wadsworth Says of CCC’s Renewed Coaching Emphasis

Alex KochonApril 17, 2015

A year after an energy-draining Olympics, Justin Wadsworth said the energy within Cross Country Canada is palpable. He, for one, is ready to get back to co-coaching the World Cup Team, trading weekends on the road with Louis Bouchard and working with up-and-coming domestic coaches in Europe.

General Interviews

Canadian World Cup Preview: Same Faces, Fresh Perspective

Alex KochonNovember 28, 20141

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.

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