Eastern Canadian Championships drew nearly 800 racers in a FIS points race leading up to the Ski Tour Canada, and on the second and third days of racing last weekend, several top racers traded spots atop the podium. Michael Somppi handed Kevin Sandau his first distance loss, and Andy Shields won the classic mass start.
Cendrine Browne used home-course advantage to command the women's classic individual start and freestyle pursuit last weekend at the NorAm at Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec. She won the latter by nearly a minute and a half. Meanwhile, Bob Thompson led an NDC Thunder Bay podium sweep on Saturday, and Andy Shields skied away to the pursuit win on Sunday.
An assortment of photos featuring some of the top moment's from Thursday's 20 and 30 k freestyle mass starts at 2016 U.S. nationals in Houghton, Mich.
Although Tad Elliott’s name may have been missing from the top of U.S. results recently, at U.S. nationals on Thursday, the former U.S. Ski Team member showed he has what it takes to win races: and did so by nearly 10 seconds in the men's 30 k freestyle mass start.
“The skis felt sticky,” is what Canadian National Team Head Coach Justin Wadsworth said about his team’s thoughts on their shortcomings on Saturday in the World Cup freestyle sprint in Toblach, Italy.
Lenny Valjas was the lone Canadian to qualify on Friday in the first World Cup race of the season, the Ruka Triple classic sprint in Kuusamo, Finland. “Today’s goal was just to qualify and to make it into the points," Valjas explained. "There was no huge expectations."
Rosie Brennan racked up six victories in eight races in the U.S. before finishing her season in Europe, and Dakota Blackhorse-von Jess also won both national sprints and subsequently qualified for World Championships, making them our Continental Skiers of the Year.
A collection of some of our favorite photos and soundbites from 2015 Canadian Nationals at Lappe Nordic in Thunder Bay, Ontario, courtesy of Martin Kaiser, Gerry Furseth and François Léger Dionne.
After winning two medals at the 2015 World Championships, Alex Harvey finished 17th in Sunday's 15 k freestyle in Lahti, Finland. Meanwhile, Emily Nishikawa led the Canadian women in the 10 k and earned her best World Cup result of the season.
It had been almost two months since Emily Nishikawa raced on the World Cup, yet the 25-year-old Canadian National Development Team skier picked up essentially where she left off, collecting her second-best result of the season on Sunday in the women’s 10-kilometer freestyle in Östersund, Sweden. “It was great to get racing on the World Cup again today,” Nishikawa wrote in an email after placing 36th in Sunday’s race. “My goals for today were just...
NorAm leader Michael Somppi shares a tool that can be used as a race-day warmup or post-interval cool down, and it's one Canadian World Cup coach Tor-Arne Hetland shared with him. "The recipe is 4 x 15 seconds on/45 seconds off, and the key to doing this effectively is the pacing," Somppi explains.
With the second weekend of NorAm racing taking place Friday and Saturday at Sovereign Lake, here's a look at who could be some of the top contenders on a regular basis throughout the season, and who could potentially earn race starts in Europe.
The NorAm circuit resumed last weekend with the three-day Eastern Canadian Championships in Cantley, Quebec, where Graham Nishikawa and Alysson Marshall of the Canadian Senior Development Team both picked up two wins. Before the Western Championships Feb. 13-16, some are considering racing over in Europe.
Four racers proved they deserve a spot on Canada’s Olympic team this weekend in the freestyle sprints and 15/30 k skiathlons. Heidi Widmer (AWCA/NST) and Jesse Cockney (AWCANST) took home top honors in the freestyle sprint, while Graeme Killick (AWCA/NST) and Amanda Ammar (Team Ninja) won the skiathlon.
Because the Olympics only come around every four years, domestic races hold even more value in the months leading up to the 2014 Sochi Winter Games. In Canada, they’ll determine who will fill approximately four remaining spots on the Olympic nordic team. The fun starts this weekend at Sovereign Lake, British Columbia.
Seventeen weeks and 120 days after the World Cup season started in Gällivare, Sweden, it ended in Sunday in Falun. For most of the Canadians who finished outside the top 30, it could not have come soon enough. Head coach Justin Wadsworth and team veteran Devon Kershaw reflect on the season.
The Canadians missed the wax in the men's race on Saturday and ended up with Alex Harvey posting the team's top finish of 30th. "That combination of not-perfect bodies and bad skis is not so much fun," head coach Justin Wadsworth said.
For every Canadian qualifier except Dasha Gaiazova, the quarterfinals of Wednesday’s World Cup Finals 1.1-kilometer classic sprint were a second chance, an opportunity to get it right. Gaiazova had qualified in a career-best fourth, but Devon Kershaw on skate skis and Lenny Valjas on classic had narrowly made it through in 28th and 30th, respectively. All three went on to make the top 20.
Typically known as a sprinter, Dasha Gaiazova is knocking on distance racing’s door. The 29-year-old notched her second-best result of the season in a distance event, placing 33rd in Sunday’s 10-kilometer classic individual start at the World Cup in Lahti, Finland.
Len Valjas (CAN) led the Canadian men on Saturday in Lahti, Finland, with an strong eighth place finish. His performance was just as fueled by frustration as it was fitness. Valjas toed the line today after a miserable run of sickness. “I was sick for nine days,” he said. “I had strep throat, then a chest cold, and laryngitis. It felt good to get out of bed.” The timing of the sickness couldn’t have been worse,...