cross country skiing
Men’s relay pulls off 4th place in elite field
No, it’s not a medal, but the breakthrough for Canadian men’s XC skiing is phenomenal. In Norway, this relay is regarded as THE prestige event. The cheers that erupted when Bjørn Dæhlie crossed the finish line 2nd in Lillehammer in 1994, 1st in Nagano in 1998, and likely when Petter Northug left his opposition in his wake in the final sprint today, would be deafening. For Canada to be in the top 4 in this kind of company is unprecedented. Another result to savour. Congrats to Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey.
Cross-country: Canadian men’s team achieves new benchmarks
BY MIKE BEAMISH, VANCOUVER SUN
FEBRUARY 22, 2010WHISTLER — From eighth to fifth, and now fourth: In successive races, the Canadian men’s cross-country ski team has set new benchmarks for achievement in the Winter Olympic Games.
Alex Harvey of Ste-Ferreol Des Neiges, Que., and Devon Kershaw of Canmore, Alta., finished fourth in today’s men’s team sprint at Whistler Olympic Park, two days after Ivan Babikov of Canmore was fifth in the 30K pursuit and a week following Babikov’s eighth-place result in the 15K. Before the Vancouver-Whistler Games, Canada’s highest finish in the history of men’s Olympic cross-country competition was Pierre Harvey’s 14th, at the 1988 Calgary Olympics.
Today’s result sets up Canada for a medal possibility in Wednesday’s 4×10-kilometre relay. The four-man Canadian team — Babikov, Harvey, Kershaw and Geroge Grey — are considered stronger distance skiers than sprinters.
Read the entire article here.
Canadian XC sprint relay teams through to finals
Both the men’s and women’s teams have made it through to the XC relay sprint finals.
Men’s semis results. The men finished 4th.
Women’s semis results. The women finished 7th.
Canada’s cross-country ski team the strongest ever
This is big news. Canada has been a perennial force in alpine skiing, but to have a strong cross-country team is really new. Props to them for the rapid development.
By Kristina Rutherford, CTVOlympics.ca
September 24The strongest cross-country ski team in Canadian history is gearing up for the Vancouver Olympics.
Never before has Canada fielded a team with the number of medal contenders as the one preparing to kick off the World Cup season, national team leader Dave Wood said Thursday following the team’s official announcement in Canmore, Alta.
“The team we’ll take into the Games next February, I believe, will be the strongest and the deepest team we’ve ever head,” said Wood, a fixture with the national program for more than a decade.
“In 2006, we had a couple of strong people. In 2002 we had one. And now, we’ve got four boys that had podiums last year in the World Cup. Sara Renner and Chandra Crawford have had podiums everywhere.
“Things are looking good for us.”
Read the entire article here.
inklake 