Alex Harvey returned to the top-10 while several young Canadian skiers were thrown into the world cup fray again, as the Canadian team continues to balance the needs of its high performers and budding prospects on the world cup.
Harvey showed a return to form with a strong seventh-place finish in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic on Saturday (Jan. 23). In soft snow, Harvey spent the first half of the race in the top three, but faded in the final five kilometres. He finished the 15 km race in 34:46.2, 41 seconds behind winner Maurice Manificat of France. Martin Johnsgaard Sundby was second and Sergey Ustiugov of Russia finished third.
“I was in the top five most of the way. I’m definitely happy with a top-10 result. That is the goal every time I race,” Harvey said.
Devon Kershaw finished 38th in the skate race, followed by teammates Graeme Killick (38th) and Knute Johnsgaard (76th).
Emily Nishikawa was the top Canadian woman in the 10 km skate. She finished 44th with a time of 27:30.2. Therese Johaug of Norway won the race in 25:09, followed by Astrid Uhrenholdt and American Jessie Diggins.
The young Canadian women battled illness before the race, but still raced. Cendrine Brown was 54th, Dahria Beatty 57th, Maya MacIsaac-Jones 61st and Katherine Stewart-Jones was 62nd.
On Sunday (Jan 24), the Canadians fielded two young teams in a rare four-person relay. Kershaw, Killick, Johnsgaard and Len Valjas teamed up for the 4x7.5 km relay and finished ninth – the second best result for Canada in the format.
Killick kicked off the race for the Canadians, moving the team into 15th. Kershaw then went to work on his leg and moved the team into seventh before handing off to Valjas. The sprint specialist held his own and maintained the Canadians’ position, before passing off to world cup rookie Johnsgaard, who held onto seventh until the final two kilometres before dropping back to ninth.
“For me, seeing Graeme ski so well, and wanting to put Lenny into the thick of things, were all strong motivators,” Kershaw said. “It was a solid day and those good feelings in the classic race I will take with me into the next competition,” Kershaw said.
Nishikawa, Beatty, Browne and MacIsaac-Jones teamed up and finished 12th in the women’s 4x5 km race. Even though the team struggled, the result still earned Canada 28 valuable world cup points, as they battle with Kazakhstan to stay in the world’s top-10 ranking. This was the first women’s 4x5 km race Canada has entered since 2009.
“It was really important to get these girls into a team event. We know we have a young group of skiers in Canada, but the key for them was to remember this is the beginning,” said Chris Jeffries of the development tour team. “We knew we would be in tough, but with Emily leading the way we have a lot of hope for the future of women’s teams.”
Cross Country Canada High Performance Director Thom Holland said he was satisfied with the young skier’s performances overseas.
“The real expectation on this trip was not so much about results, but rather self-improvement and igniting the dream of competing on the world cup, which leads to commitment to the sport and optimal performances in the years to come. From all the feedback I have received, this was achieved. They are coming home energized and eager to compete both domestically and at the Ski Tour Canada.”
