A detectable shift in the ground occurred Sunday (Jan. 22), as the weight of the world shifted off Devon Kershaw’s shoulders.
The top Canadian cross-country skier won his first World Cup medal of the season, finishing third on what is considered the hardest course on the circuit in Otepaa, Estonia.
Leading for most of the 15-kilometre classic race, he finished 25 seconds behind first-place Dario Cologna, and missed the silver by one second with a time of 40:37.6. The medal comes on the heels of his historic fourth-place finish on the Tour de Ski.
“I went out really hard today. I went for the win and I don’t regret it,” said Kershaw. “It has been a hard couple of weeks for me personally and I didn’t know what to expect coming off the Tour. Today I was able to mentally switch off the brain and focus on skiing, which felt amazing.”
Kershaw spent a week in the Canary Islands after the Tour to recharge his batteries, and the move appeared to work. He stayed strong the entire race.
“The climbs out here are relentless and punishing. They are so long, which we don’t normally ski,” said Kershaw. “The Estonians know how to set up a course to ensure the strongest man wins.”
The medal continues an unprecedented run by the Canadian team, which has placed a skier in the top 10 every week on the World Cup. Kershaw, Alex Harvey, Ivan Babikov, Drew Goldsack, Lenny Valjas and Perianne Jones have all landed in the top 10.
Kershaw now has eight medals on the World Cup throughout his career, as well as a world championship in the team sprint with Harvey.
Although he’s skiing better than ever, Kershaw was frustrated with his lack of podium finishes this year.
“Finishing fourth has been tough to take and it was at the Tour. It is heartbreaking, but that is the thing about cross-country skiing – there is always more. The biggest factor for me is I’m now feeling much stronger and more comfortable every race because of the people I’m surrounded by on our team. We have had an athlete in the top-five at every World Cup stop this year, which I think is a credit to the athletes we have on this team, and the support from our wax techs and coaches. Mentally, it is so good for me,” Kershaw said.
His classic races have been marred by bad luck with his skis, coach Justin Wadsworth said.
“It was a really great race. It was his best distance race ever and it was on the hardest course on the World Cup,” Wadsworth said.
The head coach said things came together for Kershaw after he broke a pole in the sprint semifinals.
“Maybe he was a little more rested not having to do all the sprints,” Wadsworth said.
The team will race in Russia next week.
Alex Harvey, who was fourth in the sprints, finished 19th (41:36.6), while Len Valjas was 31st (42:42.4).
Perianne Jones was the top Canadian on the women’s side, finishing 30th in the women’s 10 km classic race. Dasha Gaiazova was 35th and Chandra Crawford was 51st.
