A mixture of medal chasing veterans and sharp-eyed rookies will lead Biathlon Canada’s strongest world cup team in years following two days of selection trials at the Canmore Nordic Centre Nov. 10 and 13.
Canada’s crčme de la crčme were already guaranteed world cup spots, meaning the races had little effect for the nation’s big four: Rosanna Crawford, Megan Tandy, Brendan Green and world championship silver medallist Nathan Smith. But the program’s abundant talent resulted in fierce competition for the final spots.
Racing through one day of perfect, fast conditions and another through a wet, blowing snowstorm on the hunt for a better fate, five athletes were on target with strong results.
On the women’s team, three-time Olympian Zina Kocher and world junior championships standout Julia Ransom earned world cup tickets, while young guns Macx Davies, Christian Gow and Scott Gow were selected to the men’s team. All three have shown promise throughout their young careers and will be on the hunt for top-30 results.
“Overall it’s a great group – a mix of seasoned veterans and young athletes with enthusiasm and vigour. They made improvements over the summer and it paid off at trials,” said Biathlon Canada High Performance Director Eric de Nys.
De Nys said the trials races played a big part in selecting this year’s team, although other factors were considered.
“We did consider summer training, other time trials, testing in the lab. The trials weighed more heavily than we thought, but that’s what came out with the numbers,” de Nys said.
For the young athletes, beginning the season on the world cup is a great honour. According to de Nys, they will be guaranteed at least two world cup weekends, before they are re-assessed.
“Making the first world cup tour is really exciting for me. It was one of my main goals for the season and the opportunity to race world cup is a culmination of everything I’ve strived for over my career,” said Christian Gow, who had a series of top-20 results at world juniors. “Mostly, making this tour reinforces that I am on the right track and doing things properly.”
This is Julia Ransom’s first year training with the national team and she said she’s seen the results in her speed and fitness. Much of that is from new off-snow training she’s done in Canmore.
“It’s an affirmation that things have been working,” Ransom said. “This is a big change for me, being on the national team. It’s added a lot of things that have made a difference. Training at Focus Pilates with Melissa Semenuk, working closely with strength coaches and Jeff Mah at the Yoga Lounge has made a difference. Involving more of the Canmore community with our training has been excellent.”
Looking at the team’s prospects, de Nys said world cup medals are possible for several athletes, particularly Crawford, Tandy, Green and Smith. Crawford narrowly missed the podium three times last year.
“Based on what we’ve seen from Rosanna, she’s poised to step up to the podium. We really believe that, and that is what she is setting in terms of her goals. She will have a good crew of support with her. Megan, we expect her in the top-10, and who knows on the right day?” De Nys said.
“Nathan has a world championship silver and a world cup win. He was ranked 16th overall last year and he’s looking to improve on that. Brendan is a staple of the men’s program and he had a few near misses last year. The sky is the limit for him.”
Others have the potential to surprise on the world cup and play a role in strong relay teams. Kocher won a world cup bronze at the beginning of her career, and Ransom nearly bagged a top-30 result last year, but crashed on her final lap.
“Zina is in the twilight of her career. She’s been on the podium, had a podium on the IBU last year, and has the ski speed. She’s had some demons on shooting, but if she can put it together, she is dangerous. Her ski speed is as fast or faster than Rosanna’s,” de Nys said. “Julia is young and hopes to get some good experience. She really put it together in the trials races.”
The men’s team has three athletes in their early 20s, and could end up with a relay medal if all goes well.
“The boys are young. Macx, Scott and Christian are looking to garner experience and some top 30s as a first step in their young careers,” de Nys said.
The team leaves for Europe on Nov. 25 in preparation for the first race in Ostersund, Sweden. Those who ski well will stay on the world cup, with the main goal of competing for Canada in February at the Canmore World Cup at the Nordic Centre.
Several athletes will push them on the IBU Cup tour, the feeder league for the world cup. Future stars Emma Lunder, Sarah Beaudry, Audrey Vaillancourt and Erin Yungblut were selected for the IBU tour. Yungblut turned down the offer to race regional races in December, rejoining the team in January. Leilani Tam von Burg will take her spot.
“The women’s team is all very young athletes. They are our next wave, looking to gain experience on the circuit. If they have strong performances, we could potentially bring them up,” de Nys said.
The men’s team has a little more experience, beginning with Olympian Scott Perras, 32. Pearce Hanna, 19, will make his IBU debut after an excellent trials race, while Carsen Campbell and Matt Neumann will also suit up for the team.
“Some of these guys want to win an IBU Cup and be in a position to move up to the world cup,” de Nys said.
“The veterans on the world cup will get two weekends for sure, then we will see how everyone is doing. We want to set up everyone to perform. If they have a bad day, we won’t pull them out.”
