CROSS-COUNTRY:

Nordic Notepad: Pay attention, Canada!

Feb. 22, 2010 — SRC Staff Report         ►Photo: Ivan Babikov (James Cunningham, CCC)

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In Monday’s press conference at Whistler Olympic Park following the men’s sprint relay, a Canadian journalist from a large media conglomerate asked the Norwegian champions the following question: “Canada winning a medal in cross-country skiing is similar to the Jamaican bobsled team winning a medal in ‘Cool Runnings.’ What did you think about how close the Canadians got to a podium position today?”

To his credit, Oystein Pettersen, the “other” member of the gold-medal Norwegian team, provided a classy answer to what was an embarrassingly ignorant question. Pettersen indicated that the “Canadians have been strong all week, they had a terrific day today, and we know that Devon and Alex are terrific sprinters. Their results in the pursuit were very impressive, with four men in the top 16, and they have a very good chance in the relay.”

Monday was another terrific result for Canada, with a best-ever fourth-place finish in the team sprint. Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey raced a terrific, near-perfect race, and challenged for a medal until the final 400 metres. But this was no flash in the pan, and neither are these Olympic results. These results have been built on a strong legacy of results in the past decade, and a terrific team attitude.

Canada has medalled in the last two Olympic Games, a gold for Beckie Scott in Salt Lake City and a silver in the same event, the team sprint, for Scott and Sara Renner in Torino. The men’s team has come on very strong in the past several years; just in the past two years, four Canadian men have won World Cup, including a bronze medal in the sprint relay at last year’s team sprint World Cup test event at Whistler Olympic Park. It is a team able to medal in virtually any discipline and distance, whether it be Harvey in the 50 km race in Trondheim last year, Kershaw in sprints or Ivan Babikov in the hard, grinder-style courses such as the final stage of Tour de Ski.

Monday’s result heightens expectations even further as we move closer to the traditional relay, scheduled for Wednesday. But it is quite clear that this is no fluke. This is a team that has worked very hard toward a goal, for years and years. It is a team built on athletes who have laid the groundwork before them. It is a group of guys who believe in one another, and who believe in their ability to win medals.

All this to say that no comparison could be further from the truth than comparing the Canadians to the Jamaican bobsled team. It is this kind of silly, ill-founded hyperbole that contributes to keeping nordic skiing out of the spotlight. It is a self-reinforcing belief; if Canadians, through uninformed media coverage from major media outlets, continue to be told that they should be surprised at Canada’s success, then it becomes much harder for the team to believe in itself.

The truth — the real truth — is that this team has already climbed into the ranks of the top skiing nations in the world. Hearing Norwegian and German athletes talk this week, you can tell they know where Canada sits, and what kind of threat Canada poses in every race. Let’s not keep being condescending to these athletes; they’re the best in the world, and they intend to prove it on Wednesday.  SRC