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Aug 1 '19
CALGARY -- Canadas cross-country ski team is poised to make Olympic history next month. Fake Jerseys 2019 . While Canadian women have stood on the Olympic podium in the sport, a Canadian man never has. Led by Alex Harvey of St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que., and Devon Kershaw of Sudbury, Ont., that drought could end on the Psekhako Ridge in Sochi, Russia. The hard goal of Canadas cross-country team is to claim at least two medals in Sochi. Its the men who have the best chance at winning them this time. "I really feel if this team doesnt get two medals Ill feel a bit of disappointment or maybe we did something wrong," Canadian head coach Justin Wadsworth said. "That doesnt mean were incapable of four or five medals. "This is an amazing team. We could do better than two medals. We could blow other teams out of the water if everything comes together." The 11 skiers wholl represent Canada in Sochi were introduced Tuesday at an elementary school with six being present for the announcement. Harvey, Kershaw, Ivan Babikov of Canmore, Alta., Daria Gaiazova of Banff, Alta., and Perianne Jones of Almonte, Ont., were in Europe and en route to a World Cup event in Poland. Chandra Crawford and Jesse Cockney of Canmore, Torontos Lenny Valjas, Graeme Killick of Fort McMurray, Alta., Heidi Widmer of Banff and Emily Nishikawa of Whitehorse will join their teammates in Italy next week for pre-Games training. Cockney, Killick, Widmer and Nishikawa claimed their Olympic berths at last weeks trials in Canmore. They, along with Valjas, will make their Olympic debuts while the rest of the team has previous Games experience. Harvey won two races and finished in the medals four times in this seasons Tour de Ski, which is a gruelling series of 10 races spread over 16 days and three countries. Harvey and Kershaw finished first and second, respectively, in the series opening race. "I feel like our team is in a really good place," Wadsworth said. "We started out slowly this year. The results werent good early and weve built and built. I feel like were in a place where were building still in confidence. We havent peaked out in any way shape or form. "I feel like the whole team is starting to rise and its how we wanted to time it." Wadsworth is married to Canadas Beckie Scott, whose bronze at the 2002 Winter Games was eventually upgraded to gold when two Russians ahead of her were disqualified for doping. Scott was the first North American woman to win an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing. Scott and Sara Renner combined for team sprint silver in 2006 before Scott retired. Canadas cross-country skiers were shut out of the medals at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver and Whistler, B.C., although the men posted seven top-10 finishes. Harvey and Kershaw were fourth in the team sprint and Babikov fifth in the 30-kilometre event. Kershaw was fifth and an agonizing half a second from the podium in the 50-kilometre event. Harvey and Kershaw won world championship gold in 2011 in the team sprint. The mens sprints are fertile ground for Canada, but Babikov is also a contender in distance events. Those three and Valjas also give the Canadian squad a strong mens relay team. Medal prospects are thinner on the womens side, although Gaiazova and Jones won World Cup bronze in a team sprint in Sochi last year. Crawford, the 2006 Olympic womens sprint champion, is a wildcard. The womens sprint Feb. 11 will be a skate-ski race again as it was in 2006. The womens sprint in 2010 was a classic race and not Crawfords forte. The 30-year-old is more in her element in skating races than in classic, the striding technique requiring more finesse and less power. But Crawford has struggled first with injuries and then burnout since 2006, to the point where she cut her 2012-13 European racing season short and returned to Canmore. She trained on her own last summer instead of joining the national team at training camps. The 30-year-old isnt shouldering the same weight of expectation she did prior to 2010. "Its so different than Vancouver. Its not our Games. We have to . . . there was more of a have-to feeling," Crawford said. "Just the amount of interest was hard to process as well. "This feels like a real gift and I really appreciate the opportunity." Cockney is the first athlete of Inuit descent on the Olympic cross-country team since sisters Sharon and Shirley Firth raced in their fourth Winter Games in 1984. Cockneys father, Angus, is Inuit. Cockney was born in Yellowknife and learned to ski there before his family moved to Canmore. "Its great to have a strong connection to distinct people," the 26-year-old said. "You kind of feel a little bit more unique and for sure a different experience growing up. "My dad was a cross-country skier at a high level when he was younger and he got my sister and I involved when we were quite young. We had ski trails behind our house when we lived in Yellowknife all the way to the nordic centre. "A lot of dark, cold days in Yellowknife, cross-country skiing in the middle of winter, but that hardened us up and made us stronger." Killick beat decorated Paralympian Brian McKeever out for a spot on the Olympic squad by winning the 30-kilometre event and finishing second to McKeever in the 15k at trials. McKeever was eighth in the 30k. McKeever, from Canmore, is a legally blind skier and winner of 10 Paralympic medals who qualified for Canadas 2010 Olympic team. He was poised to become the first Paralympian to compete in a Winter Olympics, but the teams coaches decided to enter four other skiers in the 50k and not McKeever. The 2014 Olympic cross-country ski competition opens Feb. 8 with the womens 15k race. Fake Jerseys For Sale .ca! There is plenty of blame to be shared as a result of the most recent NHL player (Pittsburghs Brooks Orpik) to be evacuated from the ice on a stretcher following an ugly incident Saturday night in Boston. Fake Jerseys Online . -- Ryan Gropp scored in overtime as the Seattle Thunderbirds shut out the Spokane Chiefs 1-0 in Western Hockey League play Tuesday.LONDON -- Eugenie Bouchard and Milos Raonic set records as they became the fourth and fifth Canadians respectively to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon after straight-set wins on Saturday. Both had to wait out a rain interruption lasting nearly five hours before taking comprehensive third-round victories to join Carling Bassett-Seguso (1983, 1986), Patricia Hy-Boulais (1996-97) and Daniel Nestor (1999) as Canadians who made it into the second week of a major. Bouchard, semifinalist in Melbourne and Paris already this season, posted a 6-3, 6-4 defeat of German Andrea Petkovic. Raonic, from Thornhill, Ont., joined Bouchard in Wimbledons second week by beating Polands Lukasz Kubot in the third round 7-6 (2), 7-6(4), 6-2. He fired over 30 aces and 50 winners, breaking twice with just six unforced errors on the way to victory. "I was able to be dominant on my serve, I only lost nine points on it," said Raonic. "This definitely makes my life a lot easier and puts pressure on him. "But at the same time, I didnt really have my opportunities. I played a few good points in tiebreaks and he was able to of hold on." Raonic has won three straight Wimbledon grass matches for the first time, after doing the same at Halle, Germany in 2011 and 2012. "Im starting from very low comfort level on grass but now Im feeling pretty comfortable," said Raonic. "Ive made pretty significant progress on this surface this year." The 13th-seeded Bouchard, from Weestmount, Que. Fake NFL Jerseys. , started her match in the early afternoon but found herself in the locker-room for nearly five hours after 15 minutes of play as rain wrecked the schedule. But the weather cleared up in the early evening with Bouchard and Petkovic returning to the court with the Canadian leading 2-1. Bouchard picked up where she left off, putting the pressure on a player who had defeated her in three previous meetings including the Rogers Cup in Toronto three years ago. She took victory on her third match point when Petkovic hit the net with a return. Bouchard produced 30 winners and 14 unforced errors, breaking five time in the match lasting less than 90 minutes. She next plays Frances Alzie Cornet, who beat top seed and five-time champion Serena Williams for the second time this season, winning 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 in a stunning upset. Cornet won their previous meeting on clay at Strasbourg last year. "I played well, even though it was straight sets it was a battle," said Bouchard. "It was tough with the lone rain delay, but it was the same for both girls "Im happy I was able to close it out with any serve, being aggressive and taking the ball early. During the rain delay I tried to conserve energy -- I wanted to give it all on the court. Bouchard said she didnt actually mind the wait. "Rain is part of the Wimbledon experience," she said with a laugh. "Weve been lucky so far, you have to have some rain at Wimbledon." ' ' '
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