Cross country men’s team emerges under radar
Written by on Sunday, February 21st, 2010 in Latest News.
Canada’s Alex Harvey glides past teammate Ivan Babikov, centre, and George Grey, right, as the three teammates end in the top 10 in the men’s 30-kilometre pursuit cross country race on Saturday in Whistler. (Andrew Vaughan/Canadian Press)
Members of this Team Canada may not be household names yet, but after Wednesday there may be a few more people who are aware of their presence.
They are the men’s cross country team of Ivan Babikov, George Grey, Alex Harvey and Devon Kershaw — men on thin skis who have had a breakout performance at the 2010 Vancouver Games.
And now they may be able to provide a memorable moment in the 4×10-kilometre relay.
At last year’s world championships in the Czech Republic, Canada was fifth in relay, behind Nordic powers Norway, Germany and Finland, and right on the tail of the Italians.
That was also ahead of the Swedes and their star Marcus Hellner, who in these Games has a gold and a fourth.
On Saturday, the Canadian four place a scare into the huge boys by putting three skiers in the top 10 in the 30-kilometre pursuit, with Babikov fifth, Grey eighth, Harvey, ninth and just to make a point, Kershaw 16th.
Babikov was just 9.1 seconds off the gold medal.
‘Historic underdogs’
“We’re ecstatic,” Grey told Canwest News Service. “If anyone’s going to be crying over a fifth-place end today, they’re going to be tears of joy.
“We are aiming high for the medals, but we are the historic underdogs. It felt fantastic. We couldn’t have questioned for more.”
What seemed most heartening is that the man who came fifth, Babikov (a transplanted Russian athlete who has settled down in Canmore, Alta.), wasn’t ecstatic, he was annoyed.
“I’ve finished fifth in the world, but when you realize it, it was one chance to get a medal,” the 29-year-ancient said. “So close, and yet so far.”
Why the men have suddenly risen over the accepted levels of dreary middle-of-the-pack finishes we’ve become so used to can be traced to the legacy of the Calgary Olympics in 1988 through the Canmore Training Centre, more funding, better coaches, wax technicians and trips to world events
And that’s developed two strong generations of male skiers.
There is an older group, led by national team veteran Grey, 30, of Rossland, B.C. (and he’s racing with a broken thumb), Kershaw, of Sudbury, Ont., who is a spry 27, and Babikov.
Excellent genes
Then there are the kids, headlined by Harvey, of Mont Sainte-Anne, Que., who is just 20 and already has a couple of World Cup podiums to his credit.
Behind him are three other 20-year-olds on the junior team, including Julien Nury, from Quebec, and Graeme Killick, of Alberta, who both had top 10 finishes at the age group worlds last year.
David Greer, of Whitehorse, was in the top 20 at the 2009 world juniors.
Harvey comes by his talent through hard work and excellent genes, as his dad Pierre was twice a summer Olympian in cycling, and twice at the Winter Games in cross-country.
Alex has a small catching up to do with dad, who won three World Cup races and had four podiums, but the son has already bettered Pierre’s best Games performance of 14th.
The young men are the future heading for 2014, but right now from the veterans there may be a medal in the Whistler hills, and before the Games not many Canadian fans might have known that.
Canada’s Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir went from second spot after the compulsory dance Friday, above, to first place after Sunday’s original dance in Vancouver. (Paul Chiasson/Canadian Press)