October 21, 2006 (Canmore, Alta.) – Canada’s elite nordic athletes will begin to cut their final tracks down the road to the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver with additional training resources, thanks to a $2 million investment by CODA that will expand the Bill Warren Training Centre, allowing for technologically advanced training facilities and support services in Canmore, CODA and Cross Country Canada jointly announced on Friday.

CODA’s financial injection will expand the existing Bill Warren Training Centre by more than 6,000 square feet, which will significantly enhance weight training and aerobic facilities, laboratory testing space, and offices for coaches and support staff, while adding a video analysis room.

The announcement came in conjunction with Cross Country Canada unveiling its 2006-07 senior team, led by Olympic gold medallist, Chandra Crawford, and World Cup bronze medallist, Devon Kershaw.

“CODA is committed to providing Canada’s athletes with the premier training facilities they need to win in 2010 and beyond,” said Bob Nicolay, president and chief executive officer, CODA, whose organization has been moving forward with construction of the nation’s first Centre of Sport Excellence. “This investment complements the more than $30 million the Government of Alberta recently spent to modernize the Canmore Nordic Centre to current world-calibre standards, and will ultimately put more Canadians on the international podium in the sports of cross-country skiing and biathlon.”

The Canmore Nordic Centre is core to CODA’s plan to develop the Centre of Sport Excellence in Alberta. The national body also announced two weeks ago construction of five new world-leading facilities at Calgary’s Canada Olympic Park for the sports of snowboarding, freestyle and alpine skiing, and ski jumping.

CODA has also played a key role in the development of Canada’s cross-country skiers, along with other high-performance winter sport athletes who call Canmore home, by operating facilities at the Bill Warren Training Centre since 1994, and the Beckie Scott High-Performance Training Centre on Haig Glacier.

While CODA will begin construction of the new digs this winter, the journey to the 2010 Olympic Winter Games for the nation’s top nordic skiers begins immediately. Cross Country Canada unveiled a stellar lineup on Friday of five women and 10 men who will don the maple leaf at international competitions this season.

With Beckie Scott’s retirement, and Sara Renner taking the year off to have her first baby, Olympic gold medallist, Chandra Crawford, of Canmore, Alta., and World Cup bronze medallist, Devon Kershaw, of Sudbury, Ont., will be counted on to lead the way for the young Canucks. Crawford shocked the world by winning gold in Torino in the sprint event, just days after winning her first World Cup medal last season. Following the Olympics, Kershaw became the first Canadian male in 15 years to medal in a World Cup event.

The Canadian trail extends far beyond the two young Canucks. Building off Kershaw’s breakthrough performance, Canada will field a national men’s team loaded with depth and potential after making its first international mark against the world’s top skiers last year. Other members of the team include: George Grey, of Rossland, B.C., who had a remarkable result in the men’s 15 kilometre individual start race in Canmore, Alta., last December where he finished 16th, the best distance result for a Canadian-born male in more than a decade; Chris Jeffries, of Chelsea, Que., Sean Crooks, of Thunder Bay, Ont., Drew Goldsack, of Red Deer, Alta.; Phil Widmer, of Banff, Alta.; Dan Roycroft, of Port Sydney, Ont.; David Nighbor, of North Bay, Ont.; and Graham Nishikiwa, of Whitehorse, YK.

Brian McKeever, of Canmore, Alta., who has dominated the international disabled cross-country ski circuit over the last five years, will lead the ParaNordic team towards Vancouver. Arguably the most successful disabled cross-country skier in the world, McKeever claimed four Paralympic medals in 2006.

Meanwhile, a quartet of athletes will join Crawford on the women’s team this year. Amanda Ammar, of Onoway, Alta., who also made her Olympic debut in Torino, will continue to match strides with the best in the world. Rounding out the women’s team is Montreal’s Dasha Gaiazova; Perianne Jones, of Almonte, Ont.; and Madeleine Williams, of Edmonton.

“This is a unique group of athletes that has been making significant progress, and has demonstrated the ability to maintain Canada’s position on the podium in international cross-country skiing,” said Dave Wood, head coach, Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team, whose team racked up 15 World Cup and two Olympic medals last season. “Our young team has had a taste of success, and now know what it takes to win. We are committed to working together to improve on our team’s Olympic medal count in four years. It promises to be an exciting journey.”

With the best season in the history of the national program behind them, four athletes including, Chandra Crawford, Dasha Gaiazova, Devon Kershaw and George Grey, will leave for Europe, October 25, for a two-week training camp prior to the start of the World Cup circuit in Finland.

The remaining athletes will continue to chase snow in Canada, and train at the recently upgraded Canmore Nordic Centre. The expanded Bill Warren Training Centre, which is home to Cross Country Canada, will be available for use in November 2007, giving Canada’s top athletes almost three full winters to access leading edge support facilities before Canada hosts the 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

CODA is a national leader in creating Canadian Olympic winter sport excellence from the grassroots level to the country’s best athletes. A not-for-profit organization, CODA supports national sport organizations, encourages educational opportunities and subsidizes the operation of unique training and recreational facilities used by the nation’s top athletes and the general public. For more information on CODA please visit us at www.coda.ca on the Internet.

Cross Country Canada is the governing body of cross-country skiing in Canada. Its 45,000 members are athletes, coaches and officials, including members of the Canadian Cross-Country Ski Team and Canadian Disabled Cross-Country Ski Team. Cross-country skiing is Canada’s optimal winter sport and recreational activity with more than one million Canadians participating annually.