December 29, 2015 – Cross Country Canada recently announced that Annika Richardson (Hollyburn Nordic Ski Club) and Levi  Nadlersmith (Downtown Nordic) will represent the red maple leaf at the 2016 Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway Feb. 12–21, 2016. The selection process for the Canadian squad wrapped up with the final Haywood Nor Am before Christmas at Sovereign Lake, B.C.

Levi Nadler Smith © Pam Doyle

The team size for the 2016 YOG is limited by the FIS Qualification System which allows Canada a quota of 1 man and 1 woman. The selection was based on a combination of the qualifying and sprint final results at the Canmore NorAm plus the 10k and 5K free events at Sovereign Lake.

Alternate athletes have been nominated in the event that one of selected athletes has illness, injury or is nominated and accepts selection to the 2016 World Junior Championships. For the women, Hannah Mehain (Sovereign Lake, BC) was named first alternate and Natalie Hynes (Whitehorse, YK) was named second alternate. For the men, Antoine Laforte (Skibec, QC) earned the first alternate position, while Conor McGovern (Red River Nordic, MB) was named second alternate.

The following is the ranking list of top 8 athletes for each selection category:

2016 YOG Canadian selection ranking (14-Dec-15) © CCC

The U.S. Youth Olympic Games team selections will be announced after the qualifier event, the 2016 U.S. Cross Country Championships, Jan. 3-9, 2016 in Houghton, MI. Find the U.S. Team YOG Selection Procedures document here.