December 06, 2012 (Quebec City, QC) – It’s really only hours now until ski fans of the world will be treated to a historic first – a FIS World Cup in Quebec City, this majestic city perched on the side of the mighty St. Lawerence River. And clearly spirits among all involved are running  both high and festive.

The athletes are here, and all the coaches and wax techs…and everyone is getting ready for tomorrow’s Team Sprint event. They’ll be live television broadcast around the world and here in Canada CBC’s coverage features Emmy Award winning producer, Kent Gordis of New York, producing the world feed. The TV coverage will be live on EuroSport as usual. In the USA, the USSA will stream the event live on YOU TUBE’s USSA Network, which makes a wonderful addition to their Nordic lineup.

If you look around the hotel lobby one is instantly struck by how many familier faces are here. There is an huge crowd up from  the States, and all across Canada. The course is in perfect shape said FIS TD Al Serrano – a last minute replacement – for the Finnish TD who had to cancel.

Serrano told Trax this afternoon that “… the course is fantastic. The venue is beautiful under the famed Parliment Buildings, and has really good features on it. As far as city venues goes, this is about as good as it gets.” Each loop is measured out at 750 meters.

The course has some marked similarities with Dusseldorf, and the team event get’s underway Friday with team qualifications at noon, followed by 2PM finals.

We caught up for a few moments with Ida Sargent, Kikkan Randall and Holly Brooks, all of whom looked very happy and most excited about the upcoming races. “We’re all feeling good, and it almost feels like a home World Cup,” said defending FIS Sprint Cup champion, Kikkan Randall.

“We’ve got a big team and extra staff and everything is going well,” added Randall. Tomorrow, Randall will be paired with Jessie Diggins, with Diggins running the first leg. The draw also indicated that Ida Sargent will pair with Holly Brooks, in that order.

Canada 1’s squad will find Daria Gaiazova and Olympic gold medalist Chandra Crawford, with CAN 2 being comprised of Heidi Widmer and Alysson Marshall.

USA men’s 1 team will feature Simi Hamilton and Andy Newell, while USA 2 will feature Ryan Scott and Erik Bjornsen. For CAN 1 it’s Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey, the hometown fav with CAN 2 pairing Jessie Cockney with Len Valjas. Both the USA and Canada are fielding lots of skiers over the two Canadian WCups and excited about the experience to be gained.

I saw Harvey in the elevator and he said he was a bit tired, although very enthusiastic. “I am tired from all the travel. Five races in nine days from Gallivare to Kuusamo, plus training is alot,” the local star told Trax.

As mentioned he’ll be racing in the morning with teammate Kershaw and the pair provided a historic Team Sprint gold medal at the last World Championships in Oslo. Together they will be highly motivated as are all of their fans.

Missing in action this weekend in QC are distance skiers Ivan Babikov (CAN), who had a very decent start to the season landing on the podium in Bruksvallarna, Sweden; the USA’s Noah Hoffman who also gave notice that he’s on track with some personal bests in Kussamo; and veteran Kris Freeman who landed an early 4th place finish in Muonio, Finland… all will be on the start line at the Alberta WCup next weekend.

This lovely quaint and charming city is all decked out in holiday colours and ready to welcome the world to the most European city in North America as the anticipation builds to show time.

Women’s Semi Final A Start List HERE.
Women’s Semi Final B Start List HERE.

Men’s Semi Final A Start List HERE.
Men’s Semi Final B Start List HERE.

Québec Team Sprint – Pre-Competition Facts HERE.