January 24, 2014 (Canmore, Alta.) – Brittany Webster and Amanda Ammar have been nominated to the team that will represent Canada at the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia. With the addition of these two athletes the Olympic cross-country ski team is now 13 athletes – seven women and six men.

Brittany Webster (l) and Amanda Ammar © Morten Byskov

Both Webster and Ammar will be making their second trips to the Olympic Winter Games. Ammar, of Onoway, Alta., competed in three cross-country ski events for Canada at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy. The 27-year-old won the women’s 15-kilometre skiathlon race at the Olympic Trials in Canmore, Alta. in early January.

Webster, of Caledon, Ont., who finished second in both distance races at the recent Trials, was named to the 2010 Olympic Team and also represented Canada at the 2013 Nordic World Ski Championships in Val di Fiemme, Italy.

“Adding Brittany and Amanda rounds out the most talented group of cross-country ski athletes to start for Canada at an Olympic Winter Games,” said Tom Holland, high-performance director, Cross Country Canada. “This opportunity will allow these two additional athletes to continue their development with this opportunity to race at the Olympics. We welcome them both to the team.”

Both Ammar and Webster had filed appeals knowing that with the team named on January 14th Canada would not have a full representation in the women’s distance races, which were recently granted.  This combined with additional quota spots that became available to Cross Country Canada only yesterday, confirmed their nomination to the team.  FIS provides quota spots to each country based on international rankings. If other nations do not use their entire quota, those spots are then redistributed in a second round of offers.

Cross Country Canada nominated the first eleven athletes to its Olympic squad on January 14, 2014. Webster and Ammar will join a high-powered Olympic team that includes:

Men
– Alex Harvey (St-Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que.)
– Devon Kershaw (Sudbury, Ont.)
– Ivan Babikov (Canmore, Alta.)
– Lenny Valjas (Toronto, Ont.)
– Graeme Killick (Fort McMurray, Alta.)
– Jesse Cockney (Canmore, Alta.)

Women
– Chandra Crawford (Canmore, Alta.)
– Daria Gaiazova (Banff, Alta.)
– Perianne Jones (Almonte, Ont.)
– Heidi Widmer (Banff, Alta.)
– Emily Nishikawa (Whitehorse, Yuk.)
– Brittany Webster (Caledon, Ont.)
– Amanda Ammar (Onoway, Alta.)