Devon Kershaw ©Heinz Ruckemann file photo
Congratulations on your win in Bruksvallarna! You’ve placed in the top 5 at this race in previous years. Tell how the race unfolded and what your goals/expectations were going into the race?
Devon Kershaw: Last year was my first year racing here in Bruksvallarna as a tune up for the World Cup opener. There were two distance races last season – a 15km classic (I placed 3rd), and 15km skate (I was 4th). I wasn’t expecting all that much going into Sunday’s race to be honest. I was very frustrated after a dismal/strange classic sprint the previous day (I was 25th), and I used that frustration to go fast I guess! I had a very simple race plan that I wanted to adhere to (a few key “process” goals type thing), and I was thrilled to be able to deliver on those in the first distance race of the season. To win was a huge surprise for me in an individual skate race.
Did you make any particular changes to your training this summer to prepare for this Olympic season?
DK: I made a few minor changes to my training. It’s been an interesting few years as we’ve gone through a number of coaches. Each of them brings something slightly different to the table, even if there are similarities philosophically. When compared to last year, my training this year is actually much more “in line” with what we’ve planned. Last fall, for example, I got pretty tired and had to take a small break (2+ weeks) from training to recover, but this season we’ve made no such mistakes (so far !), and the training, recovery, etc… has been unfolding as we thought it would.
What are your strategies for focusing on what you need to do to put in a best-ever performance, perhaps even gold medal results, at Vancouver 2010?
DK: [Laughs] There are many strategies that our team is focusing on to be great in Vancouver. Our men’s team is the strongest ever. It’s unreal to think that George Grey, Ivan Babikov, Alex Harvey and I have all hit the podium at the World Cup level. It’s great momentum as we approach the big goal. Our main strategy has been two key things: 1) energy management and 2) belief. We need to manage our training, recovery, moods, etc… and keep everything on a decently high level if we hope to ace the Olympics. We look into our training very closely along with our coaches and other staff to make sure we are operating at an optimal level.
Dave Wood has been such an asset in this last quadrennial – especially in this regard. As other coaches have come and gone, Dave’s been there the whole time making sure we are on the right track. As for belief – it’s no secret: we aren’t the heavy hitting team of cross-country ski racing. We aren’t Norway, Sweden, Russia, Germany, etc. If we were to win some medals at the Games, I don’t think the ski world would be “shocked”. But if we came away with none (medals), again the world wouldn’t be asking in the headlines, “What Happened?” We are a developing team and we have the talent in our squad. Now we need to believe in our abilities to be competitive, and believe in each other. We have such a great, close-knit training group and we do a good job supporting, and believing in one another. We need to continue that – and keep believing that we can be competitive.
How is your team / NGB, handling the extra need to stay healthy in this Olympic season, especially given the added flu strain, H1N1?
DK: Health-wise, it’s just like any other season. Of course we want to stay as healthy as we can. No matter if it’s an Olympic season, World Championship season, or a World Cup season – getting sick can spell disaster. I know (for example) with regard to the H1N1 flu, our team braved long lineups to get our flu shots long in advance before embarking on our racing season. Most of us also receive a “seasonal flu shot” on the recommendation of our team physicians. In the day-to-day stuff, we are just careful to wash our hands, travel with hand sanitizer, and try not to touch our faces much (with dirty hands). That coupled with staying on top of our recovery is all we can do to stay healthy. You can’t become a huge hypochondriac out there. We do what we can, but we don’t (most of the time) go overboard and create something out of nothing.
Beckie [Scott], Sara [Renner] and Chandra [Crawford] have galvanized women’s sport and fitness in Canada. Canada’s men have made great strides recently – what would a gold medal by a Canadian male mean to sport and fitness across the country?
DK: [Laughs] I am not really sure what a gold medal from our men’s team would mean for Canada. I know it would be very well received all around, especially in the ski community at large – but would it have the “Participaction” type reach? I doubt it. Like I’ve stated earlier in this interview, we are getting better. We could do it (medal), we want to hit the podium and believe we can if things align.
I know that with skiers like Alex having fantastic results at a young age, it’s helping the younger generation believe that they can be competitive much earlier internationally. Just look at guys like Killick, Lenny Valjas, Julien Nury, Fred Touchette, David Greer, etc. Man, there are just a ton of great young skiers posting huge results for their age. Our men’s team has just made some really impressive strides, and we’re seeing the benefits within our Canadian ski community right now. As far as aiding in a “nationwide fitness boom,” sadly I just don’t see one gold medal in our sport being the catalyst for 35 million Canadians to embrace physical activity. The biggest sport in Canada (and the Olympics) will always be hockey, and it seems as though hockey truly is the only sport in Canada that routinely “unites our nation.”
Doping has been in the news again recently and WADA recently celebrated its 10th year. Do you feel WADA has the resources, and the ‘teeth’, to make the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games the cleanest WOG to date? Do you feel comfortable that you will be competing on an ‘even playing field’?
DK: WADA has done great things – no question. Is sport clean? No way. Will the 2010 Olympics have dopers competing? Yes – absolutely. It’s the dark side of sport, there are cheaters out there and it’s annoying. Look at our sport of cross-country skiing. A few months ago, Russian champions [Evgeny] Dementiev, and [Julia] Tchepalova got nabbed for doping. But why did it take WADA/FIS 10 months to announce it to the public? They were caught in December 2008, yet, they raced out the season (all the way until March, including the Nordic World Championships). The truth didn’t come out until September. Things like this keep happening.
The sporting community at large is making good steps to clean up sport and Canada is leading the way – I’ve been tested almost a dozen times already this training season – but around the world there are still cheaters. It’s just frustrating for example when organizations like FIS neglect to even test the top three at the spring World Cups (for some unknown reason). That’s a disgrace.
So, the 2010 Olympics will have cheaters. Hopefully WADA can nab a few of those, but you can bet some will slip through the cracks yet again. Doping in sport can be depressing, but one positive thing is this: I truly believe you can win the big races clean, even with dopers racing. Just look at Beckie, or Chandra. Olympic champions both of them and both are clean. That says something. As long as that keeps happening, I’ll keep competing!
Thanks for your time and all the best this season.
DK: Thanks