December 9, 2009 (Canmore, AB) – Canada’s top cross-country ski athletes not competing on the World Cup will battle for the final spots on Canada’s Olympic cross-country ski team while kicking off the Haywood NorAm and Teck Sprint Series on December 12, 2009 in Vernon, B.C.

Canada’s Nordic skiers will compete in a series of four races in Vernon and Canmore between December 12 and 22 to determine the final members that will be eligible to be named to the Canadian Olympic Team for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.

A number of 2006 Olympic team members will headline the field competing on the nation’s premier development race series over the next two weeks including: Drew Goldsack, of Red Deer, Alta.; Sean Crooks, of Thunder Bay, Ont.; along with Phil Widmer and Dasha Gaiazova, both of Banff, Alta. A number of top skiers from the United States will also match their training against the Canucks.

Brian McKeever, along with his guide and brother Robin, who have won nearly everything on the table in Para-Nordic sport including seven Parlaympic medals, will also hit the start line with Canada’s Para-Nordic Ski Team.

Legally blind with Stargardt’s disease, which is a form of macular degeneration that affects central vision, Brian McKeever is continuing his quest to become the first winter-sport athlete to compete at both the Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in 2010. If he meets his goal, it will make him only the second athlete ever in the history of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to accomplish the feat. Three years ago, Brian finished 21st in an able-bodied men’s 15-kilometre skate-ski race at the World Championships.

Canada plans to field a minimum team of 12 athletes for the 2010 Olympic Winter Games. World Cup Team Members, Alex Harvey, Devon Kershaw, George Grey, Ivan Babikov, Chandra Crawford, Perianne Jones and Sara Renner have all pre-qualified to be named to the team.

Canadian Olympic Trials Schedule:

Satuday, December 12, 2009
– Women’s Haywood NorAm 10 km (Skate) Sovereign Lake Nordic Ski Club, Vernon B.C.
– Men’s Haywood NorAm 15 km (Skate) Sovereign Lake Nordic Ski Club, Vernon, B.C.

Saturday, December 19
– Men’s and Women’s Teck Sprint (Classic) Canmore Nordic Centre, Canmore, Alta.

Sunday, December 20
– Men’s and Women’s Teck Sprint (Classic) Canmore Nordic Centre, Canmore, Alta.

Tuesday, December 22
– Women’s Haywood NorAm 30 km (Classic) Canmore Nordic Centre, Canmore, Alta.
– Men’s Haywood NorAm 50 km (Classic) Canmore Nordic Centre, Canmore, Alta.