February 13, 2019 (Canmore, AB) – On Feb. 7 on home snow Canada’s Christian Gow, 25, raced to a career-best 10th in the men’s 15km individual with one penalty at the Canmore leg of the BMW IBU World Cup. Gow has been making steady gains as he claimed 11th in Ruhpolding, Germany in the same event just two weeks earlier. Following Canmore the IBU World Cup moves to Soldier Hollow in Utah Feb. 14-17, and SkiTrax caught up with the Calgary-based athlete for his take on his top performance.

Christian Gow en route to a career-best 10th © Nordic Focus

Did the hometown crowd motivate you ?
Christian Gow: The crowd was very motivating! We had support on every part of the course, it was amazing. It felt really special to have so many people out there cheering us on, definitely a highlight of the competitions for me.

Is there more pressure when racing at home ?
CG: I think there can be more pressure racing at home, but there doesn’t have to be. I saw this week as an awesome experience and went into the races feeling like I was in a win-win scenario. I had so much support out there and I was able to just enjoy racing in front of friends and family rather than feel anxious about it.

Tough conditions with such cold – are you used to it based in Canmore ?
CG: I would say that I am not used to this cold. We spend all of our winters in Europe where it is very mild. I am barely in Canada during the winter anymore so no advantage there.

Your shooting continues to impress… what are you doing differently ?
CG: Pavel [Lantsov] has been a fantastic shooting coach and we work together constantly trying to improve. There is a lot of attention to detail and that has helped with my accuracy.

Is the podium your next goal ?
CG: To make the podium is a dream goal of mine. It is getting closer, and with the perfect race I know it is possible.

Good luck and all the best with the rest of the season.
CG: Thanks