January 30, 2014 (Val di Fiemme, Italy) – Today was a good day for US-CAN skiers in the 10/15km CL individual start races despite challenging snowy conditions at the 2014 FIS Nordic Junior/U23 World Ski Championships. Following the competitions we caught up with a number of Canadian and US skiers, and both coaches, for their take on the course, the skis, conditions, the venue and the energy in Val di Fiemme with the Sochi 2014 Games around the corner.

Cendrine Browne (CAN) – U23 Women – 31st

How did the snowfall affect your strategy…?
The snow was actually a good thing for me! My skis were even easier to kick because of the fresh snow falling in the tracks. Despite fogging up my glasses, the snow was helpful!

Talk about the course – your skis – and how your race went.  
I felt good today. Before the race, I felt my legs were strong and that I would be able to kick my skis. However, I found that the first lap was harder than the second. It was mentally challenging. Today was an individual start so on the first lap, you were basically alone of nobody caught up to you. The second lap was “easier” because the girl who started right after me, caught me and I struggled to stay with her before passing her. My skis were very good. I had an awesome kick and the glide was also very good. During the race, it was snowing so like I said, the skis were even easier to kick because of the fresh snow falling in the tracks. As for my strategy, I just wanted to go hard and to go as fast as I could. I didn’t really have a real strategy because it was an individual start. I just knew I wanted to have the best of myself in this race, because didn’t really know how good of a result I could have.

Are you happy with your result…? 
Yes, I am very happy of this result because I almost did a top 30, which is very good for my first year in the U-23 category. I am also happy of my performance because I came in right after Heidi Widmer, who just qualified for the Olympics in Sochi. So it is very encouraging for me. I am also two positions away from Julia Svan, a Swedish girl who was last year’s favourite in the junior category. On top of that, classic isn’t usually my strength at all!

What’s the atmosphere like in Val and the venue with the Games so close? 
I noticed that the different countries don’t really talk to each other, except maybe Canada and United States of course! But tension was obvious. I think that some athletes still had to qualify for the Games using these races. Therefore, some athletes were very serious!

Annie Pokorny (USA) – U23 Women – 33rd

How were conditions – was it snowing hard during your race as it was for the men…?
The conditions were challenging for sure. The snow started falling about 15 minutes before my start, so our techs had quite the challenge ahead of them and they handled it beautifully. The snow picked up throughout the 10k, making the tracks pretty wet and variable, but our skis were comparable to every other team out there, it became a matter of who could handle the changes gracefully.

Talk about the course – your skis – and how your race went…
I’m really happy with how the first three quarters of my race went, I wanted to ski smoothly and not let the hype of the event or the stress of the conditions phase me. Perhaps I got too relaxed, the next gear was hard to find going into the finish. I love the courses here, the hills are challenging but not so much so that you have to dial too much effort back.

Are you happy with how your race went and your result…?
I think that all of the North Americans had grander hopes for today’s race, I know I did, but I can’t help but feel proud of the end result. Today was a hard day, and it took a lot of effort from those around me for me to do as well as I did, I think that in itself is something to celebrate.

What’s the atmosphere like in Val and the venue with the Games so close?
The coolest thing about getting to race here is the caliber of the field. Most of these women are World Cup racers and a handful of them are heading to Sochi next week. For some of them, these are tune up races, for others, they’re last chances for the Games. The Olympic hype is everywhere and is making for an impressive energy. I’m grateful to experience it.

Erik Bjornsen (USA) – U23 Men – 17th
After the race today I packed up my stuff and drove with my parents to Toblach. I’ve met up with the WC crew just in time for dinner. There was a snow storm so the trip ended up taking a few hours. Anyway, the race today was pretty good. I’m really happy with the where my fitness is at. I had a smoking fast last lap and I got to the finish feeling like I had more left in the tank. In the world cup on Saturday I will try going out harder. I still feel like I’m dialing in my racing this season. I’m happy to have finished in the top 20 and think with a different race strategy I could have been 25 seconds faster which would have put me in the top 10. I’m so excited for the Olympics, I think my fitness is just coming into form so it should be perfect timing. It was a blast being with the WJ/U23 crew.

Scott Patterson (USA) – U23 Men – 18th
I felt today was a solid race for me but nothing exceptional; however, it was probably my best classic race of the season so far.  In previous races I have died towards the end like at nationals or been a bit frantic and struggled a bit with kick in the first EISA carnial of the year.

Today I conquered both of those items but was lacking a little in pop.  Instead of sking aggressively and really attacking the course, today was more of an accelerated cruise.  This probably was good for me in the end as it forced me to ski a little more conservatively in the beginning and hold a pretty consistent position throughout the race.  I feel that perhaps on a different day my consistent skiing could be a bit faster and I could have broken into the top 15.

I was skiing the hills well but feel that I was probably loosing a little ground on the flats as I am generally not the best double poler.  Also the flat sections in between some of the steeper hills were some of the toughest places on the course. I spent most of the race skiing by myself as the people starting before and after me were skiing relatively similar races.  The only people I got to pass were early seeds who were on later laps and one from my lap.  About one kilometer from the finish is when I got passed by the guy who started behind me.

Our wax techs did a great job today giving both good kick for the steep hills at Val di Fiemme but also preserving very fast skis for the important flats between.  I have personally been working with Amy Caldwell this week and before the race we really nailed down to exactly what I like to race on.  While it was snowing pretty heavily I don’t feel like that affected the race very much.  The snow did not really seem to be accumulating.  One of the tracks was generally slow, but the other was getting quite glazed.

Altogether, the main thing that would have made me consider it a good race instead of just solid would be a top 15 finish (I was only about 15 sec out of that). I also would have liked to have beaten Erik Bjornsen.  I still had a few tenths on him at 14.7k but he clearly closed a bit better than I did. Between us is more of a friendly inter-team competition that goes back to the 2006 JO relay at Soldier Hollow.

This is my second best result at world juniors or U23s.  I was 17th in the 10k classic and 19th in the 20k pursuit in 2010 at World Juniors in Hinterzarten. This is my first U23s though.

The atmosphere because of the Games doesn’t seem all that much different than past years. There might be a little more excitement because of it though. We can feel the difference especially when around Jessie or Erik, or seeing Ustigov and the others. Being in Val di Fiemme is pretty awesome. We can go back and watch World Cups or World Champs to see how they skied the courses.

We actually had a pretty good cheering squad in the stadium with several parents, friends, and coaches.

Knute Johnsgaard (CAN) – U23 Men – 21st
I was feeling really well leading up to the championships, a lot better than I was at trials. It seemed like a long break with no racing the past few weeks and I knew I was in good shape so its exciting to finally start racing.

I’m not a fan of the course actually. I like long striding hills that you can ski up and not just run. We’ve had plenty of practice on steep courses racing in canmore though.

The snow during the race was probably more of a problem for the wax techs than the racers. I don’t know if anyone had perfect skis today, it was definitely challenging. I’d just let my skis ice-up, run up the hills, and kick them off at the top, which was usually not a problem. At least we didn’t have to go on harries. I just tried to ski relaxed and efficiently because if you blow up on this course it’s pretty unforgiving. I’m happy with how I raced, It just would have been nice to be a half second quicker so i could say “top 20”.

The atmosphere is great. They know what they’re doing here having held world champs last year and a tour de ski stage and world university games this year. Its better than Turkey, thats for sure.

Lisa Patterson – Canadian Team Leader & Coach
Solid racing by Knute and Heidi and Cendrine is coming into form. Waxing was challenging for the women’s race as it started snowing moderate to heavy just minutes before the race. Our wax team did a super job staying on top of the changes. Energy level of our men’s U23 team is coming up after a mild head cold hit a couple of our racers during the training period. Andy Shields went out too hard but he took a risk, it just didn’t pay off.

 

Bryan Fish – US Development Coach

Photos courtesy of NNF and Flyingpointroad.com in support of US skiers
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