February 20, 2013 (Whistler, B.C.) – Join Olympic and World Cup gold medalists Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey, along with rising stars Len Valjas and Perianne Jones as they compete in the Haywood Ski Nationals – the last major domestic racing event before the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

More than 600 of Canada’s best cross-country skiers will race in the 2013 Haywood Ski Nationals, the largest of three Nordic national championships to be held at Whistler Olympic Park, March 23 – 30, 2013.

The Olympic Park is the site of the Sea to Sky Nordic Festival where Canada’s elite winter athletes will compete in Biathlon Nationals and North American Biathlon Championships, Ski Jumping and Nordic Combined Canadian Nationals.

With hundreds of athletes on site for biathlon, cross-country, and ski-jumping/Nordic combined, the event will “return us to the excitement of 2010 Olympics,” says event chair Sherryl Yeager.

“We’ll have more athletes, more races and more adrenalin pumping in this two-week period than we did in 2010,” says Yeager. “This event is going to give you non-stop all-day high-level racing from Canada’s best.”

Whistler Olympic Park is the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics and offers world-class racing trails and a picturesque recreational trail system that meanders through old growth forest in the Callaghan Valley. This is only the third time the Ski Nationals have been hosted in the Sea to Sky Corridor in 20 years. They were first held in Vancouver in 1991 and at Whistler Olympic Park in 2008.

All events are free of charge for spectators.

www.skinationals.com

October 27, 2011 – An Olympic Games Impact Study examining the effects of the Vancouver 2010 Games has been released. The report, which examines socio-cultural, economic and environmental impacts of the Games, is available at the University of British Columbia’s Centre for Sport and Sustainability website: www.css.ubc.ca.

“This study confirms what we all saw during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games,” said Canadian Olympic Committee President Marcel Aubut. “The sense of pride that swept up our nation was a turning point in our nation’s history. The Games injected millions into the local economy and great strides have been made in making these events more environmentally sound.”

The University of British Columbia was commissioned by the Vancouver 2010 Organizing Committee (VANOC) to complete the survey. Since VANOC’s wrap-up, the COC presented the study’s results to the IOC at the 123rd IOC Session in Durban, South Africa. This is the third of four reports. The first took baseline measurements in the Vancouver area from which to compare future findings. The second examined Vancouver in the pre-Games window. This report looks at the impacts during the Games themselves. The Post-Games Report will summarize findings from previous reports, and provide final conclusion about the impact of the Olympic Games in 2013.

Socio-cultural impacts
– Inclusion – Aboriginal groups and minorities participated in the bidding, planning and staging of the Games. Data from opinion polls conducted before and after the Paralympic Games showed that public awareness of people with disabilities increased as a result of the Games.
– Sport – Municipal, provincial and federal governments introduced policies and projects to leverage the Games, including a program for excellence in sport, Own the Podium,that likely increased the number of medals won by Canadian athletes.
– Arts and culture – Arts and culture were a significant aspect of the hosting of the 2010 Games
– Housing – There were no new data related to homelessness and affordable housing subsequent to the Pre-Games Report. The report noted that possible media attention and local advocacy efforts may have catalyzed government efforts to address these issues. The following OGI report is expected to provide further insight on these issues.

Economic impacts
– Business and jobs – New businesses and new jobs were created that related directly to the Olympics such as venue operation, as well as indirectly such as hotel and restaurant jobs.
– Real estate – Increases in the cost of hotel stays and in real estate prices in the year 2010 were both potentially due to the Games.
– Tourism – Increases in YVR airport traffic (passenger and freight) and in visitor spending around the time of the Games were both potentially due to the 2010 Winter Games.
– Tax revenue – The Games-time report conservatively estimates that the public sector benefited by at least $50 million (CAD) in total tax revenue from Olympic activities.

Environmental impacts
– Greenhouse gas emissions – Data from VANOC showed that Olympic-related greenhouse gas emissions increased every year following 2005, with an eight-fold increase during Games-time compared to the organizing period, mainly due to transportation to and around Vancouver.
– Mode of travel – During the Games, travel into and out of the downtown core (where many Games-related events were held) increased. During this period, the share of low-impact modes of travel into and out of the downtown core became the dominant mode of travel over personal vehicle use.
– Energy consumption – Olympic-related energy consumption for facility operation and transportation during the Games was almost an equal share between fossil fuels and renewable sources. Most of the energy (80 per cent) was used for venues and facilities.

October 26, 2011 – Elite Italian cross-country ski racer Magda Genuin, 32, recently announced on her personal website her intention to retire from World Cup racing. In the post, Genuin wrote that she returned early from a training camp in Val Senales after making her decision after a successful 11-year career, which included four World Cup individual podiums and a fifth-place finish at the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games.

“It is not a bolt from the blue, already last spring as I anticipated that I would need to find a period of stimulation and see if I still had the ability to return after the disappointment of how things had gone to the World Championships in Oslo,” Genuin wrote about her decision (translated from Italian via Google Translate).

“I leave the World Cup, but I do not leave cross-country skiing, because it’s what I’ve done all my life and I still like to ski, but now I will only do for me!” she added.

Read the full article on the FIS website HERE.
Read Genuin’s announcement HERE (Italian).

September 14, 2011 – Norwegian Petter Northug, the best skier in this year’s World Championships in Oslo, extended his contract with Alpina. Petter Northug, who won three gold and two silver medals at the Oslo 2011 World Championships and is the holder of four Olympic medals from Vancouver 2010, has extended his contract with the Slovenian company through May 2014.

With permanent investments in development, Alpina has become one of the most important manufacturers of Cross-Country boots and today reaches one third of the market share in the segment of XC boots. Alpina is proud that one of the best and most popular athletes in the Cross-Country Skiing world continues to use its shoes for his future challenges. Furthermore Alpina also believes this will help to consolidate the Alpina brand all over the world.

August 29, 2011 (Oberammergau, Germany) – Petter Northug Jr., the Vancouver 2010 double Olympic Champion and Oslo 2011 triple World Champion has confirmed that he’ll race the 2012 edition of the König Ludwig Lauf in Oberammergau on February 5, 2012.

The new is a big highlight for race organizers as the event is celebrating its 40th anniversary!

Since 2011, the König Ludwig Lauf is also part of the Ski Classics races, a series of six classic technique races with an additional Sprint ranking. The other races are the Jizerska Padesatka, Marcialonga, the Vasaloppet, the Birkebeinerrennet – all Worldloppet and FIS Marathon Cup races – and the final at the Norefjellrennet, Norway. For more information on the Ski Classics click HERE.

The König Ludwig Lauf already has race entries from 25 different nations and numbers of participants has grown over 35% in comparison to last year’s August numbers.

At the same time, the World Skiing Championships for doctors and pharmacists will be held for the 17th time. For kids between 6 and 14 years of age, there will be a 5km “Mini-Kini” race on Saturday.

For more information click HERE.

May 11, 2011 – Martin Koukal decided to leave the Czech national Cross-Country team and will take part in distance races next season.

World Champion in 50 km Free from Val di Fiemme 2003, bronze medalist in team sprint from Oberstdorf 2005 and bronze medal winner in relay from Vancouver 2010 decided to leave the Czech national team in favor of loppets.

32 year-old skier from Nove Mesto na Morave plans to return to World Cup racing in the 2012/13 season to be able to qualify for the World Championships in Val di Fiemme 2013 and Winter Olympic Games in Sochi one year later.

“I’ve been in the World Cup very long time and I feel I need a change. It will be a challenge and I like challenges very much,” said Koukal to the Czech media. “Koukal will take part in at least to training camps with the Czech national team and will race at the World Cup in Nove Mesto. I want to have overview about his shape,” explained Czech head coach Miroslav Petrasek.

May 02, 2011 (Canmore, AB) – After more than 15 years of skiing competitively (seven of those years on the national team), Stefan Kuhn has retired from competitive cross country skiing. Heading into the 2011 Haywood National Championships this March in Canmore, AB, Kuhn knew it was going to be his last major competition.

Kuhn started racing with Canmore Nordic as a 10-year-old. From 1996-1998 he was a member of the junior national team, competing at the Junior World  Championships twice.

During his first season racing as a senior from 1999-2000, Kuhn tried to get a taste of what life would be like without ski racing full time. After a year of working part time as a chef, and training full time, Kuhn hung up his skis for a few years and turned to working full time.

But it didn’t take long for him to realize just how much he missed the sport, and soon after he decided that he wasn’t ready to leave skiing behind him just yet.

In 2005, Kuhn returned to racing with immediate success. After moving to Edmonton under the guidance of his friend Jack Cook, Kuhn quickly made a return to the upper echelons of XC racing in Canada, earning a spot on the national team in 2007.

The years from 2008 to 2011 proved to be the best of his career, as he represented Canada at multiple World Championships and – perhaps best of all – at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

Looking back over his career, Kuhn says one of his fondest racing memories was “…being handed a silver medal by one of my heroes, Gunde Svan, at the pre-World Cup championships at Silver Star Mountain, in Vernon, B.C. in 1992.”

Following his return to skiing in 2005, he remarked that having good results at the 2006 Tour de Ski at Soldier Hollow gave him confidence that he could ski with the best. That confidence was further reinforced at his first European World Cup sprint in 2007 where he placed 12th, and where Canada had four skiers in the top 15.

Now with many years under his belt having grown up within the competitive ski community, Kuhn has seen a fair bit change for cross-country skiing in Canada. While he admits that awareness of the sport hasn’t increased dramatically, the “…funding has improved significantly for national team members.”

Perhaps the biggest difference is in the calibre and depth of racing in Canada. He admits that in his first year as a senior, breaking into the top 10 wasn’t much of a concern – it was the top three positions that mattered. Now he says it’s a lot harder to break into the top 10 at any national-level race in Canada.

No doubt the increased depth is the result of more investment in sending skiers to Europe, introducing them to the highest level of competition early, and on a regular basis.

As he steps back from the spotlight, Kuhn does have some advice to pass on to aspiring skiers. “The transition from racing in Canada to Europe is the hardest process to make as a skier,” Kuhn told SkiTrax.

“You’ve got to believe,” he continues, “You have to know that the hard work you’re doing is the same that everyone else is doing. You have to believe in yourself, your coach, and your program.”

Kuhn points to skiers like Devon Kershaw and Alex Harvey as proof. “Before, we never thought we could beat them [the Europeans].”

Although Kuhn is stepping down from racing, he is not stepping away from racing. He has signed on to be one of the coaches with the Alberta World Cup Academy, which will keep him busy in addition to his work as a master chef.

Check out Kuhn’s site HERE.

March 17, 2011 (Canmore, AB) – When two-time Olympic cross-country skier George Grey hits the start line for Saturday’s 50-kilometre skate-ski race at the Haywood Ski Nationals, it will be his final competitive trip around the famed Canmore Nordic Centre.

After racing on the World Cup for nearly a decade against the top athletes on the globe, and competing in the Torino and Vancouver Olympics along with five World Championships, the 31-year-old Grey, of Rossland, B.C., has decided to retire.

“For me the timing just felt right,” said Grey, who started skiing when he was four years old, and racing at age seven. “In the last two years I felt like I accomplished many of my career goals and reached a performance level that was as high as I could attain. I am now looking forward to being a husband, father, and to new challenges and experiences in life.”

“I reached a peak in 2010 and thought maybe, just maybe, if I skied one more year I could contend for a medal in 2011 at the World Championships. To be able to hang in for one more season and experience the World Championships in Norway, and see Devon and Alex become World Champions, was an incredibly memorable final season.”

With Canada’s Beckie Scott having just broken through to win Canada’s first Olympic medal in the sport, Grey emerged onto the National Ski Team in 2002 with a group of bright-eyed, energetic young men from across the country poised and determined to follow Scott’s trail to the international podium.

Devon Kershaw was the first to find his way onto the podium. Kershaw became the first male in more than a decade to mount the international podium in 2006, and it didn’t take long for the others to follow suit. Four years later, Grey enjoyed a breakthrough moment of his own with his most memorable races coming at Whistler Olympic Park. The veteran teamed up with National Ski Team rookie, Alex Harvey, in 2009 to win a World Cup bronze medal in the sprint relay at the Olympic Test Event in Whistler. His best Olympic and individual career finish was eighth during the pursuit competition in 2010 when all three Canadian men finished in the top-10, and all four in the top-20.

“Getting my hands on just one medal was such an incredible high for me, and sharing it with such a talented athlete and friend in Alex made it even sweeter,” said Grey, whose best individual result outside the Olympics was a ninth-place finish at the Tour de Ski prologue in 2009. “My fondest memory has to be the 30-kilometre pursuit race with Ivan (Babikov), Alex (Harvey), and Devon (Kershaw) skiing right at the front of the pack with me. We were showing the world that we had finally arrived, and what we were capable of as a team. It was a career best for me, and to do it at a home Olympics with three of my buddies was amazing.”

After 10 years of blood, sweat and tears, Grey leaves the sport with the Canadian men’s squad amongst the best in the world.

“When I joined the Canadian men’s team we were described as ‘Canada’s most anonymous athletes,’ he said. “Now our team has World Championship medallists, World Cup medallists, Tour de Ski medallists. We have delivered a solid team. I know Canada is in good hands and there is loads of great talent coming up the system so I will sleep well.”

While racing was such a small part of his career, it was the countless hours of training with his friends and teammates that taught him to be patient, driven, tough and most importantly, goal-oriented along the journey.

“I get nostalgic thinking about all the hard training days that I endured with teammates at my side,” said Grey, who cites five-to-six hours of roller skiing in the pouring rain, nearly 50 kilometres of running and stomping their way up to glaciers as some of the most grueling training moments. “Only with your closest teammates is it possible to repeat training days like this every other week. My team and I have shed more sweat and spit on mountains than most would ever think possible.”

With the last goal remaining in his career to ski to the top of the podium on Saturday at the Haywood Ski Nationals, Grey would like to stay within sport if there is an opportunity to do so in the future, while also studying in the securities industry.

“The 2010 Olympics were sensational. The World Champs this year in Norway were staggering, but I am more than happy to wave a warm good-bye and smile at all the precious memories that I have accumulated. Thank you to everyone for your incredible support. My father always told me it is the process and not the outcome. I have fully realized that now, and I will never forget those who have helped me along this incredible ride.”

February 14, 2011 – February 12, 2011 will marked one year to the day of the Opening Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. The Ceremony, which was dedicated to the memory of the Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, who had tragically died in a training accident that morning, introduced the world to a city and a country ready to open their arms and welcome the world and the best winter athletes for 16 days of top-level sporting competition and a party that would go down in the annals of Canadian history. This weekend, events will be held across the country to commemorate the start of those Games, including a special breakfast event for the fabulous “blue jacket” volunteers.

With a record 82 National Olympic Committees (NOC) taking part in the Vancouver Games, the 16 days of sport that followed the Opening Ceremony were always going to be competitive and draw world-wide interest. So it was no surprise that 26 different NOCs ended-up winning medals and that the Games drew in record-breaking audience numbers. Perhaps for the home crowd, the greatest exploit of the Games was Team Canada’s record 14 gold medals, including Canada’s first on home soil and in ice hockey. This had been made possible in part thanks to the “Own The Podium” programme, which provided funding to Canadian athletes striving for victory and is being continued and expanded due to its success last year.

Looking After The Environment
The Vancouver Games were about more than just great sport, however. They were also about leaving a sustainable legacy to the city, region and country. Environmental sustainability was a key element of the Vancouver 2010 Organising Committee’s (VANOC) strategy, with an ambitious carbon management programme put in place; sporting venues that were all built to according to Canada’s green-building standards; new public transport infrastructure created to take people out of their cars; and a successful Games-time drive to get people onto public transport that continues to bear its fruits even now. From its award-winning venues to its effect on people’s transport habits, the Vancouver Games undoubtedly set new global standards for environmental sustainability at a sporting event.

Creating Better Futures
The Games also played an inspirational role for more than just those watching on TV or who were in the stadium. VANOC worked with their partners to ensure that disadvantaged sectors of society also profited from the Games, with initiatives like the Vancouver 2010 Fabrication Shop providing carpentry training and work experience for disadvantaged young people, indigenous people, single mothers and immigrants. A separate programme saw local philanthropic florists June Strandberg and Margitta Schulz lead a group of 23 women in producing the 1,750 Victory Ceremony bouquets for the Games. Many of the women had experienced violence in their lives, were single parents, or were recovering from drug and alcohol abuse. Today, these trainees have a stronger skill set, greater confidence and the opportunity to gain further employment as a result of their experience while working on the Games. But the social legacy of the Games was more than just training: the temporary accommodation from the Whistler Olympic Village was sent to six communities in British Columbia to provide 156 permanent, affordable homes for elderly, homeless, and low-income residents.

Investments For Today And Tomorrow
As a catalyst for development, the Games have also played a role in the Canadian economy, with Games venues that will be used by local communities and elite sport for years to come, and a new notoriety that has allowed greater investment in the region. The Metro Vancouver Commerce Olympic Business Program, for example, has generated CAD 306 million in economic impacts in under a year, well over the CAD 50 million that was expected by February 2012. This initiative has also led to the creation of 2,500 jobs in the lower mainland of British Columbia. On the back of the Games, Canada has also moved to the number one spot in the FutureBrands’ Country Brand Index and seen a 10 percent jump in visitors to the country. With even just these few points in mind, there is no doubt that the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games were a great success both on and off the field of play.

February 11, 2011 – The BC Sport Alliance, consisting of 2010 Legacies Now, BC Games Society, Canadian Sport Centre Pacific and Sport BC, announced key areas of impact as a result of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games in advance of the one-year anniversary on February 12.

While the full impact of hosting the Games in British Columbia will not be completely measured for several years, B.C.’s sport sector is already experiencing notable positive trends, including:

– Significant growth in membership for the majority of winter Provincial Sport Organizations leading up to the Games;
– Increase in the number of B.C. athletes on national teams with opportunities to achieve success;
– Increased international sport volunteer, which have provided growth and depth to B.C.’s sport volunteer workforce;
– Recognition of sport’s impact on community building and preventative health care leading to sustained government investment; and
– New and improved sport facilities, which offer a legacy for B.C. communities and the sport sector as a whole.

“A key component of Vancouver’s bid for the 2010 Winter Games was to ensure lasting benefits for B.C.’s sport sector, through investments in sport participation, sport performance and sport hosting,“ explained Bruce Dewar, CEO of 2010 Legacies Now. “With the valuable support of the Province of B.C. and together with our partners, we achieved that goal and we continue to ensure our provincial sport system has the tools and resources it needs to drive sport benefits for people of all ages.”

“Canada has finally embraced the idea of winning, and it is imperative we ensure this newfound hunger becomes a permanent part of our culture. To continue winning on the world stage, we must invest in the daily training environment we surround our high performance athletes with,” said Wendy Pattenden, CEO of Canadian Sport Centre Pacific. “People, places and programs define our path to the podium. With world-class facilities now in Victoria, Whistler and Vancouver, we have an opportunity to not only invest in today’s athletes, but build British Columbian champions for generations to come.”

“B.C.’s Provincial Sport Organizations made a huge contribution to the success of the Games by providing skilled technical volunteers and staff to participate in the Sport workforce,” said Tim Gayda, Sport BC’s president and CEO and former VANOC VP of Sport. “Within VANOC there was a workforce in Sport of close to 5,000 people largely made up of British Columbians who obtained their technical training by volunteering countless hours, days and years in B.C.’s amateur sport sector. These volunteers and staff have gone back to their community clubs, associations and sport organizations, and continue to donate their free time to make sport happen in the province.”

“Canadian athletes and volunteers alike pursued and achieved their personal bests at the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games,” said Kelly Mann, president and CEO, BC Games Society. “A significant number of Olympic and Paralympic athletes had previously competed at the BC Games and Canada Games, and now inspire a new generation of athletes to dream of their podium moment. The BC Games have long been a training ground for athletes and volunteers and we have seen a renewed enthusiasm for sport and community celebration continuing the remarkable spirit generated across the country last February.”

The BC Sport Alliance is working with B.C.’s sport sector and the Province of B.C. to develop a new vision for the sector that ties together the positive effects sport has on healthy living and health outcomes. This new vision highlights and capitalizes on the contributions sport makes to the social and economic well-being of British Columbians and their communities.