2020 FIS World Junior/U23 Championships
Oberwiesenthal, Germany
February 28 – Mar 8, 2020
Feb 26th-28th, 2020 - Athletes that stayed in Seefeld
For those that stayed in Seefeld for a few more days of skiing, we enjoyed fresh snow and brilliant sunshine. Trees tops and mountain peaks were frosted with white powder giving a spectacular sight!
Athletes getting ready to ski in Seefeld (From left to right: Jasmine Drolet, Michael Murdoch, Phil Boucher and Sam Hendry)
Skiing into the stadium in Seefeld
While we each did our own race prep for the days going into the competition, we had the chance to go for an easy ski or run from the hotel in the afternoons.
Skiing from the Hotel in Gießenbach to the neighbouring town Scharnitz, Austria
Town of Scharnitz, Austri
On our final night at the Hotel Ramona in Gießenbach (near Seefeld), the Serbian waiter, Marco, treated us to a special Serbian drink. This man had worked hard all day every day since the arrival of the Canadian Team catering to our needs so we gave him a tip to say thank you.
The morning after, we piled our bags and ourselves (packed like sardines) into the Van and headed for Oberwiesenthal, Germany. We traveled across the Czech Republic (Czechia) border and noticed the stark contrast in living conditions between Germany and Czechia. In Germany, the streets in the towns were lined with large ornate, colourful apartment buildings but in Czechia, the buildings were rather small and run down. Once we got to Oberweisenthal, the buildings reflected those that were built roughly in the time of the Cold War when the country was divided into East and West Germany. Many had the characteristic wood on the side of the building.
Houses in Oberwiesenthal were typical of those built in East Germany during the Cold War (~1945-1990)
We went straight to the ski trails to preview the courses and were happy to see that there was plenty of snow. Thankfully, there had been a large dump of snow the night before… just in time for the races!
Looking forward to cheering the Juniors on in their skate sprint race tomorrow!
By Hannah Mehain
Feb 29th, 2020, Oberwiesenthal
The first race of World Juniors was the Junior Skate Sprint, which was a 1.15 km course for the women and 1.3 km course for the men. The team was feeling pretty nervous heading into these races but excited to get the first one under their belt and get a feel for the competition. In preparation for the sprint races we had discussed race tactics with former Olympian Devon Kershaw who is also part of our support crew at the event. Devon had some awesome insight about how to approach the sprint race, walking us through every detail of the course. Canada had 8 junior athletes competing in this event, Molly Miller (Kimberly) , Lilianne Gangnon, Benita Peiffer (Whistler), Elizabeth Elliott (Revelstoke), Remi Drolet (Rossland), Olivier Leveille, Xavier Mckeever and Tom Stephen. Clearly Devon had some very helpful advice as three BC athletes went through to the heats. On the men’s side Remi Drolet qualified 16th while Elizabeth Elliott and Benita Peiffer qualified 27th and 30th. For all Canadian athletes it was a short afternoon with one quarterfinal race. The heats proved to be just as difficult as these three athletes expected racing against the top junior athletes in the world. Us Canadians may have been too friendly letting the aggressive Europeans get ahead. Although it was a tough afternoon, we all felt as though it was a great learning experience and are all heading back to Canada with a new focus for the upcoming training season. Both Junior Women improved their qualifying placement, finishing with Elizabeth Elliott in 23rd and Benita Peiffer in 25th and Remi Drolet finished 23rd as well. Overall it was a successful day for all Canadians with many proud coaches and happy athletes.
By Benita Peiffer and Elizabeth Elliott
Photos below by Doug Stephen
March 1, 2020, Oberwiesenthal
It was an exciting and eventful skate sprint day for the U23 women and men. Laura Leclair just made it to the heats, qualifying 27th and bumped her placing up to 20th!! Graham Ritchie qualified 6th, but unfortunately, the entire heat took a tumble and Graham ended up 26th. One corner, which is normally not a problem, became deadly after the passing of hundreds of skiers. Canada got its share of media attention for our spectacular falls off the trail, into the trees.
By Hannah Mehain
March 2, 2020, Oberwiesenthal
Additional Reports & Photos:
1. http://www.crosscountrybc.ca/bc-athletes-2020-world-junioru23-championships-trip-feb-18
2. http://www.crosscountrybc.ca/bc-athletes-2020-world-junioru23-championships-trip-feb-21
3. http://www.crosscountrybc.ca/bc-athletes-2020-world-junioru23-championships-trip-feb-27
BC Athletes on the Canadian Team:
Benita Peiffer (Whistler Nordic Ski Club, Whistler)
Elizabeth Elliott (Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club, Revelstoke)
Hannah Mehain (Sovereign Lake Nordic Club, Vernon)
Jasmine Drolet (Black Jack Cross Country Ski Club, Rossland)
Michael Murdoch (Whistler Nordic Ski Club, Whistler)
Molly Miller (Black Jack Cross Country Ski Club, Kimberley)
Rémi Drolet (Black Jack Cross Country Ski Club, Rossland)