Athlete Reports & Photos from the FIS World Junior/U23 Championships (5) »

2025 FIS World Junior/U23 Championships
Bergamo-Schilpario, Italy
February 3 – 9, 2025

Race Recap:  Finn Redman

My race was the Classic 1.3km sprint.  It was an early morning, and we had a pretty, 30 minute van ride up to the venue. I met with our wax techs to do the final ski testing before the warm up. During the qualifier, the course was still shaded leaving the corners icy and risky to take at speed. I was quite happy to make it into the heats after my qualifier. 

By the time my heat had come around, the sun was out, and the track was warm. With loads of spectators to add to the environment it made for an exiting race. I was lucky enough to be in a heat with last years sprint winner among loads of other big names. After a successful race, I got to watch and cheer on the other Canadians in their races. 

I had an amazing experience in Italy this year, filled with good food and friends. It was amazing to see how many other BC athletes had amazing results, only possible from all the support of the provincial program. 

By Finn Redman (Telemark Nordic Club, Kelowna)

Race Recap: Anika Wallin

The races were super exciting all week long; I spent most of my days spectating, cheering, and skiing around the venue in preparation for my race, the 10km skate, on Friday the 7th. The girls race started around 12:30, so we got to sleep in a bit more than usual race mornings! Alison, Clara, Minty and I were today's U20 women's starters in this race, so we all got ready and headed out for warm up. The snow was quite soft, especially since all the boys had raced on the course already, 3 laps each. I had a really fun race, and pushed really hard at the end to a final result of 32nd. 

We continued our cheering throughout the rest of the weekend.  In addition I traveled to Bergamo to do some sightseeing with my mom on Saturday. Sunday was super rainy and everyone got soaked as we tried to pack our ski bags for an early departure Monday morning. I took the 4am bus to the Milan Malpensa airport and spent a long day travelling.  I was completely exhausted once we arrived in Calgary. 

I am so grateful for this opportunity and all the support I have received from the community in BC to make this trip possible! I hope my journey can inspire other skiers from small clubs to dream big and work hard for their goals! 

By Anika Wallin (Williams Lake Cross Country Ski Club)

Race Recap: Amelia Wells

I raced the three individual races at the U23 Championships. The races are spaced out nicely so that we had a day between each race. 

The first U23 race was the 1.2km classic sprint on February 4th. It was a beautiful, sunny day, and we left our hotel before sunrise to get to the venue and test our skis. The qualification started at 9 a.m., with the heats following a couple of hours later. Last year in Slovenia, I missed qualifying for the heats by just a few positions, so this year, I was really aiming to qualify — and I did! It was a great start for Canada, with all the women and 3 out of 4 men making it through to the heats. This was the first time I’ve made international heats (I qualified in 25th), so I was super excited! It was fun to wave at the camera in the start gates and race alongside some of the best U23 women in the world. I ended up coming fifth in my heat and finished in 22nd overall. Sonjaa finished in 12th, and Jasmine finished in 29th.  

On February 6th, it was the 20km mass start classic race day! Again, it was a beautiful day. The course here is interesting because it’s in the shade for most of the day, with the sun only hitting the stadium in the afternoon, which makes it a bit challenging for the wax technicians. The race started fast, and I had to work to get into a good position and avoid running into people or breaking equipment. This is one of the hardest courses I’ve done; it’s 5 laps of a 4km loop with a massive climb and a technical downhill where lots of people have crashed this week. I was skiing with a group, and I knew I had to beat the pack to get into the top 20. In the last couple of kilometers, I put the gas on and managed to break away from the group, finishing 19th (my personal best for the championships). As I crossed the line, I saw my teammate Lilian being photographed with the top three, which was so exciting! It was a day of personal bests, with Lilian taking the bronze, Jasmine finishing 6th, and Katya completing her first championships race in 44th. What a day for Canada!  

The final day of individual races was the 10km Interval Start skate, and it was snowing heavily. I wish I could say I enjoy these conditions; having grown up skiing at Mt. Washington, I'm no stranger to them, but I can't say they are my favourite. There was at least 5cm of fresh snow covering the course, making it feel more like backcountry skiing. The race was a tough one, but I’m proud of how I pushed through, even though it wasn’t the result I had hoped for. Lilian won another bronze, Sonjaa finished 8th, Jasmine finished 23rd, and I came in 32nd. It was an exciting day for skiing overall, as Australia earned their first-ever podium at a championships event! It’s always inspiring to see other countries perform at such a high level, especially those we don’t often see at the top. 

Now I am off to Falun, Sweden, for some World Cup races before heading back to Canada. A huge thank you to Cross Country BC for helping support this trip and the experience of a lifetime. I can’t wait to see more BC athletes competing at the top level in the future! J

By Amelia Wells (Strathcona Nordic Ski Club, Victoria)

Racing Experiences at World Juniors: Eamon Wilson

Classic 20km
The day started with a windy drive up to Schilpario. Once the U20 boys got to the venue, we went straight to the ski depot to finalize our ski choices. I decided on a slightly softer ski, prioritizing kick for the gruelling hill in the middle of the course. The weather conditions had been stable for the past few days so the race prep we had done the previous day gave good indication the downhills would be icy along the windy course. We finished our warmups and headed to the starting grid where we picked up our race skis. The air was electric as we found our spots in the grid and the started raised the gun. The 20km started at a near sprint with everyone trying to get ahead before the tight bottleneck corner further along the course. Caught up in the chaos and fight for position, I fell back and decided to be patient and work on gaining spots back later on. The race stayed as a large pack at the end of the first lap and we collected our feeds in the stadium. I ended up finding some other Canadians to ski with going into the next lap and we worked on chasing the leaders ahead. However, the pace was taking its toll and I felt my technique slipping. I pushed with everything I could going into the fourth lap, but the icy downhill on the alpine slope proved to be hazardous, ending my day of racing with a high speed crash. Despite my misfortune, other Canadian athletes had a great day of racing in one of the toughest courses I've ever competed on. 

Skate 10km
The first skate race of the competition was a 10km Interval Start doing three laps of a 3.3 km course. Again, we started our day with testing what skis we'd use when we arrived. It was firm and transformed today but I had a good ski for the conditions. The schedule was a little bit more complicated today as we were all starting at different times so planning was important. After submitting my race skis I did a few sections of the course as a warmup and to get a feeling of the pace I wanted.  Five minutes before the first starter the course closed and I went to change into my race suit before lining up at the wand. I tried to stay relaxed for the first lap and ramp up the effort each time I passed the stadium to make sure I stayed strong with good technique. I was cautious on the long downhill given my crash the previous race, but the added support of the skate boot helped improve my confidence. On the second lap, I caught another athlete so I pushed to stay with him for a free ride. But by the final lap, my energy was fading and I gave all I could to get over the last big hill. It was a good chance to learn how competitive World Juniors is, and race against athletes representing their countries. 

By Eamon Wilson (Hollyburn Cross Country Ski Club, Burnaby)

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