P.E.I. – When in doubt, just take a peek at the top-10 results at any national cross-country skiing race that Canmore skiers are competing in.
More likely than not, it’s where you’ll find the nordic naturals parked – just like at the 2023 Canada Winter Games (CWG) in Prince Edward Island – but in the case of two local skiers, they wouldn’t be denied the podium.
In the most thrilling, down-to-the-wire finish of a cross-country race at the 2023 CWG, Team Alberta won silver in the 4X5-km mixed relay freestyle with the squad consisting of Canmore skiers Sabine Comeau and Noah Weir Chaba, and Edmonton’s Alison Mackie, and Calgary’s Jonas Rolseth.
Only seconds apart, it was a battle to the finish line between the top three provinces and Weir Chaba watched the thrilling conclusion unfold on Saturday (March 4).
“Alison, our anchor, she absolutely reeled in the front skiers because we were about 15 seconds back from the front two – Quebec and B.C. were in the front going into the last leg. She reeled in Quebec and almost caught B.C. at the line to get us second place so it was quite an amazing day,” he said.
Alberta finished at a time of 47:34.6, while B.C. won gold at 47:32.9 and Quebec came in third at 47:38.0.
“Spirits were very high at the finish line,” said Comeau. “It was a fun moment to be part of, seeing all the teams just cheering everyone to the finish line.”
It was the second piece of hardware that Weir Chaba and Comeau had won at the Mark Arendz Provincial Park at their CWG debuts.
In the opening races on Feb. 28, Edmonton’s Weir Chaba, who trains in Canmore, took second in the male’s 10-km classic interval at a time of 27:19.0, while born and raised Canmorite Comeau skied to third in the female 7.5-km classic interval at a time of 23:07.4.
“It took the pressure off the rest of my performances,” said Comeau. “[In] some of the other races, not everything went quite to plan, but [in] the bronze medal race, everything came to just work out really well for me.”
The 17-year-old Comeau was on top of her game racing at sea level and only finished in the top-10. She took sixth place in the 1.2-km sprints and ninth in the 10-km mass start freestyle.
However, a crash in the mass start wasn’t exactly the CWG moment she’d hoped for.
“I was in the lead pack and then I crashed right before the downhill, so I lost quite a bit of momentum there, which is a bit disappointing because I thought I still had some fight left in me,” said Comeau. “But those things happen, so time to just get ready for the next one.”
In Weir Chaba’s individual medal-winning race, he was only second to friend – and biggest competitor – Garrett Siever of B.C., who may have inadvertently helped the Alberta racer in the process.
“In the last 400 metres [of the classic], [Siever] ended up catching up to me and then I stuck with him to the finish and ended up sprinting to the finish with him,” said Weir Chaba. “Third place was close behind me, so that sprint finish probably helped pushing me ahead a little bit and forcing me to get those three seconds ahead of third place.”
Weir Chaba, 19, narrowly missed a third podium, placing fourth in the 1.2-km sprints and 13th in the 15-km mass start freestyle.
Canmore’s Seb Parent scored a trio of top-10s in P.E.I. The 19-year-old athlete battled to 10th spot in the male classic, 8th in the sprint, and his mixed relay team, Alberta B, skied into fifth place
Canmore’s Felix Clement, 18, finished 33rd in the male mass start, 40th in the sprints, and 42nd in the classic. Clement’s mixed relay team, Alberta C, came in 10th.
This weekend, cross-country nationals take place in Thunder Bay, Ont.
