WHISTLER, B.C. – The top young Canadian cross-country skiers are giving the world their best shot at the FIS Nordic Junior/U23 World Ski Championships in Whistler, British Columbia, as a rising prospect from Canmore is making some noise at the big competition.
Xavier McKeever, one of the hottest skiing prospects in the world, earned a pair of top 20s, finishing 16th in the junior men’s sprint and 13th in the 20-kilometre classic to open the international competition.
“Competing at a World Championships at home is all a big learning for me,” said McKeever, 19, in a media release. “I am still developing and this is all good experience. To go through that mental stage today, and recover from it, is a great takeaway.”
The classic sprint started off the event on Jan. 28, but the rising ski prospect from Canmore missed advancing to the semifinals in the junior men’s category.
The highly touted nephew of Paralympian champion, Brian McKeever, pulled off a slick move in the sharp turn of Heartbreak Corner. The unpredictable corner was a menace in all the sprints heats, with some racers dropping face-first like they had caught and slipped over the banana peel in Super Mario Kart.
However, McKeever knew how to ride the turn and masterfully used it to his advantage to move from fifth place to second in a blink of an eye in the six-person heat.
But moments later, while turning into a tight corner into the stadium, Swede skier Erik Bergstroem boxed out the Canmorite and slowed him down as McKeever dropped to third coming into the intense 100-metre straight.
McKeever fiercely double-polled to the finish line, but was beaten by Bergstroem and Ilan Pittier, who advanced.
The competition’s next event went from the shortest race to the longest, as the 20-km classic mass start got underway Jan. 30-31. The Canadians fared better in the longer event than in the sprints.
“The pace was hot off the start and I did what I could to hang on [in the 20-km classic],” said McKeever, who trains at Alberta World Cup Academy (AWCA) in Canmore, in a media release. “I struggled a bit. I felt like I was having a harder time keeping up with the double poling sections and I wasn’t making up any ground on the downhills.”
The fast 19-year-old skier was two minutes and 19 seconds off the pace of gold medallist Mathias Holbaek of Norway.
In the U23 men’s mass start classic on Jan. 31, the top Canadian was 2022 Olympian Remi Drolet, finishing just outside the 1op-15 in 17th. AWCA’s Max Hollman was 25th.
In the U23 women’s classic, the top Canadian was Liliane Gagnon in 12th. AWCA’s Amelia Wells finished 27th, and Team Trail Sports and Canmore’s Anna Parent was 30th.
In the junior women’s 20km classic, the top Canadian was Edmonton’s Alison Mackie, finishing in the top-15 in 13th.
AWCA’s Anna Stewart was 34th, and Team Great Britain and Canmore-raised Tabitha Williams was 38th.
For Williams, 18, it was the longest race she had ever competed in.
“I felt I pushed myself really hard and I felt really physically fit,” she said. “I pushed myself on every single part of the course.”
Skiing in a chase pack, Williams turned it up a notch on the final lap, but an unfortunate slip and tumble while coming into the stadium cost her a better result.
“I was very disappointed about that because I ended up coming 38th out of 51,” said Williams. “I’m not happy with how that went, but other than that I felt super strong and had one of the strongest races of my life.”
Up next for the event is the 10-km skate starting Thursday (Feb. 2). It’s a race that Williams is eyeing.
“I’m really excited for Thursday, which is my race, it’s the 10-K skate and I’m really looking forward to it and I feel really motivated to do it,” she said.
For a schedule of races and live streams, visit www.wjc2023.ca.
