I was in Halifax Nova Scotia, the host city for the 2011 Canada Winter Games. This being my second Canada Games, these games sure lived up to the standard set by the previous games in 2007. My races at here went fairly well for the most part, and I was able to take home two gold and one bronze.
My first race was a 10km individual skate race; a bit shorter distance than what I'm used to. The trails at the Martock Ski Centre (an hour bus ride from Halifax) aren't as challenging as other venues, and with only a few climbs, every second would count. By the end of the race, I was able to secure the gold medal, but only by a slim two-second margin over second, and four seconds from third. Not a bad start to the week!
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| Less than a kilometre to the finish, which was awkwardly positioned at the bottom of a downhill. |
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| The Men's 10km podium |
My next two races were the skate sprint, something I'm still trying to figure out, and the 15km classic race. I ended the sprint day in 8th, missing out on the A-Final due to a poor finishing lane selection.
The race I was looking forward to all week was the 15km mass start classic race, a long enough distance to gradually wear skiers down. Right from the start, it was myself and two of my other Albertan teammates fighting for the podium positions. Just like in the first race, it was a tough course for dropping guys, and after two unsuccessful attempts on the largest climb, I finished 3rd in a sprint to the line. On the podium, it was an awesome sight to see an Alberta sweep of the medals!
There was plenty of time to check out Halifax while I wasn't skiing. Most of the athletes were staying in a few hotels right on the shore front in downtown Halifax, so there were limitless things to do. Whether it was a night out tasting Halifax's own lobsters, or checking out Great Big Sea perform live, I'd have to say its a pretty cool place to be.
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| Who knew? There is actually a Theodore the Tugboat in Halifax |
The last race of the games was the team relay, something that really fosters some "friendly" rivalries among skiers. In 2007, Team Alberta lost the gold medal to Ontario and it has been our goal since to take it back. After some strong results by the men, we were entering as the favourites for the win, and that's exactly what we did. With a sizeable lead into the finishing straight, our anchor was able to grab the flag and ski it in. An awesome end to the week, that's for sure.
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| Celebrations at the line |
After returning back to Canmore, that concludes my travel for most of the season. I have a week to recover from what has felt like non-stop traveling (to Estonia, back to Canmore, then to Ottawa, back to Canmore, off to Halifax and finally back in Canmore in the span of 1 1/2 months) before the next set of races, our National Championships taking place in Canmore on the 12th. Looking forward to it!
Hope your enjoying the snow,
Kevin Sandau
Canadian National Development Team
Alberta World Cup Academy
Canmore, Alberta
www.sandau.ca
Canadian National Development Team
Alberta World Cup Academy
Canmore, Alberta
www.sandau.ca
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| sponsored athlete |
