In December, Nordiq Canada announced its FIS Junior World and U23 Championships athletes for 2021, which took place in Lahti and Vuokatti, Finland, from February 6-13. The BC Games is proud to share that out of the 20 Canadian athletes who qualified, 9 are from BC and all competed at the BC Winter Games. Nordic Canada chose 20 athletes, 10 for World Junior’s and 10 for U23’s, with five women and five men per category. Bringing cross-country skiers together from all over the world, the championships feature over 400 athletes from over 35 different countries.
“Not having competitions in Canada this season to evaluate athlete performance, we developed an objective criteria for this trip in consultation with the High Performance Committee that is focused on maximizing Canada’s FIS nations’ ranking through all of these international events, while managing risks associated with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic,” said Kate Boyd, high performance director, Nordiq Canada. “Our goal is to field a team for targeted events in an effort to achieve the necessary points for Canada to maintain, or improve, the nation rankings that will allow us to secure maximum quota spots for the 2022 Olympic Winter Games and the 2021-22 World Cup season.”
The following BC Games alumni were chosen to represent Canada at the 2021 FIS World Junior and U23 Championship:
- Joe Davies (Whistler Nordic Ski Club)
- Alexandra Luxmoore (Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club)
- Molly Miller (Black Jack Cross Country Ski Club)
- Jasmine Drolet (Black Jack Cross Country Ski Club)
- Remi Drolet (Black Jack Cross Country Ski Club)
- Hannah Mehain (Sovereign Lake Nordic Club)
- Annika Richardson (Hollyburn Cross Country Ski Club)
- Benita Peiffer (Whistler Nordic Ski Club)
- Elizabeth Elliott (Revelstoke Nordic Ski Club)
Remi Drolet also qualified to represent Canada in the FIS World Cup Period 3.
The high number of BC Games alumni on these national teams is a great example of Sport for Life’s Long-Term Athlete Development Framework in action, illustrating the importance of the BC Games as a building block for many sports. Long-Term Athlete Development is a multi-stage sport and physical activity pathway for life - from infancy through all phases of adulthood – to improve the health, wellness, and sporting experiences of all Canadians.
The events were held without spectators but were livestreamed on social media. Find the social media channels and more information here: https://www.fis-ski.com/en/international-ski-federation/news-multimedia/news/fis-nordic-junior-and-u23-world-ski-championships-begin-in-lahti-vuokatti-fin.