Tomorrow the final competition at the Cross Country venue: the Mens 50km classic.
This event is scheduled to finish just before the start of the Gold medal Hockey game.
For Cross Country skiers the 50km mens classic is the grand daddy of the sport. A list taken off Wikepedia provides you with the past Olympians reaching the podium:
50 km
Canada, is not on this list and there is no expectation yet to be there...but Canadian Men have never been as strong as our present National Team, so it can't be totally ruled out of possibility. A top 10, or even two top 10 is definitely a possibility with the current group of four men that have set Canadian records through out these Games. Thus a gut wrenching decision for our National Team head coaches, Inge Bråten and David Wood
to replace one of the four performers to allow Brian McKeever, Canada's fifth team member for the 50km classic.
By now you have built your own opinion on whether their choice was the right one, but I do think it is important to first understand a bit of the back ground. Tom Holland, CCC's High Performance Director, explained the difficult decision to me "trackside" during the Women's competition today. "Historically one of our skiers has by now been worn down, or become ill, a common occurrence nearing the end of the Games be it Worlds or Olympics. We have then filled the fourth position with our alternate. This has not been the case this year. In fact all four men have become stronger, and are all capable of skiing a personal best tomorrow. Brian was named to the team based on his 50km selection race in Canmore, but as the 5th team member. He knew this from the beginning, as did the coaches. What we were not prepared for was to have to make this difficult decision - something we have not yet had the 'luxury of ' in the history of Canadian skiing - to not utilize our alternate."
I understand Brian's anger and sadness, as we got to hear his aspirations in person back in November in Silverstar over dinner when making the Canadian Olympic Team was still a dream. He did make it, and this will not ever be taken away. He still is and will remain the first ever Olympian to make both the Olympic and Para-Olympic team in the same Games. Brian, you are not only amazing - you're are a shining star for us all.
While marshaling on the far end of the blue course today - called "Way out", I had the fortune to watch the men in preparation for tomorrows big race. Long-slow distance was the theme, chatting amongst each other. Ivan Babicov skied by on his own, but sent me a huge smile that made my day. Then came the gaggle of Canadian lads....almost like a group of teenagers. Alex, Devon and George were chatting, and laughing and egging each other on. When asked if I could take a shot of our 'sexy' Canadians...they loved the idea and posed with sincere happiness.
Warmed me up to see them so relaxed and happy - can only imagine how much fun this is for them !
Good luck boys - and ski your guts out !
