Rebuilding Canadian ski jumping team sends two to Pyeongchang
Ski Jumping Canada is rebuilding with great young talent and plenty of it, but today only Taylor Henrich and Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes are “ready for prime time,” according to the organization’s CEO, Tom Reid.
Henrich, 22, and Boyd-Clowes, 26, were the only athletes named to Canada’s Olympic ski jumping team here on Wednesday. Henrich was on hand for the announcement, while Boyd-Clowes was at a men’s World Cup in Poland.
“It was a bit of a shock to find out four of my teammates wouldn’t be coming. I’m going to try to do my best to make them proud, to jump for the team, not just myself,” said Henrich, a former world championship medallist who is aiming for top-10 in Pyeongchang despite having to battle through an ankle injury sustained in November. Her best finish on the World Cup this year is 25th.
“It’s been a bit of a long process, but it’s feeling good, I’m feeling confident,” Henrich said. “There is always that little bit of doubt you have but I have to trust that I have done everything I can to get here at this point and do my best.”
A cadre of promising teenagers and 20-somethings is on her heels, including 19-year-old Natasha Bodnarchuk, whose best finish was 30th on the World Cup, but they all fell short of qualifying for these Games.
“It would have been great to have a larger contingent go. The reality is we have two athletes who are ready for prime time at the Olympics and we have a number of athletes whose peak of their careers will be in 2022,” Reid said.
“Whether they went to these Olympics or not, it was really about training. They can get that at World Cups, and they are off to world juniors, where we expect them to do quite well. So at the end of the day, for those younger athletes, it was about getting some experience.
Bodnarchuk, who would have needed top-20s in the last four meets to qualify, leads the pack of up-and-comers, which includes 16-year-old Abigail Strate, 19-yearold Natalie Eilers and 17-year-old Nicole Maurer.
“They have all shown flashes of brilliance but they’re very young,” Reid said.
“They need a few more years of competing at a high level to be able to handle the pressure. They’ve got the physical talents. They will get the experience. We’re pretty confident the younger squad will eventually surpass Taylor.”