Rock-solid competitor brings toughness to head coaching role
Cross-country guru charged with bringing Canadian program more success, funding
Ivan Babikov is known for his incredible pain tolerance and ability to keep his legs churning up the steepest of inclines.
Those masochistic tendencies might help the 36-year-old retired Olympian this winter in his new role as head coach of the Canadian cross-country ski team.
Contrary to the name of the sport, the terrain is anything but flat for a group that lost half its Own the Podium funding after a shaky showing at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
OTP divvies up taxpayer and Canadian Olympic Committee dollars based on medal potential.
In the four years leading up to the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, OTP directed $4.7 million to Cross Country Canada.
That number jumped to $5 million over the four years prior to the Winter Games in Sochi.
Shut out of the medals in Russia, the cross-country federation saw its OTP allotment drop by more than 50 per cent to $2.3 million to prepare for the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
And so on the cusp of Babikov’s first season as head coach, results are crucial to ensure the budget doesn’t get slashed even further. No pressure or anything. “All the national team guys have been my friends for many years,” Babikov said Thursday after a domestic race at the Canmore Nordic Centre.
“I deeply care about them. I want the Canadian ski team to be one of the best in the world. That’s why I’m here.”
Babikov shocked the Nordic ski world by retiring after posting back-to-back top-10 finishes in the 2016 Ski Tour Canada.
But the man known as “the bulldog” studied coaching in university and knew that he one day wanted to make the jump.
When Justin Wadsworth resigned as head coach, Babikov realized the opportunity might not come around again.
“Ivan coaches a bit like he skis,” says high performance director Tom Holland.
“He is all in and very athletecentred. He’s out there with the guys all the time, and he knows what it takes.”
Babikov inherits a superstar in 28-year-old Alex Harvey, who finished seventh overall on the 2015-16 World Cup circuit.
Beyond that, 33-year-old Devon Kershaw is batting to return to the form that saw him capture second place overall in the 2011-12 World Cup standings.
Toronto’s Lenny Valjas has five World Cup medals on his resume, but he hasn’t reached the podium since undergoing knee surgery before the Sochi Games.
Judging by his testing results, Valjas, 27, is poised to re-enter the conversation of the world elite.
“This is the year,” Valjas said Thursday. “I don’t want to jinx it, but I feel good. I’m strong. I’m healthy.”
He’s also working with a coach in Babikov who knows exactly how to motivate him on good days and bad.
“I feel really like he wins and loses with me,” Valjas said.
“I’m really impressed. He’s exactly what I needed — someone to be there with me through the ups and downs and get me to do good-quality training.”
Babikov is like a big-name NHLer stepping behind the bench after a 1,000-point career.
The respect from his charges is automatic.
“You have to be a fighter,” Babikov said. “If we talk about big uphills and altitude gains, you have to find that certain something inside your spirit. You have
All the national team guys have been my friends for many years. I deeply care about them. I want the Canadian ski team to be one of the best in the world.
to put the pain in your muscles to the back of your mind and just keep pushing to the finish line. That’s what I’m trying to share with my teams.”
As in all sports, financial cuts trickle down to the coaches and athletes. Valjas, for one, is keenly aware that his success — or lack thereof — is directly related to the bottom line.
Personally speaking, Valjas expects to pay between $5,000 and $10,0000 — perhaps even more — in team fees this season for the right to ski for Canada. Podium performances could knock that total down to zero.
For an amateur athlete living off less than $24,000 in federal and provincial carding money, those team fees cut into everything he does.
“We just have to let that stuff go,” Valjas said. “We’re here to ski. We’re just going to focus on that. As long as we have a plan for the financial stuff, we can get by.”
At least for the time being.