Kershaw focuses on Sochi podium
Cross-country skier leaves Vancouver Olympic loss behind
— Cross-country skier Devon Kershaw could drown his sorrows for the rest of his days over his ill-fated flirtation with the Olympic podium in Vancouver.
Fourth place in the team sprint. Fifth place in the men’s 50-kilometre event, just three-hundredths of a second away from bronze and 1.5 seconds from gold.
The last time most Canadians saw Kershaw, he was gasping for air and fighting back tears at the finish line of the 50K. Turns out close calls can prove more excruciating than not having a sniff in the first place.
“For sure, it really hurt going to the closing ceremonies in Vancouver,” Kershaw says, “knowing my chance to win an Olympic medal at home in Canada was gone forever.”
But that moment passed. And eventually, Kershaw accepted he could not change what happened in Vancouver and switched his focus to Sochi.
Kershaw is one of four legitimate candidates in the running to win Canada’s first men’s Olympic medal on the men’s side in cross-country skiing.
(On the women’s side, Beckie Scott blazed the crosscountry trail by winning a gold medal in the combined pursuit at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.)
Teammate Ivan Babikov puts it this way: “When his head is in the right place and his mind is at ease, he can race as fast as anybody
in the world.”