Devon Kershaw keys on podium finish in Sochi
CALGARY — 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 — the Nordic version of the marathon — 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 50-K on the verge of both physical and emotional bankruptcy. 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.
“That moment was tough.”
But that moment — like all others, good and bad — eventually passed. And eventually, Kershaw accepted he could not change what happened in Vancouver and switched his focus to the 2014 Winter Games Feb. 7-23 in Sochi, Russia.
Should he ever entertain morbid thoughts of the medal(s) that got away on home snow, Kershaw need only look at his girlfriend for inspiration. Kristin Storma Steira of Norway knows a thing or two about the agony missing the podium with four (!) fourth-place Olympic finishes on her resume.
Her most heartbreaking close call came in Vancouver, losing out on a bronze medal by just a 10th of a second in the women’s 15-kilometre pursuit.
“Kristin is the most down to earth person I’ve ever met,” Kershaw says. “She has great perspective on all that. She’s just so chilled out.
“I am not chilled out, so it’s been lovely.”
“Chilled out” is not a term anyone would use to describe Kershaw, one of four legitimate candidates in the running to win Canada’s first men’s Olympic medal in cross-country skiing.
(On the women’s side, Beckie Scott blazed the cross-country trail by winning a gold medal in the combined pursuit at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.)
“Devon is really energetic,” says teammate Ivan Babikov. “Lots of energy and lots of ideas. He’s a really talented guy, and he works so hard for it.”
Back in 2012, Kershaw proved himself one of the elite skiers on the planet — and served notice of his podium intentions for Sochi — by finishing second overall in the World Cup distance standings with two golds, one silver and three bronze.
Then came a 2013 season that proved, in Kershaw’s words, a massive disappointment. With his mind churning, the 31-year-old Canmore resident began to wonder if maybe, just maybe, his best years were behind him.
“For sure, I had doubts creeping in,” he says. “I can readily admit that.”
Refusing to let his doubts consume him, relying on his experience, Kershaw proved in December that he can still ski with the best with a second-place finish in the 4.5-kilometre freestyle prologue for the Tour de Ski.