History-making performance
Canadian Alex Harvey finished third overall in the Tour de Ski
Alex Harvey capped a breakthrough weekend with a historymaking podium finish in the gruelling Tour de Ski in Val di Fiemme, Italy on Sunday.
Harvey, the 29-year-old crosscountry skier from Saint-Ferréolles-Neiges, Que., finished third overall in the Tour de Ski, becoming the first North American to stand on the podium at the end of the final stage. A day earlier he reached the podium for the first time this World Cup season.
“I think on paper this may not be as big as winning World Championships, but for me in terms of satisfaction, this is the number one achievement in my career. To be steady throughout 10 days of skiing, and never really have a bad day, that gives me huge satisfaction.”
Harvey’s previous best Tour finish was fifth in 2016, while Devon Kershaw led the way with a fourthplace finish at the 2012 event.
“This is just a great feeling. It is a podium for the entire Canadian team,” said Harvey. “Devon, Lenny (Valjas), Ivan (Babikov) and I have all had great success on the Tour over the years, but we have always come up short in the overall. I always left the Tour with a little disappointment because we were good, but not quite good enough. One of us always came up just a bit short. I’m happy we finally got it done.”
Switzerland’s Dario Cologna won the Tour for a fourth time, while Martin Johnsrud Sundby of Norway was second. This year’s Tour was shortened to six stages by inclement weather.
Riding a wave of momentum towards Korea
Canada’s bobsleigh team is riding a seemingly unstoppable wave of momentum toward PyeongChang.
Veteran driver Kaillie Humphries teamed with newbie Phylicia George in the back seat to set a track record and win the women’s race in Altenberg, Germany on Saturday, while Justin Kripps and Alex Kopacz turned back-to-back track start records into gold in the two-man race.
“Things are definitely rolling. To win here in Altenberg on such a tough track is just awesome,” said Kripps. “Everything is coming together. I have more experience driving now. I went out and got the exact equipment, and runners, that I wanted, which is making a big difference.”
The victory was Humphries’ third of the season, and she leads the overall World Cup standings. George, a two-time Olympic hurdler who moved to winter sport in September, celebrated her first bobsleigh World Cup podium in just her second race.
“This is one of the hardest gold medals to get on the World Cup. To show up in the lion’s den here in Germany, and be able to perform and win, is the real deal,” said Chris Le Bihan, Bobsleigh Canada Skeleton’s high performance director.
Humphries and George followed a first-run track record of 56.22 with a solid second to finish at 1:52.62. American rivals Jamie Greubel Poser and Aja Evans took silver in 1:53.31. Canadians Alysia Rissling and Heather Moyse were 10th, Christine de Bruin and Cynthia Appiah 13th.
“To be able to come out and perform, in only Phylicia’s second race, is great,” said Humphries. “We made big gains today with good pushes and I’m happy with how I drove. We are happy to walk away with the track record and we know there is lots of room to grow.”
Kripps and Kopacz shared the podium with two German sleds. Francesco Friedrich and Martin Grothkopp slid to silver, Nico Walther and Christian Poser won bronze. Canadians Nick Poloniato and Neville Wright were fifth, Chris Spring and Jesse Lumsden 13th.
In the four-man race on Sunday, Team Kripps finished fourth, just .35 seconds short of the podium. He shared the sled with Lumsden, Kopacz and Seyi Smith. The race was won by Walther, while Friedrich drove to silver and Latvia’s Oskars Kibermanis to bronze. Spring piloted another Canadian four-man sled to 13th, while Poloniato drove the third entry to 20th.