The Skinny on Olympic Qualification
Nov 11th, 2009 By: Shayla Swanson
The 09/10 ski season is just around the corner, and the goal of representing Canada at the Olympics could become a reality for Rhonda and I. A number of people have asked me how this whole Olympic qualification thing works. In all honesty it is not the easiest thing to figure out, but I will try my best to explain the criteria as I understand it.
There was an opportunity for Canadians to pre-qualify for the Games last season. This could be done by acheiving the following results in the respective disciplines:
Sprint races:
- 2 top 12 World Cup finishes OR 1 top 6 World Cup result.
Distance Races:
- 2 top 20 World Cup results OR one top 12 World Cup result.
Last season I had one top 20 world cup result in a distance race, but failed to satisfy the second part of the criteria. I was identified as a ‘potential Olympic qualifier’, but unfortunately ‘potential’ is where it ends.
6 Canadians have qualified based on the above criteria.
Alex Harvey
Devon Kershaw
George Grey
Ivan Babikov
Sara Renner
Perianne Jones
Chandra Crawford, Olympic medalist from 2006, is also likely to qualify based on the above criteria in the next month, but missed the opportunity last year because of her injured foot. If she does it on the World Cup, there would be 7 people pre-qualified for the team.
The remaining spots (7ish), will be filled at the Olympic trials in December. The trials races are made up of the following events:
December 12th: 10km skate race for women, and 15km skate race for men.
December 19th & 20th: Classic sprint race on both days for men and women.
December 22nd: 30km classic race for women, and 50km classic race for men.
This next part gets a little fuzzy. I believe that the criteria say something along these lines: “If you win a race at trials you earn an opportunity to be nominated to the team.” Based on that statement I think the only way to safely secure a spot at the trials races is to show without a shadow of a doubt that you belong on the team. Ideally I think that means you need to win races with authority – clobber your competition!
Anyway, I hope that gives you an idea of what Rhonda and I are up against. We’ve been working hard and are ready for the challenge – wish us luck!!
Shayla
PS - Below are a few photographs from the last few days of our Mammoth Camp. We took a quick tour through Yosemite and had a chance to hike up Half Dome.
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