Today Canadians Annika Richardson (BC) and Levi Nadlersmith (Manitoba) were racing at the Youth Olympic Games in Lillehammer, Norway.
Yesterday was the opening ceremonies which according to reports featured an awesome fireworks show. Norwegian ski star Marit Bjoergen brought the torch into the stadium and a Norwegian ski legend, Bjorn Daehlie (8 Olympic gold, 4 silver) was the Olympic flagbearer.
Today's event was the Cross-Country Cross, a.k.a. XCX. The race is similar to a sprint with a number of bumps and turns to test the skier's agility and technical ability.
There were hard packed snow conditions with temperatures 4 of 5 deg. below zero. Both young Canadians were taking part in their first international race, with an unfamiliar format, and qualified 29th to advance to the semis.
Men's semi-final: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P0b_LW1PBuc&feature=youtu.be
In the semis, both skiers finished 9th in their sections, with Annika finishing 25th and Levi 29th overall. Levi had been skiing in 6th position near the top of the course, but was hindered by a fallen skier.
According to Team Leader Lisa Patterson, overall the athletes were understandably a bit nervous going into the event and happy to get their first international race under their belts. They are planning for even better results in Tuesday's classic sprints.
The ski prep was great, with Camille Cheskey of NDC T Bay working with Mike Mappin of Biathlon, as the 2 sports are combining support efforts for the Games.
Audio interview with Annika Richardson
Audio interview with Levi Nadlersmith
Full video