Under 23 Questions with Annika Richardson

Original article posted by FASTERSKIER February 1, 2017

In an effort to showcase the North Americans competing at this week’s International Ski Federation (FIS) 2017 USANA Nordic Junior World Championships and U23 Cross Country World Championships at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah, we asked those qualifying athletes several questions about themselves — actually, we had them fill in the blanks. Here we have 18-year-old Annika Richardson, of the National Team Development Centre (NTDC) and Canadian Junior National Ski Team, who’s representing the Canada at her first Junior Worlds after competing at last year’s Youth Olympic Winter Games.

On Wednesday, Richardson raced to 41st in the women’s 5 k freestyle at Soldier Hollow.

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“My full name is Annika Richardson, but you can call me Annika. I was born in Vancouver, B.C., raised in Vancouver, and one thing you should know about my hometown is that we are trying to become the greenest city in the world by 2020.

Annika Richardson (NTDC Thunder Bay/Canadian Junior National Ski Team) racing to third in the junior women’s 7.5 k classic at 2017 U.S. Cross Country Ski Championships last month at Soldier Hollow in Midway, Utah. (Photo: U.S. Ski Team)

I started cross-country skiing when I was 2 or so, thanks to my parent’s love of the outdoors. I currently train in Thunder Bay with NTDC Tbay.

If I’m not skiing, you might find me curled up with a good book and a hot cup of tea. If I had to pick a favorite book, it would be ‘The Hobbit’ by J. R. R. Tolkien or ‘The Chronicles of Narnia’ by C.S. Lewis (sorry can’t pick).

One of the things I’m most excited about for Junior Worlds at Soldier Hollow is the home field advantage our team will have after a long altitude camp in Park City in the fall, as well as our experience actually racing there at US National a few weeks ago. One race I’m especially targeting there is the 5km Skate.

The best advice anyone ever gave me about skiing or racing was to keep on smiling. One of the best race memories I have is the 5km Skate at the Youth Olympic Games.

If I could meet one World Cup skier, it would be Heidi Weng.

If I don’t end up being a professional skier, I’ll probably be a student trying to finish the degree (whatever that is) that I am currently working on…

I’m missing who knows how many days of school to be here, and my teachers are probably thinking, ‘What a dedicated student.‘

You can follow me on Instagram @annika.richardson.”