By Sarah Tone, Communications Coordinator
Building up to this week of competition at the 2023 Canada Winter Games didn’t happen overnight for Manitoba’s alpine ski team. Though they finalized their roster in January, there were months of competitions and training in the lead-up to sharpen their skills for the national stage.
Over the last few months, the team’s hopefuls were in Canmore, Alberta for a training camp with the provincial skiers, some of whom fall into the Canada Games program. They also did some important fitness testing and participated in races in Minnesota for competitive practice.
“It’s usually NCAA athletes from the US who are there on scholarships,” said Bob. “A lot of them are Europeans and they are former national team athletes from Europe, so it’s a very high level of competition.”
In addition to the physical training, Bob said he and the team have been discussing the different things they want to accomplish for PEI.
“It’s different for Canada Games, because it’s no longer an individual sport. It’s very much a team result. You can have one person that wins the race and everyone else crashes – that’s not a good team result. That’s a great individual result. So, we talk about making sure their minds are in the right place, and that’s also going to be used in their training as well.”
Alpine ski is showcasing four events at the Games: slalom, giant slalom, super-G, and ski cross.
“Today was my first super G race,” said Emily Cuvelier (16, Winnipeg) “It’s great to meet a lot of people and see other racers that I’ve raced against before.”
The consensus is, the Games are really fun so far, which is good because that’s also a big goal for the athletes.
“Pin trading is exciting, and you got to meet a lot of people from a lot of provinces. My goal is to get in the top half,” said Keelan Whiteway (14, Winnipeg)
“It’s been awesome,” added Ewan Dalling (17, East St. Paul) “The accommodations are nice. Food is delicious, loving that. It’s been a lot of fun seeing and meeting new people from all around the country, so it’s great.”
Ewan is a multi-sport athlete and competed with Team Manitoba at the 2022 Canada Summer Games in road cycling.
Before arriving at the Canada Games, the coaches and mission staff helped the athletes get an idea of what to expect in a major multi-sport event. There’s the competition, the athlete’s village, the spectators, the overall atmosphere, and so on. But there are also possible scenarios they’ll encounter that might surprise them, and they have to be prepared for the unknown, too.
“We’ve had vehicles, the motors have blown up on our way back to Winnipeg to get a flight and we’ve had to jump on a train,” said Bob. “[So] they know how to travel. They know all the obstacles that get in the way. There’s time zones, there’s delays in flights and buses, and flat tires and everything else. If you’re not ready for that, then you’re not ready for the Games.”
Bob explains the Canada Games are not the end of the road for the athletes, but rather a key step in their development. In fact, immediately after Games, the competition schedule is teeming with competition.
“We have another four competition weekends or weeks that we’re going to be doing right through until April 1st.”
*some content shared with permission from Manitoba Alpine Ski Division
