Yukon’s Dahria Beatty was one of 10 skiers named by Nordiq Canada to compete at the upcoming 2021 FIS World Nordic Ski Championships in Germany from Feb. 23 to March 7.
The release, sent out on Feb. 19, names Beatty, Katherine Stewart-Jones, Maya MacIsaac-Jones, Cendrine Browne and Laura Leclair as the five women who will represent Canada.
Stewart-Jones had a 17th place finish in Falun, Sweden, earlier this season, and both MacIsaac-Jones and Browne have had top 30 finishes. It will be Leclair’s first time competing at the World Championships.
The men’s cohort is led by Olympian Russell Kennedy and includes Graham Ritchie, Rémi Drolet, Antoine Cyr and Philippe Boucher.
The championships are being held in the city of Oberstdorf, Germany, which regularly hosts World Cup events and has twice before hosted the World Championships — most recently in 2005, when Sara Renner won Canada’s first-ever World Championship medal.
“Travelling and competing during these times has not been easy,” said Kate Boyd, high performance director for Nordiq Canada. “Each of our national team athletes have shown their resilience and adaptability through this adversity. They have stepped up and delivered. We look forward to now shifting our focus to performing on the biggest stage of the year at the World Championships.”
Racing gets underway on Feb. 24 with skate qualification races. The classic sprint is scheduled for Feb. 25, the skiathlon is set for Feb. 27, the team sprints are Feb. 28, the skate race is being held March 2 and 3, the relays are March 4 and 5, and the event wraps with a longer-distance classic race on March 6 and 7.
Contact John Hopkins-Hill at john.hopkinshill@yukon-news.com