CALGARY, AB (November 16, 2010) – Canada Ski Cross (CSX) kicked off the new Olympic cycle by naming 13 high-performance skiers, led by Olympic champion Ashleigh McIvor (Whistler, BC) and Winter X-Games gold medalist Chris Del Bosco (Sudbury, ON), to the Canadian Ski Cross Team at a press conference today in Calgary, AB.
The team will focus on podium results at several major international competitions during the 2010-2011 season including the FIS World Championships and Winter X-Games.
CSX will also be attempting to maintain its two-year grip on the FIS World Cup overall Nation’s Cup title this season, with the World Cup season highlights including a race at Blue Mountains, ON on Feb. 11, 2011.
Along with McIvor and Del Bosco, the Canadian Ski Cross Team will have several skiers return from the 2010 Olympic season. Among them is 2009 World Championships bronze medalist Davey Barr (Whistler, BC), who finished sixth at the 2010 Olympics, Kelsey Serwa (Kelowna, BC), the fourth-ranked ladies SX racer in the world, and Julia Murray (Whistler, BC), the daughter of former Crazy Canuck Dave Murray who has three World Cup podium results to date in her career.
“This season is important as we refocus on a new four-year plan and preparing the athletes for certain benchmarks on the way to 2014. We’ve achieved a lot of success in a short time and our mission is to continue the development of this relatively young program,” said CSX Director Dave Ellis.
“Our team has a lot of talent with champions at all levels of the sport, including an Olympic champion. We’ve also got some new younger skiers that are hungry to push for their opportunity to succeed at the top levels of our sport,” Ellis said. “It was a good off-season, with dryland training in Whistler and some on-snow camps in Argentina and Switzerland. Everybody is excited about launching the new team today and looking forward to the start of World Cup racing in December.”
CSX also announced today that an experienced coaching staff that led the team through the 2010 Olympic Games, including head coach Eric Archer and technical coach Brent Kehl, return to the national team this season.
The 2011 FIS World Championships take place in Deer Valley USA, with races scheduled for Feb 3 and 4, 2011. The FIS World Cup stops in Blue Mountains, ON the following week.
There are also Coupe Nor-Am Cup races in Blue Mountain, ON, Big White, BC and Red Mountain Resort, BC this season.
The Winter X-Games are in Aspen, USA with ski cross events taking place January 28 to 30.
Ski Cross made is debut in Canada in the winter of 2007, with Canada Ski Cross establishing a World Cup Team for the 2008/2009 season. Canada Ski Cross was officially incorporated into Alpine Canada Alpin in June.
LIVE STREAMING: Did you miss today’s CSX team announcement? Watch it now at http://www.canadaskicross.ca/live
Men’s Team
Chris Del Bosco (Sudbury, ON)
Davey Barr (Whistler, BC)
Brian Bennett (Quesnel, BC)
Brady Leman (Calgary, AB)
Dave Duncan (London, ON / Golden, BC)
Nick Zoricic (Toronto, ON)
Stanislas Rey (Whistler, BC)
Ladies Team
Julia Murray (Whistler, BC)
Ashleigh McIvor (Whistler, BC)
Danielle Poleschuk (Calgary, AB)
Kelsey Serwa (Kelowna, BC)
Aleisha Cline (Squamish, BC)
Marielle Thompson (Whistler, BC)
Canada Ski Cross [CSX] / Canadian Ski Cross Team [CSXT]
#153, 401 9-th Ave SW Calgary Alberta T2P 5C3 Canada
P: 1.403.777.3200
E: info@canadaskicross.ca
W: www.canadaskicross.ca