Canmore's Sam Hendry has one last ski tour left.
CANMORE – Even after achieving the best race result of his career at the Canmore World Cup, Sam Hendry was quite pessimistic about his chances of making more starts at the top circuit this season.
“If I don't get a podium here, I think it's really hard to keep going,” the local cross-country skier said after the 15km mass start freestyle at the Canmore Nordic Center on February 9th.
A few weeks later, the 24-year-old, who grew up sliding on the icy trails of the Bow Valley, received an unexpected phone call that lifted his pessimism.
Hendry was named to Canada's World Cup squad for Period 5, the final round of the tour that travels to Finland, Norway and concludes in Sweden on March 17.
“I really thought I wasn’t going to have a chance to continue the race and I definitely wasn’t going to start Period 5, so when I got the call from Nordique Canada it was really exciting and I was really excited,” Hendry said. he said on Monday. (February 26).
Hendry's goal was to race on the World Cup circuit this season, but he struggled with tough performances in the Continental Cup and US Super Tour.
But all that changed at the Canmore World Cup (February 9-13).
Twenty-seven Canadians were given starting spots, but Hendry was one of the few who stood out among the world's skiing heavyweights who claimed Canmore as their own.
The altitude has always been an advantage for Hendry, a five-time All-American skier at the University of Utah. He helped inspire the local crowd in the red and white with a top-30 finish at the Canmore World Cup, including a personal best of 21st place in the classic 20km mass start.
In preparing for his home World Cup, Hendry said the key to his best performance was training and staying fit in Canmore throughout January.
“I think racing at Canmore has made me more ambitious than ever, more focused and results-seeking,” he said.
As Hendry looks forward to his chance at fifth place, he probably also has a bigger picture in mind that has nothing to do with competitive ski racing.
The final weeks of the 2023-24 season will be Hendry's last ride.
“Right now I'm interviewing for medical school for the fall, so I plan on retiring at the end of this season, so the next World Cup race will probably be my last ski race. It's a lot of fun. It's very exciting,” Hendry said.
“At the end of a race when things are getting really hard, it gives me a little extra motivation. It gives me a little extra motivation to push harder knowing it's over. I guess.”
Chris Jeffries, director of high performance at Nordiq Canada, has watched Hendry grow up skiing at the Canmore Nordic Center.
He said tougher and longer races, such as the 50km Classic in Oslo on March 10, were a good fit for Canmore's skiers.
But Jeffries hopes the final tour will be fun and satisfying for Canmore skiers.
“At major championships such as World Juniors and U23s, for any reason, [Hendry] I think if you ask him, he probably always felt he had more to show, whether it was just missing qualifying or he was unwell leading up to the championship, and we Always knew he had more to show. ” Jeffries said.
“It was very special for him to see it all come together in what could possibly be his last year of ski racing…in his own backyard with his family and friends and the world… It was really special to be on stage and give a great performance.”
Nordiq Canada also features Xavier McKeever, Catherine Stewart-Jones, Antoine Seal, Liliane Gagnon, Sonja Schmidt, Sasha Masson and Pierre Goulart-Johnson on its fifth World Cup squad. Masu.
Excited to move on, Hendry said she is ready and looking forward to the next chapter of her life.
He said he will miss the ski community he has known since childhood.
“For me, it's always been about the community and all the people who are invested in and interested in this sport and supporting the athletes, and all the great people and fellow competitors that I've met through this sport,” Hendry said. Told.
“It’s a shame not to see the same people every winter at different races and not be able to catch up with them.”