Devon Kershaw
Full nameLuke Devon Kershaw
Born (1982-12-20) 20 December 1982
Sudbury, Ontario
Height1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Spouse(s)Kristin Størmer Steira
Ski clubOnaping Falls Nordics Ski Club
World Cup career
Seasons15 – (2004–2018)
Starts290
Podiums14
Wins3
Overall titles0 – (2nd in 2012)
Discipline titles0
Medal record
Men's cross-country skiing
Representing  Canada
World Championships
Gold medal – first place2011 OsloTeam sprint
U23 World Championships
Bronze medal – third place2004 Park CityTeam sprint
New Zealand Winter Games
Bronze medal – third place2013 WanakaIndividual sprint

Devon Kershaw (born December 20, 1982) is a Canadian retired cross-country skier who competed from 2005 to 2018.[1] Growing up in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, he split his time between several sports before choosing to focus on his cross-country ski career. His career highlights include placing second overall in the World Cup standing in 2011/2012 and claiming the World Champion title in 2011 at the World Ski Championships in Oslo, Norway in the men's team sprint with teammate Alex Harvey.

Early life and career

Kershaw grew up in the Northern Ontario city of Sudbury. His father, Will, and mother, Maureen, were instrumental in developing and nurturing a love of the natural environment and active lifestyle. Kershaw was a serious sports enthusiast growing up, playing hockey, volleyball, badminton, and tennis, and running competitively in his younger years.

Skiing for Laurentian Nordic as a young skier in Sudbury, he participated in three World Junior Championships (2000, 2001, 2002) and won 18 National Junior Medals. As a senior racer he moved west to Canmore, Alberta, home of Canada's National Ski Team, to pursue his athletic dreams and pursuits.

Athletic career

In the 2005 World Championships in Oberstdorf finished 14th in the individual sprint.

He was also the first Canadian male cross country skier to medal in the sprint category – placing third in the Freestyle Sprint in Borlänge, Sweden, on March 7, 2006. In November 2006, he skied his way into the history books again by placing a best finish for a Canadian male in more than 10 years in a World Cup event – 2nd in the Men's 15 kilometre classic race in Saariselkae, Finland.

During the first Tour de Ski in 2006–2007, Kershaw came 2nd in the first Stage – the Freestyle Sprint. Unfortunately, Kershaw became ill and was unable to finish the Tour.

In 2009, Kershaw and the Canadian team finish sixth in the 4 x 10 km relay in the Liberec World Championships, the highest placing ever for the Canadian Team.

In the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics, Kershaw's best individual finish was fifth in the 50 km event, and fourth in the team sprint with teammate Alex Harvey.[2] This is the best placing ever for Canadian men in an Olympic cross-country competition.

In the 2011 tour de ski, Kershaw came in first in one of the sprint stages, beating Dario Cologna, and Petter Northug. In the Oslo 2011 World Championship Kershaw and Harvey won the gold medal in the team sprint, bringing Canada their first ever gold[2] and second World Championship medal ever, the first being Sara Renner's bronze in 2005.

In the 2012 Tour de Ski, Kershaw came in fourth place overall, the best a Canadian has ever done.

Kershaw had his best ever season in 2011/2012, finishing second overall in the World Cup standings. He was on the podium in six world cup podiums with two gold, one silver, and three bronze.

Cross-country skiing results

All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).[3]

Olympic Games

 Year   Age   15 km 
 individual 		  30 km 
 skiathlon 		  50 km 
 mass start 		  Sprint   4 × 10 km 
 relay 		  Team 
 sprint 
20062447——371111
201028—1652374
20143235——56—12
201836713626———

World Championships

  • 1 medal – (1 gold)
 Year   Age   15 km   Pursuit   30 km   50 km   Sprint   4 × 10 km 
 relay 		  Team 
 sprint 
2003216255——50——
200523—61——14136
20072568———38116
2009273727———59
201129—9——31—Gold
20133133DNS——46124
20173535DNS—38—12—

World Cup

Season standings

 Season   Age  Discipline standings Ski Tour standings
Overall Distance Sprint Nordic
Opening		 Tour de
Ski		 World Cup
Final		 Ski Tour
Canada
200422NCNCNC————
20052397NC48————
200624578825————
200725966083—DNF——
200826383730—DNF23—
200927181434—2020—
201028403954—1631—
2011298121810727—
2012302nd place, silver medalist(s)2nd place, silver medalist(s)72042nd place, silver medalist(s)—
201331274121221231—
20143243296065DNF12—
2015339358754134——
2016343529NC2332—16
2017356148NC272526—
2018367448NC29DNF28—

Individual podiums

  • 3 victories – (2 WC, 1 SWC)
  • 14 podiums – (6 WC, 8 SWC)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place
12005–067 March 2006Sweden Borlänge, Sweden1.5 km Sprint FWorld Cup3rd
22006–0731 December 2006Germany Munich, Germany1.1 km Sprint FStage World Cup2nd
32008–0928 December 2008Germany Oberhof, Germany15 km Pursuit CStage World Cup3rd
42010–111 January 2011Germany Oberhof, Germany15 km Pursuit CStage World Cup2nd
52 January 2011Germany Oberstdorf, Germany1.2 km Sprint CStage World Cup2nd
65 January 2011Italy Toblach, Italy1.3 km Sprint FStage World Cup1st
78 January 2011Italy Val di Fiemme, Italy20 km Mass Start CStage World Cup3rd
82011–1222 January 2012Estonia Otepää, Estonia15 km Individual CWorld Cup3rd
92 February 2012Russia Moscow, Russia1.5 km Sprint FWorld Cup3rd
104 February 2012Russia Rybinsk, Russia15 km Mass Start FWorld Cup1st
1117 February 2012Poland Szklarska Poręba, Poland1.6 km Sprint FWorld Cup1st
1216 March 2012Sweden Falun, Sweden3.3 km Individual FStage World Cup3rd
1314–18 March 2012Sweden World Cup FinalOverall StandingsWorld Cup2nd
142013–1428 December 2013Germany Oberhof, Germany4.5 km Individual FStage World Cup2nd

Team podiums

  • 1 podium – (1 RL)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammates
12016–1722 January 2017Sweden Ulricehamn, Sweden4 × 7.5 km Relay C/FWorld Cup3rdHarvey / Johnsgaard / Väljas

Personal life

Kershaw is the eldest of three children, sister Linnaea is a journalism student in Vancouver and brother Sean an Art History student in Montreal. Beyond skiing Kershaw plans to return to school to pursue a degree in medicine, with the eventual goal of becoming doctor specializing in sports medicine.

He is married to Norwegian cross-country skier Kristin Størmer Steira,[2] the two having been together since December 2012 and married since July 2015,[4] and has one daughter, born in 2017.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 "World champion Canadian cross-country skier Devon Kershaw retires - The Globe and Mail".
  2. 1 2 3 Spencer, Donna (23 November 2015). "Devon Kershaw, cross-country skier, looking for elusive Olympic podium". CBC Sports. The Canadian Press. Retrieved 24 November 2015.
  3. ↑ "Athlete : KERSHAW Devon". FIS-Ski. International Ski Federation. Retrieved 29 January 2018.
  4. ↑ VG.no (Norwegian)
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.