Canada’s Devon Kershaw, Emily Nishikawa win first races at Ski Nationals
CANMORE, Alta. — Emily Nishikawa and Devon Kershaw battled through difficult conditions to climb onto the top of the women’s and men’s podiums in the cross-country classic-ski interval start races on Tuesday at the 2017 Ski Nationals.
Fresh off competing in front of more than 50,000 strong at the World Cup Finals in Quebec City, two of the veterans of the National Ski Team handily won their first national titles of 2017.
“It was so hard, hot and the conditions were vicious,” said Kershaw. “I cramped up with five kilometres to go. It was a really hard day. But this is my home. I love Canmore and I think it is important for the kids to see that even after a hard World Cup season you should come and support the national championships.”
The 34-year-old Kershaw, from Sudbury, Ont., won the men’s 15-kilometre race with a time of 45 minutes 5.3 seconds.