Liliane Gagnon wins Canada’s fourth consecutive medal at FIS Nordic Junior and U23 World Ski Championships
SCHILPARIO, Italy – February 7, 2025 – Team Canada is having an unprecedented championships with four consecutive podium finishes. For the second time this week, Quebec City’s Liliane Gagnon claimed bronze, this time in the U23 women’s 10-kilometre interval start free. Gagnon finished in a time of 33:13, behind Germany’s Helen Hoffmann (32:35) and Australia’s Rosie Fordham (33:02). “I wasn’t expecting this successful of a championships—and it’s not over yet,” said Gagnon. “Today was actually a bit more expected, if I can say that. My classic race is still my proudest race so far, but today feels great because I had been thinking about this race for a long time. Being able to deliver on a tough course in these conditions is a great feeling.”
It was a strong day for Team Canada, with five additional top-30 finishes. In the women’s race, Whitehorse’s Sonjaa Schmidt finished eighth, while Rossland’s Jasmine Drolet placed 23rd. In the men’s race, Thunder Bay’s Max Hollmann was 12th, Calgary’s Tom Stephen finished 13th, and Whitehorse’s Sasha Masson rounded out the top 30.
Gagnon maintained strong positioning throughout the race, hovering in second and third at key splits. “Usually in a 10K individual start, I go out pretty hard because for a long time, I struggled with pacing and not going fast enough,” she explained. “But today, with rough conditions and a tough course, I really focused on pacing myself. I actually didn’t start too fast, and I think that paid off. It was a long grind, and I needed that energy for the rest of the race.”
She crossed the finish line in second and had a tense wait for the final results. “I knew the Swedish girl had won everything else, but I also knew skate isn’t her strongest,” said Gagnon. “The real danger today was Germany’s Helen Hoffmann, who ended up winning. When I saw the Swedish skier was a bit further back, I had a feeling I was going to get it. It was a pretty good feeling—not having to wait too long was nice, too, because otherwise, it would have been a pretty stressful wait.”
Canada has two more opportunities to add to its medal haul in Sunday’s relays. No stranger to the relay podium, Canada won gold in the U23 mixed relay in 2024.
Gagnon credits the team’s collective momentum for their success so far. “We’re all pushing each other and riding the same wave,” she said. “Everyone is performing so well, and it just lifts the whole team up. I think that’s a big factor in our success at these championships, and hopefully, it carries on to senior world championships as well. It’s really encouraging to see Canada up there—it gives us that extra push we need.”
Full Results: https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/results.html?sectorcode=CC&raceid=47132
Full Article: https://nordiqcanada.ca/news-item/liliane-gagnon-wins-canadas-fourth-consecutive-medal-at-fis-nordic-junior-and-u23-world-ski-championships-canadas-medal-total-climbs-to-four/
Alison Mackie Wins Back-to-Back Bronze at the Nordic Junior World Ski Championships
Canada’s Medal Total Climbs to Three
Schilpario, Italy – February 7, 2025 – Edmonton’s Alison Mackie won her second consecutive bronze medal at the 2025 FIS Nordic Junior and U23 World Ski Championships, elevating Canada’s medal count to three.
Mackie completed the 10km course with a time of 28:07, finishing 36.2 seconds behind Norway’s Milla Grosberghaugen Andreassen, who took gold with a time of 27:31 Germany’s Anna Endress claimed the silver medal, clocking in at 28:00. “Going into the championship, my goal was to get one medal, and that was a really scary thing to think about because I can’t control my competitors, whether I get sick again, or how the skis are,” said Mackie.
Last year at the 2024 championships, Mackie was sidelined from competition due to illness.
“I’m really proud to be skiing so consistently right now. A fourth and two thirds are a reflection of all my hard work over the past few years and the incredible support from the techs and staff here. I had great skis every single day.”
This achievement comes on the heels of Mackie’s historic bronze in the 20km mass start classic, which marked Canada’s first women’s Nordic Junior Worlds medal since 1989.”It just means the world knowing everyone is super happy and proud of you. And I’m proud of my teammates too—many of them got personal bests, and some are racing at their first Junior Worlds. Everyone has done amazing so far this week, and I’m excited to see what our relay team can do.”
With the mixed team relay on Sunday, Mackie is eager to continue Canada’s momentum. “Mindset is a really important part of it. As much as I can do to help my teammates get excited and ready, I’ll do my best. We’ll be talking about exchanges and tactics over the next couple of days, and I’m really looking forward to working with my teammates.”
Canada’s medal tally at the championships now stands at three, underscoring the talent, and system supporting the next generation of Canadian talent.
Full Results
Full Article: https://nordiqcanada.ca/news-item/alison-mackie-wins-back-to-back-bronze-at-the-nordic-junior-world-ski-championships/
Back-to-back medal days for Women at Nordic Junior and U23 World Championships
Schilpario, Italy – February 6, 2025 – Quebec City’s Liliane Gagnon finished 5 seconds ahead of the fourth-place finisher in the 20km mass start classic race at the 2025 FIS Nordic U23 World Ski Championships, taking home the bronze for Team Canada. Sweden’s Maerta Rosenberg finished first in 55:56 and Norway’s Eva Ingebridgtsen finished second in 56 minutes.
Fourth place can be a tough result, but for Canada’s women, it’s been fuel. After three fourth place finishes for the women this season, including Edmonton’s Alison Mackie, Whitehorse’s Sonjaa Schmidt and Chelsea’s Katherine Stewart-Jones, the team knew they were primed for the podium.
“I think the Canadian women are on fire right now,” said Sonjaa Schmidt after her fourth place at the Engadine World Cup two weeks ago. “The fire is contagious within the team. We are hunting for a podium, and the cool thing is we don’t know who it’s going to be. It can be any one of us, which is inspiring, and it’s just a really great team to be around right now.”
Indeed, Alison Mackie broke the curse yesterday in the 20km mass start classic race in the Junior category, earning Canada’s first Women’s Nordic Junior Worlds medal since 1989.
“We truly are just getting things started as female cross-country skiers in Canada,” said Mackie “I’m really happy to podium on National Girls and Women in Sports Day. It’s a perfect day to have this result to show that anything is possible.”
For Gagnon, this moment was a long time coming. After multiple close calls last year, she had her sights set on an individual Championships podium—but not necessarily in this race. “I’ve been dreaming of this medal for like a year now, especially after last year when I was so close to the podium a couple of times,” said Gagnon. “But to do it in the classic race, that was not in the plans, but really glad it happened, that’s for sure. So yeah, super stoked.”
It was a big day for Canadian skiers across the board. Jasmine Drolet (Rossland, BC) finished 6th. In the men’s race, Tom Stephen finished 5th, followed closely by Xavier McKeever in 7th. Canada, alongside powerhouse Norway, was one of only two nations to finish with two skiers in the top ten in both the men’s and women’s races.
“All Canadians had such strong performances, finishing higher than or very close to their bib numbers, which says something about the system in Canada,” said coach Tormod Vatten.
The FIS Nordic Junior and U23 World Ski Championships continue throughout the week. On Sunday, the Canadians will defend their history-making gold in the relay.
Full article: Team Canada Breaks Fourth-Place Curse, Begins Podium Streak - Nordiq Canada
Full results here
Alison Mackie Makes History with Bronze at World Junior Champs
Full article and photo - https://nordiqcanada.ca/news-item/alison-mackie-makes-history-history-with-bronze-canadas-first-womens-nordic-junior-worlds-medal-since-1989/
Schilpario, Italy – February 5, 2025 – Edmonton’s Alison Mackie delivered a stellar performance at the 2025 FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships, capturing the bronze medal in the women’s 20km mass start classic race. “It feels amazing,” said Mackie. “I’ve been feeling really good this week and the past few weeks, and I knew that a top three was definitely in the cards. I’m really proud of how I skied the course today, and how I stuck with the leaders.”
Norway’s Milla Grosberghaugen Andreassen won the race with a time of 57:36. Her teammate Hanna Engesaeter Soerbye, secured the silver medal with a time of 58:04 while Mackie finished in bronze with a time of 58:07.
“We truly are just getting things started as female cross-country skiers in Canada,” said Mackie “I’m really happy to podium on National Girls and Women in Sports Day. It’s a perfect day to have this result to really show that anything is possible if you put your mind to it.”
After three fourth place finishes for the women this season, Mackie broke the streak that included a fourth by Alison herself in Monday’s Sprint Classic race, a fourth by Whitehorse’s Sonja Schmidt in the Engadin World Cup and a fourth by Ottawa’s Katherine Stewart-Jones in the World Cup Tour de Ski. “I train with Sonjaa and Katherine a lot through the summer, and to see both of them having so much success this season was really inspiring for me going into this event.”
“Alison used her strengths to her advantage,” said Alison’s coach, Tormod Vatten. “Also all Canadians had such strong performances, finishing higher than or very close to their bib numbers, which says something about the system in Canada.”
It was a strong day for the rest of the team as well, with Clara Hegan finishing with a personal best world Junior finish in 17th place, followed by Constance Lapointe in 27th and Aramintha Bradford in 31st. On the men’s side, Zachari Moreau finished 18th, Justin Boudreau placed 24th, and Jonas Rolseth came in 33rd.
The FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Championships continues throughout the week, with Canada’s athletes looking to build on Mackie’s success in the upcoming events.
“I’m hoping for a really strong race again on Friday in the skate individual start,” said Mackie. “I’m also looking forward to the mixed team relay where I know our team is a contender for the podium.”