. Thomsen D'Hont: Securing a World Cup berth

Monday, December 3, 2012

Securing a World Cup berth

photo cred: James Cunningham

I wrote a previous blog draft to this, but after an emotional past few days all but the most ardent of my readership would be bored to tears due to the incoherent, mundane ramblings of a shocked, overexcited mind.

To avoid the mundane and incoherent, I will keep this short.

I just qualified for my first World Cup race. It is this Saturday, December 8th in downtown Québec City.

Thank you to all of my friends, family, supporters and sponsors. This result has been a long time in the coming after recent years of injuries and illness and a FIS point requirement holding me back from racing a World Cup back in 2008.

This was my number one goal for the year, and it has been accomplished. Time to set new goals. The season has only just begun!

Thank you,
Thomsen

I am in blue on the far left. This heat is an all-Canadian affair, with 5 provinces and territories represented. The day was dominated by the Swiss National Sprint team, claiming the top 4 spots in the A-final. (photo cred: David Greer)

There was some minor excitement when I found myself in the lead with 150 m to go. Alas, bridging the gap earlier in my quarter-final left me a little gassed in the finishing stretch. Photo cred: James Cunningham

Photo finish (via @rapidcampf) - I am in 4th.

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Bio

I was born and raised in the North in the city of Yellowknife in the Northwest Territories. Yellowknife is a bustling mining town that is in a dark winter deep freeze for much of the year. It is in these dark, cold months that I learned to ski out on meandering snowmobile trails. In Yellowknife there is a sort of ski season trade-off; we have 8 months where skiing is possible, but with the harsh temperatures we have mid-winter, skiing is nearly unbearable for half this time. These conditions have reinforced values such as perseverance, drive, focus etc… and it is these values that have helped me get to where I am today.

When I was a youngster up in the ‘Knife, I was always outdoors, living the childhood that skiing greats like Bjorn Daehlie have attributed their success to. I would hunt, trap, camp, fish, and explore the land around where I lived year-round. I was skiing at a very young age and eventually hopped on the Jackrabbit bandwagon at the age of 7. I flew through the different colour levels and before I knew it I was on the High Performance team. This was a big step – lots of famous skiers were part of this group back then (famous in Yellowknife, anyways). I raced some big international competitions as a Midget through to Junior. I would throw the best I had at Alaskans, Greenlanders, Scandinavians, Russians, and Northern Canadians at the Arctic Winter Games. I was always a pretty small guy so it was a while before I could compete. My results consistently got better and at my final Arctics’ I demonstrated my improved skills and brought home the coveted Golden Ulu for my home contingent of the NWT. It remains to this day one of my greatest accomplishments.

AWGs aren't the only races I did - I would be at all the big Canadian ones too. As a midget (12-13) through to juvenile category (14-15), I would hit up Alberta Cups once or twice a year, along with Western Canadian Championships being an important annual event. As a juvenile I started to make it out to Nationals and by that time I was really hooked on skiing and every year of racing motivated me more and more.

The past few years have been an adventure. Out of High School in summer '07 I became part of the National Team Development Centre based out of Thunder Bay, Ontario. This was my first real time on a high calibre team with other highly motivated individuals working towards the same goal of national and international skiing success. Needless to say, this year was a great stepping stone for me. After my year with the NTDC, I moved out to Whistler, BC to be part of the Callaghan Valley Training Centre (CVTC). Being based out of the 2010 Olympic venue offers an amazing environment for a developing cross country skier and the facilities are second to none.

Intro

Monday, December 3, 2012

Securing a World Cup berth

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