Devon Kershaw

Devon Kershaw
Full nameLuke Devon Kershaw
Born (1982-12-20) 20 December 1982 (age 41)
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)
Indiv. starts290
Indiv. podiums14
Indiv. wins3
Team starts24
Team podiums1
Team wins0
Overall titles0 – (2nd in 2012)
Discipline titles0
Medal record
Men's cross-country skiing
Representing  Canada
World Championships
Gold medal – first place 2011 Oslo Team sprint
U23 World Championships
Bronze medal – third place 2004 Park City Team sprint
New Zealand Winter Games
Bronze medal – third place 2013 Wanaka Individual 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 
2006 24 47 — — 37 11 11
2010 28 — 16 5 23 7 4
2014 32 35 — — 56 — 12
2018 36 71 36 26 — — —

World Championships

  • 1 medal – (1 gold)
 Year   Age   15 km   Pursuit   30 km   50 km   Sprint   4 × 10 km 
 relay  		 Team 
 sprint 
2003 21 62 55 — — 50 — —
2005 23 — 61 — — 14 13 6
2007 25 68 — — — 38 11 6
2009 27 37 27 — — — 5 9
2011 29 — 9 — — 31 — Gold
2013 31 33 DNS — — 46 12 4
2017 35 35 DNS — 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
2004 22 NC NC NC — — — —
2005 23 97 NC 48 — — — —
2006 24 57 88 25 — — — —
2007 25 96 60 83 — DNF — —
2008 26 38 37 30 — DNF 23 —
2009 27 18 14 34 — 20 20 —
2010 28 40 39 54 — 16 31 —
2011 29 8 12 18 10 7 27 —
2012 30 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 2nd place, silver medalist(s) 7 20 4 2nd place, silver medalist(s) —
2013 31 27 41 21 22 12 31 —
2014 32 43 29 60 65 DNF 12 —
2015 33 93 58 75 41 34 — —
2016 34 35 29 NC 23 32 — 16
2017 35 61 48 NC 27 25 26 —
2018 36 74 48 NC 29 DNF 28 —

Individual podiums

  • 3 victories – (2 WC, 1 SWC)
  • 14 podiums – (6 WC, 8 SWC)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place
1 2005–06 7 March 2006 Sweden Borlänge, Sweden 1.5 km Sprint F World Cup 3rd
2 2006–07 31 December 2006 Germany Munich, Germany 1.1 km Sprint F Stage World Cup 2nd
3 2008–09 28 December 2008 Germany Oberhof, Germany 15 km Pursuit C Stage World Cup 3rd
4 2010–11 1 January 2011 Germany Oberhof, Germany 15 km Pursuit C Stage World Cup 2nd
5 2 January 2011 Germany Oberstdorf, Germany 1.2 km Sprint C Stage World Cup 2nd
6 5 January 2011 Italy Toblach, Italy 1.3 km Sprint F Stage World Cup 1st
7 8 January 2011 Italy Val di Fiemme, Italy 20 km Mass Start C Stage World Cup 3rd
8 2011–12 22 January 2012 Estonia Otepää, Estonia 15 km Individual C World Cup 3rd
9 2 February 2012 Russia Moscow, Russia 1.5 km Sprint F World Cup 3rd
10 4 February 2012 Russia Rybinsk, Russia 15 km Mass Start F World Cup 1st
11 17 February 2012 Poland Szklarska Poręba, Poland 1.6 km Sprint F World Cup 1st
12 16 March 2012 Sweden Falun, Sweden 3.3 km Individual F Stage World Cup 3rd
13 14–18 March 2012 Sweden World Cup Final Overall Standings World Cup 2nd
14 2013–14 28 December 2013 Germany Oberhof, Germany 4.5 km Individual F Stage World Cup 2nd

Team podiums

  • 1 podium – (1 RL)
No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammates
1 2016–17 22 January 2017 Sweden Ulricehamn, Sweden 4 × 7.5 km Relay C/F World Cup 3rd Harvey / 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. ^ a b "World champion Canadian cross-country skier Devon Kershaw retires - The Globe and Mail".
  2. ^ a b c 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)