Devon Kershaw

Devon Kershaw
Devon Kershaw in Seefeld 2018
nation	Canada
birthday	20th December 1982 (age 37)
place of birth	Greater Sudbury , Canada
Career
society	Ona-wa-su
Trainer	Dave Wood
status	resigned
End of career	2018
Medal table
World Cup medals 1 × 0 × 0 ×
Nordic World Ski Championships gold 2011 Oslo Team sprint
Placements in the cross-country skiing world cup
Debut in the World Cup November 23, 2002  World Cup victories in individual 2 ( details )  World Cup victories in stages 1 ( details )  Overall World Cup 2. ( 2011/12 )  Sprint World Cup 7th ( 2011/12 )  Distance World Cup 2. ( 2011/12 )  Tour de Ski 4th ( 2011/12 )
Podium placements 1. 2. 3.  Sprint races 1 0 2  Distance races 1 1 1  Stage race 1 4th 3  Season 0 0 1
last change: September 2, 2018

Devon Kershaw (born December 20, 1982 in Greater Sudbury ) is a retired Canadian cross-country skier .

life and career

Like most Canadian boys, Kershaw was an avid ice hockey player when he was a child. But he also discovered his talent for Nordic skiing at an early stage and began to train regularly and take part in national competitions. He played his first international competition at the Junior World Championships in 2000 in Štrbské Pleso , where he was only able to place in the back field. He achieved his best result at the Junior World Championships in 2002 in Schonach when he was 25th in the sprint. A year later, he was nominated for the Nordic World Ski Championships in 2003 without having previously started in an international competition in the senior class . There he reached the 60th place in the sprint competition as the best place.

Kershaw played his first World Cup competition in the 2004 season in Drammen . In the sprint in the classic technique, however, it was only enough for 67th place out of 72 starters. In the following years it became more and more clear that Kershaw could make the leap to the top in sprint competitions. In the 2004/05 season he succeeded for the first time with place 25 in Reit im Winkl in the sprint in the classic technique to fight for World Cup points. He was able to improve this result in Lahti with 17th place. At the Nordic World Ski Championships in 2005 in Oberstdorf , he secured 14th place in the sprint competition. In the team sprint, he managed to fight for sixth place together with his partner George Gray . At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin , however, he disappointed and was 37th unable to qualify for the final in the sprint. In the team sprint it was enough for Kershaw and Gray to only finish eleventh. Just two weeks later, at the World Cup in Borlänge , he made it to the finals of a sprint competition for the first time and surprisingly finished third. This was the best result for a Canadian cross-country skier in 15 years. A year later he was able to improve this result by one place in the sprint of the Tour de Ski 2006/07 in Munich . Since neither the winner Christoph Eigenmann from Switzerland nor Kershaw finished the Tour de Ski, he lost the World Cup points for this competition. At the Nordic World Ski Championships in 2007 , he again missed the final of the 30 best athletes. In the team sprint, he again finished sixth with Drew Goldsack .

In the 2007/08 season Kershaw was able to place himself in the top ten several times in sprint competitions. But he also succeeded for the first time in distance races in the extended world elite. His best result was twelfth place over 30 kilometers freestyle in Rybinsk . He finished the season with 39th place in the overall World Cup, 30th place in the Sprint World Cup and 37th place in the Distance World Cup. At the beginning of the 2008/09 season , he proved that he had improved a lot over longer distances , when he was able to take fifth place in Kuusamo over the distance of 15 kilometers . This was the best result for a Canadian cross-country skier in a distance race in more than ten years. After further good results, including a seventh place over 50 kilometers classic (mass start) in Trondheim , he finished the season with 18th place in the overall World Cup. In the ranking of the distance races, he finished 14th. However, he was unable to confirm these achievements at the 2009 Nordic World Ski Championships in Liberec . In the pursuit competition he only finished 27th. Over 15 kilometers classic he was only 37. Together with George Gray he fought for ninth place in the team sprint. With the Canadian season he was fifth. He finished the Tour de Ski 2009/10 in 16th place. His best placings at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver were fifth in the 50 km mass start race and fourth in the team sprint.

At the beginning of the 2010/11 season , Kershaw took tenth place at the Nordic Opening in Kuusamo . He finished the Tour de Ski 2010/11 in seventh place. He reached second and first place in the sprint stages and third place in the final stage. At the Nordic World Ski Championships in Oslo in 2011 , he and Alex Harvey won the gold medal in the team sprint. At the World Cup finals in Falun , he came in 27th place and took eighth place in the overall World Cup. In the 2011/12 season he finished 20th at the Nordic Opening and fourth at the Tour de Ski 2011/12 . In the further course of the season he won his first World Cup victories in the 15 km mass start race in Rybinsk and in the sprint in Szklarska Poręba . Also in the season he reached third place in the sprint in Moscow and over 15 km classic in Otepää . At the end of the season he came in second at the World Cup finals in Falun and came seventh in the Sprint World Cup and second in the Overall and Distance World Cup. In March 2012 he became Canadian champion over 50 km. In the following season he could not repeat his strong performances. He finished the Nordic Opening and the Tour de Ski 2012/13 in 22nd and 12th place. In the individual sprint races, two eighth places were his best placings in the season. At the Nordic World Ski Championships 2013 in Val di Fiemme , 33rd place over 15 km freestyle and fourth place in the team sprint were his best results. At the end of the season he reached 31st place in the World Cup finals in Falun and 27th place in the overall World Cup.

In the 2013/14 season , Kershaw came 65th at the Nordic Opening in Kuusamo and 12th at the World Cup final in Falun . At the Tour de Ski 2013/14 , which he ended prematurely, he reached second place in the prologue race. At the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi , he finished 56th in the sprint, 35th place over 15 km classic and 12th place in the team sprint. The following season he took 41st place at the Nordic Opening in Lillehammer and 35th place at the 2015 Tour de Ski . In the 2015/16 season he came in 23rd place at the Nordic Opening in Ruka and 32nd place in the 2016 Tour de Ski . At the end of the season he finished 16th in the Ski Tour Canada and thus achieved his best World Cup result of the season. After finishing 27th in the World Cup mini tour in Lillehammer at the beginning of the 2016/17 season, he finished 25th in the Tour de Ski 2016/17 . In January 2017 he was third with the relay in Ulricehamn . At the season highlight of the Nordic World Ski Championships 2017 in Lahti , he finished 38th in the 50 km mass start race and 35th place over 15 km classic. At the end of the season he came 26th at the World Cup finals in Québec and won the Nor Am Cup and the Canadian championships in Canmore over 15 km classic. In the 2017/18 season he finished 29th in the Ruka Triple and 28th in the World Cup final in Falun. At the highlight of the season, the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang , he ran 71st place in the 15 km freestyle, 36th place in the skiathlon and 26th place in the 50 km mass start race.

In May 2018, Kershaw ended his career.

Victories in world cup races

World Cup victories in individual

No.	date	place	discipline
1.	4th February 2012	Rybinsk	15 km freestyle Mst.
2.	17th February 2012	Szklarska Poreba	Sprint freestyle

Stage victories in world cup races

No.	date	place	discipline	run
1.	January 5, 2011	Toblach	Sprint freestyle	Tour de Ski 2010/11

Participation in World Championships and Olympic Winter Games

Olympic games

• 2006 Turin : 11th place relay, 11th place team sprint classic, 37th place sprint freestyle, 47th place 15 km classic
• 2010 Vancouver : 4th place team sprint freestyle, 5th place 50 km classic mass start, 7th place relay, 16th place 30 km skiathlon, 23rd place sprint classic
• 2014 Sochi : 12th place team sprint classic, 35th place 15 km classic, 56th place sprint freestyle
• 2018 Pyeongchang : 26th place 50 km classic mass start, 36th place 30 km skiathlon, 71st place 15 km freestyle

Nordic World Ski Championships

• 2003 Val di Fiemme : 50th place sprint freestyle, 55th place 2 × 10 km skiathlon, 62nd place 15 km classic
• 2005 Oberstdorf : 6th place team sprint freestyle, 13th place relay, 14th place sprint classic, 61st place 30 km skiathlon
• 2007 Sapporo : 6th place team sprint freestyle, 11th place relay, 38th place sprint classic, 68th place 15 km freestyle
• 2009 Liberec : 5th place relay, 9th place team sprint classic, 27th place 30 km skiathlon, 37th place 15 km classic
• 2011 Oslo : 1st place team sprint classic, 9th place 30 km skiathlon, 31st place sprint freestyle
• 2013 Val di Fiemme : 4th place team sprint freestyle, 12th place relay, 33rd place 15 km freestyle, 46th place sprint classic
• 2017 Lahti : 35th place 15 km classic, 38th place 50 km freestyle mass start

Placements in the World Cup

World Cup Statistics

The table shows the placements achieved in detail.

• 1st – 3rd place: Number of podium placements
• Top 10: Number of places in the top ten
• Points ranks: Number of placements within the point ranks
• Starts: Number of races run in the respective discipline
• Note: In the distance races, the classification is based on the FIS.

placement	Distance races a					Skiathlon pursuit	sprint	Stage race b	total	Team c
	≤ 5 km	≤ 10 km	≤ 15 km	≤ 30 km	> 30 km					sprint	Season
1st place			1				2		3
2nd place	1					1	2	1	5
3rd place	1		2			1	2		6th		1
Top 10	3		9		2	13	12	4th	43	2	5
Scoring	9	4th	35	6th	5	50	40	19th	168	5	12
Starts	16	14th	73	9	10	66	102	25th	315	5	12
Status: end of season 2017/18

^a including individual starts and mass starts according to FIS classification

^bEntire race, not individual stages, e.g. B. Tour de Ski, Nordic Opening, season finale

^c Possibly incomplete due to a lack of suitable sources before 2001

World Cup overall placements

season	total		distance		sprint
	Points	space	Points	space	Points	space
2004/05	20th	97.	-	-	20th	48.
2005/06	95	57.	15th	88	80	25th
2006/07	27	96.	25th	60.	2	83.
2007/08	191	38.	103	37.	88	30th
2008/09	401	18th	257	14th	78	34.
2009/10	190	40.	90	39.	40	54.
2010/11	602	8th.	283	12.	115	18th
2011/12	1466	2.	781	2.	303	7th
2012/13	298	27.	99	42.	93	22nd
2013/14	194	43.	124	29	26th	63.
2014/15	45	93.	36	58.	9	75.
2015/16	204	35.	128	29	-	-
2016/17	109	61.	67	48.	-	-
2017/18	63	75.	53	49.	-	-

Web links

• Devon Kershaw in the database of the International Ski Federation (English)

• Devon Kershaw in the Sports-Reference database (English; archived from the original )
• Devon Kershaw website

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Result team sprint WM 2011
2. ↑ Kershaw, Jaks and Hattestad end their careers, Duvillard and Dyrhaug injured - xc-ski.de cross-country skiing. In: xc-ski.de. May 4, 2018, accessed on January 4, 2019 (German).