Yurkiw took part in FIS races from December 2013 , from March 2004 also in the Nor-Am Cup . In this racing series she was on the podium for the first time on December 8, 2005, when she finished third on the Lake Louise descent . One day later followed the next day. In the 2005/06 Nor-Am Cup , Yurkiw was second in the downhill ranking and seventh in the overall ranking - she achieved the same result in the 2006/07 Nor-Am Cup . In the 2007/08 season she finally won the overall classification and the downhill classification of the Nor-Am Cup, and she also took second place in the Super-G classification. At the Junior World Championship in Formigal in 2008 , she won the silver medal in combination.
In the World Cup , Yurkiw started - in contrast to the Nor-Am Cup - only in the fast disciplines and in the combinations . She had her first World Cup appearance on January 13, 2007 in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee , the first World Cup points followed on December 5, 2008 with 29th place in the downhill from Lake Louise. Yurkiw attracted international attention when she unexpectedly came first in the combined downhill run from Altenmarkt-Zauchensee in January 2009; in the subsequent slalom, however, she fell far behind and remained without points. On February 21, 2009 she achieved her first top 10 result when she was ninth on the downhill from Tarvisio .
On December 16, 2009, Yurkiw fell badly in downhill training in Val-d'Isère and suffered cruciate ligament ruptures in his left knee. She had to take a break for the rest of the winter and could not take part in any races in the 2010/11 season. After a two-year break, she started again in the Nor-Am Cup in December 2011 and was used again in the World Cup in January 2012. While she remained without points in the World Cup until the end of the season, she achieved two victories and two podium places in the 2011/12 Nor-Am Cup . She also made it onto the podium for the first time in the European Cup .
The Canadian Ski Association decided in April 2013 to dissolve the speed team due to continued failure. Yurkiw was surprised by this decision and decided to set up a private team called “Team Larisa Racing”. She hired an Austrian trainer and started looking for sponsors herself to finance the further course of her sports career. She formed a training community with Swedish, Norwegian and German ski racers.
On December 6th, 2013, Yurkiw impressively proved that this decision was the right one, finishing seventh on the first descent from Lake Louise. With sixth place in Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, she secured qualification for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi . There she finished in 20th place in the downhill. After finishing fourth at the beginning of the 2014/15 World Cup season , she finished second on the downhill from Cortina d'Ampezzo on January 16, 2015 for the first time on the podium. She made three more podium places in the 2015/16 World Cup season : third on the downhill run from Val-d'Isère on December 19, 2015, second on the sprint run from Altenmarkt-Zauchensee on January 9, 2016 and second on the downhill run from Cortina d'Ampezzo on 23 December 2015 January 2016. This resulted in third place in the discipline ranking.
Somewhat surprisingly, Yurkiw announced her retirement on May 12, 2016, justifying this with chronic knee problems.
Canada
