Olympic's OH YA

Olympics OH YA

Well we are almost half way through the Olympics and it has been absolutely amazing.
I Came to Vancouver/Whistler on the 13th fully focused on the sprint which was happening on 17th. I had a few good days of training with beautiful sunshine which is Little unusual, but i definitely am enjoying it. I was Testing ski's a few days before and i must admit i was a little more nervous then any other race i have been in. Seeing the green Olympics rings hanging over the stadium and all the Canadian flags and fans it is pretty amazing.



On the 17th i got my focus on and ran the day as usual, in the qualifier the talk was about the down hill how fast and icy it was. All i could think is great another place i can make up some time. I qualified in 10th which was unreal and i was so pumped. Now my goal is to move through the quarters to the semi's and then hopefully the A final. I was matched up with the fast qualifier which i was pumped about. Game plan follow him to the line and be in top two at the finish.



I was skiing great in third place for the most part of the race. I skied the down hill at the half way point really well and i was moving into second when the Russian skied right into me bumping me to the next lane.( that was a little rougher then expected but it's sprinting) Then we really gaver over the last hill and into the finish. I was in 4th going into the finishing stretch and then we began the frantic double finish, this time i felt super strong. I ended up making some ground up and past one skier moving me into 3rd spot just coming short of 1-2 place. I was lucky loser for a while, till one of the last heats came in with a blistering time too, which ended up knocking me out by 1 second. OH so close to moving on. But for me i skied just like i wanted and that is all i can ask for.



I was 15th for the day which is the best ever result for a Canadian Man in a sprint at the Olympics. So i was really pumped about that. And that i was able to add a good result for our team to keep the ball rolling as Ivan started all of us off on the right foot the first day. I was able to enjoy the evening with my Family and friends and fans in the Whistler village enjoying the atmoshpere which was awesomeness!!!!!

Pre-Olympic world Cups at home!!!!

Pre-Olympic world Cups at home!!!!

How much better does it get then racing against the best in the world at home as a tune up for the Big event. I was super pumped to see canmore full of skiers and ski fans. And this new idea with putting down a ski track down main street what i great idea.



I was excited to have the world cup at home. My final race before the Olympics and everything for me went super well. The weather was unbelievable, skiing with my friends from other nations could only keep saying how amazing of a place canmore is and how lucky we are to live and train here. How right they are.



Friday was the first event a 15km skate which is not even close to an event that i can compete at on the world cup level. I decided to sit that one out and concentrate on my event the Classic sprint. The boys did well and gave us a great start to the weekend.



Saturday cam rolling around fast and i was pumped up for a real classic course and i knew that my shape has come up to a the level i need to be competitive. The prologue was perfectly skied and i crossed the line in 7th for the day. I was amazed but also told my self Finely this is where you belong amongst the top 10 in sprints. In the heat i took it out my normal pace, getting the whole shot was nothing new to me so i kept cruising like i was skiing the prologue again. Coming up the last hill i could feel two guys pull up beside me, which was perfect if i could sneak behind one or two of them in the downhill and get the draft would really give me a good shot a moving through this heat. It all went so well down the hill getting my sling shot coming to the last 100meter mark in first. But these guys just kicked it up a small notch more then me and i lost out in moving on by 0.2 seconds. OUCH. Well at the end of the day i was super excited about my prologue, and i know what i need to work on a few small tweaks will be done for my race on the 17th of Feb. I cant wait i am ready!!!!

Great article by Calgary Herald

Great article by the Calgary Herald

Cut and past this into your address bar

http://www.calgaryherald.com/sports/2010wintergames/Kuhn+Olympic+dream+really+cooking+following+comeback/2525782/story.html

CTV up date

CTV up date

Check out this article
Thanks to CTV

Just copy and paste into your address bar.

http://www.ctvolympics.ca/cross-country-skiing/news/newsid=28443.html#from+chef+olympian+kuhns+comeback

Final Prep

Final Prep

I have Been home for almost a full week. The travel home went well and i received all my bags and was super excited to see my wife and sleep in my own bed again. The trip to Estonia was very good. I had a great race in the classic sprint with a super strong field. I qualified 28th and then ended the day in 29th. I had a few tactical errors through the race but felt strong in the heat. That is sprinting for you i may have felt strong but with some pore decisions and a small tangle up near the finish i went from finishing in the top 20 to 29th really quickly.

Now It's time to relax get over jet leg. After that it's volume time. Which will be fun we have a couple small camps planned in Kananaskis which is an amazing ski park and doing this with the Olympic team is going to be great bonding and allot of fun.

A couple days ago we named the Canadian Team officially. It was really exciting for me and it was the first time i felt that the Games where around the corner and i had goose bumps as i was introduced and put the Official Hudson Bay Olympic jacket on.

I am super pumped for the world cups in Feb5-6th in Canmore to happen. I love the new sprint course which really flows great with my strengths so will see what we can achieve. Hope to see ya on the trails there.

Otepaa

Otepaa

I have finally arrived in Otepaa and i was so pumped to see my ski bag and duffel bag come out on the carousel.

Sun is coming up super low through the day

I started my travels from Calgary going to Quebec for some Nor-am racing. The racing was awesome with some good weather always changing in Quebec you never now what to expect. The racing went well for me i was 2nd in the skate sprint, and i won the classic 15km. We went out for a drink later that night to watch and cheer on the world junior team with some tasty cold beer but unfortunately they lost to the USA.

View from the house to the ski stadium

I was quite happy with how the weekend went. I then flew my way across the pond to Frankfurt and drove up to Oberwiesenthal for some OPA racing. The roads where not good and i also didn't get my duffel till 5hrs later and no sign of ski bag, so i had to head to the races with no ski's which was not a good start.

Checking out some estonia'n jumpers

I borrowed some ski's on the skate sprint day from Andy Newell, but my body was no where near the shape i was last weekend due to some days off and stressful times with the airlines. The second day was a classic race where i went on a 2nd pair from the Aussie team , but again the body was not quite there. So it was back to Frankfurt hoping to see my ski bag. Getting to the counter of air Canada and then seeing them look like it was tuff to find on the computer made me nervous, but in the end they had it and i got on my flight to Tallin Estonia with a big smile and an overwhelming feeling of wanting to ski.

Skiing Otepaa

I was pumped to go training this morning. I went for amazing 3hr ski and it has not felt so good to put my own ski's and poles on. i can only think this will be a good sign for some good racing on the World Cup this weekend here.

Olympics

The Olympics Have been my dream for a long time now!!!

On my way to wining the Qualifier

We had our races in December. You had to win one of the 4 races’s that where held in either Canmore or Silver Star. I won one of the classic sprints. I was extremely happy and relieved at the end of the day. Because for the last few months there has been a lot of planning and talking of the Olympics and not knowing if you where going or not made it extremely stressful at times.

Celebration as i cross the finish line!!

Now I can concentrate on the next few steps and then the big show starts in February. I hope to be racing one or two other events then the Classic sprint. But I will definitely be focusing on that one. I had a relaxing Christmas in Canmore and Calgary. And now it’s of to Quebec for some nor-ams and then I will head over seas for some high level racing. I will return at the end of January where the team will then head to a training camp and start getting ready for the Olympics.

Hope you had a great Christmas!!