Devon Kershaw

Devon Kershaw
Devon Kershaw in Tour de Ski 2010
Personal information
Full name	Luke Devon Kershaw
Born	20 December 1982 (1982-12-20) (age 28) Sudbury, Canada
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Professional information
Skis	Fischer
Medal record Men's cross country skiing Competitor for  Canada World Championships Gold 2011 Oslo Team sprint

Devon Kershaw (born December 20, 1982) is a Canadian cross country skier who has been competing since 2000. Growing up in Sudbury, Ontario, Canada, he split his time between several sports before choosing to focus on his skiing career.

Early life and career

Devon grew up in the Northern Ontario city of Sudbury, Ontario. 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, tennis, and running competitively in his younger years.

Skiing for Laurentian Nordic as a young skier in Sudbury, he participated in 3 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 skated 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 distance event - 15th in the Men’s 15 kilometre freestyle race in Gällivare, Sweden.

During the first Tour de Ski in 2006-2007, Devon came 2nd in the first Stage - the Freestyle Sprint, a position that was later upgraded to first when the first place skier, Christoph Eigenmann, was knocked out in a later stage. Unfortunately, Devon became sick and was unable to defend his title in the second sprint race later in the Tour, causing him to lose the overall title.

In 2009, Kershaw and the Canadian team finish fifth in the 4 x 10 km relay in the Liberec World Championships.

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. This is the best placing ever for Canadian men in an Olympic cross-country competition.

In the Oslo 2011 World Championship Kershaw and Alex Harvey won the gold medal in the team sprint, bringing Canada their first FIS Nordic World Ski Championship medal ever.

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

References

• Devon Kershaw at the International Ski Federation
• Official Site
• Bio at Cross Country Canada

Persondata
Name	Kershaw, Devon
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	December 20, 1982
Place of birth	Sudbury, Canada
Date of death
Place of death