Devon Kershaw

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Devon Kershaw

Devon Kershaw in Tour de Ski 2010
Personal information
Full name Luke Devon Kershaw
Born (1982-12-20) 20 December 1982
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
Tour De Ski Stages
Gold 2011 Toblach – Men's Sprint Freestyle {{{2}}}
Silver 2011 Oberstdorf – Men's Sprint Classic {{{2}}}
Silver 2011 Oberhof – Men's 15km Classic Pursuit {{{2}}}
Silver 2006 Munich Silver – Men's Sprint {{{2}}}
Bronze 2009 Oberhof – Men's 15km Classic {{{2}}}
Bronze 2011 Val Di Fiemme, Tour De Ski Stage Bronze 2011 – Men's 20km Classic Mass Start {{{2}}}
World Cup
Gold 2012 Szklarska Poreba – Men's Sprint Freestyle {{{2}}}
Gold 2012 Rybinsk – Men's 15km Freestyle Mass Start {{{2}}}
Silver 2012 Falun – Men's 35km Mass Start {{{2}}}
Silver 2012 Falun – Men's 35km Mass Start {{{2}}}
Bronze 2006 Borlaenge – Men's Sprint {{{2}}}
Bronze 2006 Borlaenge – Men's Sprint {{{2}}}
Bronze 2012 Otepaa – Men's 15km Classic {{{2}}}
Bronze 2012 Moscow – Men's Freestyle Sprint {{{2}}}
Bronze 2012 Falun – Men's 3.3km Freestyle {{{2}}}
Viessmann FIS World Cup Overall Standings
Silver 2012 Overall World Cup – Men's Overall Podium {{{2}}}

Devon Kershaw (born December 20, 1982) is a Canadian cross country skier who has been competing since 2005. 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 2nd 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

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 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, Devon came 2nd in the first Stage - the Freestyle Sprint. Unfortunately, Devon 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. This is the best placing ever for Canadian men in an Olympic cross-country competition.

In the 2011 tour de ski, Devon came in first in one of the sprint stages, beating Dario Cologna, and Petter Northug. In the Oslo 2011 World Championship Kershaw and Alex Harvey won the gold medal in the team sprint, bringing Canada their first ever gold and second FIS Nordic World Ski Championship medal ever, the first being Sara Renner's bronze in 2005.


In the 2012 Tour de ski, Devon came in 4th place overall, the best a Canadian has ever done. Devon 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 2 gold, 1 silver and 3 bronze.

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

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