Devon Kershaw (born December 20, 1982) is a Canadian retired cross-country skier who competed from 2005 to 2018. 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 second 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 Kershaw grew up in the Northern Ontario city of Sudbury. 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, and tennis, and running competitively in his younger years.
Skiing for Laurentian Nordic as a young skier in Sudbury, he participated in three 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, Kershaw came 2nd in the first Stage – the Freestyle Sprint. Unfortunately, Kershaw 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, Kershaw came in first in one of the sprint stages, beating Dario Cologna, and Petter Northug. In the Oslo 2011 World Championship Kershaw and Harvey won the gold medal in the team sprint, bringing Canada their first ever gold and second World Championship medal ever, the first being Sara Renner's bronze in 2005.
In the 2012 Tour de Ski, Kershaw came in fourth place overall, the best a Canadian has ever done.
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 two gold, one silver, and three bronze.
Cross-country skiing results All results are sourced from the International Ski Federation (FIS).
Olympic Games Year Age 15 km individual 30 km skiathlon 50 km mass start Sprint 4 × 10 km relay Team sprint 2006 24 47 — — 37 11 11 2010 28 — 16 5 23 7 4 2014 32 35 — — 56 — 12 2018 36 71 36 26 — — —
World Championships 1 medal – (1 gold) Year Age 15 km Pursuit 30 km 50 km Sprint 4 × 10 km relay Team sprint 2003 21 62 55 — — 50 — 2005 23 — 61 — 14 13 6 2007 25 68 — — 38 11 6 2009 27 37 27 — — 5 9 2011 29 — 9 — 31 — Gold 2013 31 33 — 46 12 4 2017 35 35 38 — 12 —
World Cup Season standings Season Age Discipline standingsSki Tour standingsOverallDistanceSprintNordicOpeningTour deSkiWorld CupFinalSki TourCanada 2004 22 2005 23 97 48 2006 24 57 88 25 2007 25 96 60 83 2008 26 38 37 30 23 2009 27 18 14 34 20 20 2010 28 40 39 54 16 31 2011 29 8 12 18 10 7 27 2012 30 7 20 4 2013 31 27 41 21 22 12 31 2014 32 4329 60 65 12 2015 33 93 58 75 41 34 2016 34 35 29 23 32 16 2017 35 61 48 27 25 26 2018 36 74 48 29 28
Individual podiums 3 victories – (2 , 1 ) 14 podiums – (6 , 8 ) No. Season Date Location Race Level Place1 2005–06 7 March 2006 Borlänge, Sweden 1.5 km Sprint F World Cup 3rd2 2006–07 31 December 2006 Munich, Germany 1.1 km Sprint F Stage World Cup 2nd3 2008–09 28 December 2008 Oberhof, Germany 15 km Pursuit C Stage World Cup 3rd4 2010–11 1 January 2011 Oberhof, Germany 15 km Pursuit C Stage World Cup 2nd5 2 January 2011 Oberstdorf, Germany 1.2 km Sprint C Stage World Cup 2nd6 5 January 2011 Toblach, Italy 1.3 km Sprint F Stage World Cup 1st7 8 January 2011 Val di Fiemme, Italy 20 km Mass Start C Stage World Cup 3rd8 2011–12 22 January 2012 Otepää, Estonia 15 km Individual C World Cup 3rd9 2 February 2012 Moscow, Russia 1.5 km Sprint F World Cup 3rd10 4 February 2012 Rybinsk, Russia 15 km Mass Start F World Cup 1st11 17 February 2012 Szklarska Poręba, Poland 1.6 km Sprint F World Cup 1st12 16 March 2012 Falun, Sweden 3.3 km Individual F Stage World Cup 3rd13 14–18 March 2012 World Cup Final Overall Standings World Cup 2nd14 2013–14 28 December 2013 Oberhof, Germany 4.5 km Individual F Stage World Cup 2nd
Team podiums
1 podium – (1 ) No. Season Date Location Race Level Place Teammates1 2016–17 22 January 2017 Ulricehamn, Sweden 4 × 7.5 km Relay C/F World Cup 3rd Harvey / Johnsgaard / Väljas
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.
He is married to Norwegian cross-country skier Kristin Størmer Steira, the two having been together since December 2012 and married since July 2015,VG.no (Norwegian) and has one daughter, born in 2017.
References
External links
Official Site Bio at Cross Country Canada