BABIKOV IN THE NEWS
Babikov Places a Surprising Fifth
By Mike Beamish, Canwest Olympic Team
February 20, 2010
WHISTLER, B.C. — Coming close and feeling good about it used to be the Canadian way. No more. Ivan Babikov of Canmore, Alta., joined a chorus of Canadians who’ve finished fifth in Olympic events at the Vancouver Games in lamenting another missed opportunity for a medal.
Babikov finished a surprising fifth in the men’s 30-kilometre pursuit event on Saturday. But fifth still doesn’t cut it, Babikov said — even though his result was historic for Canadian cross-country skiing, a breakthrough reinforced by the presence of three Canadians in the top 10.
Since the Winter Olympics began in 1924, 71 of 76 gold medals in men’s cross-country skiing have been won by Norway, Sweden, Russia and Finland. Canada’s best result before the 2010 Winter Olympics was 14th place, by Pierre Harvey of Rimouski, Que., at the 1988 Olympics in Calgary.
Babikov, a Russian-born Canadian, has twice finished in the top 10 (he was eighth in Monday’s 15K classic). George Grey of Rossland, B.C., had the race of his life on Saturday, finishing eighth, while Alex Harvey of St-Ferreol-les-Neiges, Que. — Pierre Harvey’s 21-year-old son — ended up in ninth, two positions ahead of Norway’s Petter Northug, considered the world’s best all-rounder in his sport.
“I’ve finished fifth in the world, but when you realize it, it was one chance to get a medal,” Babikov said. “So close, and yet so far.” Babikov finished 9.1 seconds behind Marcus Hellner, who won Sweden’s third gold of the 2010 Games and second in cross-country skiing in a time of one hour 15 minutes 11.4 seconds. Hellner had a little more left in the tank in a furious sprint to the finish with Germany’s Tobias Angerer, Russia’s Alexander Legkov and Swedish countryman Johan Olsson. Angerer took the silver and Olsson, who led for most of the race by as much as 24 seconds, took the bronze.
“I saw those guys ahead of me, and I did the best I could,” Babikov said. “The gap was too much. Maybe, if the race had been another 500 metres, I could have got a medal. It’s weird.”
Still, it was a crazy sight to see Canadians not only pressing the issue, nipping at the heels of the Scandinavians, Russians and Germans, but doing it in numbers. All four Canadians in the race — Babikov, Grey, Harvey and Devon Kershaw of Sudbury, Ont. — were in the top 10 at some point.
Grey was as high as third. Seeded No. 41, he simply refused to fade. “We’re ecstatic,” Grey said. “If anyone’s going to be crying over a fifth-place finish today, they’re going to be tears of joy. We are aiming high for the medals, but we are the historic underdogs. It felt great. We couldn’t have asked for more. Today, we showed our depth. It’s not just one guy. Even Devon was 16th. That’s an incredible result.”
© Canwest News Service
Babikov takes 10th, Renner 25th
The Canadian Press
(excerpt from cbc.ca/olympics)
Friday, February 5, 2010
Ivan Babikov lived up to his nickname as the "bulldog" of the Canadian men's cross-country ski team on Friday, as he pushed up painful hills for a 10th place finish against a world class field at the Alberta World Cup.
The 29-year-old downplayed his effort in the 15-kilometre freestyle race, arguing he could have finished better if only there'd been more uphill slopes to pound through.
"In the uphills I felt good. The flat after the uphills was the hardest for me. I love uphills," said Babikov, who became a Canadian citizen in 2007 after moving here from Russia with his wife and son.
"Top 10 at a World Cup. It's pretty good. "Maybe [I] was like a dog at least today. Maybe not like a bulldog, but a dog."
The race was a success for Italy, renowned for powerful skate skiers, as Giorgio Di Centa claimed the victory with a time of 34 minutes, eight seconds. He was followed by his countryman Pietro Piller Cottrer, while Dario Cologna of Switzerland strode in for third just 11 seconds behind the leader.
Babikov was about 40 seconds behind the victor. In 2005, in essentially the same competition in Canmore, he placed 4th skiing for Russia.
Babikov has consistently earned a reputation as one of the most fearsome hill climbers in the world. He declared his technique still could improve and noted he had over a week to go before the Olympic competitions begin.
In January he had the fastest time up in the final stage of the Tour de Ski, a climb up the Mount Cermes ski hill in Italy, despite suffering from flu and exhaustion after seven other races in 10 days.
Head coach David Wood praised his racer as having an exemplary work ethic. "He's a tough guy. That's an understatement," he said. "He's not afraid to work hard and to go at his limit all the time. Some people are conservative. They are saving and saving. Ivan doesn't save anything."
He noted that Ivan earned the nickname of bulldog because he loved to kickbox a punching bag during summer training. "He was kicking it and punching it. They gave this name to him, like you see on the World Wrestling Federation."
Babikov Skis the Canadian Dream
by Chris Young, www.thestar.com
Thursday, January 21, 2010
When Ivan Babikov first arrived from Russia’s far-northern steppes seven years ago, it seemed a typical new immigrant story. He shared a Woodbridge apartment with his mother, couldn’t speak a word of English, and filled his days stocking the freezers at Highland Farms.
“They saw my resume, where I was from, and of course they put me in the frozen food section,” he deadpans of the grocery experience, the weekly savings sent home to wife Svetlana and infant son Sergey in Russia, waiting for their chance to move here.
He was living the Canadian dream, and nothing more.
How that dream has changed. At first glance, the former stockboy would seem to be the wrong kind to be trying to go where no Canadian man has gone before. Too small, too late, too country – the labels are peeling off him, seven years after landing here, four years on from representing mother Russia in Turin, and just two years removed from finally getting his Canadian citizenship.
Now comes this chapter in a story made for Hollywood – at 29 years old, Babikov heads to Vancouver wrapped in the Maple Leaf, in search of Canada’s first men’s cross-country ski medal. A chunky welterweight barely topping 5-foot-7 amid cross-country’s long-striding bigfoots, no one is selling him short this time.
“You can see in his skiing this year how much more comfortable he is than last year,” says national team coach Inge Braten. “Last year he was just new and there was some nervousness. He’s more comfortable. He’s settled, and has a family and son here. He feels safe.”
This is perhaps the central point to be drawn from the long, strange journey of Ivan Babikov. Young Alex Harvey, at 21, has the requisite pedigree, grooming, long strides and VO2 max capacity to be a future star at multiple Olympics. But the undersized, unconventional Babikov has an equally good shot to end the medal drought here and now.
“He puts himself into situations any Canadian skier would look at and say – no way,” says Team Canada roommate Devon Kershaw. “We call him Bulldog.”
It’s the heart pumping inside the 150-pound Babikov’s chest that has most impressed his Canadian teammates. On the final day of last year’s Tour de Ski, a 10-day series of races around Europe, Babikov and Kershaw, as virus knocking both of them over, staggered hacking and wheezing out to the start of the 10-km race without so much as a 30-second warmup.
Babikov won the race, surprising even himself, and prompting Kershaw to greet him afterward with hearty congrats and a question: “How the hell did you do that?”
“I mean, I was 22nd and thought that was pretty good,” he says now. “This guy was in bad shape.”
Babikov’s take: “Maybe somewhere deep in my mind I was waiting for that last race, and when I got sick there was an anger in me that this fine race I’d looked forward to wasn’t going to happen. It seemed to give me superhuman strength.”
But this is a story of genes and upbringing, too – a Komi thing, as his mother says, something that comes with life in a province where the Arctic is just above and the Urals near to the east. Growing up in the river port of Pechora, 1500 kilometres northeast of Moscow, Babikov had skis strapped on at three years old, and he’s never really stopped. Like his father Sergey, a high school principal, and like his grandfather, a woodsman and a native Komi, who did it to put dinner on the table, he skied – farther north than Yellowknife, it’s what you do for eight, nine months of the year.
But he was also a runt. And at age 13 his father died suddenly of a heart attack. After a decent junior career, Babikov’s dreams of representing Russia stalled. His sister Susanna moved to Canada in 1998, and Babikov followed.
“He came here with no intention of skiing – just to start a new life,” says Tatiana, now an accounting administrator in Toronto. “(The Russian ski team) made him think he was nothing, because he didn’t get as high up as they wanted.”
But the itch was still there. Babikov did some weekend races, then moved out to Canmore, Alta., a centre of cross-country in this county. Pretty soon he was competing again on the Continental Cup circuit, part of a team, his trademark hard climbs on the toughest hills separating him from the rest and earning him some money.
“I’d see him after races, he wouldn’t even stop – it was grab the cheque, put some warmups on, jump into the Subaru, drive to the nearest bank and deposit the winnings into an ATM so his wife back in Russia would have it,” recalls Kershaw. “He chased races everywhere.”
Even, as it turned out, back to Russia. When the citizenship chase dragged on and a 2006 Winter Games berth for Canada was no longer possible, Babikov found himself in the best form of his skiing life. The Russian Olympic trials beckoned. He weighed out the pieces of his heart in Canada – frustrated—and in Russia – deeply conflicted. He went. He qualified.
“I grew up in Russia, so it was pretty big for me,” he says. “(But) I realized I missed Canada, that it was where I should be. I was the foreigner. I wasn’t Russian anymore. I wasn’t really welcome on the team.”
His best of three Turin races was a 13th-place finish, not good enough for the Russian coaches, who left Babikov off the relay team. “It was a disaster,” says Tatiana. Back in Canmore, where at least his wife and son had relocated, he regrouped and waited for Canadian papers that weren’t finalized until December 2007. It would be another 13 months before his Canadian team debut due to world ski federation eligibility rules. Through it all, Babikov kept his outlook positive and his training maniacal.
“They’ll say ‘you’re crazy, why do you do that?’” he says. “To me, it’s normal.”
In Vancouver, he will contest the full cross-country menu – the 15km skate, 30km pursuit, team relay and the 50km classic. The relatively flat course doesn’t suit him and there will be pressure – “I know that, and I do get nervous,” he says. Braten actually thinks that Babikov’s peak Olympics may be the next one, at 2014 in Sochi, given his relative lack of top-level World Cup experience. Then there are the many unforeseen things that can go wrong – weather and wax, injury and illness.
Same as it ever was, right?
“Nothing has come easy for him, and nobody believed in him before,” says Tatiana. “He was always fighting even when there were no great results. I think, for a long time, he was the only one who believed in this. This will be huge.”
"Near-podium finish for Canada's Babikov"
(excerpt from CTVOlympics.ca)
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Canadian cross-country skier Ivan Babikov was less than three seconds away from a podium finish on Sunday in the final stage of the Tour de Ski in Val Di Fiemme, Italy.
Babikov crossed the line in a time of 33 minutes, 52.4 seconds, nine seconds off winner Lukas Bauer of the Czech Republic, and good enough for fourth place in the 10-km race.
Sweden's Marcus Hellner was second, while Jean Marc Gaillard of France won bronze.
Bauer's win Sunday also gave him the overall Tour de Ski victory, finishing ahead of favourite Petter Northug of Norway in the standings. Dario Cologna of Switzerland was third overall.
Babikov's fourth place finish is the best result for a Canadian at this year's Tour de Ski, an eight-stage, 10-day event that wrapped up on Sunday.
The final stage is one of the most difficult races on the circuit, starting in a stadium and ending with a 425-metre climb to the finish line at the top of Alpe Cermis.
"I am pretty satisfied, but I do think I was giving mercy to myself and I could have taken a little bit more pain," Babikov said in a release. "I just tried to keep fighting the whole time and never give up. I tested myself to the limit and passed as many people as I could so I have to be satisfied."
The Russian-born skier, who now lives in Canmore, Alta., led all Canadians in the overall standings with a 9th place finish, his best-ever in the Tour de Ski.
"Gutsy Babikov Glides to Glory"
by Vicki Hall, Calgary Herald
January 10, 2009
Good thing Ivan Babikov fought off the temptation Sunday to call in sick and eat ice cream for breakfast, lunch and supper to soothe his screaming sore throat.
The transplanted Russian-born skier battled through a brutal case of the common cold last weekend to become only the second Canadian man to win World Cup gold in cross-country skiing.
"I was stunned," said Jack Sasseville, who coached Canada back in 1987 when Pierre Harvey won his first of three World Cups. "The race he won is the toughest World Cup race there is. It doesn't get any tougher than that.
"The Finns have a word, sisu. It means--and I use a rough translation here--guts. This guy has a lot of guts. He has a lot of sisu."
The Italian course certainly requires guts with the final push a 425-metre climb to the top of Alpe Cermis. But Babikov has never been one to take the easy route. On the trails. Or in real life.
"We were going up in the downhill area," Babikov said sounding weary upon returning to his adopted home of Canmore. "It was really hard, but I like uphill skiing.
"So I just kept going and tried to pass as many guys as I could."
Babikov crossed the finish line and mentally ranked his performance as OK, but nothing spectacular.
"I was surprised," he said. "They told me I had the best time, and I couldn't believe it. I thought they were joking or something."
No joke. Babikov won gold in the 11-kilometre pursuit, the final of seven stages of the rugged Tour de Ski.
"When I got on the podium there, it was the best moment," he said. "It felt pretty good. It's not the Olympic Games, but it's still something to start off with, you know?"
Indeed. According to Sasseville, Babikov's victory carries the same significance as Beckie Scott's stunning performance at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
The Vermillion, Alta., native shocked the world by winning bronze in the five-kilometre pursuit, In doing so, Scott become the first North American woman to ever step on the Olympic podium in cross country.
The IOC later upgraded that bronze to gold after winner Olga Danilova and runner-up Larissa Lazutina were disqualified for drug use. Four years later, Scott and teammate Sara Renner, of Canmore, captured silver in the team sprint. Newcomer Chandra Crawford, also of Canmore, won gold in the women's sprint.
No Canadian man has ever won an Olympic medal in cross-country skiing. But Sasseville senses change in the air. After all, Babikov won gold Sunday. On New Year's Eve, Devon Kershaw seized bronze in the 15-km classic double pursuit race at the Tour de Ski.
"When we look at cross country in Canada, we think Sara Renner, Becky Scott and Chandra Crawford," Sasseville said. "We never thought the men even had a chance at winning. We thought they didn't have a hope.
"But this shows the Canadian men in cross-country skiing have the opportunity-- and the ability--to win in Vancouver."
Babikov competed for Russia at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
He considered himself a Canadian, but had no passport to back that up. So he finished 13th in the 30-km pursuit on behalf of Russia. All along, he battled resentment from teammates and coaches who thought he belonged in Canada.
They had a point. After all, Babikov moved to Toronto in 2003 to be with his sister and,
hopefully, pave the way for his wife and son to move to Canada.
Babikov hails from the mining city of Syktyvkar, in northwest Russia where it snows close to 300 days a year.
"Not far from the North Pole," he said. "Lots of snow and not much to do. Only ski."
From an early age, Babikov saw his time on the trails as a full-time career to feed his family--not a hobby to take his mind off things on weekends.
"It's a mining town," said Sasseville, who has visited the city of 250,000 as a commentator for CBC-TV. "It's the ghetto of Russia, and he wanted to make a better life for his family."
Upon first arriving in Canada, Babikov worked as stock boy in the frozen-foods department of a Toronto grocery store.
Perhaps the cold made him feel more comfortable.
"In the ice cream section," he said. "That was an experience."
From there, Babikov moved to Can-more to ski and, hopefully, make the 2006 Canadian Olympic team.
Didn't happen, but not due to lack of ability. His citizenship hit a snag thanks to the time spent abroad skiing and visiting his wife and son in Russia. After much haggling, he finally became a Canadian citizen just one year ago in Calgary.
"Yeah, I sang the national anthem," he said. "Did the whole thing."
He hopes to sing the national anthem again on the podium in 2010.
After winning in Italy, he knows that he's not just dreaming some impossible dream.
"I guess it means I'm capable to get there one more time," he said. "Or maybe many more times. It gives me confidence."
With confidence comes expectation. From his country. And from himself.
"For sure it's going to be lots of pressure," he said. "We're the home country now.
"In one way, it helps you because you're on home snow. You know all the trails. You know the people treating you and helping you out.
"On the other hand, it's pressure. You've got to do well. But after the gun goes off and the race starts, you just don't think about it. You just think how to ski well and how to be the best."
For this week, anyway, he is the best.
vhall@theherald.canwest.com
© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
