Tom Stephen started cross-country skiing when he was five years old. Back then, he had no idea one day he would be skiing for Canada at the Olympics. On Friday, Stephen was officially named to the Canadian Olympic team. Stephen says it’s a great feeling. “It’s crazy. It doesn’t even feel real still, but I’m super excited,” said the 23-year-old. “It’s a sense of relief because I’ve put in so much hard work over the last couple of months. “Even before that—the last years of my life—so it feels like it’s paid off.” Big win in Vernon, B.C. Stephen secured his spot by winning the 10-kilometre interval start classic race at the Olympic Winter Games trial at SilverStar in Vernon, B.C., on Sunday. Stephen says it tested him. “Going into it, I was incredibly nervous,” said Stephen. “I hadn’t done any really hard efforts or skiing because I had been dealing with a bit of a back issue the past month, so I was just getting back into the swing of things and wasn’t sure where I stacked up. “When I finished and I had heard that I won, it was a very emotional and exciting moment.” Balancing skiing, education Obviously, skiing is very important to Stephen, but so is education. He’s a full-time engineering student at the University of Calgary. Stephen says he enjoys doing both, and despite being busy, it’s beneficial to him. “Having the school aspect, for me, helps with my skiing,” he said. “It gives me something else to distract myself with, so if I have a bad training session or something goes not the way I want, I can just do more school that day or take my mind off things that way.” Olympic goals As for Olympic goals, Stephen admits he hasn’t even thought about that yet. “I’ve just been thinking about getting there and haven’t thought about what my goals are once I’m there,” he said. “I think this next week I’m going to try to do some internal thinking and come up with some goals and some things I want to come away with at the Olympics because I have no idea where I stack up.” Stephen also owns a small business called Nordic Up, which makes ski stands for better ski storage. Also on the Olympic team is Canmore’s Xavier McKeever. He’s the son of Olympians Milaine Theriault and Robin McKeever and the nephew of Canada’s most decorated winter Paralympian, Brian McKeever.
