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Alexander Maycock represents Canada at 29th Winter Universiade

April 4, 2019   ·   0 Comments

By Mike Baker

With a sharp intake of breath and eyes fixed firmly upon his target, Orangeville’s Alexander Maycock was ready.

Knees slightly bent, hands grasped around his ski poles, the local teen sprang into action as the Men’s Individual Sprint qualifier got under way at the 29th Winter Universiade, held in Krasnoyarsk, Russia last month. 

The biennial tournament is hosted by the International University Sports Federation (FISU) and brings more than 2,500 of the world’s top student athletes from over 50 countries together in one location for 11 days of sporting competition. Events featured include alpine skiing, biathlon, cross-country skiing, curling, figure skating, ice hockey, short track speed skating and snowboarding. 

Alexander is one of Canada’s brightest skiing prospects. Now in his second year at Nipissing University in North Bay, Mr. Maycock was selected as one of the top six male under-25 skiers in the country and, as such, tasked with representing his country on the international stage.

“I’d known for a while that I would be competing at the Universiade, so I had a lot of time to prepare myself, both mentally and physically,” Alexander told the Citizen this week. 

With the games taking place in the heart of Siberia, the 16-person skiing team had quite the journey on their hands to even made it there. Krasnoyarsk is 8,903 kilometres away from Toronto. It took 16 hours across three different flights, but they eventually made it.

It was the first time Alexander had left the country without his family. Upon arriving in Krasnoyarsk, he noticed, immediately, how different things were on the other side of the world. The Siberian city, Alex says, is stricken by poverty, with a lot of the homes and buildings he saw en route to tournament’s very own athlete village in various states of disrepair. 

Contending with a 12-hour time zone difference, the team had only a couple of days to adjust to their new surroundings before going up against some of the very best young athletes in the sport. Alexander participated in the Universiade’s Opening Ceremony, something he says opened his eyes to the seriousness and importance of the occasion. 

“This was my first time being involved in anything like this. It really felt like a mini-Olympics to a certain extent,” Alexander recalls. “There were a couple thousand athletes there in the village, state of the art facilities, people to help us out with whatever we needed. It was really professional event.”

He competed in five events across 10 days at the Winter Universiade. He placed 26th overall in the 10-kilometre Individual Final on March 3, 79th overall in the 10-kilometre Men’s Pursuit Final on March 4 and 58th overall in the 30-kilometre Mass Start Men’s Final on March 12. He also recorded a 26th placed finish competing alongside a female teammate in the Mixed Team Sprint qualifiers. 

In what was his best performance of the tournament, Alexander finished 19th overall in the Men’s Individual Spring Final – the best finish amongst all Canadian athletes competing in the event. He clocked a time of two minutes and 50 seconds in the 1.5-kilometre sprint, just nine seconds shy of eventual gold medalist, Russian prospect Alexander Terentev. 

“That event was, without a doubt, the toughest, competition-wise, I’ve ever raced in. It’s easily the biggest level of skiing I’ve ever seen up close and in person,” Mr. Maycock said. “The top guys here all participated in the World 23 Championships – they’re the best of the best. To compete alongside these guys, be able to watch them, it showed me what I need to do to push myself to the next level.”

For Alexander, it’s mostly about having the confidence in yourself to compete on the grandest stage. At just 19 years of age, he was one of the youngest competitors to qualify for the skiing events. After securing a top-20 finish in, arguably, his best event at such a young age, Alexander says that’s all the motivation he needs to push himself to be even better for the next Winter Universiade, to be held in Lucerne, Switzerland in 2021.

“Knowing that I can ski with these guys and compete with some of the best up and coming skiers in the world today gives me a great deal of confidence. I was really happy with my speed at this competition – knowing that I’m only 19, and have a couple of years to build my fitness and my strength, I know I can still push myself to another level,” Alexander said. 

While there wasn’t a medal forthcoming for anyone on the Canadian skiing team, Team Canada came away from the 29th Winter Universiade with five medals. The top team, by far, was the host nation, with Russia winning 120 medals. The next best total was put up by South Korea, at 14. 

While the event itself is now over, the memories and experiences will live with Alexander for the rest of his life. Having had a taste of high end competition, racing on Olympic-level terrains, he has his eye on competing in next year’s Alpine Skiing World Cup, with several races expected to be announced in North America. Looking long-term, Alexander harbours dreams of cracking Canada’s Olympic skiing roster.

“That’s a long-term goal for sure. Representing your nation at the Olympics is probably every athlete’s dream. But, for that to happen, I need to continue maintaining my consistency in my training and my performances. I need to continue trusting my coaches and putting together plans that we believe in and take it all one year at a time,” Alexander says. “I need to be the best that I can be every season. If I commit myself to that, who knows what the future holds.”

For more information on the 29th Winter Universiade, or to check out full results, visit www.fisu.net/sport-events/winter-universiade.

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