Kershaw gets another shot at Olympic medal

There's more than one Olympic event Sudburians will be keeping an eye on Sunday, the final day of competition.

A few hours before the Canadian men's hockey team go for gold against Sweden, Sudbury's Devon Kershaw will compete in one more race in Sochi.

Sudbury's cross-country skiing star will take part in the 50K Men's Mass Start Classic starting at 2 a.m. Sudbury time. Kershaw, 31, came within 1.6 seconds of winning a gold medal in the event at the 2010 Vancouver Games, finishing in fifth overall.

While he has struggled in Sochi, Kershaw has gotten better and better results as the Games have progressed. He finished 56th (out of 85) in the Men's Sprint Free Qualification on Feb. 11, and three days later, he came in 35th (out of 97 who started the race) in the Men's 15 km Classic. He and skiing partner Alex Harvey finished sixth in the Men's Team Sprint Classic Semifinals on Feb. 19, setting himself up for Sunday's finale.

His best finish in the 2013-2014 season was a second-place finish in the 4.5 km skate-ski final in Oberhof, Germany, in December. Harvey won the race, marking the first time Canada has finished one-two in an elite international cross country skiing competition.

In 2012, he finished second in the World Cup rankings, following up his eight-place finish a year earlier. He's in 46th place overall so far this year.
The 50 km classic will take a little more than two hours to complete, leading into the Canada vs Sweden gold medal hockey game at 7 a.m.

If he takes home a medal Sunday, Kershaw will join the ranks of fellow Sudbury Olympians Rebecca Johnston (gold, women's hockey) and Meghan Duhamel (silver, team figure skating).