SVSEF Gold Team athlete Kevin Bolger to compete in World Cup Davos this weekend

SVSEF Gold Team’s Kevin Bolger is set to compete in the FIS Cross Country World Cup in Davos, Switzerland this weekend, Saturday, December 12 and Sunday, December 13. Saturday’s event will be a Sprint race in skate technique, while Sunday will feature a 10K and a 15K distance race (for women and men’s competition, respectively) in classic technique.  

Bolger, currently in his third season racing for the US Cross Country National Team, looks to put in a solid performance this weekend in his ‘sweet-spot’ event, the skate-sprint (held on Saturday). The Davos course poses an excellent opportunity for Kevin, who hopes to pre-qualify for the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in late February.  
 

“The Davos course is a great fit for Kevin, as he really likes to go full gas in his skating,” Cross Country Program Director Rick Kapala reports, “he is really good on his skis in fast conditions.” Bolger faces a narrower field than normal, as Norway, Sweden and Finland have all withdrawn their teams from December races for COVID-19 concerns.  
 

However, FIS, the World Cup Organizing Committee and the US National Team have put extensive safety policies in place to ensure athlete wellbeing. US Ski Team head Cross Country Coach Matt Whitcomb describes a hopeful experience thus far; the team has remained in a “World Cup bubble” since arriving in Europe over a month ago, undergo regular testing, do not socialize indoors aside from meals, travel only with roommates, and separate newly arrived athletes and staff until they can provide a negative COVID-19 PCR test (in addition to several other measures detailed here, via fasterskier.com).

In anticipation of the upcoming weekend, Bolger writes: “Super psyched to get back to racing after a weekend off from the World Cup. We were able to get in some Time Trials with more-or-less a full World Cup field this past weekend, but it’s going to feel good to get after it in a full event! Life on the road this year is a bit funky, but with the amount of COVID-19 testing and protocols we use, I can’t imagine a safer place to be right now. This team is amazing, we are handling ‘covid’ life as best we can, and we are ready to keep the season rolling!” 

Bolger is a former US National Champion in the Sprint event. In addition to being a member of the SVSEF Cross Country Gold Team, Bolger raced four years with University of Utah’s NCAA Team while pursuing his degree in Sociology.  
 

Stream the event here.