Alex HARVEY

Alex Harvey has been on a pair of Cross-Country skis as far as he can remember. His introduction to the sport can be described as a time when he’d glide and ride. At just three years of age, Harveys parents would take him out to the trails in his hometown of Mont Sainte-Anne, Quebec where he’d ski for about 15 minutes before heading into the comfort of a baby glider for the remaining of the day. As time wore on, his passion and endurance in the sport grew. Like most youngsters in his hometown, Harvey spent his leisure time on the trails or alpine skiing until he was 12 years old when he took the first critical step towards following in the footsteps of his legendary father, Pierre Harvey, and pursue an Olympic dream in Cross-Country skiing.

Alex enrolled in a Jackrabbit ski lesson at the Mont Sainte-Anne Ski Club and his development into an elite Cross-Country skier took off. Harvey was progressing through the system as quickly as he moved through the school system. High school brought a new training program as he would balance his days in school with and on-snow training in the ski- études program.

Determined to succeed since his introduction to the sport, Alex has developed into one of the strongest skiers Canada has ever produced. In addition to winning a total of three World Junior Championship medals, Harvey added another chapter to the history books last year when he teamed up with Devon Kershaw to become the first Canadian men ever to win a World Championship medal when they won the gold in the team sprint at the mecca of Cross-Country skiing in Oslo, Norway. Harvey also became the first Canadian to win a gold medal at the Under-23 World Championship when he captured the pursuit title.

… Alex Harvey continues to be a part-time student during his limited free time and enjoys hanging out and spending time with friends – going to movies and listening to music.

… beside his father Pierre Harvey, who was competing in Summer and Winter Olympics (as cyclist and Cross-Country skier), the Harvey family consist of mother Mireille Belzile, who is a sports doctor, and the two sisters Sophie and Laurence.

…“For next year it’s going to be Tour de Ski, but the big goal for me is gonna be Sochi. It’s a big dream to win a medal at the Olympics. That’s the big, big goal for me,“ said Harvey in spring and thought as well about a good Canadian relay team: „With Ivan, Devon and I, we have three strong guys. Ivan was top ten in World Cup this year and Devon was on the podium in Tour de Ski. We also have a new guy, Len Valjas. He is a really strong sprinter but he can ski well in long distance too. Last year he won the OPA Cup race over 15 km. When he is in a pretty good shape and after one more year of training Lenny could be a good guy for the relay team“

...he is a good mountain biker and finished 9th in the Canadian U23 National Championships 2010 in Canmore;

… Website: http://www.alexharvey.ca