The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Misses Olympic bid by one spot
Gunnison Valley resident Rebecca Dussault was one nomination shy of making the U.S. cross-country ski team headed to the 2010 Olympic games in Vancouver this month.
Initially, eight team members, four women and four men, were named. In the ensuing weeks one more woman and one more man were added for a total of 10.
Then, on January 28 the final team was announced and the U.S. Olympic team added one more athlete to the list for a total of 11. That last spot went to the men’s side of the team.
Had they added another woman, Dussault may well have gotten the call-up. The first five women on the team are the first five on the USSA (United States Ski Association) points list, and Dussault is sixth.
Instead she got a different call. Actually, it was a voicemail that said, “I’m sorry, we’re not taking you this year.”
While Dussault admits, “My dreams were Olympic,” she refuses to dwell on the news.
“I’m definitely not going to sit home and mope,” says Dussault. “I gave it my all and I just found a lot of joy in the journey.”
While the U.S. team was busy picking their athletes, Dussault spent the past two weeks dominating the SuperTour series, a series of cross-country races throughout the country, racking up four wins in a row.
She started with wins in the five-kilometer freestyle and 10-kilometer classic races in Minneapolis January 23-24 in the drizzling Midwest rain.
A week later, Dussault headed to Telemark, Wisc. for two more wins in five-kilometer classic and 10-kilometer freestyle races.
The victories put her on top of the SuperTour points series standings and earned her an all-expenses-paid trip to Europe to compete in World Cup races March 2-21.
But before she heads over to Europe, Dussault returns to Telemark to defend her Birkebeiner title on February 27.
Following Europe, Dussault will head east to finish the SuperTour series with the SuperTour finals March 24-29 in Maine.
“We’ve only just begun,” says Dussault. “We’ll see how many races these old legs have in them.”
But that’s just her cross-country competition schedule. Dussault still has some work to do in the upcoming weeks on the winter triathlon circuit.
She left for Norway on Wednesday to compete in the Winter Triathlon European Championships on Saturday, February 6.
Dussault will then stay there to compete in the ITU Winter Triathlon World Championships on Saturday, February 13.
“I hope to come back with the title of world winter triathlon champion,” says Dussault.
As for the Olympic dream deferred, Dussault says, “We’ll have to see if 2014 Russia is in the cards.”
