HIGH ACHIEVERS: Reaching FISU Games a ‘crowning achievement’ for nordic skier Stella Duncan

By Martin Cleary

Persistence.

It’s a key characteristic of cross-country skier Stella Duncan, especially when it comes to the athletic side of her life.

Trying to qualify for the Canadian team to the FISU Winter World University Games is a perfect example of how her tenacity finally brought her to her first major international championship.

The fourth-year University of Calgary biotechnology student-athlete actually qualified for the FISU Games in 2021 in Lucerne, Switzerland, but they were cancelled because of the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic.

When it was time for the Canadian team trials for the 2023 FISU Games in Lake Placid, New York, she was forced to withdraw because of illness.

As her university eligibility was winding down, Duncan, who lives in Chelsea, PQ, struck it rich at the trials for the 2025 FISU Games in December. During the Eastern Canadian and Candy Cane cross-country ski championships at the Nakkertok Nordic Ski Club in Cantley, PQ, she was the top university racer in the classic sprint and placed fourth in the women’s 7.5-kilometre interval free race.

A day after the trials, Duncan, who has been a member of the Chelsea Nordiq Ski Club for the past decade but started training and competing last summer with the Rocky Mountain Racers, learned she had finally achieved her main goal this season.

Duncan is one of seven Ottawa and area nordic skiers racing for Canada at the FISU Games in Turin, Italy, which officially started on Monday.

“I was over the moon. It was my crowning achievement,” Duncan exclaimed in a phone interview before travelling overseas.

“There was relief. All my hard work and stress that I felt was worthwhile. It felt really good. It has been a hard season. I’m not one to say that I’m proud of myself. Sometimes, I tend to beat myself down. But this is one thing that I’m really proud of.”

The five days of cross-country ski racing at the Games started Wednesday, but Duncan along with Helen McCulligh (Carleton University and Kanata) cheered from the sidelines.

Sophia Giangrande (Carleton and Whitehorse) and Sienna Brennan-Raab (University of Calgary and Chelsea) finished the women’s 10-kilometre interval free race in 40th and 41st places with respective times of 31 minutes, 41.7 seconds and 31:52.8. Sophie Tremblay (Laurentian University and Ottawa) didn’t finish the race, despite being 62nd with 1.3 kilometres remaining. Izabela Marcisz of Poland was first in 28:08.7.

In the men’s 10-kilometre interval free start, Robin Mason (University of Calgary and Ottawa) was 43rd in 26:09.4, which left him 1:48.4 behind gold medallist Olaf Martin Asserud Talmo of Norway in 24:21.0. Mats Halvorsen (Université Laval and Chelsea) placed 68th in 27:19.2.

Last spring, Duncan’s hopes for a shot at the 2025 FISU Games took a big hit, when she was left off the Alberta World Cup Academy National Training Centre team for this season.

“They completely dropped me with seemingly no explanation,” Duncan explained. “In April, I had no clue who would be my coach and what my season would look like. I had to quickly find a new team, coach and ski team members.”

She reached out to coach Luke McGurk with the Rocky Mountain Racers, who are based in Calgary and Canmore, AB, and solved the issue of having a new coach and club. She spent last summer working as an Amgen scholar student at the University of Toronto, doing research on how certain drugs affect patients with lupus, a chronic autoimmune disease.

“It was an incredible chance to be there (U. of T.), but not the best place to train, if you’re a cross-country skier,” said Duncan, who was nominated by the University of Calgary for a Rhodes Scholarship and has applied for medical school in 2025-26.

She injured herself using an elliptical training machine and she didn’t feel comfortable running or cycling in downtown Toronto.

“I was trying to find different ways to train,” she added. “I worked hard through the challenges.”

Being dropped by the Alberta World Cup Academy also had Duncan thinking about her own cross-country ski career.

“If I didn’t want to ski, it (leaving the academy) would be my way out,” she explained. “I would have more time for school.

“But my overwhelming feeling was I still had lots to give. I wanted to be in control to finish my ski career on a good note.”

The next day, she linked with McGurk.

“He was keen on taking me on and I was grateful he did,” she added.

Duncan said she is guaranteed two races at the FISU Games and is hoping for a third.

“My main goal was just to get there. But now what?” she continued. “If I had fun, felt strong and soaked up the atmosphere … I can put down some good races.

“It’s my first international experience outside the United States and I don’t know how I will stack up. I’ll have fun and give it my all.”

Unfortunately for Duncan, an international, multi-sport competition like the FISU Games comes with a heavy price tag, as it did for all the Canadian athletes. But she was able to cover her cost using her $4,000 high-performance athlete grant from the Quebec government along with personal savings.

“I have been thinking a lot about my future,” Duncan reflected. “I was thinking this might be my last year as it’s my last year of (university) undergrad. At the moment, I’m really enjoying skiing and it would be difficult to let it go.”

If she attends medical school in 2025-26 or takes another academic route, Duncan might approach the start line for national team trials for the 2027 FISU Winter World University Games. Eight countries have expressed an interest in staging the Games.

Why not a second FISU Games? Duncan is driven and determined.

GATINEAU’S CONNOR FRENETTE LIFTS CANADA TO CRITICAL HOCKEY WIN

Forward Connor Frenette of Gatineau earned hero status as he scored two crucial goals to give late-charging Canada an important 4-3 shootout victory over Kazakhstan.

Frenette, the Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières Patriotes’ captain, scored an equal-strength goal with 34 seconds remaining in the third period to force overtime. It was his third goal of the Games.

Colson Gengenbach of the University of Calgary tallied with 54 seconds left against Kazakhstan goalie Jelal-Ad-Din Amirbekov to cut Canada’s deficit to 3-2. Gengenmach has recorded four goals in Turin. Amirbekov faced 57 shots.

After a scoreless overtime period, Frenette scored Canada’s second goal in the shootout, which proved to be the game-winner in the five rounds of penalty shots. Jake Lee of the University of British Columbia gave Canada a 1-0 lead.

Ottawa’s Kai Edmonds, who attends Toronto Metropolitan University, earned his second win for Canada at the Games, stopping 22 of 25 shots.

Canada is in third place in its pool two points behind Czechia and one back of Kazakhstan and is scheduled to finish preliminary play on Thursday against Sweden.