Interview with Justin Wadsworth
Fri, Jun 11, 2010 - By Peter Graves
Bend, Oregon – There are few people in the world of ski racing more upbeat and affable, than former US XC Ski team member, Justin Wadsworth, the newly named Canadian XC Ski Team Head Coach. The 41-year-old Wadsworth was born in the “ski mecca” of La Jolla, California, and developed as an athlete in the Seattle area. He was a three-time Olympian for the United States, and most recently served as a World Cup and Olympic coach with the US Ski Team. He’s the husband of Canadian Olympic gold medalist, Beckie Scott, and lives in Bend, Oregon. During the team’s recent training camp in Bend, we spoke with Wadsworth about his new job, his enthusiasm for it, how the new position came about, and his goals for the future.
Please tell us how you were named as the new Head Coach for Canada’s XC Ski Team?
Justin Wadsworth: I was contacted after the Olympics in Vancouver to discuss a position with the Canadian organization. After quite a long period of discussion, the head coach position started to emerge as one of the options, which I was very excited about.
What are the most important points of your agenda for CCC?
JW: Building a true team, which functions well and has great support not only for the athletes, but for the staff and technical team as well. The key to this is good communication, and an open forward thinking group of individuals. Of course, this is all in place for my real agenda, which is having our athletes winning ski races.
Have you chosen your staff yet?