Tyson Flaharty

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Nationals and Beyond!!!

I am now planning my big trip for the season after an eventfull early season of racing and cancelations. Yellowstone went well for me and then I had a couple of solid Besh Cup races here in Alasaka. I was perfectly set up for US Nationals in Anchorage and for the races we were able to pull off I was able to ski up to my expectations which was nice....Our National ski championship week turned out to be a bit of a dissaster for many people. The weather was not cooperating and they had to cancel 2 of the 4 races. So for many people it was a waisted trip. I am happy with my performances, I placed 19th in the 10k skate, I was really surprised with the 19th due to feeling so bad the entire race, i just could not go and my legs were not recovering on the downhills, I think if I had a good race I would have been in the top 10 for sure.

As for the sprint race, it could have ended a bit better for me. I had my best qualifier ever with 5th, so it was a great start to the day, I felt good but not increidible. Then in my quarterfinal I was able to ski well and advance to the semifinals where I was feeling a little fatigued and was put into the B final ( so the race for finding places 7-12). In the B final I was in last place in my heat until the final turn where I passed 5 people to finish second, which put me into 8th overall on the day which is 7 places better than I have ever been able to ski in a Nation Championship race. With my 8th place it was good enough to put me on the US team for the Canadian World Cup happeing right now at the Olympic venue in Vancouver. So after I had cooled down and was getting ready to get dinner I get called into the wax bunker and get the bad news. The head TD (Technical Delegate) was waiting for me to tell me that he was going to disqualify me from the race because he saw me skating too much on one of the far corners of my B final. It was like being kicked in the gut after getting what you always wanted. I had virturally made my main goal of the year and that was to qualify to race in the World Cup in Canada and then with one swift move it was all taken away. I went out on the course with the TD so he could show me what I had done and see if I could tell him that I was not skating. He thought I was skating too far around the corner where it may have apeared to be a skate from his point of view, I could not argue with him and I was just really upset, I have thought about that moment in the race quite a bit and still cannot figure out how I could have been skating. I think what he said was skating was me in the middle of a pack of guys going as hard as I could and trying to adjust my douple pole coming out of a corner and my leg was going out a little in a skate motion even though there was no power going into pushing me forward. I am bummed out a bit from that one. I have seen many other peaple skating that day and I know I was not trying to skate in any way. Enough about that....always more races to race and show that I can ski very fast...

So now on to the future plans...: I am heading out January 22nd for a month of racing which will include 7 Super Tour races and one American Birkie, one of the largest 50k races in the world. Davya is joining me for the Birkie which will be fun. I will be gone a month for that trip, it is going to be sweet.

Here are some pictures from Nationals in Anchorage...cold and clear....