Canada’s Ivan Babikov fought his way into the top-10 in a 15-kilometre skate-ski World Cup race at the Canmore Nordic Centre on Friday afternoon. George Grey, of Rossland, B.C., also had a solid race as the only other Canadian cracking into the top-20. The 2006 Olympian, who won a Canadian team time trial last week, finished in 17th spot at 35:04.0.
Babikov, known as a “Bull Dog,” for his pain tolerance, powered his way up the grueling hills of the five-kilometre skate-ski loop to finish as the top Canadian in 10th spot with a time of 34 minutes 47.7 seconds.