The cross-country skiing World Cup season has begun for Whitehorse’s own Emily Nishikawa. Over the weekend Nishikawa competed in the 15-kilometre skate race in Beitostølen, Norway.

Nishikawa is no stranger to competing on the world stage. She competed in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, where she finished 42 in the 15-kilometre skiathlon. In 2018, she competed at the Pyeongchang Olympics in the same event, placing in 44th position.

Even with her international experience, Nishikawa says she was still feeling nervous before the race.

“I was both nervous and excited for the start of my World Cup season,” said Nishikawa in an email. “It is always interesting to see how your form is at the beginning of a new season compared to the rest of the world.”

Nishikawa came in 34th place in a time of 41:35.5. She says that the result is an encouraging one as she begins the World Cup season.

“This is one of my best early season results on the World Cup, so I’m starting this season at a higher level than I have before,” said Nishikawa. “I was happy with the way I approached the race, thinking about process goals, and not about the outcome. I was able to ski with one of the best skiers in the world for part of the race, so I am happy about that.”

Her next race will be in Davos, Switzerland this coming weekend. In preparation for the next race, she says she has to tweak some minor things to improve further.

“Just refining small technical aspects, and coming into the race rested so I will be ready to have an even better race,” said Nishikawa.

Between races, she says she does not get a lot of practice time. “Not really, we raced on the weekend, travelled on Monday, and we have Tuesday to Friday to get ready for the next weekend.”

The race featured 59 racers from 15 different countries. The course was five-kilometres long and the racers did three laps. The maximum climb the skiers had to face was 49-metres. The total amount of climbing on the course was 157- metres.

“It was a very tough course,” said Nishikawa. “It didn’t have the steepest hills, like some of the other World Cup venues, but it had a lot of gradual sections which meant that you had to be working the whole time. There were no steep downhills to rest on.”

In a Facebook post, she said it was snowing during the race, but that she had great equipment for the race.

“Our team of wax technicians did a really good job of making our skis fast for this race, and we also chose the best pair of skis for the condition to race on,” said Nishikawa, who uses Fischer skis and boots.

Nishikawa was the 42 skier to start the race. She started at 9:51, 21:30 behind the first racer to take the course.

The winner of the race was Therese Johaug of Norway, who won with a time of 37:33.9. Charlotte Kalla, Sweden, and Ingvild Flugstad Oestberg, Norway, rounded out the top three.

Cendrine Browne, from Saint Jerome, QB., was the only other Canadian to race in the event. Browne placed four spots behind Nishikawa in 38th place in a time of 41:50.3. Browne was the 48th skier to begin the race.