The Haywood NorAm YOG Trials/US Super Tour held in Canmore, Alta. from Dec. 6-8 carried extra weight to them. The Friday and Saturday races, a 1.3-kilometre sprint and a classic interval start race, were used to select four skiers, male and female, for the Youth Olympic Games.

The Yukon cross country ski team had two U18 skiers in contention, Sasha Masson and Derek Deuling.

Today, Nordiq Canada officially nominated two women and two men to represent Canada at the 2020 Youth Olympic Games. Both Masson and Deuling made the cut.

Deuling has racked up seven medals in his age group at the Canadian Ski Championships over the last two years.

Masson, the son of two Olympic cross-country skiers (Alain Masson and Lucy Steele-Masson) is ready for his own taste of the Olympics. Masson won bronze in the team sprint and had three top-10 finishes in distance races at the Canadian Ski Championships in 2019.

Matt Smider and Katie McMahon will share coaching responsibilities for the team. Jasmine Drolet, from Rossland, B.C. and Liliane Gagnon, Que., will be Canada's women representatives.

The Youth Olympic Games, held Jan. 9-22, will bring together more than 1,880 athletes aged 15-18 from 70 nations, who will compete in more than 80 events.

Athletes will compete in a skate-ski sprint race (Jan. 18), another skate sprint race that features several technical elements including jumps and turns (Jan. 19), a 5- and 10-kilometre classic-ski event (Jan 21), and a mixed team relay (Jan. 22).