Medal-winning skier is Olympic material

Like father, like son.

Well, Jesse Cockney, a 21-year-old Inuit cross-country skier who lives in Canmore, actually surpassed his father’s accomplishments.

Cockney managed to win four medals (three gold, one bronze) at the recent Canada Winter Games, which were held Feb. 12-27 in Halifax.

“Was I surprised?” Cockney said. “No. Happy? Very. The goal was to come away with two or more golds to match my dad’s golds.”

Cockney’s father Angus, who was also a competitive cross-country skier, had captured a pair of gold medals at the 1975 Canada Winter Games in Lethbridge.

As for the younger Cockney, he started off his recent Games’ experience by capturing a bronze medal in his 10 km skate race.

But he then won gold medals in his 1,000-metre skate sprint and 15 km classic races. He capped off his successful meet by anchoring Alberta’s 4x5 km relay team to another gold medal.

Mike Cavaliere, who oversees Cockney’s training as the head coach at the Alberta World Cup Academy, said his skier exceeded expectations in Halifax.

“I was expecting two medals (from him),” Cavaliere said. “But it’s always hard to tell. We had done a fairly lengthy tour beforehand.”

Cockney’s recent travels included a trip to Estonia in late January. There he managed to register his most impressive result of the season. He placed sixth in his sprint race at the world under-23 championships.

Cockney has been skiing since about the age of three. He was born in Yellowknife but moved to Canmore with his family when he was seven.

He has been training at the Canmore-based Alberta World Cup Academy with Cavaliere for the past four years.

“He’s amazing,” Cavaliere said. “He’s so level headed and such a smart guy.”

Though Cockney does work some hours as a night monitor with the Canadian Rockies School District, he has a rather demanding training and competition schedule.
Sometimes he trains twice a day. And this season, which runs from December through April, he’ll attend about 30 competitions.

And it’s not as if he gets much of an off-season. Dryland training each year commences in May.

Cockney is hoping this dedication will land him a spot on the Canadian squad that will participate at the 2014 Sochi Olympics in Russia.

“I think it’s a pretty attainable goal,” he said. “At the next Olympics I’ll be 24 years old. It should be a good time for me then.”

Cavaliere also believes Cockney has what it takes to become an Olympian three years from now.
“He’s on the right trajectory to do that,” he said.

To be considered for the Canadian Olympic squad in 2014, Cockney will have to register some impressive results on the premier international cross-country skiing circuit, the World Cup, in the coming years.

Though he has participated in some World Cup events, he has primarily competed in the senior Nor-Am Cup series, which is considered a step below the World Cup, for the past two years.

A highlight came earlier this season for Cockney when he won a Nor-Am Cup race in Ottawa.

Photo caption: Jesse Cockney  (center) takes part in the 15km mass start classic at Canada Winter Games.