Nominate David Norris to US Ski Team 2021-2022
Nominate David Norris to US Ski Team 2021-2022
The Issue
David Norris has been one of the fastest and most consistent distance cross country ski racer in the United States for the past decade. During the last few years he proved he can race with and beat some of the best skiers in the world with 3 top-20 results at the 2019 and 2021 FIS World Skiing Championships. In the past 3 years David has achieved 12 top-30 individual World Cup results, 75% of which landing him as the first US skier.
It is long overdue for David Norris to be nominated to the US Ski Team. His humble attitude has allowed him to persevere through the frustrating oversight of the US Ski Team. This petition was not organized or started or encouraged by David Norris, but is a grassroots movement from many athletes in the US skiing community who want to see the best and strongest athletes properly recognized and represented by our governing body.
It is important to note that David Norris suffered from Covid-19 in the fall of 2020, stopping him from being able to accept his World Cup starts in the first half of this past race season. It is also important to know that 7 of the 21 athletes nominated to the 2022 US Cross Country Ski Team were selected using discretion having not qualified based on objective criteria. There is a specific clause in the "2022 US Cross Country Team Nomination Criteria" about discretionary selections to the team. It states: "... the staff may consider any factors including ... Illness or injury during the selection period."
It is without a doubt that David's circumstance would fall in this category. Without racing for half a season during an already shortened season, David could not get the FIS points or results needed to meet the objective criteria. Even with his recovery from Covid-19 he went on to having an incredibly successful season with a 17th (30km skiathlon) and 16th place (50km classic) at the 2021 FIS World Skiing Championships, being the 2nd US distance skier in each race.
"The men just had the best international relay result since 2002. For an organization that trumpets their “team” aspirations it is hypocritical to not recognize the significance of that result. The best relay team countries have 6-7 athletes that can get into the World Cup distance top 20. We have only 3 men that did this last season and one isn’t being named to the team?" - Kris Freeman, 4 time US Olympian for Cross Country Skiing
Some may point to David's age as not being worthy of "medal-winning potential": one of the pinnacles of the US Ski Team selection criteria. The data shows the opposite. Many current male distance skiers peak in their mid 30s: Martin Sundby, 34 at time of Gold Medal World Championships 2019; Sjur Røthe, 32; Didrik Tønseth, 30; Hans Holund, 32; and Dario Cologna, 35; Andrew Musgrave, 31; and Andrey Larkov, 31 for example. The US Ski Team alone has shown that athletes in their 30s can succeed at the highest level. David Norris is on a path similar to Rosie Brennan, who just achieved her first World Cup win this past season at the age of 32. Kikkan Randall won an Olympic Gold Medal at the age of 36. It would be wrong to think that David is peaking now, and the US skiing community and his fellow teammates deserve to see what he can do being a supported member of the US Ski Team.
The Issue
David Norris has been one of the fastest and most consistent distance cross country ski racer in the United States for the past decade. During the last few years he proved he can race with and beat some of the best skiers in the world with 3 top-20 results at the 2019 and 2021 FIS World Skiing Championships. In the past 3 years David has achieved 12 top-30 individual World Cup results, 75% of which landing him as the first US skier.
It is long overdue for David Norris to be nominated to the US Ski Team. His humble attitude has allowed him to persevere through the frustrating oversight of the US Ski Team. This petition was not organized or started or encouraged by David Norris, but is a grassroots movement from many athletes in the US skiing community who want to see the best and strongest athletes properly recognized and represented by our governing body.
It is important to note that David Norris suffered from Covid-19 in the fall of 2020, stopping him from being able to accept his World Cup starts in the first half of this past race season. It is also important to know that 7 of the 21 athletes nominated to the 2022 US Cross Country Ski Team were selected using discretion having not qualified based on objective criteria. There is a specific clause in the "2022 US Cross Country Team Nomination Criteria" about discretionary selections to the team. It states: "... the staff may consider any factors including ... Illness or injury during the selection period."
It is without a doubt that David's circumstance would fall in this category. Without racing for half a season during an already shortened season, David could not get the FIS points or results needed to meet the objective criteria. Even with his recovery from Covid-19 he went on to having an incredibly successful season with a 17th (30km skiathlon) and 16th place (50km classic) at the 2021 FIS World Skiing Championships, being the 2nd US distance skier in each race.
"The men just had the best international relay result since 2002. For an organization that trumpets their “team” aspirations it is hypocritical to not recognize the significance of that result. The best relay team countries have 6-7 athletes that can get into the World Cup distance top 20. We have only 3 men that did this last season and one isn’t being named to the team?" - Kris Freeman, 4 time US Olympian for Cross Country Skiing
Some may point to David's age as not being worthy of "medal-winning potential": one of the pinnacles of the US Ski Team selection criteria. The data shows the opposite. Many current male distance skiers peak in their mid 30s: Martin Sundby, 34 at time of Gold Medal World Championships 2019; Sjur Røthe, 32; Didrik Tønseth, 30; Hans Holund, 32; and Dario Cologna, 35; Andrew Musgrave, 31; and Andrey Larkov, 31 for example. The US Ski Team alone has shown that athletes in their 30s can succeed at the highest level. David Norris is on a path similar to Rosie Brennan, who just achieved her first World Cup win this past season at the age of 32. Kikkan Randall won an Olympic Gold Medal at the age of 36. It would be wrong to think that David is peaking now, and the US skiing community and his fellow teammates deserve to see what he can do being a supported member of the US Ski Team.
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Petition created on May 10, 2021