The fire that once raged inside Adam Kates has come to a sudden flicker as the reality of failing to qualify for the Olympics has forced him to come to grips with his future in the world of cross-country skiing.
The 25-year-old from Sault Ste. Marie is at a crossroads in his career and is seriously considering retiring from the sport and getting on with his life.
“I have struggled to remain motivated both physically and mentally since being released from the national ski program last spring,” said Kates, who spent seven years in the elite program and was the sixth-ranked male skier in the country at the at end of the 2004-05 season. “My goal this season was to prove I wasn’t washed up, even though I was on my own.
“I wanted to make (Olympic) qualifying standards at the World Cup (in Canmore, Alta., and Sovereign Lake, B.C., in December). it didn''t happen.”
His 11th-hour bid to crack the national team, bound for next month’s Turin Winter Olympics, had to combine his being fastest Canadian, and among the top 30 finishers in an elite field of skiers from around the globe, in any of three World Cup races last month.
Kate’s best finish was 53rd in a field of 80 skiers in the 15-kilometre skate, sixth-fastest Canadian.
As well, he was 56th in the 30-kilometre pursuit, seventh-fastest nationally, and 57th in the 30-kilometre classic, 10th fastest in Canada.
Kates now finds himself in a similar position as the Sault''s Jennifer Fratesi, who is also contemplating retirement from competitive swimming after a ninth-place finish at the 2004 Summer Olympics. Like Kates, Fratesi has admitted to losing some of her passion for the sport and hasn''t ruled out retiring altogether.
“I thought I had some decent races but the form just wasn’t there,” said Kates, who competed on the circuit as an independent this season. “I didn’t have the training and competition under my belt that comes with being part of the national program.
“This was the defining year of my career (qualifying for the Winter Olympics) and the desire just wasn’t there from the start. . . . I didn’t want it bad enough.”
Age and team ranking were the catalysts for his release from the national program, he previously stated.
The national team was being restricted to those with a top 30 finish at the 2005 world championships and those aged 22-and-under.
He was sixth-ranked nationally at the time of world championship qualification but only five travelled to the event and he was three years above the age limit.
He admits the competitive fire’s been dying since his release from the national program, which included five international assignments in Europe through the years.
“I didn’t train as seriously as in the past and in the end my results were not up to previous standards,” said Kates, who through September had only put in one-third of the snow training he had the previous year with the national program.
“I still enjoy skiing, I always will, but competition at this (world-class) level has lost its appeal the time has come to consider other avenues in life.”
The Sir James Dunn graduate, who has relocated to Thunder Bay, has university degrees in education and English and will be applying for a full-time teaching position next year.
He’ll compete on the Ontario circuit for the next couple months in preparation for the eight-day national championships in Thunder Bay, beginning March 5.
“It would be great to go out with a bit of a bang,” said the son of Paul and Wendy Kates, who has claimed 15 medals through the years at the national championships, including eight junior gold.
“I am not walking away from the sport. . . . I am stepping back. I am competitive enough that I believe I can still finish among the top five in the country on any given day.”
