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The Canadian cross country team competing at the U23 and Junior World Championships in Planica, Slovenia is still riding a wave of momentum from Yukoner Sonjaa Schmidt鈥檚 historic victory in the U23 1.2 km Sprint Tuesday.

Schmidt finished 14th in the Women鈥檚 Mass Start Free Thursday in a race in which her teammate Lilliane Gagnon came in a strong fifth.

Whitehorse鈥檚 Derek Deuling came in 30th in the Men鈥檚 20 km Mass Start Free.

The Star reached former Cross Country Yukon coach Alain Masson in Planica, Slovenia Wednesday. He was working with the Canadian team there. As a matter of fact, he waxed Schmidt鈥檚 sprint skis with 鈥済lide鈥� wax, which is wax for skate skis, to play his part in the milestone victory.

鈥淵esterday (Tuesday) was well above average,鈥� he said. 鈥淗istorical. It was pretty pretty fun to be there and witness it.鈥�

Masson called Schmidt鈥檚 win 鈥渦nbelievable.鈥�

鈥淥ne in a million chance of that happening especially when you qualify 29th. There鈥檚 only 30 athletes who qualify and move on to the heat. Had she been a second or two slower she would have not even had the opportunity to be in the heats.

鈥淥nce she got into the heat she won her quarter-final, won her semifinal and won the finals, so totally amazing. Surprised everybody, including ourselves, I think.鈥�

鈥淥bviously she was in really, really good shape that day. The course was perfect for her, the features of the course, the type of snow. Had good skis, good wax. You need everything to do something like this. So everything lined up and she put it together.

鈥淕reat tactics. She did the same tactics each time, stayed behind for most of the race until about a few hundred meters to go and then moved to the front and used her speed to win the sprint at the end.鈥�

When asked if he thought Schmidt had the potential to accomplish this, Masson gave a very honest answer.

鈥淣ope. She didn鈥檛. If you ask her, she would have never thought she had the potential to win.

鈥淚t鈥檚 so amazing.鈥�

Masson was asked how far Schmidt can take this.

鈥淎s far as she wants,鈥� he replied. 鈥淪he鈥檚 obviously still improving a lot. She turned 21 in late December. So she鈥檚 super-young by cross country skiing standards. Most people achieve their peak between 25 and 30.鈥�

Masson had some high praise for Schmidt鈥檚 potential.

鈥淪he should be a shoo-in for the Olympics in 2026 if she keeps racing and stays healthy and injury-free. There鈥檚 so many factors but if everything goes her way she definitely can do very well.

As for what this means to Yukon athletes, Masson said, 鈥淚t鈥檚 a great story for other Yukon skiers because it just shows that on any given day, if everything lined up, everything is possible. To other athletes in Canada, in our sport and in other sports it shows that you never know what can happen.鈥�

Masson said he felt privileged to have been able to be part of Schmidt鈥檚 development when she was in the Yukon as a skier in Whitehorse.

鈥淟ast year was a very difficult year, a very challenging year. She wasn鈥檛 nominated to the national team last spring, so very difficult as an athlete. Financially, she had to go tree planting for a few months to be able to generate enough revenue to afford to be a skier and a student.鈥�

Masson thinks Schmidt turned her fortunes around at the Anchorage Winterstart Super Tour Race Series. It ran Dec. 12-17, 2023 and featured the best domestic skiers from the U.S. and Canada.

鈥淪he was racing really well. I think she won one race, was in the top two or three, including U.S. skiers, in a few of the races.

鈥淪he was already qualified for the World U23 but at the trials near Quebec City after new years she also was dominating the races in the senior, so we knew she was in very good shape and things were going well.

鈥淏ut that鈥檚 in North America. It鈥檚 a big step to be competitive internationally.

鈥淏ut things are going well. She鈥檚 healthy. She鈥檚 been racing the best she鈥檚 ever raced. At least from the respect she could expect to do better than ever. I think she was happy just to qualify in the top 30 yesterday (Tuesday) morning. And then really surprised herself to win the quarter. And then use the same tactics and win the semi and then be able to do the same in the final.鈥�

Masson added, 鈥淪he will be a great ambassador for sport in the Yukon. She is already but with this, she鈥檒l be a great role model for anybody to inspire youth, people in the Yukon who participate in high-performance sport and all sports. It just shows that with hard work, perseverance and dedication, amazing things are possible.鈥�

Masson also pointed out that not even great cross country athletes like Beckie Scott or Sara Renner or Chandra Crawford, who all won Olympic medals, did not win U23 or junior medals in their youth.

鈥淭hat doesn鈥檛 mean Sanjaa will go on to win an Olympic medal but it鈥檚 just history making. It鈥檚 a first in Canada so it鈥檚 exciting for the ski community everywhere in Canada.鈥�

The news wasn鈥檛 as good with Masson鈥檚 son Sasha at the U23 Worlds, who skied after Schmidt in the next race.

鈥淭he day before he was fighting a cold and he woke up that morning sick and now he鈥檚 sick so he won鈥檛 get to race the rest of the championships,鈥� related Masson. 鈥淗e鈥檚 frustrated and very sad. But when you get sick in a sport like cross country skiing it鈥檚 no longer possible to participate just because of the fact that our lungs operate at maximum efficiency. If you have any form of infection, it鈥檚 not possible to participate, so he鈥檚 totally devastated but unfortunately, you can鈥檛 control everything and sickness is a part of life, unfortunately.鈥�

Masson said the mood of the team following Schmidt鈥檚 win was 鈥渁mazing.

鈥淲e had a bit of a celebration in the evening following the team meeting. It鈥檚 amazing what it does to a team.

鈥淚鈥檝e been very fortunate because I was around when Beckie Scott won gold for Canada and when Chandra Crawford won gold and when Pierre Harvey won multiple World Championship medals. It鈥檚 amazing what it does to the program and the rest of the athletes and everybody. It鈥檚 contagious.鈥�

Next up for Masson is a holiday in Europe and then he鈥檚 off to finish the World Cup circuit in Finland, Norway and Sweden.

Masson added Schmidt and Sasha will compete in the World Cup events in Scandinavia in March.