Four years of sacrifice and hard work are set to pay off this weekend as Courtney Shmyr prepares to skate with Speed Skating Canada at a World Cup event.
The 22-year-old is no stranger to representing her country — in the past five years, she has spent two seasons with the junior national team and another pair of seasons with the national development team — but this will be her first go with the senior national team.
Shmyr and her teammates are in Salt Lake City, Utah for an ISU short track World Cup event, which runs Nov. 7 to 9.
“I am nervous but excited as well,” she admitted. “It is going to be a great event and I will learn lots.”
There is another World Cup event the following weekend in Montreal.
Shmyr was named to the Speed Skating Canada squad based on her fifth-place finish at a World Cup trials event held in September.
“It was my goal to make the World Cup this year,” she said.
“I was so nervous for (the trials) but I just stayed relaxed and told myself to have fun with it.
“I wanted to skate really well to show them that I can do it. I was just staying positive the whole weekend and for me to come fifth, I thought that was a big accomplishment.”
Competing at the World Cup events will allow Shmyr the opportunity to test herself against the world’s best in the sport as she works toward the ultimate goal: representing Canada at the Olympic Games, hopefully in 2018.
A big reason for her success is her coach Maggie Qi.
“She is a great coach, we have a great relationship,” Shmyr said.
“She is pretty much a second mom because she needs to know everything (about me).
“You need to have that close relationship with your coach in order to excel.”
Chasing her dream is not without sacrifice — both for Shmyr and her family.
Her parents — who are still married — are living a province apart to help their children chase their dreams.
Her mom and one brother, Cayden, relocated to Calgary where the youngest of the siblings plays hockey for the bantam AAA Calgary Bisons program.
Another younger brother, Braylon, is in Brandon playing in the Western Hockey League with the Wheat Kings.
A third brother — Tyler, the eldest — remains back in Langley with their father.
All four were involved in short track speed skating with the Langley Blades Speed Skating Club.
“I give a lot of dedication and time to my sport because I know my parents worked so hard for this,” Shmyr explained.
“They do it for us, they want us to excel in our sports and academics.
“This is for everyone, not just me.”
Shmyr moved to Calgary after graduating from Walnut Grove Secondary in 2010.
She trains twice a day — both on and off the ice — as well as video sessions, while taking classes at the University of Calgary. Shmyr is hoping to get into the education program.
That has meant missing plenty of things that others may take for granted in their lives.
“There are a lot of challenges. I miss birthdays, I miss weddings,” she said.
“My nephew was born in March and luckily, the trials were at home so I got to see him when he was one week old. But I will be missing most of his childhood because I am out here.”
“I just have to do what I have to do to get to where I want to be,” she added.
“I have been doing this my whole life so I know how to balance a social life, I know how to balance training every day, working, going to school, it is like second nature to me.”
Shmyr said the key is to continue putting the work in.
“I just have to train hard (and) make sure I do well at the World Cup fall selection every year so that I can gain experience against all the international competitors,” she said.
