Saanich’s Amelia Wells is set to race in her second under-23 nordic world championships this week in Slovenia.
Wells will represent Canada in Planica, Slovenia at the 2024 International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) Nordic Junior/U23 World Ski Championships taking place from Feb. 5 to 11.
After that, she will head to Minneapolis, Minn. to compete in FIS Cross-Country World Cup races on Feb. 17 and 18.
Wells graduated from Reynolds Secondary School in Saanich and is a product of Victoria’s Canadian Sports School, which offers split-day school programs for student-athletes.
She is now in the health sciences program at the University of Calgary, and was a recipient of Nordiq Canada’s Ski to School scholarship for combined academic and athletic excellence in cross-country skiing.
A member of the Strathcona Nordic Ski Club, Wells also represented Canada at last year’s Junior/U23 World Ski Championships in Whistler, before taking on her first World Cup races later in the winter.
She is the only athlete from Vancouver Island to have ever been nominated by Nordiq Canada to compete in a FIS World Cup competition.
She has already competed in several World Cup races this season in Sweden, Finland and Norway.
The events in Slovenia will include athletes from over 30 countries, and competitions will include three nordic disciplines — cross-country skiing, nordic combined and ski jumping.
Wells and the rest of the Canadian Junior/U23 World Ski Championship team flew to Europe in late January to train in Austria before heading south to Slovenia on Feb. 1.
ALSO READ: Strathcona Nordics skier to compete in Cross-Country World Cup
