Ivan Babikov

His teammates call him a bulldog for the way he tenaciously fights to push his diminutive 5-7, 150-pound frame through unforgiving terrain and gruelling uphills, but away from the trails, Ivan Babikov’s sobriquet still fits to a T.

No Olympian at the upcoming 2010 Games will have fought through and sacrificed more to represent Canada as much as the 29-year-old Babikov.

Since emigrating from Syktyvkar, Russia in 2003 – a small town approximately 1,500 kilometres northeast of Moscow – Babikov’s journey over the past seven years has been nothing short of turbulent.

It began with the difficult decision to temporarily leave behind his wife Svetlana and newborn son Sergey to reunite with his mother Tatiana and sister Susanna, whom had arrived in suburban Toronto five years earlier, giving Babikov the opportunity to revive his cross-country skiing career in Canada.

“I’m satisfied with the past few years, and the choices I’ve made. I don’t regret anything,” said Babikov. “I don’t look back, I just look forward. For me, this is like starting all over again, and not many athletes get that chance.”

A second chance, he adds, that couldn’t have been realized without the assistance of others in the ski world – Canmore’s Phil Villeneuve to name just one.

Villeneuve, who invited Babikov to join Team X-C.com – a squad comprised of elite racers not a part of the national program – still remembers the Russian Rocket showing up at his doorstep in the fall of 2003 as though it was yesterday.

“He had no skis, no training equipment, spoke broken English… he was starting from scratch,” said Villeneuve, who took in the skier in limbo for a year-and-a-half. “My job was to find him as many races as I could, and his job was to win so he could support his family. And it didn’t take long for him to start winning every race he entered. He was on a mission… he was a man literally fighting for his bread.”

Since resurrecting his ski career in Canada, Babikov has earned a number of impressive results; first topping the Canadian Points list during the 2003-04 season, then capturing the Super Tour Series title the following winter. He since has collected national titles in three different countries – Canada, Russia and the United States.

No easy act considering during that span he was being turned down for Canadian citizenship in both 2004 and 2005, with the latter erasing any chance of him donning the maple leaf in Torino. He would instead, after calling Canada home for three years, represent Russia at the 2006 Olympic Games.

“It was a super hard time, but I’m excited about how it all worked out,” said Babikov, who would finally receive his Canadian citizenship in December 2007, which he adds has given him confidence moving forward.

“It’s finally happened, and it’s exciting. It has taken many hours and years of training and racing, but it’s an amazing feeling to be able to say I’m officially a Canadian Olympian.

“It’s more exciting to be a part of the team here,” he added. “In Russia, you have no choice but to do what the coaches tell you. Here the team is more like a small family that helps each other and is always there for support.”

With that support, Babikov hopes to become the first Canadian male cross-country skier to medal at an Olympics when he competes in the 15-km skate, 30-km pursuit, 50-km classic and team relay.

“I want nothing more than to win for Canada,” he said. “I had a good racing experience in Torino, and hopefully, with a little luck on my side it can happen.”