Sean Gordon and James Christie

Cross-country skier Alex Harvey may have emerged as one of Canada's more dazzling Olympic prospects, but because of a tiff with his athletic federation he's no longer a member of the senior men's national team.

Instead, the 20-year-old Harvey has been relegated to the developmental or "B" squad over a dispute concerning the team's pre-Olympic preparation schedule and his preference for training in Quebec rather than Western Canada.

Harvey, who is out of the country on holidays and could not be reached, lives and trains in St.-Ferréol-les-Neiges, near Quebec City, rather than at the national team's base in Canmore, Alta.

But Cross Country Canada's coaches want the national team athletes to train together, primarily in Alberta, to prepare for the Vancouver 2010 Games.

The federation stressed the demotion won't affect Harvey's status for the Olympics or the World Cup circuit - he is ranked 26th and won a pair of bronze medals this past winter - or endanger his funding as a national team athlete.

But his father sees it as a needless and unpleasant affront.

"I find it frustrating that we have to fight ... he's the strongest prospect in the country and here we are involved in this ridiculousness," Pierre Harvey, a former summer and winter Olympian who was the first Canadian to win a cross-country World Cup race, told CKAC radio. "These are not professionals."

The elder Harvey said he hopes a compromise can still be worked out and that behind-the-scenes discussions are ongoing.

Louis Bouchard, head of the Centre national d'entraînement Pierre-Harvey, where Harvey trains and which is named after his illustrious father, said it didn't bother the federation last year that Harvey does part of his training in his home province.

"We're happy to go out west, we want to go out west, we just don't want to spend our lives there," said Bouchard, who tartly pointed out that Harvey's training regime has vaulted him to unexpected prominence and shouldn't be tinkered with.

"We have five Anglophone athletes from Western Canada who train here, but I always tell them they shouldn't spend too much time here, away from home, from their network. ... I would expect the same treatment for Francophones that we extend to Anglophones here," Bouchard said, adding "believe me, this is not a fight we want to be involved in."

The downgrade will cost Harvey roughly $15,000 in subsidies for national training camps, Bouchard said, money that will have to be raised elsewhere.

Federation officials indicated they are treading a path between upholding rules and policies of the national team - two absences from a national training camp result in a skier's designation as a development athlete - and in being sensitive to the needs of a young Quebec-based athlete who has Olympic medal potential.

"It comes down to Alex's choice," Cross Country Canada high-performance director Tom Holland said. "We've got an exceptional athlete and we're in a bit of a bind. He's in a Quebec training centre, and it's a centre that we support. He can do that, and we support that centre through our development team strategy.

"But it's an Olympic year and we also need to work together as a team. I've talked to his coach twice today. We're supportive of the work he's doing and want to involve his coach, no matter what team he's on [development or senior]."

Though Harvey is still listed as a senior national team member on the federation's website - the roster was announced on April 27 - he was notified last week of his imminent demotion.

Bouchard, Harvey's long-time coach, said his protégé was sorely miffed at the slight, but won't let it detract from his preparation.

"Look, we have a good relationship, we're all on the same team here," said Bouchard, "that's why this is so hard to understand. I don't know why they would want to get involved in this type of silliness."

It's not the first time Harvey has had a spat with the federation. There were similar squabbles when he was a junior skier.

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