Weekend Roundup: Team Canada celebrates historical podium moments
Cassie Sharpe and Simon d’Artois both took home a Crystal Globe, Justin Kripps drove to a historic bronze medal finish, and Team Canada continued to top podiums around the globe for another fulfilling weekend.
Freestyle Skiing
READ: Freestyle Ski: Cassie Sharpe wins halfpipe gold, Simon d’Artois silver at worlds
After the FIS Freestyle World Cup in Mammoth Mountain, California on Saturday, Team Canada is bringing home two Crystal Globes, one from Cassie Sharpe and one from Simon d’Artois.
In the ladies halfpipe competition, Cassie Sharpe performed close to perfect to earn herself a gold and her second consecutive Crystal Globe.
After her first run, Sharpe was in second place. Then for her grand finale, she added in a number of 1080’s to attain a score of 95.60.
The silver medal was claimed by Estonia’s Kelly Sildaru with 87.40 points and Kexin Zhang took home bronze (82.20).
In men’s freestyle halfpipe, Simon d’Artois earned a silver medal and overall, finished on top to earn a Crystal Globe. He was in first place after his final run with a score of 93.80, yet Birk Irving from the United States put up a 95.20 to advance past d’Artois. Thomas Krief from France earned bronze (86.60).
Bobsleigh
READ: Team Kripps claims bronze at bobsleigh World Championships
READ: Silver for Kripps and Stones at the IBSF World Championship in Whistler
A home crowd encouraged Justin Kripps alongside Cam Stones, Benjamin Coakwell and Ryan Sommer to sprint to a bronze medal in the 4-man bobsleigh at the IBSF World Championships in Whistler, British Columbia.
This is the first time in 12 years that Canada has reached the four-man podium at the highly-classified event in a non-Olympic year.
Kripps also previously won silver in the two-man race. Therefore, in the 78-years of the sport’s existence, the bronze medal from Sunday allows Kripps to be the third driver ever to win medals in both the two-man and four-man races during the same World Championship.
Germany claimed the top position with a time of 3:21.33, and a team from Latvia earned silver at 3:21.62.
Short track
READ: Short track: Double podium for Boutin and Girard at World Championships
READ: Boutin finishes third in 1000m, Canadians skate to relay bronze at short track worlds in Bulgaria
Canada saw four medals at the ISU World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria.
Kim Boutin had a successful weekend, earning three of the four medals.
Boutin first claimed silver during the 1500m on Saturday. Her time of 2:29.803 put her behind South Korea’s Choi Min Jeong (2:29.741). Russia’s Sofia Prosvirnova claimed the bronze medal at 2:29.843.
On Sunday, Boutin claimed bronze in the 1000m. Her time of 1:29:11 minutes placed her right behind Choi Min Jeong (1:29.187). Suzanne Schulting of the Netherlands made her way past the finish line at 1:28.986 for gold.
For her third consecutive medal, Boutin earned bronze in the ladies 3000m relay with Courtney Lee Sarault, Camille de Serres-Rainville and Alyson Charles. Their time of 4:14.984 put them behind Russia (4:14.353) and Korea (4.13.904).
Samuel Girard is bringing home a silver medal from the 1500m race. Girard’s time of 2:31.685 placed him in between South Korea’s Lim Hyo Jun (2:31.632) and Lee June Seo (2:31.717).
Diving
READ: Meaghan Benfeito doubles the podium at FINA Diving World Series in Beijing
READ: Double bronze for synchro divers at World Series in Beijing
Meaghan Benfeito celebrated a double podium with two bronze medals at the FINA Diving World Series in Beijing, China on Saturday.
In the women’s 10m platform, Benfeito earned bronze with a score of 336.40. At the start of the event, Benfeito’s first dive landed her in fourth place. On her next attempt, she advanced to third and maintained the position behind China’s Jiaqi Zhang (400.05) and Qian Ren (371.20).
Benfeito earned another bronze in the 10m synchro alongside partner Nathan Zsombor-Murray for a 300.96. China finished in first with a score of 346.38 and Russia earned a silver medal with a score of 301.26.
Notably, on the opening day of the event, Benfeito earned bronze with Caeli McKay in the women’s 10m synchro, for a total of three bronze medals at the Diving World Series over the weekend.
Freestyle Skiing: Slopestyle
18-year old Megan Oldham won a bronze medal during the women’s ski slopestyle event at the World Cup in Mammoth California on Sunday.
Oldham scored a 76.15 to finish on the podium. Mathilde Gremaud from Switzerland took home gold with 86.15 points and Johanne Killi from Norway took silver with 79.15 points.
The first-year competitor previously won her first World Cup medal, a silver, in January at the Italy stop.
Snowboard
READ: Derek Livingston captures halfpipe bronze at snowboard worlds in California
For his second medal of the World Cup season, Derek Livingston secured halfpipe bronze at the FIS Snowboard World Cup also in Mammoth Mountain, California on Saturday. His first run of 86.00 put him on the podium. Japan’s Yuto Totsuka claimed gold with a score of 95.75. Switzerland’s Patrick Burgener took home silver after earning a score of 91.75.
Speed Skating
READ: Speed skating: Ted-Jan Bloemen wins bronze in Salt Lake City
Ted-Jan Bloemen skates during the men’s 10000-metre competition at the ISU World Allround Championships speed skating event in Calgary, March 3, 2019. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jeff McIntosh
During the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Salt Lake City, Utah, reigning Olympic Champion Ted-Jan Bloeman earned bronze in the 5000m event. His time of 6:09.645 minutes placed him behind the Dutch with a time of 6:03.706 by Patrick Roest and Marcel Bosker (6:08.904).
