Weekend Roundup: Hannah Schmidt twice golden and Kingsbury gets redemption gold on home snow
Team Canada athletes are deep into the winter sports season and this weekend saw some thrilling their supportive home crowds.
Hannah Schmidt’s double gold led the haul of five medals for the ski cross team in Nakiska, Alberta while Mikaël Kingsbury bounced back from a rare miss to give the fans in Val St-Come, Quebec the show they were hoping for.
It was also a weekend to remember for ski jumpers Alexandria Loutitt and Abigail Strate as well as for snowboarder Liam Brearley as they achieved career firsts.
Here’s what you may have missed over the past few days:
Ski Cross: Hannah Schmidt cooks up double gold at home
The Canadian ski cross team had a dream-worthy weekend in Nakiska, capturing a quintet of medals (including three golds) at the FIS Ski Cross World Cup.
READ: Back-to-back gold for Hannah Schmidt at Ski Cross World Cup in Nakiska
On Saturday, Hannah Schmidt of Ottawa picked up her second World Cup win of the season (and her career). After navigating her way through physically competitive heats, in the big final she out-skied fellow Canadian Marielle Thompson, who claimed the silver medal. India Sherret and Brittany Phelan made it to the small final and finished sixth and seventh overall, respectively.
The very next day, Schmidt made it back-to-back victories, securing a second gold medal. This time she was joined on the podium by Phelan who captured the bronze medal. Thompson and Sherret advanced to the small final to finish fifth and sixth, respectively.
On the men’s side, Reece Howden captured his 10th career World Cup win on Saturday. That glorious moment came at the same venue where he earned his first World Cup victory in 2020.
Moguls: Kingsbury and Vaillancourt also enjoy some home cooking
There was a Canadian on the moguls podium at the FIS Freestyle World Cup in Val St-Come on Friday night, but it perhaps wasn’t the man most expected. Elliot Vaillancourt captured the silver medal for his second World Cup medal of the season (and his career). He was the lone Canadian in the six-man super final. In a stunning turn of events, Mikaël Kingsbury had crashed on the landing of his first jump in the first round of the final.
But the GOAT didn’t let that result get him down. Kingsbury redeemed himself on Saturday night, winning the dual moguls gold medal. It is his third victory in four World Cup dual moguls events this season.
READ: Kingsbury skis to dual moguls gold on home snow in Val Saint-Côme
“I know I shot myself in the foot [yesterday], but I went back home, did amazing work with my team… I was quite quick in my warmups, so I knew I was going to feel good,” Kingsbury said after his Saturday night win.
The top Canadian on the women’s side was Berkley Brown who finished eighth in moguls and sixth in dual moguls.
Ski Jumping: Loutitt and Strate continue to soar
It was a weekend to remember for Alexandria Loutitt and Abigail Strate in Zao, Japan. On Friday, Louttit placed third in the women’s normal hill event for her fourth individual World Cup podium of the season.
On Saturday, she and Strate teamed up to place second in the super team normal hill event. It is Canada’s first ever World Cup podium in a super team event, which for the women is not currently part of the Olympic program.
READ: Loutitt, Strate find podium at Ski Jumping World Cup in Zao, Japan
Snowboard & Ski Slopestyle: Brearley’s breakthrough leads three podium performances
Liam Brearley captured his first career World Cup victory at the Laax Open, one of the premier events of the FIS Snowboard World Cup circuit. It is his fourth career World Cup podium in snowboard slopestyle. He was joined on the podium by Cameron Spalding who took bronze. Just missing out on his first World Cup podium was Frank Jobin, who finished fourth behind his teammates.
READ: Brearley, Spalding & Moffatt hit slopestyle podiums in Laax, Switzerland
In the women’s competition, Laurie Blouin finished sixth in the slopestyle final. Snowboard halfpipe was also on Saturday’s schedule. Liam Gill finished eighth in the men’s final for his career-best World Cup result.
In Sunday’s ski slopestyle, Max Moffatt offered a solid performance to collect bronze for his fourth career World Cup podium. Canadian teammate Mark Hendrickson also reached the final, finishing ninth.
Speed Skating: A dozen medals for Canada at Four Continents Championships
Team Canada athletes captured 12 medals at the ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Ivanie Blondin stood atop the podium twice on Sunday, first in the women’s team pursuit with Valérie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann as the trio reunited after Weidemann had taken a short break from the World Cup circuit. Blondin closed out the competition with a victory in the mass start. The day before, Maltais and Weidemann had finished 1-2 in the women’s 3000m. Blondin also took home bronze in Friday’s women’s team sprint with Carolina Hiller and Maddison Pearman.
It was on Saturday that Laurent Dubreuil won gold in the men’s 500m. It was his second gold of the weekend, following Canada’s victory in Friday’s men’s team sprint in which he teamed with Yankun Zhao and Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu. Not long after, Connor Howe skated to gold in the men’s 1500m.
There was a double Canadian podium in the men’s 5000m as Graeme Fish and Ted-Jan Bloemen captured silver and bronze. Gélinas-Beaulieu earned bronze in the men’s mass start after teaming up with Howe and Hayden Mayeur for silver in the men’s team pursuit.
Golf: Henderson in top 3 at Tournament of Champions
Brooke Henderson finished third at the LPGA’s season-opening Tournament of Champions in Orlando, Florida. The Canadian golfer put together a string of four straight birdies to shoot 68 on Sunday, leaving her at 10-under par for the tournament and four strokes back of the winner, New Zealand’s Lydia Ko.
Henderson had been the defending champion. This is her 74th career top-10 finish on the LPGA Tour. She had been tied for seventh, sitting six shots back heading into the final round.
Alpine Skiing: Alexander almost conquers Kitzbuehel
Cameron Alexander continued his strong form this season on the toughest downhill course on the FIS Alpine Skiing World Cup. He placed fifth on Friday in the first of two downhills in Kitzbuehel, Austria, finishing just 0.12 of a second off the podium. There had been a inkling that something special might be on the horizon when he was fastest in the first official training run.
Gangwon 2024: Snowboarder Anthony Shelly wins Canada’s first medal
Team Canada’s first medal of the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games came on the first day of competition on Saturday as Anthony Shelly grabbed silver in men’s snowboard cross. The 16-year-old was left a little in shock by the result.
“It’s pretty surprising to me, I have to say. I wasn’t expecting it. I was just like, I want to have fun, really, but it’s very cool… I was like, there’s zero chance that just happened. What?”
In other news, Canada’s mixed curling team has a 2-2 record in the round robin heading into a two-game day on Tuesday.
Competition at Gangwon 2024 continues until February 1.
