Weekend Roundup: Figure skaters nominated for Beijing 2022 plus many World Cup medals
Team Canada athletes were busy over the weekend, winning World Cup medals, claiming national titles, and securing tickets to Beijing 2022 as the countdown to the Olympic Games continues.
Keep reading to catch up on what you might have missed:
13 figure skaters en route to Beijing
READ: 13 figure skaters nominated to Team Canada for Beijing 2022
13 figure skaters will represent Canada at the upcoming Olympic Games, comprised of three ice dance couples, two entries in each of pairs and men’s singles, and one women’s singles competitor.
The team was announced following the conclusion of the 2022 Canadian Tire National Skating Championships, but international performances and results from the past two seasons were also strongly considered during the team selection process. As for what happened at those national championships…
The champions have been crowned 👑
READ: Champions crowned at Canadian figure skating nationals
Keegan Messing won gold by more than 10 points over 2020 Canadian Champion Roman Sadovsky to earn his first ever national title. Both men were named to the Olympic team. Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro put together back-to-back clean programs to win their third straight national title in the pairs event.
Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier danced their way to a second straight national title in the ice dance competition. Teenager Madeline Schinzas dominated the women’s event to win her first national title by 27.59 points.
Back-to-back GOLD for the KING! ⛷
READ: Mikaël Kingsbury wins 70th career World Cup gold in Mont-Tremblant
Mikaël Kingsbury won his 69th and 70th career World Cup gold medals on consecutive days, as his reign in moguls continued on home snow in Mont-Tremblant. Kingsbury posted an impressive 86.24 point performance in the super final on Friday, followed by 85.59 points in Saturday’s final to secure gold. His next World Cup podium will be the 100th of his career.
READ: Mikaël Kingsbury crowned the champion in Mont-Tremblant
ATP Cup Champions 🏆
READ: Canada captures first ATP Cup title
In the final tie at the ATP Cup in Sydney, Australia, Denis Shapovalov and Félix Auger-Aliassime swept Spain 2-0 in perfect fashion to capture Canada’s first title. With the help of Brayden Schnur and Steven Diez, the Canadians will be taking home the hardware after an unbelievable week of tennis on the hardcourt.
Battling to bronze 🥉 in Winterberg
READ: Bobsleigh: Kripps and Stones win bronze in two-man
At the IBSF World Cup in Winterberg, Germany, the Canadian pair of Justin Kripps and Cam Stones claimed two-man bobsleigh bronze on Saturday. Kripps holds onto third place in the overall two-man World Cup standings. In the women’s monobob, the Canadians were kept off the podium with Cynthia Appiah finishing in fifth position, Melissa Lotholz in sixth and Christine De Bruin in eighth.
On Sunday, two Canadian sleds battled to fifth-place finishes, Team Kripps (Kripps, Stones, Ryan Sommer and Ben Coakwell) in the four-man and Christine de Bruin and Kristen Bujnowski in the two-woman. The second Canadian four-man team of Christopher Spring, Cody Sorensen, Mike Evelyn and Samuel Giguere finished in eighth position.
Snowboard cross bronze 🥉
READ: Eliot Grondin wins World Cup bronze in Russia
At the World Cup in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Eliot Grondin won bronze in men’s snowboard cross big final on Sunday. He had a strong showing, winning his heat in each round, including the semifinal. Liam Moffatt finished in ninth. On the women’s side, Audrey McManiman finished in eighth position overall.
On Saturday, Grondin had won the small final to finish fifth. There were two Canadians in the women’s small final on Saturday as McManiman and Tess Critchlow finished sixth and seventh, respectfully.
Riding the slopes in Mammoth Mountain 🏔
READ: Evan McEachran soars to slopestyle World Cup bronze
Some incredible riding went down over the weekend at Mammoth Mountain in slopestyle and halfpipe World Cup competitions. In the ski slopestyle competition on Sunday night, Evan McEachran posted 93 points in his second run and claimed a bronze medal.
During the women’s ski halfpipe earlier on Saturday, Amy Fraser was eighth in the final. On the men’s side, Evan Marineau and Dylan Marineau finished seventh and ninth, respectfully.
The World Cup competition also saw an intense snowboard program. In the men’s snowboard slopestyle final that went down on Saturday afternoon, Canadians Darcy Sharpe (69.60) and Sébastien Toutant (69.18) finished just off the podium in fourth and fifth position respectfully. Mark McMorris finished in ninth position with 61.80 points.
During the women’s halfpipe competition, Elizabeth Hosking finished in fifth position overall after posting a final score of 72.60 on Saturday night.
Many top 10s on alpine snow ❄️
At the FIS Ski World Cup in Kranjska Gora, Slovenia, Valérie Grenier narrowly missed the podium and finished with a giant slalom career-best fourth-place finish. Teammate Britt Richardson jumped into 22nd, achieving her first World Cup points.
“Really good day,” says Valérie. “I’m really happy with my skiing considering everything. Conditions are really tough and it’s a long hill so it’s not easy. I fought through to the end and I’m happy with the results.”
In the women’s slalom event, Ali Nullmeyer and Erin Mielzynski finished in sixth and ninth place, respectively. Amelia Smart claimed a career best 13th place finish.
