Mirela Rahneva, Skeleton

Age: 28 Hometown: Ottawa The Skinny: Definitely Canada’s rookie of the year in winter sport, Rahneva has turned heads in her first season on the World Cup circuit. A wedding planner by trade, Rahneva has four medals — including one gold — in seven tries. She is extremely quick off the start and expected to climb even higher up the standings once she has more driving experience on the different tracks. Rahneva is best known for her work ethic, as she often puts in 14-hour days at Winsport’s Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, training for the first half and toiling in the catering department for the second half to help pay the bills. A year out from Pyeongchang, Canada is once again a powerhouse in women’s skeleton with Rahneva, Elisabeth Vathje and Jane Channell all in contention for medals. Max Parrot, Snowboard (Big Air, Slopestyle) Age: 22 Hometown: Bromont, Que. The Skinny: At age nine, Parrot went door-to-door marketing his services in lawn mowing to raise money for his first snowboard. His parents thought skiing was safer and tried to throw up obstacles to keep their son closer to the ground. It didn’t work. Thirteen years later, he’s the Winter X Games champion in snowboarding down a steep pitch and launching off a massive jump. Big air, as it’s called, is one of the new additions to the Olympic menu, and Parrot is the star. But if he has an off day, fellow Canadians McMorris, Sebastien Toutant, Tyler Nicholson and Darcy Sharpe are all in the mix for the podium. A Canadian sweep in big air — and slopestyle — is not out of the question in Pyeongchang.