Comox skier the newest golden Olympic star
Comox skier wins Island’s first medal of 2018 Winter Games
Cassie Sharpe of Comox won the gold medal in the women’s halfpipe final at Phoenix Snow Park at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea. She was the first Vancouver Islander to win a gold medal at a snow event in the Winter Games. Marie Martinodof France took the silver medal, while Brita Sigourney of the U.S. captured the bronze.
All those countless morning-tonight hours Cassie Sharpe of Comox spent growing up on the slopes of Mount Washington have paid off in the biggest way possible on the biggest stage in sports.
Sharpe, 25, won the gold medal Tuesday in South Korea in women’s ski halfpipe at Pyeongchang 2018 to become the first Islander to win an Olympic gold medal in a snow event at the Winter Games.
She follows up Victoria hockey player Jamie Benn’s gold medal from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. “I’m so excited,” Sharpe said. Sharpe was totally on form and nailed jump after jump to record a commanding score of 95.80. The best score of three runs in the final is taken. Sharpe was the final skier because she led Sunday’s qualifying rounds. When silver-medallist Marie Martinod crashed on her final run, the gold medal was Sharpe’s. Brita Sigourney of the U.S. captured the bronze medal.
“Because if you do well through [qualifying], you can [compete] last, and it’s your victory lap,” Sharpe said.
“It’s the best feeling in the world. I didn’t realize how emotional I was going to be at the top. My coach hugged me and I was about to cry. It doesn’t feel real, yet. So much hard work has gone into this. I’m elated.”
Sharpe is known as a front-runner. If she starts boldly, she rarely lets up, and that was evident on her golden morning.
“On my first run, I just really wanted to land. That’s like my biggest thing for my confidence,” Sharpe told Canadian Press.
“If I don’t land my first run, I have a hard time coming back from that. So I just really wanted to land my run, and then after that, I was OK.”
There were 10 family members from the Comox Valley cheering Sharpe on to gold in South Korea, including dad Don and mom Chantal. Cassie said it wasn’t going to feel real until she saw her family, so she made her way over to them and grasped her dad and mom in long bear hugs.
“Hello, Cassie Sharpe’s dad,” said Don Sharpe, upon answering the phone Monday slopeside in Pyeongchang.
“It was so emotional. We had a group hug and a group cry,” said Don Sharpe.
“This is crazy. We never expected this. We told Cassie we were happy and proud she had made it here and to have fun.”
Cassie Sharpe did more than just be a girl who wants to have fun. She ripped through the field and left little doubt about who is now the greatest female ski halfpiper in the world. Sharpe had been dropping hints about this stunning breakout by winning two World Cup events this season and last season becoming the first female to land a 720 corkscrew in competition.
It is at moments like this when people hearken back to their roots.
“I told [Cassie’s older brother] Douglas this is what you get for sneaking her onto the slopes at Mount Washington when she wasn’t supposed to be on there,” said dad Don Sharpe, who was director of business operations for Mount Washington for 17 years up to 2017.
The Sharpes story at the Olympics is far from over. Cassie’s younger brother, Darcy Sharpe, was named an alternate for the Canadian team to the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. The 21-year-old from Comox recently won silver at the Winter X Games in men’s snowboarding slopestyle, so having the Sharpe siblings both competing at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics is a strong possibility.
It’s all part of the emerging Olympic success story out of Mount Washington, the Island's lone major ski hill.
A part of that storyline is Spencer O’Brien of Courtenay, who qualified 11th Sunday in the Pyeongchang Winter Games for the 12-boarder women’s big air final, which is set for Friday.
The event is making its Olympic debut and has given the veteran O’Brien a second chance in Pyeongchang after she was battered about by the howling winds in placing a disappointing 22nd in slopestyle earlier in the Games.
Big air seems a daunting proposition physically.
“You start small and work your way up,” said O’Brien, in a statement.
“I’m a total baby and don’t even like jumping off rocks into the water. But you start small and work your way up. Now with the integration of air bags into training has really pushed the progression.”
It’s part of the marketing evolution as the Olympics attempt to appeal to a younger generation used to more edgy sporting pursuits.
“It’s special to me to be part of it,” said O’Brien, the 2013 world slopestyle champion.
“It’s an opportunity I never thought I would get in big air. We never even had women’s big air in my career. Everyone is throwing out all the stops and pushing the limits. I can’t wait for the final. I think it’s going to be an absolute insane show.”