Sharpe in demand after Olympic success
Canadian skier reaps residuals of winning gold
Cassie Sharpe gained a boost in popularity this year when she returned from Pyeongchang, South Korea with an Olympic gold medal.
The halfpipe skiing champion was name-dropped in a tweet by Canadian actor and Deadpool star Ryan Reynolds, saw a little girl dressed up as her for Halloween, and even got her face on a pair of socks owned by the prime minister.
Sharpe, who dazzled on the Pyeongchang pipe, nailing jump after jump en route to her first-place finish, gave Prime Minister Justin Trudeau the special socks during a meet and greet at Parliament Hill in May.
The idea originated after the Comox, B.C., skier saw socks adorned with Trudeau’s face on them in a tourist shop in Vancouver and bought them to wear to the meeting.
“I told one of my friends about it and she was like: ‘you should get socks with your face on them and give them to him.’ So yeah, I gave the Prime Minister socks with my face on them,” Sharpe said.
Sharpe took some muchneeded time to herself after years of virtually non-stop training for her Olympic debut. She went to Mexico, Disney World and Japan over a three-month break. Now she’s ready to defend her World Cup points title at her season-opening event at Copper Mountain, Colo.
Sharpe finished first in qualifying for the weekend’s competition with 93.75 points. Fellow Canadian Rachael Karker will also compete in the final after qualifying in fourth place.
While the next Olympic Games is still three years away, Sharpe said she’s not taking it any easier this season.
“I definitely feel the pressure of being the athlete on top,” Sharpe said. “I feel like it’s more performing on demand — like I have to always be on and skiing my best to maintain that spot.”