National Post (National Edition)
Parrot soars right when it counts
Canadian wins first World Cup event of delayed season
Canadian snowboarder Max Parrot picked himself up, dusted himself off, and landed on the top step of the podium in Kreischberg, Austria.
The 26-year-old from Cowansville, Que. opened the long-awaited World Cup season by topping a stacked Big Air field. Despite a second-run fall — he couldn't stick the landing on a frontside, triple cork 1620 Weddle — he went right back to his signature jump and landed it for the victory. He finished with 165 points, one more than Sweden's Sven Thorgren.
“I am super happy about my performance tonight, especially about the fact that I have been able to do the best runs in the qualifications and also in the finals, so that means a lot for me,” Parrot said.
“It wasn't an easy final, I can say, because you know I fell on my second run pretty hard, but I'm really happy I was able to go for it on my third run and land it well and take the win with it.”
The season was delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, and most snowboarders hadn't competed anywhere since March 7 when the X Games were staged in Norway.
Team Kripps put the World Cup bobsled field on notice.
With pilot Justin Kripps at the controls, Canada 1 slid to a sterling silver medal in the first fourman competition of the World Cup season. Through two runs on the tricky Winterberg, Germany track, the Canadians were just .57 seconds behind home country hero Francesco Friedrich, who has also dominated two-man competition this season by winning eight of nine World Cup events.
Wary of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadians spent the first half of the World Cup season training at home.
“This performance is a testament to the team we've built over the last few years,” said Kripps, a 34-year-old from Summerland, B.C. “It shows who we are, to be able to come over here, without sliding hardly at all this year in a challenging training environment during these times, and get on the podium right away.
“This track is difficult because the Germans have a million training runs here and the weather is always terrible. It can also be tricky here because it can catch you falling asleep at the top where there is no speed or pressure, and sometimes you don't pay attention to the details that build what little speed you have for the bottom.”
The other members of Team Kripps are Ben Coakwell from Saskatoon, Ryan Sommer of White Rock, B.C., and Cam Stones from Whitby, Ont.
It was the first World Cup podium for this incarnation of the team, which came together shortly after the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. The team also won a bronze medal at the 2019 world championships.
Kripps and Stones finished fifth in the two-man race in Winterberg. Pilot Christine de Bruin of Stoney Plain, Alta. and Sara Villani of Norval, Ont. were fifth in the two-woman event.
On the Europe Cup bobsled circuit, one step down from the World Cup, Canada's Chris Spring and his four-man crew won an emotional gold medal at Altenberg.
The win came almost nine years to the day that Spring and a different crew were involved in a horrible crash on the Altenberg track. Spring and two team members were seriously injured and spent days in local hospitals.
Spring shared this win with teammates Mark Mlakar of Mississauga, Mike Evelyn of Ottawa and Shaq Murray-Lawrence of Scarborough, Ont.
“Today I learned a great life lesson,” said Spring, who is 36. “If you just keep going, keep showing up, be patient, endure and believe, then you can still surprise yourself even at my age.”
I AM SUPER HAPPY ABOUT MY PERFORMANCE TONIGHT.
Kirsten Moore-Towers and Michael Marinaro, two-time Canadian pairs champions, won the 2021 Skate Canada Challenge on Saturday.
It's a virtual competition held remotely, and stands as the qualifying event for the Canadian Tire National Skating Championships. Currently scheduled for Vancouver next month, the nationals may well be held virtually because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Moore-Towers and Marinaro scored a two-program total of 206.22. Lori-Ann Matte and Thierry Ferland finished second with 172.42, followed by Deanna Stellato and Maxime Deschamps at 170.65.
Moore-Towers and Marinaro skated their two programs more than a month ago at their training rink in Oakville, Ont.