X Games champ Blouin headlines snowboard World Cup
‘I’m just really stoked about my season’
Canadian snowboarder Laurie Blouin has made her mark on the slopestyle scene. Her recent big air success was a bonus.
Blouin will be a headliner at this week’s Jamboree festival as the FIS snowboard and freestyle ski circuits make stops in Quebec City for big air competitions. The Olympic slopestyle silver medallist is enjoying another strong season and riding high after her recent X Games big air title in Aspen. “Just to get there was a dream and to bring back a (gold) medal is unbelievable,” Blouin said. “I’m just super stoked. That just put me in a good mood. I’m just really stoked about my season.”
Her slopestyle results have slipped of late, but she feels she has become more consistent in big air. She won world gold in slopestyle two years ago, but settled for a ninth at last month’s world championship in Utah. The 22-year-old from Stoneham, Que., had a good run at Park City, but a bobble on her first rail proved costly.
“It’s a judged sport and you can’t do anything about that,” she said. “It happens sometimes. It just sucks that it happened at the world champs, but that’s life.”
The finals were cancelled due to high winds, so the qualification round was used to determine the order of finish. The big air competition was scrubbed.
Jasmine Baird, of Georgetown, Ont., and Brooke Voigt, of Fort McMurray, Alta., also cracked the top 10 at the worlds. Voigt will compete in big air this week along with Oceane Fillion, of Saguenay, Que.; Marguerite Sweeney, of Saint-Basile, Que.; Jackie Carlson of Oakville; and Baily McDonald, of Minesing, Ont.
Qualifications are set for Friday and the finals will go Saturday.
The freestyle skiing big air qualifications will start Thursday.
Local favourite Alex Beaulieu Marchand won two silver medals at the X Games and bronze in big air at the world championships. And Philippe Langevin, a native of Mont-Tremblant, Que., is also enjoying a strong campaign.
Megan Oldham, of Parry Sound, Ont., is coming off a World Cup bronze last weekend. Joining her in the women’s field are Yuki Tsubota, of Whistler, B.C., and
Elena Gaskell, of Vernon, B.C.
The Canadian men’s entry list includes Alex Bellemare, of Saint-Boniface, Que.; Etienne Geoffroy-Gagnon, of Whitehorse; Teal Harle, of Campbell River, B.C.;
Max Moffatt, of Caledon, Ont.; Mark Hendrickson, of Calgary; Noah Morrison, of Vernon, B.C.; and Edouard Therriault, of Lorraine, Que.
The men’s teamncludes Toronto’s William Buffey; Francis Jobin, of Lac Beauport, Que.; John MacDougall, of Grande Prairie, Alta.; Calgary’s Carter Jarvis; Nicolas Laframboise, of SteAgathe-Des-Monts, Que.; Liam Brearley, of Gravenhurst, Ont. Calgary’s Mateo Massitti; William Izzard, of Oakville; Julien Cannicioni, of Neuville, Que.; and Jacob Legault, of Saint-Bruno-deMontarville, Que., are also in the field.