Historic podium sweep by Dufour-Lapointe siblings
CALGARY — The three sisters a woke Sunday morning with hoarse voices after a party like none other for the Dufour-Lapointe family.
“I feel like I won the Super Bowl,” Maxime Dufour-Lapointe said groggily over the phone from Montreal. “It still feels so unreal to me.”
The Dufour-Lapointe sisters made history Saturday by sweeping the World Cup medals in Val SaintCome, Que., about an hour north of Montreal. The race marked the first time three Canadian women occupied all three perches on the World Cup moguls podium and the first time three sisters of any nationality finished a World Cup moguls race ranked one-two-three.
In some ways, the sweep proved more special to the family than the Sochi Olympics, where Justine won gold and Chloe seized silver. Off to the side during the medal ceremony, Maxime wept tears of joy for her younger sisters and sorrow for herself as she finished 12th.
This time around, no one was left out. Justine finished the day with a score of 86.49 in the super final.
Chloe wasn’t too far behind with 85.09 and Maxime grabbed third with 80.76.
“To make a sweep happen, you all need to be on top of your game,” said Maxime, 26. “For the three of us all to be top of our game on the same day and nail three runs, one after the other, is quite incredible. And to top that, it was at home in front of our friends and family. “It was just surreal.” The entire family gathered for a celebration dinner Saturday night complete with copious amounts of champagne and toasts from all three sisters thanking their loved ones for support on the journey.
The Dufour-Lapointes believe strongly in not leaving important things left unsaid. “We never know what’s going to happen next, but we’re really appreciating this right now,” Maxime said.
“This moment was perfect and we are so thankful.”
Also on Saturday: Mikael Kingsbury, of Deux-Montagnes, Que., won his 30th World Cup event with gold in the men’s moguls. Laurent Dumais, of Quebec City, reached the World Cup podium for the first time in his career in third place.
Notes: The Canadian men’s relay team turned in the nation’s secondbest relay result ever Sunday with a ninth-place finish at the crosscountry World Cup in Nove Mesto, Czech Republic. Devon Kershaw (Sudbury, Ont.), Len Valjas (Toronto), Graeme Killick (Fort McMurray, Alta.) and Knute Johnsgaard (Whitehorse) combined to break into the Top 10 in the 4 x 7.5km relay. On the women’ side, Emily Nishikawa (Whitehorse), Dahria Beatty (Whitehorse), Cendrine Browne (St. Jerome, Que.), and Maya MacIsaac-Jones (Athabasca, Alta.) combined to finish 12th in the 4 X 6km relay.