Canadian ski cross double caps haul
Shades of Vancouver 2010 with five gold medals
Anyone wanting to relive the joys of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics need only follow Canada’s athletes on their World Cup tours — the gold rush continues.
In Collingwood on Friday, the Canadian ski cross team had Olympic champion Ashleigh Mcivor on the sidelines with a knee injury, but newcomer Marielle Thompson swept to her first World Cup victory on Blue Mountain. The Canadian men were even more dominant as Brady Leman led Chris Del Bosco in a 1-2 finish made possible by Del Bosco’s incredible move to pass on the finishing stretch.
“I definitely like this track, a lot of air,” Thompson told The Canadian Press. “We Canadians can handle it. . . . We’re good with jumps. It’s a super-fun track all around.”
Also notching a 1-2 Canada finish — late Thursday night in a men’s moguls event in Deer Valley, Utah — were Mikael Kingsbury and Olympic champion Alex Bilodeau. Kingsbury is on fire, matching the FIS freestyle record on the 2002 Olympic course with his sixth straight moguls win.
“I think that was my most satisfying win of my career,” said the 19-year-old.
“In Deer Valley it’s like the Super Bowl of skiing. It’s a hard course, it’s a night event and there’s a huge crowd. I’m so stoked to win here.” Kingsbury matched American Jeremy Bloom’s 2005 record of six men’s World Cup wins in a row. “Jeremy Bloom was my first ski idol,” said Kingsbury, “so it feels so good.” Meanwhile, on the Olympic courses in Whistler, Canada’s skeleton and bobsled teams were also dominant Thursday night. Mellisa Hollingsworth of Eckville, Alta., won skeleton World Cup gold, while Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries and Emily Baadsvik followed up with a gold in women’s bobsled. Teammates Helen Upperton and brakewoman Shelley-ann Brown of Pickering also made the podium with a bronze. Hollingsworth celebrated what she called the most significant win of her career at a track that has plagued her since finishing fifth at the 2010 Winter Games. “I expected to be winning here a couple of years ago and this track has haunted me ever since,” said Hollingsworth. “Today is about redemption and a sense of relief.” Finishing at the top after the first heat brought a familiar flood of emotions that reminded Hollingsworth of the Vancouver Games. “As I was warming up, it felt eerie because it was the same month, same setting sun and same place after the second run as that day in 2010,” she said. “I know that I am my own worst enemy, but I had to block it out and respect the track.”