At Sochi 2014, a trio Canadian snowboarders attacked the slopes of Russia in the first-ever Olympic slopestyle and big air competitions.
Their journeys have since greatly differed, but Mark McMorris, Max Parrot and Sebastien Toutant will each be back for their third Games at Beijing 2022.
“The skill is there. And the veteran wisdom and experience is there as well. … You can’t beat that,” said CBC snowboard analyst Craig McMorris, the older brother of Mark McMorris.
In addition to slopestyle and big air, riders will also compete in halfpipe, snowboard cross and parallel giant slalom events. The first medals in the sport will be awarded in women’s slopestyle on Feb. 6, with events running until men’s big air on Feb. 15.
Each event follows a roughly similar format, with qualification runs cutting down competitors ahead of the final.
The majority of Canada’s medal hopes lie in men’s slopestyle and big air. McMorris is a two-time slopestyle bronze medallist while Parrot took silver in the event in 2018. Toutant won big air gold in Pyeongchang.
And yet there’s a feeling of unrealized potential among the trio, who will be joined by 25-year-old Olympic rookie Darcy Sharpe in Beijing.
Entering Pyeongchang, Mark McMorris had just recovered from a near-fatal crash. Even if he wasn’t just happy to be there, the podium appearance was icing on the cake.
The 28-year-old Regina native currently ranks third in slopestyle and fourth in big air, leaving him right on the cusp of an Olympic medal. He won gold in the former while placing fourth in the latter at the recent X Games, though he’s also the reigning big air world champion.
It all means his expectations may be higher than bronze this time around.
WATCH | McMorris lands X Games slopestyle gold:
McMorris sets X Games record with slopestyle gold
14 days ago
Duration 2:04
Canadian Mark McMorris won the snowboard slopestyle in Aspen to set the winter X Games’ record with 21 medals. 2:04
To prepare for Beijing, Craig McMorris said Sebastien Toutant has been snowboarding less than ever.
“But he’s riding better, which I think as you get older is like kind of a little bit of a secret because it’s so counterintuitive. You think you should snowboard every single day, but sometimes when you get older, you don’t need to.”
Toutant, of L’Assomption, Que., crashed out of slopestyle in Pyeongchang, placing last, before rebounding all the way to the top of the big air podium. The 29-year-old currently ranks fourth in slopestyle after a silver medal at worlds. His big air ranking suffered due to the lack of competition.
WATCH | Toutant takes World Cup gold in Calgary:
Sebastien Toutant captures gold in World Cup snowboard slopestyle competition
1 month ago
Duration 2:39
L’Assomption, Que.’s Sébastien Toutant outperformed the field, placing 1st in the men’s snowboard slopestyle event during the FIS Snowboard World Cup in Calgary. 2:39
Then there’s Parrot, who since his Pyeongchang silver has recovered from cancer in time for another Olympics.
“There’s a lot of lessons I can transfer to snowboarding. … I feel in shape. I feel ready. So of course my goal is to go for the gold, that’s for sure. But I’m really happy as well that if I don’t get the gold, I won’t have any regrets,” Parrot said recently.
Parrot was diagnosed with Hodgkins lymphoma just months after the 2018 Games, but following chemotherapy treatment he returned to competition less than a year later.
He says he’ll be more appreciative of his Olympic journey this time.
“Every time I step on my snowboard, I smile twice as [much] as before,” he said.
WATCH | Parrot snags big air silver at X Games:
Max Parrot wins X Games snowboard big air silver in Aspen
13 days ago
Duration 2:07
Max Parrot of Bromont, Que., claims the silver medal in the men’s snowboard big air event at X Games in Aspen. 2:07
Standing in the Canadians’ way is American Red Gerard, the current big air points leader and reigning Olympic slopestyle champion. Craig McMorris pointed to Gerard’s fellow American Dusty Henrickson as “an absolute gold-medal threat.” Norway’s Markus Kleveland also lingers with a top-seven ranking in both disciplines.
On the women’s side, Quebec City’s Laurie Blouin took slopestyle silver in 2018 following a training crash that nearly left her unable to compete.
“Going into Beijing, I just hope I’m not going to repeat what I did in practice, but I want to repeat the medal for sure,” Blouin told CBC Sports.
Blouin, 25, said she’s entering these Olympics the same way she would any other contest. And she’s unbothered by the pandemic-induced restriction on family and friends on site — she didn’t have any in Korea four years ago either, as she says it creates too much stress.
WATCH | Blouin bags slopestyle bronze in Aspen:
World champion Laurie Blouin wins X Games snowboard slopestyle bronze
15 days ago
Duration 3:20
2017 snowboard slopestyle world champion and 2018 Olympic silver medallist Laurie Blouin of Stoneham, Que., won bronze for the second year in a row at the X Games in Aspen, Colo. 3:20
Regardless, she’s excited to be an Olympian once again.
“It means a lot. It’s pretty big to represent your country. It’s nice to wear the Canadian flag and Maple Leaf. I’m proud to be Canadian and proud to ride for Canada.”
The women’s field is deep, with returning gold medallist Jamie Anderson (U.S.) and Anna Gasser (Austria) joined by the likes of Japan’s Reira Iwabuchi and Kokomo Murase.
Halfpipe
International stars should dominate halfpipe discussion — a pair of Americans, in particular.
Chloe Kim burst onto the scene as a 17-year-old in Pyeongchang, winning a worldwide audience with both her tricks on the course and her food-related tweets during competition.
Wish I finished my breakfast sandwich but my stubborn self decided not to and now I’m getting hangry
Kim went on to win gold, following in the footsteps of compatriot Shaun White, “The Flying Tomato” who took gold at 19 in 2006.
White would add two more gold medals after that, and heads into his fifth Olympics in Beijing ranked ninth.
Canada may be hoping for some teenage magic of its own, as 16-year-old Brooke D’Hondt — the youngest member of Team Canada — hits the slopes in China.
Qualifications for both women and men occur on Feb. 9. Women’s medals will be handed out the following day, while the men’s podium will be established one day after that.
Snowboard cross
Eliot Grondin was in D’Hondt’s position in Pyeongchang as the youngest member of Canada’s contingent at 16.
He placed just 36th in his Olympic debut, but Grondin has since evolved into a legitimate medal threat after taking bronze at the most recent world championships and gold at the world juniors.
Grondin, of Sainte-Marie, Que., currently ranks fourth in World Cup standings thanks to two podium appearances.
WATCH | Grondin snares World Cup silver:
Éliot Grondin earns silver in World Cup snowboard cross competition
2 months ago
Duration 4:58
Sainte-Marie, Que.’s Éliot Grondin placed 2nd place in the men’s snowboard cross event at the FIS Snowboard World Cup in Cervinia, Italy. 4:58
Canada’s top performers in the 2018 event, Kevin Hill (eighth) and Zoe Bergermann (13th) will also compete in Beijing.
Canadians had taken medals in each of the previous three Olympics, with Dominique Maltais earning 2006 bronze and 2014 silver around Maelle Ricker’s 2010 gold. Mike Robertson took silver for the men in 2010.
Canada’s Tess Critchlow and Audrey McManiman both currently rank in the top 10.
The women’s races take place on Feb. 9, with the men going a day later.
Parallel giant slalom
Canada has six athletes competing in the event, with four just added following an appeal.
Megan Farrell, ranked 21st among the women, is the country’s best hope for a medal in an event that serves as snowboarding’s answer to alpine skiing.
The entire competition will be played out on Feb. 8.
WATCH | Marie Philip Poulin golden on and off the ice:
Marie-Philip Poulin is golden on and off the ice as Canada’s captain
11 days ago
Duration 2:51
When it really matters, you want Marie-Philip Poulin to have the puck on her stick. The Canadian women’s hockey captain is known for being clutch under pressure, but for her teammates, it’s her golden character that makes her shine. 2:51
NAPA, Calif. (AP) — David Lipsky shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday at Silverado Country Club to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Procore Championship.
Winless in 104 events since joining the PGA Tour in 2022, Lipsky went out with the early groups and had eight birdies with one bogey to kick off the FedEx Cup Fall series at the picturesque course in the heart of Napa Valley wine country.
After missing the cut in his three previous tournaments, Lipsky flew from Las Vegas to Arizona to reunite with his college coach at Northwestern to get his focus back. He also spent time playing with some of the Northwestern players, which helped him relax.
“Just being around those guys and seeing how carefree they are, not knowing what’s coming for them yet, it’s sort of nice to see that,” Lipsky said. “I was almost energized by their youthfulness.”
Patton Kizzire and Mark Hubbard were a stroke back. Kizzire started on the back nine and made a late run with three consecutive birdies to move into a tie for first. A bogey on No. 8 dropped him back.
“There was a lot of good stuff out there today,” Kizzire said. “I stayed patient and just went through my routines and played well, one shot at a time. I’ve really bee working hard on my mental game and I think that allowed me to rinse and repeat and reset and keep playing.”
Mark Hubbard was at 67. He had nine birdies but fell off the pace with a bogey and triple bogey on back-to-back holes.
Kevin Dougherty also was in the group at 67. He had two eagles and ended his afternoon by holing out from 41 yards on the 383-yard, par-4 18th.
Defending champion Sahith Theegala had to scramble for much of his round of 69.
Wyndham Clark, who won the U.S. Open in 2023 and the AT&T at Pebble Beach in February, had a 70.
Max Homa shot 71. The two-time tournament champion and a captain’s pick for the President’s Cup in two weeks had two birdies and overcame a bogey on the par-4 first.
Stewart Cink, the 2020 winner, also opened with a 71. He won The Ally Challenge last month for his first PGA Tour Champions title.
Three players from the Presidents Cup International team had mix results. Min Woo Lee shot 68, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., 69 and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., 73. International team captain Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., also had a 69.
Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., had a 68, Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., shot 70 and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., had a 71.
Lipsky was a little shaky off the tee for much of the afternoon but made up for it with steady iron play that left him in great shape on the greens. He had one-putts on 11 holes and was in position for a bigger day but left five putts short.
Lipsky’s only real problem came on the par-4 ninth when his approach sailed into a bunker just shy of the green. He bounced back nicely with five birdies on his back nine. After missing a 19-foot putt for birdie on No. 17, Lipsky ended his day with a 12-foot par putt.
That was a big change from last year when Lipsky tied for 30th at Silverado when he drove the ball well but had uneven success on the greens.
“Sometimes you have to realize golf can be fun, and I think I sort of forgot that along the way as I’m grinding it out,” Lipsky said. “You’ve got to put things in perspective, take a step back. Sort of did that and it seems like it’s working out.”
Laird stayed close after beginning his day with a bogey on the par-4 10th. The Scot got out of the sand nicely but pushed his par putt past the hole.
Homa continued to have issues off the tee and missed birdie putts on his final four holes.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic is moving on to the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open.
The Mississauga, Ont., native defeated the tournament top seed, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) in the round of 16 on Thursday.
Stakusic faced a 0-4 deficit in the third and final set before marching back into the match.
The 19-year-old won five of the next six games to even it up before exchanging games to force a tiebreaker, where Stakusic took complete control to win the match.
Stakusic had five aces with 17 double faults in the three-hour, four-minute match.
However, she converted eight of her 18 break-point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
PARIS (AP) — French judicial authorities are investigating the disappearance of two Paralympic athletes from Congo who recently competed in the Paris Games, the prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Bobigny confirmed on Thursday.
Prosecutors opened the investigation on Sept. 7, after members of the athletes’ delegation warned authorities of their disappearance two days before.
Le Parisien newspaper reported that shot putter Mireille Nganga and Emmanuel Grace Mouambako, a visually impaired sprinter who was accompanied by a guide, went missing on Sept. 5, along with a third person.
The athletes’ suitcases were also gone but their passports remained with the Congolese delegation, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation, who asked to remain anonymous as they were not allowed to speak publicly about the case.
The Paralympic Committee of the Democratic Republic of Congo did not respond to requests for information from The Associated Press.
Nganga — who recorded no mark in the seated javelin and shot put competitions — and Mouambako were Congo’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, organizers said.
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