Sport Shorts: Mont Gabriel Scene of Four Canadian Medals
Ste. Adèle, Que.: At 16, Montreal’s Justine Dufour Lapointe became the youngest woman to win a freestyle moguls World Cup gold medal. On Saturday, she won the dual moguls event in Mont Gabriel while iconic teammate Jenn Heil (Spruce Grove, Alta.) took bronze and Dufour Lapointe’s sister Chloe finished 4th.
Large crowds came out to see the action, which featured seven Canadians in the dual moguls finals. On the men’s side, Olympic champion Alex Bilodeau (Rosemère, Que.) won gold in front of cheering fans. He was followed closely by teammate Mikaël Kingsbury (Deux Montagnes, Que.) who took silver, his 3rd medal of the season.
Les Contamines, FRA: In this French resort town, ski cross racer Chris Del Bosco flew right back into top form by winning World Cup gold. Only eight months ago he had knee surgery to repair torn tendons. “I can’t really believe where I’m at,” Del Bosco said. On the women’s side, Kelsey Serwa (Kelowna, B.C.) continued her impressive season with a silver medal. Serwa now leads the women’s ski cross standings.
L’Alpe D’Huez, FRA: Last Wednesday, Kelsey Serwa won gold in World Cup ski cross here on a challenging course. Last year she also won gold at L’Alpe D’Huez. Olympic teammate Ashleigh McIvor won bronze. Chris Del Bosco was the top Canadian man in 5th.
Wengen, SUI: In World Cup slalom action, Mike Janyk narrowly missed a medal by finishing 4th. The Whistler native posted the 2nd-fastest time of the second run in his best alpine event. Calgary’s Brad Spence was 13th, Julien Cousineau (Lachute, Que.) was 17th.
Igls, AUS: Despite a nagging foot injury, skeleton racer Mellisa Hollingsworth reached the podium Friday at a World Cup here. The native of Eckville, Alta. won bronze, the 25th medal of her stellar career. Her bruised foot has hampered Hollingsworth’s ability to defend her overall World Cup title from last year. Calgary’s Darla Deschamps, in her first World Cup appearance, raced to 5th overall. Amy Gough (Abbotsford, B.C.) was 8th.
Melbourne, AUS: Vancouver tennis star Rebecca Marino won her opening round match at the Australian Open Monday, 6-2, 4-6, 6-3 over Junri Namigata. The 20-year-old will face French Open champion Francesca Schiavone on Wednesday. Frank Dancevic (Niagara Falls,
Ont.) fell 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 to Richard Gasquet in his 1st round match.
Liberec, CZE: In cross-country skiing, Chandra Crawford (Canmore, Alta.) and Daria Gaizaova (Banff, Alta.) turned in a 5th-place performance in the sprint relay here. The duo won bronze in the event earlier this season.
Igls, AUS: In bobsleigh, Calgary’s Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown (Pickering, Ont.) just missed a medal, finishing 4th. Heather Moyse, (Summerside, P.E.I.) returned to action after a leg injury, reuniting with Calgary’s Kaillie Humphries, with the pair finishing 8th.
Austin, TEX: Canadian swimmers won three gold medals at a U.S. Grand Prix event here over the weekend. Vancouver’s Haylee Johnson won two of them, in the 100- and 200-metre breaststroke. Veteran Brent Hayden (Vancouver) won gold on Sunday in the 100-metre freestyle race, outdueling four-time Olympic champion Ryan Lochte. Hayden broke the 50-second barrier in his 1st race of the season.
Victoria: Canada’s men’s water polo team is off to the 2011 World Championships thanks to a gold medal in the UANA Cup tournament here last Thursday. Canada went undefeated against Brazil and Argentina.
Oberhof, GER: Alex Gough made a tiny mistake in her 1st run and finished 13th in luge. She is a three-time medallist this season. Teammate Arianna Jones was 18th. Later, Gough teamed with Sam Edney and doubles duo Justin Snith and Tristin Walker to finish 7th in the team relay.
