Gagnon leads alpine skiing women nominated to Team Canada
Photo: Brittany Phelan (L) & Marie-Michèle Gagnon. Larisa Yurkiw was not present at the announcement.
At least three female alpine skiers will join the “Canadian Cowboys” as part of Team Canada at Sochi 2014.
In Québec City on Thursday morning, newly crowned super-combined World Cup gold medallist Marie-Michèle Gagnon was officially nominated to the Canadian Olympic Team, along with teammates Brittany Phelan and Larisa Yurkiw.
Photo: Marie-Michele Gagnon celebrates post-race in Austria.
Gagnon won her first World Cup gold medal at Altenmarkt-Zauchensee, Austria this month, in the process becoming the first Canadian skier ever to reach the podium in the super-combined, and the first from Canada to win gold at a World Cup combined event in 30 years.
Phelan qualified for Sochi in late-December, with an 11th place finish in Lienz, Austria. That gave her the second World Cup top-12 needed to make the Olympic Team. Her first was a 10th place result in Zagreb.
Last week Yurkiw stamped her passport to the Olympics in the same Austrian venue where Gagnon won gold. The skier finished sixth in the downhill, which added to a seventh place she earned in Lake Louise for the necessary requirements.
The three alpine skiing women join Erik Guay, Jan Hudec and Manuel Osborne-Paradis – the Canadian Cowboys – on the Sochi roster.
Qualifications for men and women remain open through January 26.
