Canadian Roundup: An extraordinary weekend for athletes
Feature photo: Charles Hamelin celebrates a gold medal in Shanghai on December 12, 2015.
This was an extraordinary weekend.
Top results from the past three days include record-breaking performances and multiple assaults on World Cup standings. Follow the links for more details from each of the teasers below of major accolades from Team Canada athletes everywhere over the last three days.
Moguls
Read: Kingsbury becomes all-time World Cup wins leader
Mikael Kingsbury (left) with women’s moguls winner Mikaela Matthews (right) in Ruka Finland on December 12, 2015 (Photo: Joe Fitzgerald/FIS).
If he wasn’t already, Olympic silver medallist Mikaël Kingsbury can now officially lay claim to being the best-ever moguls skier in FIS World Cup history, winning his 29th career title on Saturday in Ruka among two Canadian medals from Finland.
Ski cross
Read: Double podium for Del Bosco in Val Thorens
Chris Del Bosco (right) flies through the air in Val Thorens France, on December 11, 2015 (Photo: GEPA Pictures for FIS).
Chris Del Bosco is on top of the FIS men’s ski cross World Cup standings after finishing first and third at two events in Val Thorens, France, leading an exciting two days for Alpine Canada’s ski cross racers.
Bobsleigh
Read: Humphries and Lotholz win another World Cup gold
Kaillie Humphries and Melissa Lotholz race down the track in Konigssee, Germany at a World Cup event on December 11, 2015.
Double Olympic champion Kaillie Humphries won her second bobsleigh race of the season in three races with brakeman Melissa Lotholz on Friday. Humphries leads the BMW IBSF World Cup standings as the top female pilot as the tour moves from Germany to North America.
Long track speed skating
Read: Long track skaters leave Heerenveen with four medals
Alex Boisvert-Lacroix in the first of two 500m World Cup races over the weekend in Heerenveen, Netherlands on December 11, 2015.
Alex Boisvert-Lacroix solidified his charge for the 500-metre ISU World Cup overall title with a pair of podium finishes this weekend in Heerenveen, where Speed Skating Canada won four medals. Next World Cup stop is in Stavanger, Norway from January 29 to 31.
Short track speed skating
Read: Eight medals for short track team in Shanghai
Valerie Maltais after winning a World Cup 1000m final in Shanghai, China on December 12, 2015.
Olympian Valerie Maltais got on the podium three times – twice individually, once for gold – at the ISU World Cup in Shanghai, where the short track team from Speed Skating Canada took home eight medals. Skaters get a small break for the holidays before going back to training for the next stop in Dresden, Germany from February 5 to 7.
Figure skating
Read: Weaver and Poje golden in Barcelona
Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje on the podium after winning the ice dance title at the Grand Prix Final in Barcelona on December 12, 2015.
Ice dancers Kaitlyn Weaver and Andrew Poje were golden at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Barcelona on Saturday, a day after Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford had their nine-competition winning streak broken with a silver medal in pairs.
Snowboard and freestyle ski
Read: McMorris top Canadian at Dew Tour
Mark McMorris led the Canadian contingent over the weekend in Breckenridge, Colorado where he won the men’s slopestyle. Fellow Olympian Spencer O’Brien took second place in the women’s competition among the four podium spots Canadians won in snowboard and freestyle skiing.
Race walk
Read: Dunfee wins, breaks 34-year-old Canadian record
Evan Dunfee in the 20km Toronto 2015 Pan American Games race walk on July 19, 2015.
At a race walking championship in Australia – an event that doubled as an Olympic time qualifier – Evan Dunfee won and broke the 34-year-old 50km Canadian race walking record in three hours, 43 minutes and 45 seconds.
Fan favourite
Read: Mark de Jonge wins fan vote
Mark de Jonge at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games.
It’s not a competition result in the athletic sense, however fans voted to award Olympic medallist and double world champion kayaker Mark de Jonge title of Air Canada Athlete of the Year.
