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Maëlle Ricker wins third straight snowboardcross

Anderson, Morison claim gold medals in parallel GS as snowboard racers at the top of their game

While the Canadian halfpipe team has its hands full figuring out a way to top the best American and Japanese riders, the rest of the world has its hands full figuring out a way to deal with the Canadians in snowboardcross and alpine events.

Led by Squamish's Maëlle Ricker and parallel GS racers Jasey-Jay Anderson and Matthew Morison, Canadian racers earned a total of seven medals at the recent World Cup events in Telluride, Colorado. The medal tally put Canada ahead of all nations in the overall World Cup medal count this season.

The parallel giant slalom races took place first, including a make-up event after an early season race was cancelled.

In the first PGS, Ontario's Matthew Morison placed first, earning his first World Cup win in a year. He out-duelled Benjamin Karl of Austria in the final heat, with Mathieu Bozzetto of France taking the silver after his battle against Andreas Prommegger of Austria.

Quebec's Jasey-Jay Anderson finished a solid fifth, while Ontario's Michael Lambert placed a career-best sixth.

Morison came from behind in his semi-final run against Bozzetto, meeting a 0.25 second deficit with a 0.31 gain to take the gold.

"My equipment was going fast," he said. "I don't usually last very long when there are long delays like today. I felt like I was crashing out there, but I just kept on fighting, fighting for every turn. The conditions held up pretty good. Up top, it was still pretty smooth and you could still cheat the line a little bit.

"I don't really know what the key was today. The equipment is getting better and better and thanks to (team trainer) Anthony Findlay I am stronger than I have ever been - and it's showing."

The women's alpine team also had a great day with Kimiko Zakreski winning bronze, the second podium of her career.

"It's kind of a relief as the Olympics are just around the corner and everyone has been asking me 'have you qualified yet?'" she said.

While Morison gave credit to his physical trainer, Zakreski gave the nod to team psychologist Dr. David Cox for helping her to focus before events and deal with pre-race nerves.

"I was so nervous about the race, I couldn't sleep all of this past week. Dr. Cox told me to focus on the riding and not to worry about the results, to take the time to do visualization, to take a few breaths before the runs."

Teammate Alexa Loo was 25 th and Marianne Leeson 30 th to round out the top 30.

In the second PGS event two days later it was Anderson's turn to win the gold medal after facing teammates Michael Lambert in the finals.

"Brilliant," said Anderson. "It's a bit of a change from Tuesday when I was rusty and I couldn't figure out equipment and exactly where I should have been. Finally I figured it out today and everything was going my way."

"First podium and the first time I crack the top five in PGS," said Lambert. "I can't believe it actually happened. Your coaches tell you for years and years, 'just train, just train, just focus, just focus - and one day it'll happen.' Today it happened."

Morison crashed in the qualifier, fracturing his left arm. He will be on the sidelines for most of January but should be back in competitions by the Olympics.

Caroline Calve was the top Canadian woman, placing ninth. Kimko Zakreski was 24 th and Alexa Loo 25 th .

The snowboardcross competitions also went well for Canada. Whistler's Maëlle Ricker faced rival Lindsay Jacobellis in her first heat and came out ahead after the two bumped boards. After that it was clear sailing into the finals where she led from the start to take the gold medal.

"It's lots of fun, everybody is working so hard, our boards were running lightning fast today and I had some quick pulls out of the start which definitely helped me to pick my line and make my way down the course as I wanted to," said Ricker. The Squamish rider now has three consecutive wins to her credit including events last season and this summer's competition in South America.

"My first round was the toughest one when Lindsay and I squared off right away. I had a good start, then she passed me on the flat section, and then we ended up colliding down the course. Luckily I was the one who came out of the collisions, but it's definitely not fun to have lots of contact like that and I hope Lindsay is okay."

Teammate Dominique Maltais also made the finals and finished her day with a bronze medal.

On the men's side Rob Fagan of Squamish finished second, the only Canadian to advance past the semi-finals.

"I'm excited for sure," he said. "I put a lot of pressure on myself for that goal and it seems to be working. This is a big year for me. I'll take second for now, but hopefully I'll take first... come February. I am pretty excited to get closer to the goal of making the Olympic team. Our guys are really good, and it's pretty challenging to make our own Olympic team."

Pierre Vaultier of France won the men's snowboardcross, with Ross Power of the U.S. in third position.

There was also a snowboardcross team event, although the medals don't count towards World Cup or Olympic qualifications. Teams of two race, with the start gate for the second rider opening when the first rider crosses the finish line. Ricker and Maltais were second in their event, while Mike Robertson and Drew Neilson were third in the men's contest.