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2011-2012 a year to remember

Canadians rake in medals and make history on World Cup stage
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globe trotters Members of the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team celebrate two Crystal Globes and the Nations Cup title two weeks ago in France. Photo BY Canadian Freestyle Ski association

If the 2014 Winter Games were held tomorrow there's a good chance that Canada could beat the global record of 14 gold medals that it set in 2010, and our best Games performance ever.

It's been an extraordinary year for Canada's winter athletes, with a medal haul that's second to none. And while the glory was overshadowed by tragedy at times — the deaths of national team athletes Sarah Burke and Nik Zoricic cast a long shadow — 2011-2012 is one for the record books.

Freestylers make it seven in a row

The Canadian Freestyle Ski Team entered the season with low expectations. Most of the senior aerials team had retired and Olympic champion Alexandre Bilodeau and veteran Kelly Richards were taking the season off. Aerials World Champion Warren Shouldice has also been sidelined with a head injury since December.

And yet the team coasted to it's seventh consecutive Nations Cup title on the World Cup circuit. Mikael Kingsbury made the podium every event this season and won eight gold medals (13 in total) to take the men's Crystal Globe for moguls, while Olivier Rochon — who was sidelined last season — earned his first World Cup medals ever (five podium appearances plus a win) and jumped consistently enough to take the Crystal Globe for aerials.

Justine Dufour-Lapointe finished her season with a gold medal and placed second overall in the women's moguls standings with eight medals to her credit.

Add Phillippe Marquis' four medals, Chloe Dufour-Lapointe's two medals, Audrey Robichaud's two medals and individual medals from Marc-Antoine Gagnon, Cedric Rochon, and Alexandre Bilodeau, the moguls and aerials teams combined for 37 medals.

The other events in the sport, halfpipe and slopestyle, are still underway this season but Kaya Turski has won every slopestyle competition she's entered this year and Rosalind Groenewoud leads the Association of Freeskiing Professionals (AFP) halfpipe standings with wins at X Games and European X Games. Noah Bowman is ranked third on the AFP circuit with a silver medal at X Games.

Ski Cross depth shines through

The Canadian Ski Cross team and the World Cup season ended early this year with the death of racer Nik Zoricic leading to the cancellations of the last two races of the season. It was a tragic finish for what was otherwise an inspiring year for the team.

The season started with bad news and more bad news. Olympic champion Ashleigh McIvor and Julia Murray, second in the 2011 World Championships, were both sidelined as a result of knee injuries from the previous season. Kelsey Serwa, the World Champion and Canada's top racer last season, joined them on the sidelines in January, but not before she won two gold medals to kick off the season.

Whistler's Marielle Thompson, the only member of the senior women's team left standing, built on her top five results from last year to earn her first podium, a bronze medal, at the first race of the season. From there she just exploded, winning five more medals including three gold, to take the overall women's Crystal Globe.

The men's team didn't have a single skier to rally around with all of the athletes contributing. Brady Leman placed second overall in the standings with two gold medals and a silver; Chris Del Bosco won X Games and three World Cup podiums; Whistler's David Duncan, who was on and off the snow with injuries, earned two medals; Zik Zoricic and Tristan Tafel both added medals as well.

The team came away with the overall Nations Cup Crystal Globe.

Canada an XC powerhouse?

There's never been a season like this one for the Canadian Cross Country Team with five different team members winning medals and Devon Kershaw placing second overall in the men's standings — the highest placing ever for a male athlete, tying the mark set by Beckie Scott in 2006. The total metal haul was 14, or probably triple the team's next highest tally.

Kershaw earned six medals in World Cup races, including two gold medals, a silver and three bronze.

Alex Harvey won his first World Cup race and picked up silver and bronze medals to rank sixth overall.

Len Valjas, in his third year with the team, won his first three medals — one silver and two bronze.

Chandra Crawford returned to the podium for the first time since she developed ankle issues before the 2010 Games, earning a silver and bronze.

Perianne Jones teamed up with Crawford to win her first bronze medal in the team sprint.

The team placed sixth overall among nations in the standings, the team's highest finish to day, while the men's team was fourth.

Alpine skiers make history

The Canadian Alpine Ski Team had a bit of encouraging news at the start of the season as athletes began to return from the team's long injury list, but after that it was months before the team would break through and reach the podium. There were a few fourth and fifth place finishes however, and from the beginning it just seemed like it would be a matter of time.

Downhill World Champion Erik Guay was the first skier to break the ice with a silver medal on Jan. 28, which kicked of a streak for the team. By the time the streak was over the team would have six medals and a lot of World Cup points. Jan Hudec was on the podium twice, winning gold and silver; Guay was on the podium twice winning silver and bronze; Benjamin Thompson was on the podium once, winning a silver.

The women's technical team also had a huge season with Erin Mielzynski winning a slalom race — the first slalom win by a female athlete in over 40 years — while Marie-Michele Gagnon earned her first World Cup medal in slalom winning a bronze.

The total of seven medals is far from the team's highest, but was the best team performance in years.

Maltais, Ricker lead snowboard team

The national snowboard program is in a bit of a flux with some teams doing well and other teams — particularly halfpipe — getting nudged aside in terms of funding due to the low medal return.

The highlight of the World Cup season was Dominique Maltais winning the Crystal Globe in snowboardcross with four medals, one of them gold, plus the X Games title. Squamish's Maëlle Ricker —on the comeback trail from injuries — was a close second in the standings with three medals, two of them gold, while defending her title at the Mt. Baker Legendary Banked Slalom for a sixth year.

The men's snowboardcross team struggled with Chris Robanske winning the only medal (a silver) for the men's team.

In alpine snowboarding, Caroline Calve was the big story for the team, winning a race in Italy back in December — the first gold medal for the women's program.

Matthew Morison, who earned four medals only a few years ago, only made the podium once this year.

Canada did well on the pro level this year. Whistler's Mercedes Nicoll finished just off the podium in some top tier pro events, and is 13th in the world on the pro TTR World Tour.

Sebastien Toutant has had a phenomenal season in slopestyle, which is now an Olympic event, with a win at the Burton US Open, and second place finishes at the World Snowboarding Championships, Burton NZ Open and Billabong Ante Up, as well as strong results in other events. Mark McMorris won the O'Neill Evolution big air contest and Burton NZ Open slopestyle, and was third at the Burton River Jump big air. Maxence Parrot, Antoine Truchon and Matts Kulisek have also been doing well in pro contests.

On the women's side, North Vancouver's Spencer O'Brien won slopestyle at the World Snowboarding Championships and O'Neill Evolution, and was top 10 at other pro tour events.

Canadian sliders find the podium

Canadian sliders competing in skeleton, bobsleigh and luge seem to set new records every weekend this past winter, and overall finished incredibly well.

In bobsleigh, Lyndon Rush and Jesse Lumsden placed third in two-man bobsleigh with three medals including a gold medal win at the Whistler Sliding Centre in February. He also piloted a four-man team to a bronze medal in Whistler.

In women's bobsleigh, Kaille Humphries worked with a couple of different athletes this season to finish third in the standings. She was on the podium six times, winning the season opener and all three North American events at Whistler, Calgary and Lake Placid. Helen Upperton also reunited with her Olympic partner Shelley-Ann Brown for the last part of the season, earning a bronze medal in Whistler.

In skeleton, Olympic champion Jon Montgomery took the season off to train, clearing the way for teammates to get in some World Cup experience.

The women's team led the way this year. Mellisa Hollingsworth finished the season ranked third overall, with two gold medals and four medals altogether. Teammate Amy Gough won two medals, gold and bronze, and finished the season ranked sixth.

In the sport of luge, Alex Gough was the woman to watch once again. She finished fifth in the rankings, the highest non-German athlete, and was on the podium three times.

In team relay, the team of Gough, Sam Edney and the tandem of Justin Snith and Tristan Walker, were on the podium twice — they won the first event, and placed second overall after six races.

The others...

Canada also raked in medals and titles in speed skating, figure skating and curling, and won medals in hockey as well. Biathlon athletes at the World Cup level also posted personal best results including a few top 10 results.

Own the Podium said last week that they would be compiling a report for Canada's winter sports that includes all titles, medals, personal bests and other acheivements of note for the season, and how 2011-2012 ranks in Canadian sports history.