Whistler’s alpine, snowboard and freestyle athletes are coming off a great week of international competition, bringing home World Cup medals and earning personal bests at every stop.
In alpine skiing, Whistler’s Robbie Dixon earned his best World Cup result to date at Kvitfjell, Norway, placing fourth in the super G. Manuel Osborne-Paradis, an alumnus of the Whistler Mountain Ski Club, placed fourth and fifth in two downhills at Kvitfjell.
In snowboarding, Whistler’s Maëlle Ricker won the silver medal in the snowboardcross at Lake Placid, her fifth podium performance of the season. Ricker currently leads the overall women’s snowboardcross standings with 5050 points, 350 points ahead of rival Lindsay Jacobellis of the U.S., with just two events remaining.
Brad Martin, who lives in Squamish and trains in Whistler, won the World Cup halfpipe in Calgary this past weekend, one spot ahead of teammate Jeff Batchelor. Neil Connolly, a Whistler rider who hasn’t competed in a FIS-sanctioned halfpipe in about five years, placed a surprise fourth in his comeback competition. On the women’s side, Whistler’s Mercedes Nicoll was eighth in the halfpipe.
Last but not least, Whistler’s Sylvia Kerfoot won the silver medal in dual moguls at Marienbad, Czech Republic. It was her second medal in nine years of World Cup competition, and first medal since 1999.
It wasn’t a bad week for Canada as a whole, with Canmore’s Chandra Crawford winning the 1.2 km sprint event at Lahti, Finland. Three Canadians also qualified for World Cup biathlon races in Korea, which is a rare showing for the Canadian program.
In adaptive sport, several Canadians also claimed overall World Cup globes — Lauren Woolstencroft in the women’s standing category, Kimberly Joines in the women’s sitski category, and Chris Williamson in the men’s visually impaired category.
Brian McKeever, a visually impaired cross-country skier, also swept the medals at a recent International Paralympic Committee competition in Norway — with the assistance of his guide and brother Robin McKeever.
