Three Canadians medal as winter sport World Cup action resumes
![ Matej Svancer (centre), Canadian Teal Harle (left) and Birk Ruud, celebrate on the podium after the men’s World Cup free ski Big Air qualification event, in Chur, Switzerland, on Friday.
Christian Merz/AP]()
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Three Canadians hit the podium as World Cup winter sport action resumed this week.
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Freestyle skiers copped two Big Air medals in Chur, Switzerland on Friday as Teal Harle of Campbell River, B.C. took men’s silver and Elena Gaskell of Vernon, B.C. won women’s bronze.
Three Canadians medal as winter sport World Cup action resumes Back to video
Harle completed a triple 1260 safety pulled back from 1440 for 98 points. He was bumped off the top step of the podium by Austria’s Matej Svancer, who scored 99 points. Birk Ruud of Norway finished third with 97.25.
“I feel great. I learned that move last week and hoped I’d be able to land it at this competition,” Harle said.
In women’s action, Gaskell scored 91 points with her first jump of the final round — a switch bio 1080 mute grab — and held the lead until gold medalist Tess Ledeux of France scored 95.25 points in the second run and Sarah Hoefflin of Switzerland grabbed silver with 93.25.
It was the fourth World Cup medal of Gaskell’s freestyle skiing career, which had been derailed for 18 months after knee and wrist injuries required surgery.
“To get back to competing and make it to the podium makes me really proud. I wasn’t expecting it, and it’s such a great motivator for the rest of the Olympic season.”
Megan Oldham of Parry Sound, Ont. finished eighth and Olivia Asselin of Levis, Que. did not advance from the qualifying runs. Max Moffatt of Caldeon, Ont. was fifth, Evan McEachran of Oakville, Ont. ninth and Etienne Geoffroy-Gagnon of Whitehorse 20th in the men’s competition.
SPEED SKATING
Canada’s short track speed skaters emerged with just one medal from Saturday’s finals at the first World Cup of the season in Beijing.
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Courtney Sarault of Moncton won a silver medal in the women’s 1500-metres at the Capital Indoor Stadium, which will be the Olympic venue in February 2022. Both Sarault and teammate Kim Boutin of Sherbrooke, Que. advanced to the A final, but Boutin finished fifth after being pushed to the outside of the track by a skater who was penalized for the infraction.
“I definitely wasn’t expecting this today,” said Sarault. “During the warm-up, I was having a bit of difficulty with my boots and my blades. I was going into the races just planning to have fun, to try to make the B Final and to work on what I have to do tactically. I ended up with a silver medal, so I’m proud of myself for overcoming what I didn’t think I could and I’m excited for what is next.”
Sarault was passed by three Korean skaters in the last lap, then two of the them crashed in the final turn and Sarault outstretched American Kristen Santos by .009 seconds at the line. Gold went to Korea’s Yubin Lee.
Boutin had a tough day all around as she was bounced from the 500-metre quarterfinals with a double false start penalty.
The men’s team also had a disappointing start to the Olympic season as Charles Hamelin of Sainte-Julie, Que and Steven Dubois of Lachenaie, Que. wound up in the B final of the 1,500-metres and Jordan Pierre-Gilles of Sherbrooke was the lone Canadian to advance past the quarterfinals in the 500-metres, finishing ninth overall.
In the relay semi-finals, the Canadian women placed third and advanced to the B final while the men were penalized and did not advance.
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ALPINE SKIING
Val Grenier kicked off the alpine ski season with a solid seventh-place finish in giant slalom action at Soelden, Austria.
Grenier, a 24-year-old from Ottawa, was 1.85 seconds behind gold medalist Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States, but just .55 seconds from a bronze medal.
Cassidy Gray of Squamish, B.C. and Britt Richardson of Calgary did not get past the qualifying run.
The men’s race goes Sunday with Erik Read of Canmore, Alta., Trevor Philp of Calgary and Riley Seger of North Vancouver in action.
FIGURE SKATING
Nam Nguyen was seventh in an 11-man field after the short program at Skate America in Las Vegas, the first stop on figure skating’s Grand Prix circuit.
Nguyen scored 74.32 points and was 20 points off the pace set by leader Vincent Zhou of the United States. Shoma Uno of Japan was second. The free skate goes Saturday night.
The Canadian team of Evelyn Walsh and Trennt Michaud were eighth and last after the pairs short program.
SUMMER SPORTS
And in summer sport action, Kelsey Mitchell of Sherwood Park, Alta. won Canada’s first medal of the Track World Cycling Championships in Roubaix, France on Saturday. She beat teammate Lauriane Genest of Montreal in the women’s Sprint bronze medal final.
“It was great to be back racing and exciting to have both Lauriane and myself in the finals,” said Mitchell. “It’s never ideal having to race against each other but she raced well and I was happy to walk away with the bronze.”
The women’s Team Pursuit squad placed fourth, while Hugo Barrette finished ninth in the men’s Keirin, his best result at a world championship.
Meanwhile, Molly Simpson of Red Deer, Alta. scored a bronze medal at a BMX World Cup in Sakarya, Turkey.
“It was my first World Cup final and I hit it with a third position so I’m pretty stoked about it,” said Simpson. “I just took it one race at a time and just kept it smooth and it went well. It’s just so awesome. I think I’m going to have a piece of cake at home to celebrate once we’re back at the hotel.”
dbarnes@postmedia.com
Twitter.com/sportsdanbarnes