Weekend Roundup: First short track gold for Blais, first moguls World Cup podium for Schwinghammer

It was a snowstorm of success for Team Canada athletes this weekend!

There were seven medals won at the third stop of the ISU Short Track World Tour, including a career-first gold for Danaé Blais. Mikaël Kingsbury was back atop the FIS World Cup moguls podium while Maïa Schwinghammer enjoyed a big breakout moment. And among a flurry of fourth-place finishes was Jack Crawford’s amazing start to his alpine skiing World Cup season.

So from snow-covered slopes to icy tracks, here’s a recap of how Canadian athletes left their mark.

Short Track Speed Skating: Blais, Roussel, and women’s relay win gold

Danaé Blais earned the first individual gold medal of her international career on Saturday, leading Canada to four medals on the day at the ISU Short Track World Tour in Beijing. In the women’s 1000m, the 25-year-old went to the front of the pack from the start of the final and held off a late charge from Dutch skater Xandra Velzeboer on the final lap to take the win by 0.039 of a second.

“Winning gold is an incredible feeling! The level of competition is extremely elevated this season, so I didn’t really have the feeling that I was going to reach the top this early on. It’s a tremendous feeling knowing that I have what it takes to become the best,” Blais said.

Blais later joined Kim Boutin, Florence Brunelle, and Courtney Sarault to secure gold in the women’s 3000m relay, keeping Canada atop the World Tour standings.

Canada’s two other medals on Saturday came from William Dandjinou and Steven Dubois, who won silvers in the men’s 1500m and men’s 500m, respectively. Dandjinou has medaled in every 1500m event this season and continues to be leader in the men’s overall classification.

READ: Roussel wins gold as Canada claims three medals on final day of short track racing in Beijing

Three more Canadians won medals on Sunday. Félix Roussel claimed gold in the men’s 1000m for his first individual distance medal of the season. Florence Brunelle earned her first career individual distance medal, claiming silver in the women’s 500m final. Brunelle was joined on the podium by teammate Rikki Doak, who took bronze. Boutin was just behind in fourth place.

Freestyle Skiing – Moguls: Kingsbury wins again, first podium for Schwinghammer

Mikaël Kingsbury is two-for-two on the season after winning the men’s moguls in Idre Fjäll, Sweden. Kingsbury scored 87.92 to beat out two of his top rivals, Ikuma Horishima of Japan (85.89) and Walter Wallberg of Sweden (85.63). If you’re keeping count, that is Kingsbury’s 92nd World Cup win and 131st World Cup podium.

READ: Kingsbury continues winning campaign in Idre Fjäll

In women’s moguls, Maïa Schwinghammer earned her first career FIS World Cup moguls podium, finishing third. Her score of 80.71 put the 23-year-old only behind two standouts: last year’s Crystal Globe winner, Jakara Anthony of Australia (82.94), and reigning world champion, Perrine Laffont of France. Schwinghammer did have one prior World Cup podium, which came in dual moguls in December 2023.

Unfortunately, the dual moguls events scheduled for Saturday were cancelled due to dense fog on the course.

Freestyle Skiing – Halfpipe: Three top-five finishes for Canada

Canada was in the thick of things at the FIS World Cup for ski halfpipe in Secret Garden, China. Cassie Sharpe and Amy Fraser finished fourth and fifth, respectively, in the women’s final while Dillan Glennie placed eighth.

In the best-of-three-run final, Sharpe scored 77.25 on her last run, putting her behind American Svea Irving’s 80.00 who took the last spot on the podium. China’s Eileen Gu took the win with a score of 90.00 in her second run. The fourth-place finish is an excellent step for Sharpe in her return to competition after the 32-year-old took two seasons away to become a mom.

On the men’s side, Brendan Mackay also finished fourth, scoring 86.50 points for his second run. The 27-year-old missed breaking up an American podium sweep by 2.5 points. Mackay had won the season opener in New Zealand in September.

Alpine Skiing: Crawford just off podium in Beaver Creek downhill

In the first men’s speed race of the FIS Alpine World Cup season, Jack Crawford finished fourth in the downhill in Beaver Creek, Colorado. His time of 1:40.55 put him 0.19 of a second back of third place finisher Miha Hrobat of Slovenia. A pair of Swiss skiers, Justin Murisier (1:40.04) and Marco Odermatt (1:40.24), finished first and second, respectively. Brodie Seger cracked the top 10 in 1:41.14 for the best World Cup result of his career.

Figure Skating: Great show of resilience for Gilles & Poirier

Following a very costly fall in the rhythm dance, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier had a tough hill to climb in the free dance at the ISU Grand Prix Final in Grenoble, France. Poirier had caught his skate on the boards during the required pattern step sequence, leaving them well back of the podium in sixth place. But they put that disappointment behind them to earn the second-highest score in the free dance behind only two-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States. That effort moved Gilles and Poirier up to fifth place overall.

The reigning world silver medallists scored 199.27 to finish 0.57 back of fellow Canadians Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha, whose fourth place finish is their best performance of their young careers at the Grand Prix Final.

Bobsleigh: Solid start to season for pilots Appiah and Lotholz

Both Canadian pilots had top 10 results to start their IBSF World Cup campaign in Altenberg, Germany. In Saturday’s women’s monobob race, Cynthia Appiah finished eighth while Melissa Lotholz placed 10th overall.

Battling heavy snow, they both climbed the standings with their second runs. Appiah was sixth-fastest in her second trip down the challenging track, while Lotholz was just behind in seventh after perhaps shaking off the nerves that came with her return to World Cup racing. She had competed on the North American Cup circuit last season after taking a one-year hiatus from bobsleigh.

In the two-woman event on Sunday, Lotholz and brakewoman Leah Walkeden finished in seventh place for Lotholz’s best World Cup result since December 2021 when she also took seventh place in Altenberg. Appiah and rookie brakewoman Skylar Sieben finished 10th.  

Judo: Grand Slam bronze for Reyes and Gauther-Drapeau

Two Canadians reached the podium at the IJF Grand Slam in Tokyo. Kyle Reyes took bronze in the men’s 100kg event while François Gauther-Drapeau also earned bronze in the men’s 81kg event.

Reyes needed more than 10 minutes of combat to defeat Japan’s Koki Kumasaka in his bronze medal bout. It is his seventh career Grand Slam medal, but his first since March 2023.

Gauthier-Drapeau did not have to compete in a bronze medal bout after his scheduled opponent, Neutral Athlete David Karapetyan, had injured his shoulder in his previous bout. It is his eighth career Grand Slam medal.