SPRING2017
MLBLUE
25
To say that TeamCanada cleanedup at this
year’sAudi FISWorldCup Ski Cross Finals at Blue
MountainResort inMarchwouldbe amassive
understatement.TheRed andWhite took home
double gold in themen’s andwomen’s categories,
aswell as a silvermedal, Rookie of theYear award,
and to top it all off—theNations Cup for best
overall teamof the 2017 season.
Despite Ski Cross being an individual sport, taking
home theNations Cuponhome snow solidifies
TeamCanada’s dedication to team culture and
their values as a collective.
Heralded as one of themost dominant athletes
in the sport,Whistler’sMarielleThompson led the
way for thewomen, cruising to first-placewins
in every heat.Winningher seventh event of the
season, she also took home the overall Crystal
Globe trophy, her third.Hugelymodest,Thompson
had theoverall title lockeddownbeforeputtingon
her skis, anddidn’t celebrateas you’dexpect.A cool
fist pumpwas all shegave the crowdas she crossed
the finish line.AnOlympic gold-medalist toboot,
Thompsonwonher first
WorldCupevent at Blue
Mountainback in2012.
“It’s great tobe back here
racing in front of all these
Canadians cheeringus on,”
saidThompsonpost-race.“
I don’t thinkwe’ve had thismany people come out
toour races to support us in a long time, soBlue
Mountain is right up there—world class.”
Themendidn’t disappoint either,withCanuck
cowboy Brady Leman takinggold and veteran
Chris Del Bosco claiming the silver in the final with
an impressive come-from-behind rush inhis first
twoheats.The two repeated their one-twopunch
finishes at BlueMountain from 2012.Del Bosco
played catch-upbeforewinninghis first heat, and
squeaked through the semi-final in a nail-biter
photo-finish.
“The course layoutworked reallywell,”he said.
“Therewas lots of passing, you couldwin it from
the holeshot or you couldwin it from the back.
That tome is a good course, and it’s awesome to
have it in a place like this.”
Leman is no stranger to the top spot and thanks
toquick starts out of the gate, led all four of his
heats.The 30-year-oldCalgary native also finished
secondoverall on the season, andpraised the
course crewwho fendedoff unseasonablymild
weather in theweeks leadingup to the event.
“They did a great job.A lot of people love racing
here, and as Canadianswe
love
racinghere.”
–NelsonPhillips
THE SKIGODSFAVOURCANADAATTHE
AUDI FISWORLDCUP SKICROSSFINALS
UP
FRONT
“The course layout worked really well.There was
lots of passing, you couldwin it from the holeshot or
you couldwin it from the back.” –Chris Del Bosco
COLIN FIELD
