That’s a Wrap! The 2014 Paralympic Winter Games have come to a close, with outstanding performances from our Canadian athletes! A huge congratulations to all the Snow Sports Canada athletes who participated and earned 14 of the 16 medals for Team Canada. Here are the highlights for our Snow Sports Canada athletes.

Alpine

Mac Marcoux
Gold-Men’s Giant Slalom
Bronze-Men’s Downhill
Bronze- Men’s Super-G

Sixteen-year-old Mac Marcoux‘s dream came true this year at Sochi. Guided by Remy Femy, Mac left Sochi with three medals!
Josh Dueck
Silver-Men’s Downhill, Sitting
Gold- Men’s Super Combined,Sitting

Sit Skier Josh Dueck was selected as the flag-bearer for the Canadian Paralympic team at the Sochi 2014 closing ceremonies. Dueck left sochi with a Gold in the super combined and a silver in the downhill.

 

 

 

Chris Williamson
Bronze- Men’s Slalom, Visually Impaired

Toronto native Chris Williamson, guided by Nick Brush, made a remarkable comeback from an injury and a last-minute change to his guide by winning bronze in the Men’s Visually Impaired Slalom at Sochi.

 

 

 

Kimberly Joines
Bronze-Women’s Slalom, Sitting

Kimberly Joines conquered the rough, low-visibility course conditions in Women’s Slalom, leaving Sochi in the end with a bronze medal. Joines fell from silver to bronze after a jury overturned the disqualification of a German skier who took home gold.

 

Caleb Brousseau
Bronze-Men’s Super-G, Sitting

Caleb Brousseau, of Terrace, B.C., earned a bronze in Men’s Super-G sitting. It has been a dream in the making since watching the Vancouver 2010 Paralympics.

 

 

Cross Country

 

Chris Klebl
Gold- Men’s 10km, Sitting

Chris Klebl put down the performance of the Games when it counted most , winning Canada’s final gold medal at Sochi. Klebl’s performance secured Canada’s place in the top-three Countries for medal count.

 

 

 

 

 

Brian McKeever
Gold- Men’s 10km
Gold-Men’s 1km sprint
Gold-Men’s 20km
Visually Impaired

Brian McKeever secured the nation its first, with three golds at Sochi, he raised his medal count to 13 (10 golds). With the help of his guides Erik Carelton and Graham Nishikawa, McKeever scored a golden-hat trick in Sochi! 

 

 

 

 

Mark Arendz
Biathlon:
Bronze- Men’s 12.5km, Standing
Silver-Men’s 7.5km, Standing

24-year old Mark Arendz, battled through brutal race conditions to win the bronze medal in the men’s 12.5-kilometre standing. Earlier in the games Arendz became the first Canadian to win a silver medal in a Para-Biathlon event!

 

Congratulations to all of our Snow Sports Canada and Paralympian Team athletes.You have demonstrated strength and perseverance and continue to prove that anything is possible!

 

The post Paralympic Medal Highlights for Snow Sports Canada appeared first on Snow Sports Canada.

Olympic news and information can be found on:

http://www.sochi2014.com/en 

http://olympics.cbc.ca/

 

The post Snow Sports Canada Sochi Broadcast Schedule appeared first on Snow Sports Canada.

John Leslie of Arnprior, Ont., took another giant step in his career this past weekend as he won bronze medals in both men’s snowboard cross races at a Para-snowboard World Cup competition.  They were his first career medals on the circuit.

The below knee amputee, who is also developing an impressive set of freestyle skills on the board, moved to Whistler recently to train and his dedication continues to pay dividends.

‘’It’s nice to see the hard work and training pay off,’’ said Leslie, 21. ‘’I’m super proud of myself to have made these accomplishments for the first time in my career.’’

Leslie’s coach Candice Drouin said the results augur well for the future.

‘’John showed he can be consistent,’’ said Drouin.  ‘’I’m proud of our entire team.  All the pre-season training has been effective and we are looking forward to racing some more.’’

On Saturday, Michael Shea led the U.S., to a 1-2 finish clocking 1:21.10 with the fastest times on all three runs.  The two best times are combined for the final result.  Evan Strong was second at 1:24.18 and Leslie followed in 1:27.01.  Ian Lockey of Trail, B.C., was fifth and Tyler Mosher of Whistler, B.C., sixth.

On Sunday, Strong turned the tables on his teammate winning in 1:22.40 with Shea second in 1:22.49.  Leslie posted a 1:25.79.   Mosher was 12th and Lockey decided to sit out the race to heal a sore ankle.

Leslie has worn a prosthetic leg since being treated for cancer at age 10, but that never slowed him down to be an active part of the Arnprior community.   He is a recipient of Ontario Community Newspapers Association junior citizen of the year award.

Just last month, Arnprior gave Leslie a huge Ottawa Valley send-off as he headed out west for his final set of training and competitions before the Sochi Games.  Leslie took the opportunity to visit schools including Arnprior District High School, where he graduated and which also organized the send-off.

Leslie’s long-term goal has always to peak for the 2018 Paralympics in South Korea, but if this weekend’s results are indication, Leslie may be on the fast track to the podium in Sochi.

The post John Leslie Hits Big Time at Para Snowboard World Cup appeared first on Snow Sports Canada.

Qualifying got underway this morning for the knockout rounds of the Polish World Cup in Szklarska Poreba with temperatures just around zero deg. C. and the Canadian team fared well with 4 advancing to the quarter-finals.

The top qualifier in the women’s race was Greta Laurent of Italy and Dasha Gaiazova was the top Canadian, finishing 26th. Perianne Jones sneaked into a qualifying spot, finishing 30th, fractions of a second ahead of Russian skier Irina Khazova.

The post Harvey Strikes Gold In Poland appeared first on Snow Sports Canada.

Maxence Parrot of Bromont, Que., hopes his first career World Cup win on Sunday is enough to put him on the Olympic team.  The 19-year-old rider delivered a first place finish in the men’s slopestyle event to conclude the Mazda Snowboard Jamboree.

Parrot, the top qualifier on Friday, earned 94.50 points in the final. Niklas Mattsson of Sweden was second at 87.50 and Torgeir Bergrem of Norway third at 83.00.  Charles Reid of Tremblant, Que., was fifth at 80.50.

“There were three Canadians in the final and I absolutely had to be in the top-two to better my chances to go to the Olympics,” said Parrot.  “I definitely had an advantage being the top qualifier.  I was able to watch the others and I decided to put in my big run that I had been practicing all week.”

Conditions were a factor on Sunday with a steady snowfall and foggy conditions on the hills north of Quebec City.

“I really like riding when it snows a lot, I’m able to focus better,” said Parrot, now with three World Cup medals – one of each colour.  “Still the level of competition will be higher at the Games and I’ll have to prepare for that hopefully.’’

Reid was also delighted with his result.

‘’I’ve worked so hard to get to this point,’’ he said.  ‘’I hope my dream becomes a reality on Tuesday.’’

The World Cup halfpipe and slopestyle events here were the last opportunity for Canadians to reach their standards for the Sochi Olympics.  Riders in those events are to be announced Tuesday.

Matts Kulisek of St-Sauveur, Que., was 11th, Jonathan Versteeg of Vernon, B.C., 18th, Darcy Sharpe of Comox, B.C., 20th and Tyler Nicholson of North Bay, Ont., 26th.

In women’s slopestyle, Brooke Voigt of Fort McMurray, Alta., took sixth spot in the women’s final.  It was her best result this season.

‘’I really needed to come up with a big result,’’ she said.  ‘’Making finals is pretty good.  Hopefully it’s enough to go to Sochi, but everything is still undecided right now.’’

Christy Prior of New Zealand won the gold medal with 89.75 points followed by Cheryl Maas of the Netherlands at 85.25 third at 84.25.  Voigt earned 37.00 points on her second run in the final.

 

 

The post Canadians Take Slopestyle By Storm appeared first on Snow Sports Canada.