Olympic quota spots were secured at the World Figure Skating Championships where Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier were absolutely sterling. Eliot Grondin achieved a major career milestone by becoming a world champion, while Reece Howden finished the season as the top male ski cross racer on the World Cup circuit. Plus, Cassie Sharpe put a bronze bow on her comeback season in ski halfpipe.

Read on for the details behind those headlines.

Figure Skating: Gilles & Poirier win silver at worlds

Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier collected a second consecutive silver medal at the ISU World Figure Skating Championships. In their 12th world championship appearance together, they scored 130.10 in the free dance for an overall total of 216.54 to finish second behind now three-time world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States.

READ: Gilles & Poirier skate to second straight ice dance silver at World Figure Skating Championships

Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha finished seventh overall with a total score of 200.41. Alicia Fabbri and Paul Ayer made a promising world championship debut, qualifying for the free dance to finish among the top 10 teams in the world. All together, those results mean Canada has qualified three ice dance teams for Milano Cortina 2026.

READ: Team Canada qualifies seven Olympic spots at World Figure Skating Championships

In pairs, Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps fought hard in the free skate and finished in the top five with a total score of 199.76. Having entered the worlds as the defending champions, they bounced back from a disappointing seventh-place finish in the short program

“Wednesday was very disappointing, especially since our mistakes occurred in elements where we are excellent,” said Stellato-Dudek. “We wanted to come back strong and rebound. We had nothing to lose and had to fight until the very end. […] We were so far behind after the short program, all we could do was give it our all and that’s what we did.”

Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud finished 11th overall, which means Canada has earned two pairs spots for the next Olympic Games. Canada’s third pair, Kelly Ann Laurin and Loucas Éthier, finished 16th overall.

READ: Figure skaters set out to secure Olympic quota spots for Canada at world championships 

Madeline Schizas delivered a career-best finish at the world championships, finishing 11th in the women’s event. After an impressive sixth-place standing following the short program, Schizas poured everything into her free skate, however, a few small errors prevented her from staying in the top 10. Her total score of 190.79 marked a new season’s best.

“I’m a little disappointed, but these things happen,” said Schizas. “There was a lot of pressure today and I’m still satisfied with the way I skated. It wasn’t perfect, but I feel like I was well prepared. I perhaps had a little less speed and that got reflected in my program.”

Roman Sadovsky put together two of his best programs in some time, earning a season’s best total score of 240.38 to finish 14th overall.

Snowboard Cross: Grondin adds world title to his resumé

Éliot Grondin won his first senior world championship title in men’s snowboard cross at the 2025 FIS Snowboard World Championships in Engadin, Switzerland on Friday. It is his second medal at the worlds following a bronze in 2021.

“I had a pretty good start and I was battling with the guys in the pack, and I just decided to stay patient and build speed,” Grondin said. “They had a bit of contact, so I think that helped me.”

READ: Éliot Grondin captures world championship title in snowboard cross

The 23-year-old sits comfortably atop this season’s World Cup standings with a 141-point lead over his closest competitor, Loan Bozzolo of France. The Crystal Globe will be awarded at the final World Cup event of the season, fittingly taking place on home snow for Grondin, at Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec, April 4-6.

Ski Halfpipe: Sharpe wins world championship bronze

Cassie Sharpe earned her first world championship medal since 2019, taking bronze in women’s ski halfpipe at the 2025 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships in Engadin, Switzerland.

READ : Cassie Sharpe wins halfpipe bronze at the Freestyle Skiing World Championships

The two-time Olympic medallist needed a big second run to get onto the podium. She scored 88.00 to jump over compatriot and fellow Olympic medallist Rachael Karker, whose first run score of 86.25 left her in fourth place overall. It caps a remarkable comeback season for Sharpe, who took two years away from competition, during which she became a mom.

Dillan Glennie and Amy Fraser both advanced to the final but did not start. The top Canadian in the men’s ski halfpipe final was Brendan Mackay who finished seventh.

Ski Cross: Howden gets hands on third Crystal Globe

Reece Howden won both of the final men’s ski cross events of the season in Idre Fjäll, Sweden, earning him the Crystal Globe. Those were his sixth and seventh World Cup victories of the season, bringing him to 18 for his career. It is the third time in five years that Howden has topped the World Cup standings.

READ : Reece Howden wins Crystal Globe in ski cross

Courtney Hoffos also ended the season on a high, earning two hard-fought second place finishes in the immediate aftermath of her silver medal at the world championships. She had five podium performances on the World Cup circuit this season, all of which came since the start of February.

Despite being unable to race in Idre Fjäll after suffering a small fracture to her sternum at the world championships, India Sherret finished the season third overall in the World Cup standings.

Aerials: Pair of near podium performances at world championships

Alexandre Duchaine just missed out on the podium at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships, finishing fourth in men’s aerials. His score of 105.21 in the second final round was just 1.91 points back of the bronze medal. It is a career-best world championship performance for the 20-year-old.

Marion Thénault finished fifth in women’s aerials with a score of 90.15 points in the second final round. She had posted the top score in the first final round, earning 104.31 for her triple twisting triple flip, but was unable to land it as cleanly in the second final round.

Ski Big Air: Two Canadian women in top 5 at worlds

Olivia Asselin and Megan Oldham both finished in the top five of women’s big air at the FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships. Asselin had a total score of 167.00 for her best two of three runs in the final, putting her in fourth place. She missed the bronze medal by just 0.75. Oldham, who had won slopestyle bronze a week earlier at the worlds, finished fifth overall with a score of 162.00.

Snowboard Halfpipe: Hosking in top seven at worlds

Elizabeth Hosking finished seventh in women’s halfpipe at the FIS Snowboard World Championships. The silver medallist from the 2023 Worlds was in fifth place after scoring 79.50 in the first run. But she was unable to improve her position when she fell during her second run and eventually dropped two spots in the standings. Brooke D’Hondt also made it to the final where she finished ninth overall based on a first run score of 74.75.

Rugby: Canada takes bronze at Hong Kong SVNS

Canada’s Women’s Sevens Team won bronze at the Hong Kong SVNS after defeating France in the third-place playoff game on Sunday. The season-best result for Canada moved the team into fourth place in the overall SVNS Series standings, confirming their spot among the eight women’s teams that will compete in the SVNS World Championship in May in Los Angeles.

Canada started the final day of competition with a semifinal matchup against the eventual champions, New Zealand, who got a 41-0 win. The Canadians rebounded quickly, delivering a thrilling 21-17 victory over France. Sabrina Poulin’s try in the 11th minute, which was converted by Taylor Perry, put Canada ahead for good.

The team now heads to Singapore for their next SVNS Series stop taking place April 5-6.

The 23-year-old from Sainte-Marie, Quebec won his first senior world championship title in men’s snowboard cross at the 2025 FIS Snowboard World Championships in Engadin, Switzerland on Friday. It is his second time standing on a world championship podium, having won bronze in 2021.

The world title solidifies Grondin’s top status in snowboard cross. The Canadian took the Crystal Globe last year as the number one-ranked athlete in the men’s FIS World Cup standings. He sits comfortably atop this season’s standings with a 141-point lead over his closest competitor, Loan Bozzolo of France. The Crystal Globe will be awarded at the final World Cup event of the season, fittingly taking place on home snow for Grondin, at Mont-Ste-Anne, Quebec, April 4-6.

Grondin was strong out of the start in Engadin, getting out the fastest over the first set of features on the course. He slipped back to third as the two Austrians in the final, Alessandro Haemmerle and Jakob Dusek, worked together to position themselves at the front. But the two Austrians came together a bit too closely, making slight contact on the outer edge of the course, providing Grondin with the opportunity to seize the lead in the final stretch. Bozzolo was also able to take advantage of the opening to snag the silver medal. Haemmerle took bronze, followed by Dusek in fourth.

Grondin was only 16 years old when he made his Olympic debut at PyeongChang 2018—the second youngest athlete on Team Canada at those Games. At Beijing 2022, Grondin was a double medallist. He took silver in a photo finish in men’s snowboard cross, where he was just barely edged out by Haemmerle, as well as bronze in the first ever mixed team snowboard event with teammate Meryeta O’Dine. O’Dine finished just off the podium in fourth in the women’s snowboard cross in Engadin. That is her career best world championship result.

The mixed team snowboard cross event at the world championships will take place on Saturday.

Team Homan accomplished two missions: successfully defending their world title and qualifying Canada for Milano Cortina 2026 in women’s curling.

Mikaël Kingsbury won his fourth straight world title in dual moguls while Sarah Mitton became a back-to-back world indoor champion in shot put. There was also a world record set by race walker Evan Dunfee and Liam Brearley earned a historic world title in snowboard slopestyle.

Here are the highlights behind the headlines.

Curling: Team Homan wins second straight world title

Team Canada successfully defended gold at the World Women’s Curling Championship, earning a 7-3 victory over Switzerland in the final. With back-to-back world titles, Canada is the top-ranked qualifier for next year’s women’s Olympic tournament.

READ: Canada wins world women’s curling championship, secures spot for Milano Cortina 2026

In a game that was a repeat of last year’s final, Team Homan distanced themselves from their opponent with a steal of two points in the eighth end to go up 6-3. Another stolen point in the ninth end led to handshakes as the Swiss conceded.

Team Homan—skip Rachel Homan, vice-skip Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew, lead Sarah Wilkes, and alternate Rachelle Browne—are the first Canadian team to win two consecutive women’s world titles since Sandra Schmirler‘s team in 1993 and 1994.

To get to the gold medal game, Team Homan had to go through a qualification game to advance to the semifinals. They dispatched Scotland 10-4 in eight ends after putting up four points in the second end and three more points in the fourth end to blow it open early. They then defeated South Korea 6-5 in an extra end. Those had been the only two teams to defeat Canada during the round robin.

Athletics: Mitton defends world indoor shot put title, world record for Dunfee

Sarah Mitton retained her women’s shot put gold medal at the World Athletics Indoor Championships in Nanjing, China on Friday. On her final attempt, the 28-year-old threw 20.48 metres, the third-farthest mark of her career behind the Canadian record 20.68m she has achieved both indoors and outdoors.

Mitton’s second and fourth throws, measuring 20.36m and 20.15m, would have been enough for her to win the indoor world title for the second straight year. Jessica Schilder of the Netherlands (20.07m) took silver ahead of bronze medallist Chase Jackson (20.06m) of the United States.

“I’m really happy with how it turned out today,” said Mitton, who has modified her throwing technique in the hopes of getting even more distance. “There’s really nothing I can do to stop them from throwing far. And honestly, today was really fun, because everybody threw well. We had three girls over 20 metres, multiple 20-metre throws. So that makes it better—when you win when everyone’s on top of their game.

“I try not to focus too much on what they’re doing. What works for me is focusing on the circle; showing little girls out there what we can do is a big part of me stepping into my role model era. Five years ago, I never thought I’d be here.”

Meanwhile, at the World Athletics Race Walking Gold meeting in Dudince, Slovakia, Evan Dunfee broke the world record in the men’s 35km race walk on Saturday. The 34-year Canadian clocked 2:21:40 to knock seven seconds off the previous mark set in October.

Dunfee improved on his personal best time in the event by more than three minutes. The 35km race walk is not on the Olympic program, but is included at the World Athletics Championships, where it replaced the 50km race walk, the event in which Dunfee won Olympic bronze at Tokyo 2020.

Freestyle Skiing: Kingsbury wins ninth career world title

On the first weekend of the 2025 FIS Freestyle World Ski Championships in Engadin, Switzerland, Mikaël Kingsbury took his fourth straight gold medal in dual moguls. It is his ninth career world title and 15th career medal at the world championships. It followed his silver medal in moguls two days earlier.

READ : Kingsbury wins 4th straight world title in dual moguls, leads 3-medal day for Canada at freestyle ski worlds

It was the third medal for Canada on Friday at the worlds. In women’s ski cross, Courtney Hoffos won her first career world championship medal, finishing second in the women’s big final. Megan Oldham won her fourth career world championship medal, taking bronze in women’s ski slopestyle.

Snowboard: Brearley wins historic world title

Liam Brearley put down a clean second run at the 2025 FIS Snowboard World Championships to win gold in men’s snowboard slopestyle on Friday. The 22-year-old is Canada’s first ever world champion in the event. Teammate Cameron Spalding, this year’s Crystal Globe winner, finished sixth in the final.

READ: Liam Brearley becomes Canada’s first men’s snowboard slopestyle world champion

Brearley earned the world title with an outstanding second run that scored him 90.15 points. The 22-year-old knew that if he wanted top spot on the podium, he was going to have to be better than the reigning Olympic champion, Su Yiming of China, who had scored 85.07 on his first run of the final.

Brearley delivered a super clean run through the rails and jumps, a run that included: a cab 180 to frontside lipslide pretzel 270, a switch backside 270 boardslide underflip 630 stalefish, a backside 1620 melon, a switch backside 1440 Weddle, a cab 1620 triple Weddle, a frontside 1080 truck driver, and finished with a 50-50 frontside 270 boardslide.

“I’m so glad I landed that run. I didn’t land my first one, and I was just like ‘I’ve got nothing to lose, I’m going to put it all out there’, and it worked out,” said Brearley.

Su ended up taking the silver medal. Bronze went to 16-year-old American Oliver Martin, who scored 78.98 on his second run.

Brearley was the Crystal Globe winner for men’s snowboard slopestyle during the 2023-24 season when he earned his first two FIS World Cup victories.

Cameron Spalding, the 19-year-old Canadian who won the Crystal Globe this season, finished in sixth place with 72.06 points for his first run, one spot behind 2025 X Games champion Red Gerrard of the United States.

Brearley is the first Canadian man to ever become world champion in snowboard slopestyle. Spencer O’Brien and Laurie Blouin won women’s slopestyle world titles in 2013 and 2017, respectively. Blouin finished 10th in the women’s final on Friday.

Brearley is Canada’s first world champion in any men’s snowboard event since Mark McMorris won big air gold in 2021. McMorris missed out on advancing to the 16-man final in Engadin by one spot.

Since winning her first world title in 2017, Blouin has been a leader in the sport, pushing never-been-done-before tricks and elevating her competitors. Still only 28-years-old, she is an accomplished veteran rider, and one that many Canadian and international rising stars look up to.

Olympic.ca chatted with Blouin about her training, career highlights, and her predictions for the future of women’s freestyle snowboarding.

How did you get into snowboarding?

I got into snowboarding when I was five or six. I have an older brother, and he was snowboarding, and everything he was trying I had to try, so I decided to try snowboarding. 

My mom put me into a couple lessons. They told me I was pretty good for my level, so I just kind of stopped, and then went on my own with my friends. That’s where it all started.

How have you seen women’s snowboarding progress over the course of your career?

It’s pretty crazy, and I’m really happy to be part of it. I remember when I started doing World Cups around [age] 17-18, I think women were winning with fives [540 degree spins] and sevens [720 degree]. If you were doing a seven it was pretty big. And now we’re doing nines [900 degree], 10s [1080 degree], sometimes 12s [1260 degree]. So it’s pretty crazy.

I’m just happy that I was a part of it. I was one of the first ones to do a cab nine double in competition, and then after, a front 10. I showed the younger athletes that it was possible to do more than fives and sevens.

[Editor note: Blouin was also the first woman to land a cab triple underflip in competition, which she did to win big air bronze at the X Games in 2023].

What are you excited about for the future of women snowboarding?

I think what I’m excited about is just that more girls are getting into it, and more girls are getting good younger, which in my time was really rare. I was one of the youngest ones; it was all older girls that were good pro snowboarders. 

I think what we’ve been seeing is that the younger girls are getting better. So that’s pretty cool to see. And to just see the motivation of all the girls to be better. 

Do you have any predictions for anything we might see in women’s slopestyle at Milano Cortina 2026?

It’s hard to say. I think the progression in slopestyle is different than in big air. It’s harder because it’s not only one trick that counts, it’s your whole run. So it’s hard to, for example, put a triple in your run, because you have to link all those tricks. So I mean, if it’s at Milano Cortina, it’s going to be soon, but I’m pretty sure we’re gonna see probably, like, a triple in a slopestyle run really soon. 

Yeah, hopefully I’ll be gone by then, because that’s not my kind of jam! I like to do more technical stuff. I’ve had my time doing big tricks, you know? I like it, but it’s just different since I’m a bit older now. 

How would you describe the international community within women’s slopestyle?

I think it’s so beautiful. It’s always been like that since I started snowboarding. The snowboard community is such a good, tight community, and we’re always happy for each other. We like to push ourselves, and we take inspiration from each other. We’re just all pushing each other and we all want to be better, but it’s not in a negative way

Some sports are really competitive, and they don’t really talk to each other or are friends. But we’re all friends at the end of the day, and we’re just all happy for each other. 

What do you wish more people knew about your sport? Or is there anything that people get wrong about it?

I wish people knew more about our culture and the tricks we do. I know it’s a bit hard to understand, but if you take a little bit of time, watch some videos, people would understand the sport more.

Do you have a favorite snowboarding memory of your career?

I have a lot! Learning new tricks—those are always great memories. It’s one of the best feelings. When I was in my early 20s I was just always learning new stuff. Those are such good memories. And when I was younger, riding with my friends, all that stuff, like getting to the hill at 12pm and leaving at 10pm. It was good, good times. 

And of course, PyeongChang [where Blouin won a silver medal—Canada’s first Olympic medal in women’s slopestyle snowboard]. 

What is the process for learning a new trick?

Well, back in the day, we didn’t have airbags, so it was more [a case where] you learn it on the snow. But I’ve been doing airbags since I was 20 or so. 

They changed everything because you’re always on your snowboard—you do the same movement over and over and over. So your muscle memory just remembers everything. [When it comes to] the risk too, you’ve been doing it 1000 times, and then when you get to snow, you’re probably going to land it on the first try or second try, because you’ve been practicing so much. That’s the difference, compared to back in the days when they didn’t have airbags, the risk was a bit higher. But now we manage the risk more.

Do you have a favorite snowboarding memory as a fan of the sport, of watching someone else compete or someone that really inspired you?

When I was really young, I would watch snowboard videos of Jamie Anderson on YouTube for hours. I was looking up to her so much. 

When I first podiumed in a World Cup, I was standing beside her on the podium. And I was like, “Wow, that’s pretty cool!” I’ve been looking up to her, and she’s been inspiring me, and now I’m standing beside her on the podium! 

And I guess this is kind of a similar question, but any athletes you looked up to growing up?

I think Seb [Toutant] was one, because I met him when I was pretty young, because we had the same coach. Jamie and Seb were the ones that really influenced my snowboarding and my career. I met them when I was really young, so it was kind of nice I was able to snowboard around them.

Do you have any advice for younger athletes?

Have fun and keep pushing yourself.

Rapid fire with Laurie Blouin

Any pre-competition rituals or routines?

I just go with the flow!

Favorite place to train?

Laax is a really fun place. Their park and set up is really fun. And when I’m back home, I go to Maximize which is nice. It’s like only three hours away, and it’s a high performance centre, so there’s like a big jump and a rope tow. 

Favorite place to compete?

Oh, I think it’s Laax. Or X Games actually! X Games is a good one because you get sledded up, you get so much practice; it’s easy to get comfy with the course. Yeah, I think X Games is one of the best places.

How would you describe your style?

That’s a good question. I think my style is more like an old school style. When I see myself riding, compared to the other girls, I kind of like [the difference]. I like the old school vibe. 

If you weren’t a snowboarder, what sport would you do?

I think I would be a sprinter! When I was in high school, I went to regionals for sprinting, and I did the relay too. I really like athletics.

Alpine skier Jack Crawford sped his way to another World Cup podium in Norway. Eliot Grondin continues to lead the chase for the Crystal Globe in snowboard cross. Bobsledder Cynthia Appiah had her best ever world championship performance. And there’s a new Team Canada in men’s curling.

Read on for the big headlines from a busy weekend.

Alpine Skiing: Second podium of season for Crawford, Grenier in top 5

James (Jack) Crawford finished second in Sunday’s men’s super-G at the FIS Alpine Ski World Cup in Kvitfjell, Norway. On the fog-shortened course, Crawford crossed the finish line in 1:09.36 to end up 0.38 back of the winner, Italian veteran Dominik Paris. Slovenia’s Miha Hrobat (1:09.45) completed the podium.

This was Crawford’s second World Cup podium of the season. In January, he became the first Canadian in 42 years to win the prestigious downhill in Kitzbühel, Austria. It’s his sixth career World Cup podium, but only his second in a super-G. The first also came at Kvitfjell in 2022.

READ: Crawford claims second in super-G in Kvitfjell

On Saturday, Crawford was the top Canadian in the men’s downhill securing an eighth-place finish. He’s placed in the top-10 in five of eight World Cup downhill races this season and sits fifth in the downhill standings heading into the World Cup Finals in Sun Valley, Idaho in a couple of weeks.

Meanwhile, the Canadian woman were in Are, Sweden where Valérie Grenier led the team with a fifth-place finish in Saturday’s giant slalom. It is her second top-five finish of the season, as she climbed three spots after finishing eighth in the first run.

Snowboard Cross: Grondin places third in Gudauri

Eliot Grondin raced to the third step of the podium at the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup in Gudauri. Georgia on Saturday, despite a fall near the end of the course. The 23-year-old Canadian was knocked down by Austria’s Elias Leitner, who lost balance going over the last jump. Grondin finished behind Austria’s Jacob Dusek and Australia’s Adam Lambert.

READ: Grondin secures snowboard cross bronze at Gudauri World Cup

With four podiums in seven World Cup events this season, Grondin continues to lead the race for the Crystal Globe. Meryeta O’Dine was the top Canadian in both women’s races over the weekend, finishing sixth overall on Saturday and Sunday.

Bobsleigh: Appiah drives to fourth place at world championships

On the first weekend of the IBSF World Championships in Lake Placid, New York, Cynthia Appiah placed one spot shy of the podium in the women’s monobob. The 34-year-old posted a combined time of 3:58.53 from her four runs, finishing 0.22 back of bronze medallist Elana Meyers Taylor of the United States. Another American, Kaysha Love, took the gold in 3:57.82 while German Laura Nolte was second in 3:58.26. The fourth-place finish is Appiah’s best ever world championship result.

“This result is bittersweet. I was hoping to get on the podium because Lake Placid is a track I’ve done so well in the monobob. This is the track where I first got introduced to the sport as a brakeman and where I also learned to drive,” said Appiah, who was competing in her fourth World Championships as a pilot. “I was hoping to have a nice Cinderella story at these Worlds. All things considered though this is my best finish at World Championships, so I have to be happy.”

Kristen Bujnowski, competing in her first world championships as a pilot, placed an impressive seventh (3:58.77). After having been a brakewoman at Beijing 2022, she started training as a pilot and spent most of this season on the developmental North American Cup circuit.

The world championships will conclude this coming weekend when the two-woman and four-man races take place. Taylor Austin and Mike Evelyn O’Higgins were the top Canadians in the two-man event, placing 15th, one spot ahead of Pat Norton and Shaq Murray-Lawrence.

Skeleton: Clarke slides to seventh at world championships

Also at the IBSF World Championships in Lake Placid, 20-year-old Hallie Clarke ended up in seventh place in women’s skeleton. She had gone into the event as the defending world champion and was in good position for another podium performance after the first day of racing. Clarke was in third place following the first two runs, but dropped down the standings in the last two runs.

Kimberley Bos of the Netherlands, who finished second in the World Cup standings this season, earned her first career world title. Two-time Olympian Jane Channell finished 12th.

Curling: Team Jacobs to be Team Canada at the world championships

With a clutch shot on the final stone, Team Jacobs became the 2025 Brier champions. They earned a 5-3 win over Team Dunstone in the final on Sunday night in Kelowna, British Columbia. They had to win four straight elimination games to take the trophy.

READ: Team Jacobs is now Team Canada after victory at 2025 Brier

This is a second career Brier win for skip Brad Jacobs. He and his team of vice-skip Marc Kennedy, second Brett Gallant, and lead Ben Hebert will now be Team Canada at the World Men’s Curling Championship, taking place on home ice in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan from March 29 to April 6. At those worlds, they will also look to secure Canada’s spot in the men’s Olympic tournament. Seven spots will be awarded based on the combined standings from the 2024 and 2025 World Championships. 

The team has a wealth of experience. Jacobs skipped Canada to Olympic gold at Sochi 2014. Hebert is now a five-time Brier winner while Kennedy and Gallant both have four career Brier titles. Hebert and Kennedy won Olympic gold together at Vancouver 2010 while Gallant was a member of Canada’s bronze medal-winning team at Beijing 2022.

Ski Jumping: Loutitt jumps to 10th at world championships

Alexandria Loutitt cracked the top 10 in the women’s large hill event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim, Norway. She had entered as the reigning world champion in the large hill and was coming off a tie for fifth-place in the normal hill one week earlier with fellow Canadian Abigail Strate.

Because of high winds, the final results were based only on one round of jumping rather than two. Loutitt scored 109.8 to finish one spot ahead of Strate, who scored 107.4.

Golf: Corey Conners qualifies for The Open

Corey Conners carded a 71 (-1) in the final round to finish third at the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Golf Club on Sunday.

Conners finished two strokes back of winner Russell Henley after shooting nine-under par in the tournament. With this result, the two-time Olympian from Listowel, Ontario secured a spot at The Open Championship that will take place in July at Royal Portrush in Northern Ireland.

On Saturday, the 23-year-old earned the bronze medal, despite a fall near the end of the course in the grand final. Austrian snowboarder Elias Leitner lost his balance and fell, taking Grondin down with him.

The Canadian was awarded bronze behind Australia’s Adam Lambert in first and Austria’s Jacob Dusek in second.

This podium marks Grondin’s fourth World Cup medal of the 2024-25 season, but his first bronze. He has already captured two golds and one silver this season.

Following Saturday’s race, Grondin leads the men’s snowboard cross standings with 435 points, holding a solid 161-point lead over his closest rival, Dusek.

In the women’s competition, Meryeta O’Dine finished sixth overall, racing in the small final.

Looking ahead, Sunday’s race will be the seventh event of the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup season, and Grondin will have another chance to extend his lead in the race for the coveted Crystal Globe.

Team Canada’s ski cross athletes notched three podiums in Georgia, while Canadian long track speed skaters claimed two medals in the Netherlands. Eliot Grondin further established his lead in the men’s snowboard cross World Cup standings with a second place finish in Türkiye.

There were also impressive finishes by Canadians in ski jumping, aerials, and snowboard alpine, so make sure you’re all caught up!

Moguls: Kingsbury earns his 28th career Crystal Globe

Mikaël Kingsbury continues to rewrite the history of his sport. His two victories over the weekend at the FIS Moguls World Cup in Almaty, Kazakhstan, in both individual moguls and dual moguls, brought him closer to the 100-win milestone. Kingsbury has 98 World Cup victories to his name, making the 100-win mark possible within this season.

He also secured his 13th Crystal Globe for the overall standings and his 28th across all disciplines.

Ski cross: Three medals in Gudauri

Reece Howden struck gold at the Ski Cross World Cup in Gudauri, Georgia, on Saturday, earning his fourth win of the season and 15th career victory. He dominated his heats before defeating Florian Wilmsmann (silver) and Simone Deromedis (bronze) in the final.

READ: Howden wins gold at FIS Ski Cross World Cup In Gaudauri, Georgia

Courtney Hoffos added to Canada’s success with a bronze medal in the women’s event on Saturday, her second podium finish this season. Howden’s win moved him to third in the overall standings, while Hoffos continues to impress with her consistent performances.

India Sherret also found the podium in Friday’s race, taking third. The result moved Sherret into the top spot in the race for the Crystal Globe over teammate Marielle Thompson. This was sixth podium of the season, and 11th of her career. Thompson unfortunately suffered a crash in the first day of racing in Gudauri.

Long track speed skating: Dubreuil, Blondin claim silver in final leg of World Cup

Team Canada skaters collected a pair of silver medals as the ISU World Cup of Speed Skating season came to a close in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

Laurent Dubreuil capped off an impressive 500m campaign with a time of 34.51 seconds, just 0.05 off of the gold medal time. With the result, Dubreuil leapfrogged Japan’s Tatsuya Shinhama in the distance standings to finish second overall. American Jordan Stolz, who did not race on Sunday, already had first place secured after winning seven gold medals in the distance this season.

Dubreuil added a fifth place finish in the 1000m on Saturday.

In the women’s mass start, Ivanie Blondin was on the wrong side of a photo finish as Dutch skater Marijke Groenewoud took first place by two-tenths of a second over the Canadian. Blondin’s silver was her second of the season, and she finished fourth overall in the distance rankings for the season.

READ: Dubreuil and Blondin claim silvers in World Cup finale

Isabelle Weidemann fell just outside the podium, with a fourth-place finish in the women’s 3000m event on Saturday. David La Rue took sixth in the men’s mass start on Sunday.

With World Cup competition now finished, the ISU speed skating season will conclude March 13-16 with the World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships in Hamar, Norway.

Snowboard Cross: Grondin maintains his lead with silver medal

Eliot Grondin reached the podium at the FIS Snowboard Cross World Cup in Erzurum, Türkiye, with a second-place finish in the final.

Grondin has an impressive 130-point lead over his closest competitor in the overall standings.

Ski Jumping: Strate sets hill record in Trondheim

Team Canada’s Alexandria Loutitt and Abigail Strate tied for fifth place in the women’s normal hill event at the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships in Trondheim, Norway. Both Canadians scored a total of 236.7 points in the final.

In her first jump of the finals, Strate soared to a distance of 104.5m, setting a hill record for the normal hill in Trondheim.

Aerials: Thenault narrowly misses podium in Kazakhstan

Marion Thénault came within a few points of a medal at the FIS Aerials World Cup in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Thenault finished with 81.56 points, less than six short of the bronze medal position. No other skier besides those in the top four eclipsed the 70-point mark. A medal for Thenault would have been the second of the year for the 24-year-old.

The Aerials World Cup will resume on March 11 in Livigno, Italy.

Alpine Snowboard: Moisan continues streak of strong results

Aurelie Moisan raced to tenth place in the women’s parallel giant slalom at the FIS Snowboard Alpine World Cup in Krynica, Poland.

Moisan notched a fourth place finish on home snow in Val Saint-Comê, Québec in mid-February—her career best World Cup result. Moisan won gold at the 2024 FIS Junior World Championships.

Four medals were won at the Four Continents Figure Skating Championships, led by Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier defeating the defending world champions. Sprint speed skating star Laurent Dubreuil hit a major career milestone with two World Cup silver medals, while Elizabeth Hosking gave the home fans in Calgary a thrill with her return to the snowboard halfpipe podium.

Here’s a quick look back at those and more great moments from the weekend.

Figure Skating: Two double podiums at Four Continents Championships

Canadians stood on two steps of both the pairs and ice dance podiums at the ISU Four Continents Figure Skating Championships in Seoul, South Korea.

On Friday, reigning pairs world champions Deanna Stellato-Dudek and Maxime Deschamps responded to a disappointing fourth-place performance in the short program with a season best free skate to move up and claim the silver medal. Lia Pereira and Trennt Michaud had their two best performances of the season to win bronze for their first ever medal at an ISU Championship.

READ: Canadian double podium in pairs at Four Continents Championships

On Saturday, Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier won their second consecutive ice dance gold medal at the Four Continents Championships, this time defeating two-time reigning world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates. A season best rhythm dance put Gilles and Poirier into the lead. They held onto first place by 0.53 after the free dance, in which they also earned a season best score, but still have room to grow with regards to the levels on some of their technical elements as they look towards the world championships in March.

READ: Gilles and Poirier defend Four Continents title, Lajoie and Lagha claim bronze

Marjorie Lajoie and Zachary Lagha won their second career ice dance bronze medal at the Four Continents Championships, adding to the one they earned in 2023.

Roman Sadovsky made his case to be Canada’s lone representative in the men’s event at the world championships. The reigning national champion finished 10th for the second straight year. Sarah-Maude Dupuis was the top Canadian in the women’s event with her own 10th place finish. National champion Madeline Schizas finished 12th.

Long Track Speed Skating: Two 500m silvers for Dubreuil

Laurent Dubreuil placed second in both men’s 500m events at the ISU World Cup in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland. That means he has finished on the podium in four straight events at that distance.

On Friday, he clocked in at 34.73 seconds, finishing 0.24 back of 20-year-old American phenom Jordan Stolz, who has won seven of nine 500m World Cup races this season. Dubreuil reached a major milestone with his 40th career individual World Cup podium.

On Sunday, Dubreuil had to deal with a false start, but still got off the line quickly and stopped the clock in 34.70 seconds. He was 0.18 shy of the winner, Kazakhstan’s Yevgeniy Koshkin. Dubreuil sits second in the 500m World Cup standings with two more races to go at next weekend’s World Cup finale in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

Also on Sunday, Ivanie Blondin took bronze in the women’s mass start for her first World Cup medal in that event since the season opener in November. She then teamed with Carolina Hiller and Béatrice Lamarche to win silver in the women’s team sprint.

Snowboard: Hosking lands on halfpipe podium in Calgary

Elizabeth Hosking claimed her first podium of the year, finishing third in snowboard halfpipe on home snow at the FIS World Cup in Calgary.

Hosking was the lone Canadian to reach a halfpipe final at the Snow Rodeo. Her score of 79.25 on her third run of the final put her onto the podium behind Japan’s Sena Tomita (90.75) and American Maddie Mastro (85.25). This is Hosking’s third career World Cup podium, with her last also coming in Calgary in February 2023. This has been a comeback season for her after she missed all of 2023-24 due to injury.

READ: “That fire hasn’t left”: Snowboarder Elizabeth Hosking wants to reach new heights in the halfpipe

In slopestyle, Laurie Blouin was the lone Canadian in the women’s final and finished 11th. Three Canadians qualified for the men’s final. Truth Smith finished 13th, ahead of Liam Brearley in 14th and Cameron Spalding in 16th.

Moguls: Mikaël Kingsbury and Julien Viel ski to podiums

Mikaël Kingsbury finished second in moguls at the FIS World Cup in Beidahu, China on Friday. It’s his ninth podium of the season and 138th of his career. Kingsbury’s score of 85.91 in the super final left him just 0.66 back of one of his top rivals, Japan’s Ikuma Horishima, who earned his third straight World Cup victory.

“I tried to push in the super final and it was close. I don’t have the words right now, but I’m happy with what I did. It’s another podium, even though I would have preferred to win”, Kingsbury said.

Two other Canadians reached the final, with Julien Viel placing sixth and Sam Cordell finishing eighth.

Viel got onto the podium in the dual moguls on Saturday, finishing third after defeating American Nick Page in the small final. It’s his second podium of the season after finishing second in moguls at home in Val St-Come at the end of January.

“It definitely feels good, because yesterday I got 5th place and I was expecting a little more. Today, I got my revenge and I’m really happy,” Viel said.

Ski Jumping: Abigail Strate flies to podium in Austria

Abigail Strate took third place in the second women’s normal hill event at the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup in Hinzenbach, Austria. The day after her 24th birthday, she scored 226.6 points on Sunday for her fifth career individual World Cup podium. It’s her first individual podium since she earned three straight in January 2024. Strate had finished eighth in Saturday’s first normal hill event of the weekend.

“It feels really good. I wasn’t trying to expect anything but being in third after the first round, I haven’t been in that position this year, so it was a bit stressful,” said Strate. “Today, I decided I was going to go for it. It either works or it doesn’t. In a top sport like this the margin is so small you can’t be half in.

“I have been playing it safe this year, but I reached the point where I said ‘we are doing it. I know I can do it.’ I proved that to myself in training and qualis this weekend.”

Alpine Skiing: Crawford top-six in World Cup downhill

Jack Crawford finished sixth in his first FIS World Cup downhill race since his historic win in Kitzbuehel last month.

Racing in Crans Montana in the Swiss Alps, Crawford finished with a time of 1:56.91, just 0.03 seconds back of fourth place, but 0.42 from a podium spot. Franjo Von Allmen took the win to lead an all-Swiss podium.

Crawford currently sits in fifth place in the Crystal Globe downhill standings. Saturday’s result is his sixth top-10 finish of the season and was his fifth in a row.

The Canadian women were in Sestriere, Italy. Britt Richardson finished 11th in the giant slalom for her second best result of the World Cup season. Ali Nullmeyer was 11th in the slalom for her best World Cup result since March 2024.

Aerials: Fontaine close to first individual podium of season

Miha Fontaine earned his best individual FIS World Cup result of the season, finishing fourth in men’s aerials in Beidahu, China. Fontaine’s score of 112.67 in the super final put him just 3.26 back of a podium position. Alexandre Duchaine just missed advancing to the six-man super final, placing eighth in the first round of the final.

On Monday, Duchaine joined with Marion Thénault and Lewis Irving to finish fourth in the mixed team event.

Ski Slopestyle: Two top-six finishes in Stoneham

Canada’s top slopestyle skiers were competing on home snow in Stoneham, Quebec over the weekend. Olivia Asselin led the way with her fifth-place finish in the women’s final. Three Canadians made the men’s final, led by Evan McEachran‘s sixth-place performance. Charlie Beatty and Max Moffatt finished 15th and 16th, respectively.

Hosking returned to the Olympic stage at Beijing 2022, where her sixth place finish tied for Canada’s second-best ever Olympic result in women’s snowboard halfpipe. 

In 2023, Hosking took silver at the FIS World Championships, becoming Canada’s first ever world championship medallist in women’s snowboard halfpipe.

Unfortunately, 2023 also brought with it a serious injury for Hosking, as a concussion from a fall during training forced her to take a long step back from competition. The 23-year-old returned to the World Cup circuit this season, with her eyes trained towards a third Olympic appearance at Milano Cortina 2026.

READ: Everything you need to know about Milano Cortina 2026

Olympic.ca chatted with Hosking about her big goals on the road towards the next Olympic Games, the progression of international women’s snowboarding, and her overall “stoke” level for all things about her sport.

How did you get into snowboarding?

My family was always very sports-oriented. In the summer, I always played soccer, and then in the winter, when I was younger, my weekends were pretty much occupied by skiing. Around the age of six, I noticed that my older brother had started snowboarding. I was a very typical little sister, always wanting to be like my older brother and do what he’s doing. So I asked my parents, “Can I get a snowboard?” My parents wanted to keep it equal for both of us. So they were like, “No, you need to wait until you’re eight years old.” 

I guess I was hard-headed even back then…I didn’t take no for an answer. My front entrance had this U-shape and had a slope on it. So I dressed up in all of my skiing gear, put on my winter boots, took my brother’s snowboard, went up the entrance myself, and just went down. My parents looked at me through the kitchen window, and were like, “Yeah, I don’t think she’s joking about this one.” 

At what point did you realize that snowboarding could be something that you could pursue at the highest level?

My first coach approached me on the mountain. He was there with his athletes. It’s funny, I remember it was my last run [of the day]. I was tired because I was still a kid, and I just wanted to go home.

My dad was like, “Come on, one more run, one last run!” And it just happened that we arrived at the top of the mountain at the same time [as the person who would become her coach], and he went up to my father—I was like, nine at the time—and said, “I noticed your daughter is really good at snowboarding. I’m a snowboard coach. Here’s my card.” 

So it just started from there. And then that love for the whole sport just grew so much. I got really into it. Looking at the 2010 Olympics, seeing halfpipe snowboarding and Shaun White winning kind of settled it for me, that this is what I wanted to do.

How has this season been going? You’ve been returning from an injury…

This season has been one of the harder seasons, for sure. Result-wise, it’s been hard because I don’t think I’ve been able to demonstrate the level of snowboarding that I’ve been able to get back at. The results are not there, and that’s disappointing for sure. But it does motivate me to work harder. I’m a competitor. I always have been—this is what I love to do. 

In December, it was my first World Cup back after a year and a half, and I just remember thinking: this is where I’m meant to be. And that fire hasn’t left. So definitely working hard and motivated to be able to demonstrate that as well in competition. 

Do you have any advice for other athletes that are in the process of coming back from injury?

I think a big thing was opening up to my team and being honest about how some days it’s harder. I think that has really helped me knowing that I have a good team around me, and just having that support. 

But I won’t lie, it’s definitely a challenge. And this one more than any of my other injuries has been a mental challenge, being a concussion. You can’t really see the progress. It’s not like a broken bone, you can’t see on an x-ray that it’s healed. 

I think it’s just really taking it day by day. And I’m starting to learn now to really focus on the small wins and let those small wins motivate you and drive you to get more small wins.

You reached the highest levels of snowboarding when you were very young. Can you talk a little bit about how you’ve seen women’s snowboarding push itself further over the course of your career?

My first world champs [was when] I was 15, and I recently looked at runs from that year and where the sport is now [compared to then] is just crazy! But it’s super exciting at the same time, the height that the women are pushing towards. And something that I really, really like to do is push that height, go big.

[The progress in the sport] is super inspiring. And what’s almost kind of grounding, in that sense, is that in the snowboard community, there’s that respect and camaraderie between athletes. It is a competition at the end of the day—when we’re all in that start gate, it is a competition, no doubt about it—but the respect that we all have for one another, and the way we know how hard each of us works, I’m like, “Oh yeah, I could do that too!” I understand and I know this person, everyone has their own struggles, and I see them, and that they can still push like that is very inspiring as well. And motivating [because] it’s not super human. That could be me.

Any predictions of where the sport is headed in the next couple years?

I think we saw it with a few girls doing double corks. I think that will slowly be more and more in play. But I do still think that the variety and bringing your own style—judges just love to see that. [They] love to see you doing your tricks [in a way that’s] different from someone else. And I think as much as we’re all trying to push that extra spin, bigger spin, extra 180, I think at the end of the day, judges love to see everyone’s individual style and doing tricks that are not necessarily the bigger spin, but no one else is doing them. Therefore, you have that on everyone. 

How would you describe your style? 

I think my style is definitely going big. That’s really what I enjoy. I think that is something that catches your eye right away, right? 

You can tell just by eye who’s going head height and who’s going 10 feet out and beyond. And I really, really love to look at video and be like, “Dang, I was going big!” 

And I hope, when people look at my runs, they’re like, “That looked easy!” Although I’m focused on every trick, I hope someone that’s looking that doesn’t really know the sport can be like, oh, that looked really easy.

Are there any athletes that you’ve looked up to throughout your career, or as a kid?

As a kid, it was 100% Shaun White. I think the dominance of him in halfpipe snowboarding was crazy, and something that I always strive for. But I think all snowboarders kind of inspire me in their own way. 

What is your favorite memory as a fan of snowboarding? 

I think whatever event I’m watching! I just love the level of stoke that happens when a friend of yours lands a run—those are just great memories every contest. 

But the Beijing 2022 men’s halfpipe final was the craziest display of halfpipe snowboarding that we had seen that at the time—people throwing triples and the most variety we’ve ever seen, and then the biggest air in a competition, it was just things happening, one after the other.

But then being there for Shaun White’s last run…I don’t think [they showed it] on TV, but there was a standing ovation from the whole snowboard community, just clapping with respect. He undoubtedly brought snowboarding to the eyes that it has today. And it was the last run, the last hurrah, and that was just crazy, people cheering five minutes at least.

What’s your favorite snowboarding memory of your career? 

There’s a few! Dropping into the 2018 Olympics was definitely a big career milestone for me. I remember growing up in first grade, we were asked for Career Day, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” And I said that I wanted to be an Olympic soccer player, because at the time I was playing soccer. I always grew up watching the Olympics, so getting to go to the Olympics was a huge, huge life goal that I was accomplishing.

At a very young age, too!

It’s crazy to think that I’m trying to get to my third Games. But I definitely think that first podium in Copper [Mountain, in 2022] was just another dream come true. Being able to step on that [World Cup] podium for the first time was incredible. And then being able to finish that season and cap it off with a podium at world champs was surreal.