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 2018 Pyeongchang gold medalist was in fifth place after the first run with a score of 75.75. Her second attempt was significantly better, with 88.00 points earning her the final spot on the podium. She just edged out compatriot Rachael Karker, who finished fourth with 86.25 points.

The gold medal was won by 22-year-old British athlete Zoe Atkin, who, after falling on her first attempt, recovered brilliantly to beat China’s Fanghui Li. Atkin finished with 93.50 points, half a point ahead of her rival.

In the men’s halfpipe, a Canadian quartet took the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th places. Brendan Mackay led the group in seventh place, followed by Dylan Marineau, Andrew Longino and Noah Bowman.

In the freestyle jumping event held on Sunday, Canadian Alexandre Duchaine came close to winning a medal, finishing just off the podium in fourth place.

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

Mikaël Kingsbury took his fourth straight gold medal in men’s dual moguls, following Courtney Hoffos’ silver in women’s ski cross and Megan Oldham’s bronze in women’s ski slopestyle.

Kingsbury remains the king of dual moguls

It wasn’t the dramatic final showdown that many expected between Mikaël Kingsbury and his top rival from Japan, Ikuma Horishima. Kingsbury had an easy ride to victory in dual moguls after Horishima had injured himself in the semifinals and was unable to race at full speed.

When the start gate dropped, the two men respectfully raised their poles to each other before Kingsbury headed out for an easy run down the course for his ninth career world title. Kingsbury also had a relatively easy run in his semifinal when his opponent, Matt Graham of Australia, lost a ski going into one of the air jumps and was unable to finish.

Graham ended up getting the bronze medal because his small final opponent, Filip Gravenfors of Sweden, had also crashed out of his semifinal. Racing against Horishima, Gravenfors lost control of his turns and went off course, smashing into a gate marker at the finish. A moment later, Horishima did a punch-front off the landing of his bottom air and slid out of control across the finish line. Both men received medical attention.

Kingsbury is now a five-time world champion in dual moguls. Before winning the last four straight, he also won gold in 2015.

This follows the silver Kingsbury won in men’s moguls on Wednesday. Horishima took the gold medal in that event after finishing second to Kingsbury in the overall World Cup standings for moguls, dual moguls, and combined moguls this season.

The 32-year-old Canadian now has a remarkable total of 15 career world championship medals since making his debut in 2011.

Hoffos captures ski cross silver

In ski cross, Courtney Hoffos won her first career world championship medal, finishing second in the women’s big final. Despite Canada being a dominant force on the FIS World Cup circuit in recent years, Hoffos is Canada’s first world championship medallist in women’s or men’s ski cross since Marielle Thompson took gold in 2019.

In an exciting big final, Hoffos battled with some of the biggest stars in ski cross. While Fanny Smith of Switzerland jumped out to the lead, Hoffos battled with Germany’s Daniela Maier and France’s Marielle Berger Sabbatel all the way down the course. At the finish line, Hoffos just edged out Maier for second place behind Smith, with Berger Sabbatel coming in fourth. Smith, currently leading the Crystal Globe standings, earned her seventh straight world championship medal but it is her first world title since 2013.

“It feels amazing and I’m very proud to have this medal around my neck,” said a smiling Hoffos. “There’s a lot of tactics and passing on this course and today it worked well for me. We’re all a little tired at this time of year so to get a result like this in such a big event is pretty special.”

“I’m feeling really good right now. I want to keep it going tomorrow in the team event and then into the last World Cup weekend.”

This was Hoffos’ third world championship appearance. Her previous best result was fifth place in her debut in 2021. She has been enjoying one of her best competitive seasons, earning three World Cup podiums, including a second-place finish just last weekend on home snow in Craigleith, Ontario. India Sherret finished eighth overall after placing fourth in the small final.

Oldham wins ski slopestyle bronze

Megan Oldham won her fourth career world championship medal, taking bronze in women’s ski slopestyle. She has never missed the world championship podium in the event, winning bronze in her debut in 2021 followed by silver in 2023.

Oldham scored 70.63 points on her first run, which held up through the second round to put her on the podium. Switzerland’s Mathilde Gremaud took the gold medal with a first-run score of 85.65 points while Austria’s Lara Wolf got the silver with a second run score of 73.33.

Oldham was on the podium in two World Cup slopestyle events this season. She has one more medal opportunity in Engadin, when the big air event gets underway on Wednesday. She won bronze in the event at the 2023 World Championships. The top Canadian in men’s ski slopestyle on Friday was Evan McEachran who finished 12th.

For Kingsbury, it is his 14th career world championship medal. It is the first time since 2017 that he has not been the world champion in moguls. He has never missed the world championship podium in the event. For Schwinghammer, it is her first time standing on a world championship podium. She had placed fifth in moguls at the 2023 World Championships.

Kingsbury earned a score of 82.68 points in the second final round. That left him 6.35 points back of Japan’s Ikuma Horishima, who scored 89.03 points to become a world champion for the third time in his career, but for the first time since 2017. Horishima got huge marks for his very difficult second air, a cork 1440, and also outscored Kingsbury on turns and time. South Korea’s Jung Daeyoon took the bronze with 81.76 points.

In his second world championship appearance, 23-year-old Canadian Julien Viel also advanced to the second final round and finished sixth overall with 58.36 points.

In the women’s event, Schwinghammer received a score of 74.92 points from the judges to land on the third step of the podium. She finished just 0.23 points back of Japan’s Hinako Tomitaka who won the silver medal. France’s Perrine Laffont won her third straight moguls world title with 77.92 points. Schwinghammer had the top air scores among the three medallists.

Finishing just off the podium in fourth place was another Canadian, 27-year-old Laurianne Desmarais-Gilbert. That is a big breakthrough for an athlete who has never posted a top-five finish on the FIS World Cup circuit.

The mogulists will be back in action on Friday for the dual moguls. Kingsbury has won three straight world titles in that event. He has only missed the dual moguls podium once at the world championships, back in 2017.

Howden dominated the big final to earn his fifth victory of the season while Drury had to battle back to get his fourth podium finish of the season. Finishing second between the two Canadians was Switzerland’s Alex Fiva, the reigning Olympic silver medallist.

“It feels great. On home soil, I did what I was supposed to do, got the job done, I’m super proud of myself,” said Howden. “Got that win out of the start, out of the far right gate which was pretty tough. But just being really solid, really minimized the mistakes on the bottom part of the track, was able to hold the win.”

Drury called the partisan crowd “boosting” and the end result “extra special” as he experienced the emotions of putting down a strong performance in front of his parents.

“I had my doubts this morning coming into this race. It’s a very start-oriented track, not a ton of passing. I somehow managed to make passes,” he explained afterwards. “I feel like when you kind of accept the possibility of a short day that’s sometimes when you have your best days. I was just having fun out there.”

And to keep the momentum going, Howden added another silver medal in Saturday’s portion of the event, sharing the podium yet again with Drury, who took bronze. Germany’s Florian Wilmsmann won the gold Saturday.

Howden moved up to now sit second in the chase for the Crystal Globe, a trophy he’s won twice before. Drury also bumped himself up one spot in the standings to rank sixth overall on the season, one that has been somewhat of a renaissance for him.

“I’ve been pretty injured for the last four years. I always thought in the back of my head that I still had the speed, still had the abilities,” said Drury. “So to come back this year and to prove it to myself that I was able to do it and I still had the speed, I can’t even describe it.”

“I’m really happy when Kevin gets on the podium,” said Howden. “Obviously it’s a competition, he wants to win as well but at the end of the day we love to race together and we love to see each other be successful.”

The math in a big final is pretty simple: four athletes racing head-to-head means all but one of them will end up on the podium. Drury admitted he had that thought in his head, even if he wished the final placements were a little different.

“To be honest, I’d like to trade positions [with Reece],” he laughed before continuing: “It’s so cool. I think I was literally thinking at the top in the start: auto podium. Two of us, four guys, so go Canada and I’m so glad we got two on there.”

On the women’s side, the three Canadians entered all ended up in the small final. India Sherret maintained her lead in the Crystal Globe standings by winning the small final to place fifth overall. Abby McEwen ended up sixth overall while Courtney Hoffos finished eighth.

Saturday was a different story for Canada’s women. Hoffos and Abby McEwen grabbed the silver and bronze medals, respectively, finishing the weekend with some redemption. Switzerland’s Fanny Smith won the gold medal in a very close final.

“We always kind of joke that fifth place feels better than fourth because you finish the day off on a high note, you finish it off with a win and that’s the kind of performance and skiing that I know I’m capable of, so I’m just going to try to carry that into tomorrow and into the next few races,” said Sherret after Friday’s event.

The team will now fly off to Engadin, Switzerland where their world championship competition will take place March 21-23. The last two World Cup races of the season will be held March 29-30 in Indre Fjall, Sweden.

Heading into Wednesday’s dual moguls event at the FIS Freestyle World Cup in Livigno, Italy, the three-time Olympian had already locked up two Crystal Globes as the top athlete in moguls and overall moguls. 

His victory in the dual moguls event in Livigno on Wednesday secured him the triple crown, taking the final Crystal Globe in dual moguls. Japan’s Ikuma Horishima, Kingsbury’s most consistent rival over the course of the season, was the only athlete that had a shot at catching the Canadian superstar. In the end, Horishima finished 104 points in the dual moguls standings behind Kingsbury, after finishing second to him in Livigno. Sweden’s Filip Gravenfors finished third in Livigno, and took the third spot in the dual moguls standings.

The win in Livigno—the very venue that will host Olympic competition next year for Milano Cortina 2026—marked an astonishing 99 career World Cup victories for Kingsbury. This season alone he notched 13 podiums, including nine victories and four second place finishes. Kingsbury notched his first World Cup victory in 2011. He has now amassed 27 career Crystal Globes, including three season sweeps where he took all three Globes.

This season was a special one for Kingsbury separate from his athletic success, as it was his first competitive season after welcoming his son, Henrik.

Once again this season, Canada leads the FIS Nations Cup ski cross standings. The Canadian team claimed its third straight Nations Cup last season, which was the country’s seventh in nine seasons.

There’s rarely a race on the World Cup circuit that doesn’t see a Canadian find the podium.

India Sherret has been finding it a lot this season. It’s been a huge breakthrough for the 28-year-old from Cranbrook, British Columbia, who has landed on six podiums, including two victories. She hasn’t finished lower than fifth in any race this season and has reached the big final to place top four in all but three events.

This consistency has vaulted Sherret to top spot on the FIS World Cup rankings, just ahead of her Team Canada teammate and two-time Olympic medallist, Marielle Thompson.

Olympic.ca chatted with Sherret ahead of competing on home snow at the FIS Ski Cross World Cup in Craigleith, Ontario, where she’ll hope to continue her hot streak.

How did you get into ski cross?

I started ski cross pretty young, especially in comparison to most of my teammates. I first tried it out when I was 13, and then at 14, I decided that was what I wanted to do. When I was FIS age, so 15, I kind of left alpine behind and went fulltime to ski cross. I just really fell in love with it. 

You just got your sixth podium this season and you’re leading the World Cup standings. How would you describe this season?

It’s been a bit of a crazy year, to be honest. Since mid-February last year, I had my first World Cup win (I hadn’t had a podium for, I don’t know, four years or something prior to that). I had a good end of the season last year, and then things just started off really strong, and I’ve been skiing super consistently this year. 

It’s definitely a little bit new to me. There’s a lot of new pressure to get used to being at the “top of the pile,” so to speak. But I’ve really been enjoying it. I’m super proud of what I’ve been doing. I’m really happy with my skiing. I feel like I’m just carrying a lot of momentum right now, and it’s super cool. 

Are you doing anything differently to embrace that pressure?

I’ve done some work with our sports psychologist, just sort of around managing the expectations, and really working on trying to stay present. 

Prior to this year, the overall [World Cup title] was maybe more of, not a pipe dream, but it felt like a distant goal. And then all of a sudden this year, I’m like—oh, this is a thing that I’m really in the mix for—and something I know that I can achieve. 

There’s a part of me that’s kind of like: Okay, you just have to keep your cool and not get in your own way. I think that’s going to be the hardest part of the next four races. So I’ve been working on trying to manage that and the expectations and to take it race by race. 

How are you feeling heading into the world championships? 

If I am honest, there’s a part of me that’s almost like: Nice! There’s a race that doesn’t count towards the overall and the result is just the result! I don’t know if that makes sense [laughs].

But, I’m really looking forward to it. I haven’t qualified for a world champs since the first time I went in 2017, so it’s been quite a long time for me. To be coming into my second world champs with the momentum that I’m carrying right now, I’m super excited. I know the results that I’m capable of, but at the same time, I know anything can happen on race day. So I’m just going to go in there and have some fun. 

Team Canada is such a ski cross powerhouse, especially on the women’s side. Can you talk a little bit about the team dynamic? What’s it like to be on a team that is so strong internationally?

It is so cool. Especially when you look at other European teams, it is so incredible the depth we have, on the women’s side, especially. 

Unfortunately, we are not all healthy right now. We are down to three out of seven. But when we have all seven girls, we can be seven in the top eight, and nobody else has that. I’ve been part of two podium sweeps with the other girls, with Marielle [Thompson] and Britt [Phelan] and Hannah [Schmidt]. It is just the coolest experience ever. 

The fact that we have so many of us is what really makes us so strong. Our level of training is really high, especially in comparison to other teams that only have one or two girls. Marielle has been at the top of her game for so long, and we all know that’s what we’re aiming for. 

Is there anything that you wish more people knew about ski cross?

It is funny, the idea that a lot of people have… that it’s very aggressive, with contact and knocking people over. You can’t do that. 

It used to be a little more “wild west,” but these days, like, if you make contact with someone and they crash, you get a yellow card, [which means] your rank is last in your heat. If you get two yellow cards a year, you get a red card, [which means] you can’t start the next race, you’re disqualified. 

Do you have a favourite moment of your own skiing career?

I think one of my favourite moments was my first World Cup win [at Alleghe in February 2024]. That one was very special. I didn’t expect it. I didn’t really see it coming. And then I just had a day where it really felt like it all came together.

I remember kind of coming around the last turn, coming into the finish and realizing that I was going to win—I started crying.

My teammate Kevin [Drury] ran into the finish and gave me a big hug, and was like, “Oh my God, you did it!” It was really special for me.

Do you have a favourite moment as a ski cross fan?

There are some that I remember from when I was younger, like Ashleigh McIvor and Marielle winning the Olympics, individually. In 2010 I hadn’t even started ski cross yet, but I was like, wow, that’s really cool to see a Canadian woman win an event that I knew I wanted to do.

Rapid fire with India Sherret

An athlete that you look up to?

All of my teammates, in individual ways!

Favourite place to train?

I do really love training at the gym in Whistler. In terms of ski training, I would say that the preseason training in Idre Fjäll this year was really awesome.

Any pre-race rituals or routines? When I asked your teammate Jared Schmidt about this, I heard about his lucky socks… 

I listen to the same few songs every race that get me in the right headspace. 

Otherwise, I’m very much just, a right side of things first [person]—right boot, right ski, right mitten. I do the same thing every time I get in the start gate—tap my poles, clap my hands, that sort of thing. I’m not a hugely routine-oriented or superstitious person, though.

What’s on the pre-race playlist?

I listen to a fair bit of metal. Bring Me the Horizon is probably the band that’s most frequently on there. The specific songs are secrets, though!

Yes, we wouldn’t want the competition to get their hands on the playlist! If you weren’t a ski cross athlete, what sport would you do?

I think it would be really cool to be good at halfpipe skiing. In terms of things that are realistic for me to do, definitely not halfpipe skiing! Maybe short track speed skating? I think that’d be neat.

Team Canada will compete at the FIS Ski Cross World Cup in Craigleith, Ontario, March 12-15. The FIS Freestyle World Championships will take place in Engadin, Switzerland, March 16-30.

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.

This victory is the 97th of Kingsbury’s illustrious World Cup career. The 32-year-old Canadian is the most accomplished moguls skier of all time.

Results in Almaty were made final after the qualification round, as dense fog at the venue resulted in the cancellation of the finals. Kingsbury topped the podium with a score of 81.17, joined by South Korea’s Jung Daeyoon (79.08), who earned his country’s first ever World Cup podium in moguls, and Japan’s Ikuma Horishima (77.82).

With just one more single moguls event to come, Kingsbury has secured the Crystal Globe for moguls—his 27th career World Cup title. He also leads the standings for dual moguls as well as the combined standings for moguls/dual moguls.

Kingsbury will be back on the course in Almaty on Saturday for the dual moguls. The final stop of the World Cup season will take place March 11-13 and will double as the Olympic test event of the Livigno Aerials & Moguls Park.