X Games, marquee downhill race set the tone as Beijing gets closer.
The pace of events is slowing, but they’re not going to stop as the Olympics get closer.
The opening ceremony for Beijing is only two weeks away. The winter Olympic sports calendar is easing off as athletes prepare for their trip to China (and attempt not to contract COVID). There are, however, some exciting events scheduled for this weekend. Here’s what you need to be aware of:
Winter X Games: Canadian contenders galore
Several Canadians aiming at Olympic medals in freestyle and snowboarding will be competing in the annual snow sports festival held in Aspen, Colo., that runs through Sunday. The list includes snowboarders Mark McMorris (a two-time Olympic bronze medallist in slopestyle and the reigning world champion for men for large air), Laurie Blouin (the current women’s big air world champion, as well as the Olympic slopestyle silver medalist in the year 2018) as well as Max Parrot (a 2018 Olympic slopestyle silver medalist and second-place finisher to McMorris in the big air for men at the world championships last year.).
The trio is expected to compete in slopestyle and big air at the Olympics, but Parrot will only be competing in the big air during the X Games. Blouin started the day with an excellent start by winning the slopestyle gold medal for the second time in the row.
One famous Canadian snowboarder is not in Aspen. Seb Toutant is preparing for the defense of the Olympic Men’s Big Air gold in Beijing following his victory in the first event in the same year. Seb Toutant went on to win silver in the slopestyle event at the world championships in 2021 and will take part in both competitions in Beijing.
Canada’s Olympic freestyle ski team is not yet chosen. Still, the potential athletes participating this week Aspen will be Evan McEachran (men’s slopestyle, big air), Megan Oldham (women’s slopestyle big air), Max Moffatt (men’s slopestyle and knuckle-huck), Teal Harle (men’s big air), Edouard Therriault (men’s big air), Noah Bowman (men’s superpipe) and Elena Gaskell (women’s big air). Check out the complete X Games schedule here.
Alpine skiing: Are you hoping for a Canadian surprise?
Since Kerrin Lee-Gartner’s incredible downhill win at Albertville in 1992, Canada is a distant second in Olympic silver medals from alpine ski – the downhill bronze won in 1994 by Ed Podivinsky in ’94 and a super-G bronze medal by Jan Hudec in 2014. The odds of a podium in Beijing aren’t fantastic, with neither Canadians ranking among the top 20 athletes in the women’s or men’s World Cup overall standings.
But that doesn’t mean there’s no possibility of winning. Of the 13 skiers named for the Canadian Olympic team today, two stand out as the most likely to steal an Olympic medal in Beijing.
Jack Crawford, 24, hasn’t yet made it to the top of the list at the top level of competition, but the Canadian has been close in some of the most prestigious competitions. He finished third in the overall race at the world championships in 2012 and placed sixth in the current World Cup downhill on the Streif course in Kitzbuehel, Austria — the most hazardous and well-known course in alpine skiing. In the last month, Crawford finished fifth in the super-G system on the famous Lauberhorn mountain in Wengen, Switzerland. One year ago, he finished 6th in the super-G race at Kitzbuehel.
Crawford is currently 22nd in the overall men’s standings and is ninth overall in the super-G and 20th on the downhill. Crawford will race in a downhill race on the Streif on Sunday at 8:30 a.m. E.T. This is the last men’s “speed” race (super-G or downhill) before the Olympics.
Marie-Michele Gagnon is the most successful Canadian on the female World Cup overall chase, which places her 35th. She’s 12th in the downhill race and 20th place in super-G. The previous season, she was awarded the World Cup super-G bronze and was sixth in the event in the World Championships. She placed fifth in the last Week’s World Cup downhill in Austria. In Italy, Gagnon will compete on a descent Saturday starting at 5:30 a.m. E.T. and a Super-G on Sunday beginning at 5:45 a.m. E.T.
Ski cross: Canadians laying low
Canada has had a lot of successes during this competition since it was included in the Olympics in 2010. In 2010, they won all six of its gold medals, including the women’s three. In 2018, the Games were awe-inspiring in this regard, with Kelsey Serwa and Brittany Phelan winning silver and gold respectively for the women’s race and Brady Leman capturing gold in the men’s.
This morning, Canada named the eight athletes to continue its Olympic skiing dominance. The team is led by Leman and Marielle Thompson, who claimed the women’s gold medal in 2014 and an Olympic title in 2019. Thompson appears to be fully recuperating from knee injuries that she suffered in March. She has reached the podium in seven World Cup starts this season and a win in December. Thompson is at third place in the female World Cup standings — one spot ahead of Phelan, who was selected to the Olympic team. 5th-place Hannah Schmidt made it too and the seventh-place Courtney Hoffos. This is an incredible depth for the women’s team.
In addition to Leman in the men’s squad is the reigning World Cup champion Reece Howden who has fallen to 16th in the rankings after achieving just one podium in the first half of this year; Kevin Drury, who ranks 8th, and Jared Schmidt (Hannah’s brother) who is 29th. Kris Mahler, who scored a stunning World Cup victory last week in Alberta but didn’t make it to the top.
This is the final World Cup stop before the Olympics takes place over the weekend in Sweden, where they will be hosting male and female events on Friday at 5:15 a.m. E.T. and another on for Sunday, starting at 7 a.m. E.T. There were no Canadians who took the flight, However, there were no Canadians on the trip. They’re trying everything to prevent COVID-19 as travel plans to China are nearing.
Watching how:
Apart from The X Games, which are broadcast on TSN, all of the above is live-streamed on CBCSports.ca, the CBC Sports app, and CBC Gem. The platforms are also streaming the Luge World Cup season finale, figure skating’s Four Continents Championships (Olympians are taking a break from this event while they get ready to prepare for Beijing), and the World Rugby Sevens Series event in Spain (the Canadian men’s and women’s teams are participating).
According to your local time zone, Sevens rugby action is being shown by the CBC TV network on Saturday between 1 – 2 p.m. E.T. and Sunday from 2 to 3 p.m. The Saturday Road to the Olympic Games show on the CBC TV network features women’s and men’s downhills and ski cross. You can catch it between 2 and 6 p.m. E.T. The Sunday show will feature super-G women’s and second downhill for men. You can watch it from 2-4 in the time zone of your choice. Check out the complete CBC Sports broadcast and streaming schedule here.
2017 world champion in slopestyle snowboarding as well as 2018 Olympic silver medalist Laurie Blouin of Stoneham, Que., won bronze for the second time in a row during the X Games in Aspen, Colo. 3:20
Quickly…
Canada might have two singles players during the 16th round of the Australian Open. No. 14 seed Denis Shapovalov got there today, winning four sets over 23rd seeded American Reilly Opelka. Shapovalov’s debut time is making it to the fourth round of the Aussie Open. He’ll be up against a formidable opponent in the form of No. 3. Alexander Zverev of Germany was the gold medalist in the Tokyo Olympics in the summer of 2004. Felix Auger-Aliassime could be a part of Shapovalov in round 16, which starts tonight when the no. 9 seed plays No. 24 Dan Evans of Great Britain. Their match is scheduled to begin at 1 a.m. E.T. It was a massive upset in the women’s event today when the reigning champion Naomi Osaka got bounced in the third round by Amanda Anisimova, a 20-year-old American placed as 60th around the globe.
Canada has won the first gold medal at the World Para Snow Sports Championships. One week after winning silver in the Slalom event, Tyler Turner won the men’s snowboard cross event at Lillehammer, Norway. The fellow Canadian Lisa Dejong took silver in the women’s race, bringing Canada’s medal total to 12 after nine days of racing.
And then…
The NFL playoffs are set to become serious. The wild-card round last week was fun; however, a few teams that didn’t belong (looking at you Philadelphia and Pittsburgh) while some groups we considered good (New England and Arizona) were eliminated with an average score of just 26. The units are gone, and the top-seeded teams in every group (Green Bay and Tennessee) are taking advantage of an off. The Titans will begin their season on Saturday at 4:45 p.m. E.T. against. The Cincinnati team rallied to defeat Las Vegas for its first playoff victory in the last 31 years. Around 8:15 p.m. ET, Aaron Rodgers and the Packers will play San Francisco, which scored an incredible win over lazy Dallas. Sunday, around 3 p.m. ET, Tom Brady and the defending Super Bowl champion Buccaneers face more complex challenges than Philly has presented them when they take on the L.A. Rams team that defeated Arizona. Also, on Sunday, around 6:30 p.m. E.T. prepare for a shootout when Patrick Mahomes and defending AFC champion Kansas City take on red-hot Josh Allen and the Buffalo Bills. They had a nearly perfect game last week, scoring seven touchdowns against the Patriots.