Canadian athletes had an eventful day at the Tazawako FIS World Cup, in Japan, today.
In men’s moguls, everyone expected the main story to be that of a battle between defending World Cup champion Mikaël Kingsbury and Japanese opponent Ikuma Horishima. However, Horishima did not perform the way he was expected to, finishing 48th, which opened the door for other athletes to step onto the podium, with Kingsbury in first place. In the end, it was Dmitriy Reikherd of Kazakhstan and Canadian athlete Laurent Dumais who would take home the silver and bronze medals, respectively. Head Coach Michel Hamelin underscored the significance of having Canadian athletes make the finals. He was “thrilled to have two Canadian athletes on the podium.” High Performance Director Todd Allison agreed: “I’m glad to see our men joining the top seed of World Cup skiers. They are pushing each other to be better.”
On the women’s side, Justine Dufour-Lapointe elected not to compete this weekend. After winning two medals last week in Deer Valley, Justine sustained a minor upper body injury in training in Japan. She is however expected to recover quickly and is planning on competing next week in Kazakhstan. Her sister, Chloé, was the top female Canadian today, after finishing in 19th place. Directly behind her was NextGen skier Berkley Brown, 19, of Aurora, who was back on the circuit for her third World Cup of the year.
OTHER CANADIAN ATHLETES’ PLACINGS:
Men: Brenden Kelly (10), Gabriel Dufresne (14), Kerrian Chunlaud (18), Robbie Andison (32)
Women: Chloé Dufour-Lapointe (19), Berkley Brown (20), Valérie Gilbert (21), Maia Schwinghammer (24)
