Another successful weekend is in the books for Team Canada athletes.
Mikaël Kingsbury had a new fan—three-month-old son Henrik—cheering him on as he earned yet another win at the traditional World Cup opener for moguls in Ruka, Finland.
In Beijing, there were World Cup podium performances by speed skaters Valérie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann as well as big air skier Dylan Deschamps. Closer to home in Vermont, Valérie Grenier made her long-awaited return to competition, while on Canada’s east coast, Team Rachel Homan kept their winning ways going at another Grand Slam of Curling.
Here’s a quick look at some of the stories behind the headlines.
Mikaël Kingsbury was victorious at the FIS Freestyle World Cup opener for moguls in Ruka, Finland, notching his 91st World Cup win and 130th World Cup podium to kick off his 16th season on the elite circuit. Kingsbury scored 83.90 in the second final round to finish 2.76 points ahead of runner-up Walter Wallberg of Sweden, the reigning Olympic champion. Fellow Canadian Elliot Vaillancourt made it to the first final round, finishing eighth overall.
READ: Kingsbury opens moguls World Cup season with gold in Ruka
In women’s moguls, Maïa Schwinghammer finished fourth overall, missing the podium by just 1.61 points. That matches the 23-year-old’s career best World Cup result in moguls.
Isabelle Weidemann skated to the bronze medal in the women’s 3000m on Saturday at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Beijing, China. The podium finish at the Ice Ribbon might have felt familiar to the 29-year-old, who mirrored her Olympic bronze medal result at that same venue in that same event from Beijing 2022. The podium finish helped Weidemann move up to fourth place in the overall World Cup long distance rankings.
On Sunday, Valérie Maltais added to Canada’s medal count as she claimed silver in the women’s mass start. The 34-year-old initially appeared to have finished third behind teammate Ivanie Blondin, but Blondin was later disqualified after race officials judged that body contact between her and Italian skater Francesca Lollobrigida, who initially finished fourth, impacted another competitor. Marieke Groenewoud of the Netherlands took the mass start gold medal for a second straight weekend.
READ: Valérie Maltais wins silver at World Cup in Beijing
Canada just missed the podium in both of the team sprint events, as the women’s team squad of Blondin, Carolina Hiller and Béatrice Lamarche placed fourth behind the Netherlands, Poland and the United States. The men’s trio of Anders Johnson, Christopher Fiola and Yankun Zhao skated together for the very first time and also finished fourth behind the Netherlands, United States and China.
There is now a break in the World Cup schedule until January 24-26 when the circuit comes to the Olympic Oval in Calgary.
Dylan Deschamps placed third in men’s big air at the FIS Freeski World Cup in Beijing, China on Sunday. The 21-year-old skier also finished third at the season-opening World Cup for big air in Chur, Switzerland, in October.
READ: Dylan Deschamps claims second bronze of season at Freestyle World Cup in Beijing
Scoring 181.00 points for his best two tricks in the final, Deschamps stood on the podium behind Norwegian Tormod Frostad, who won with 183.00 points, and Italian Miro Tabanelli, who scored 182.25 for second. Deschamps sits second behind Frostad in the World Cup big air standings.
Valérie Grenier finished ninth in the women’s giant slalom event at the FIS Alpine World Cup stop in Killington, Vermont. This marked the two-time Olympian’s return to competition following a major crash in January 2024.
Wearing bib No. 1 for the first time ever in her World Cup career, Grenier was first down the course in the first run, in which she posted the 12th-fastest time. Britt Richardson was the only other Canadian to finish both runs, placing 27th.
In the women’s slalom event on Sunday, Laurence St-Germain finished in seventh place. After being 12th-fastest in the first run, she climbed up the standings with the sixth-fastest second run and ended up just 0.85 of a second off the podium. This is St-Germain’s best World Cup result since November 2023.
Sadly, the Canadian women won’t be racing at home this coming weekend. The World Cup that had been scheduled to take place in Tremblant, Quebec was cancelled due to it not being cold enough to create the necessary snow coverage.
Skip Rachel Homan earned her record-extending 17th career Grand Slam of Curling title, winning the Kioti National on Sunday in St. John’s, Newfoundland and Labrador. With her team of third Tracy Fleury, second Emma Miskew, and lead Sarah Wilkes, Team Homan defeated Sweden’s Team Anna Hasselborg 6-5 in the final.
The reigning Canadian and world champions scored two points in the eighth and final end to secure the comeback win. They had also come from behind to win their quarterfinal and semifinal matchups. It is the second straight Grand Slam title for Team Homan this season.
Team Brad Jacobs finished as the runners-up in the men’s event, dropping the final 5-3 to Scotland’s Team Bruce Mouat, who won their ninth Grand Slam title.
