Hollingsworth, who trains at WinSport Canada’s sliding track in Calgary, posted a four-run time of three minutes 42.50 seconds, to finish just back of American Katie Uhlaender, who clocked a time of 3:42.33.

“It is just awesome,” said Hollingsworth, a native of Eckville, Alta. “I had four consistent runs and that’s all you can ask for in this kind of race.

“I’m not tapped out yet though. I didn’t have the strongest pushes so we have some adjustments to work out there, but it was a great day and we are definitely on track two years out from Sochi.”

Britain’s Elizabeth Yarnold was third.

Calgary’s Sarah Reid was 11^th on Friday, while Amy Gough of Abbotsford, B.C., was 12^th.

The 30-year-old, a regular at WinSport Canada’s Bob Niven Training Centre in Calgary, was topped only by Swiss star Didier Cuche.

“Thank goodness. I’m glad I finally got one in super-G,” said Hudec, who now has four career World Cup podium finishes. “It was a little bit bumpy when I went down but it really deteriorated for the other guys. It was like plus-10 on the hill.

Erik Guay, of Mont-Tremblant, Que., was the only other Canadian to crack the top-15, as he finished 13^th.

Hudec’s finish was the fifth in five races for the Canadian alpine team.

Bal Gosal, Minister of State (Sport), is joined on stage by Calgary MP Rob Anders and members of Ski Jumping Canada’s development team to announce funding on Thursday.

Mother Nature provided the perfect backdrop Thursday for Government of Canada representatives to announce funding to Ski Jumping Canada’s women’s program.

The sun gave way to a quick, but heavy, snowfall, as Bal Gosal, Minister of State (Sport), announced the government’s support to the program. Also on hand was Rob Anders, the MP for Calgary West.

“Our Government is pleased to announce a Ski Jumping discipline first: funding for Ski Jumping Canada in support of our women ski jumpers,” said Gosal. “This funding will ensure our women ski jumpers will be ready for the debut of the women’s ski jump event at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi. We look forward to cheering on our women’s team, and remain committed to promoting the participation of women and girls in sport.”

Joining in the announcement was Ski Jumping Canada chairman Brent Morrice, the chief sport officer for the Canadian Olympic Committee, Caroline Assalian, and Ken Read, the director for winter sport for Own the Podium.

“Ski Jumping Canada has been working hard for many years to develop our athletes to a level at which they can be competitive with the best ski jumpers in the world,” said Morrice. “With the support from Sport Canada, OTP, and WinSport, we have been given the opportunity to compete, and now, as a national sport organization, our mandate will be to use this funding to gain podium results.”

Ski Jumping Canada also received great news Thursday, when 20-year-old Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes jumped 194.0 metres at the ski flying world championships in Vikersun, Norway, setting a Canadian record.

Wenzel first started cross-country skiing at Canada Olympic Park several years ago, and on Tuesday he became the first ever Canadian to take top spot at the Biathlon Junior World Championships in Kontiolahti, Finland.

“This is very special for me,” said the 21-year-old Wenzel, who missed one shot in four rounds of shooting in the junior men’s 15-kilometre individual competition. “I was pretty anxious before the race, but I did a good job of staying relaxed and calm today.”

During the first weekend of action at the world bobsleigh and skeleton championships in Lake Placid, N.Y., Calgary’s Kaillie Humphries and Jenny Ciochetti teamed up on Saturday to win gold in the four-run, two-man women’s showdown.

The dynamic duo, which trains at WinSport Canada’s track in Calgary, won the World Cup gold on their home track the previous week.

“It feels amazing. It is another goal accomplished,” said Humphries. “This means a lot to me. I feel like I’m still growing as a pilot and I try to learn from every experience. I have been working on my consistency and I’m glad it showed here.”

Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown finished fifth.

In men’s two-man bobsleigh action Sunday, Lyndon Rush and Jesse Lumsden joined forces to take silver in Lake Placid, despite Rush battling a stomach virus during Sunday’s final two runs.

In Naeba, Japan, Audrey Robichaud chalked up her first ever World Cup victory, taking top spot on Sunday in a dual moguls event. The win came less than 24 hours after Mikael Kingsbury accomplished the same feat in the men’s moguls event.

In other major results on the weekend:

Sunday

Freestyle World Cup (at Naeba, Japan)
Mikael Kingsbury                2^nd dual moguls

Philippe Marquis  3^rd dual moguls

Speed skating World All-Round Championships (at Moscow)

Christine Nesbitt  3^rd women’s all-round

Saturday

Freestyle World Cup (at Naeba, Japan)

Cedric Rochon     3^rd moguls

Audrey Robichaud              2^nd moguls

Justine Dufour-Lapointe    3^rd moguls

Chloe Dufour-Lapointe      4^th moguls

]]> http://winsportcanada.wordpress.com/2012/02/21/wenzel-humphries-on-top-of-the-world/feed/ 0 winsportcanada http://winsportcanada.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/another-medal-haul-for-canadians/ http://winsportcanada.wordpress.com/2012/02/14/another-medal-haul-for-canadians/#comments Tue, 14 Feb 2012 23:05:00 +0000 WinSport Canada http://winsportcanada.wordpress.com/?p=405 ]]>

Greg Paseshnik, WinSport Canada's director, marketing, hands out a $5,000 cheque to Kaillie Humphries and Jenny Ciochetti as part of WinSport's Sarah Burke Performance Award.

Canadian winter athletes had another great weekend on the medal podium, led by a gold-medal performance by the bobsleigh tandem of Kaillie Humphries and Jenny Cochiti at WinSport Canada’s sliding track in Calgary.

Skeleton racer Amy Gough also had a bronze as Calgary hosted the bobsleigh and skeleton World Cup weekend.

Both sleds earned $5,000 as part of WinSport Canada’s Sarah Burke Performance Award, which awards Canadians who hit the medal podium at senior World Cup events at WinSport’s facilities at Canada Olympic Park.

“I felt really good today. I had good pushes and was really calm and confident. It was so nice to be racing at home,” said Gough.

At the freestyle World Cup in China, Mikael Kingsbury continued to add to his season-long medal haul, winning gold in men’s moguls. Teammate Philippe Marquis was second, while Justine Dufour-Lapointe was second in the women’s event. Olivier Rochon was third in aerials.

In Dordrecht, Netherlands, at the short track World Cup stop, Marianne St. Gelais won gold in the 1,000-metre race and was second in the 500m to lead the Canadian contingent. Guillaume Bastille led the pack in the men’s 1,000m, with Marie-Eve Drolet (1,000m) and Olivier Jean (1,000m) each winning silver in their respective events. Francois-Louis Tremblay (500m) won bronze in men’s event, with the men’s relay team bringing home silver.

In Hamar, Norway, at the long track World Cup stop, Christine Nesbitt captured silver in the 1,500m.

Calgarians combined to win bronze at the world luge championships in Altenberg, Germany, with Alex Gough, Sam Edney, along with Tristan Walker and Justin Snith, finishing third in the team relay.

Alpine skier Ben Thomsen has served notice that the venue in Sochi, Russia, the site of the 2014 Winter Olympics, is to his liking, after finishing second on the weekend in a World Cup downhill race.

“It’s a little bit overwhelming right now. It’s awesome,” said Thomsen. “When I crossed the finish line nobody raised their hands so I thought, ‘Oh no, I must have had a bad run.’ But then I saw my name come up. I’m still in shock.”

In Odgen, Utah, at the Dew Tour freestyle event, Calgary’s Rosalind Groenewoud was second in the halfpipe, while figure skaters Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir won the ice dance title at the Four Continents event in Colorado Springs, Colo.

And at the Canmore Nordic Centre, Calgary’s Nathan Smith captured top spot in the men’s 10-kilometre sprint in an IBU Cup race, while Quebec’s Yolaine Oddou won bronze in a 7.5-kilometre sprint in the feeder series to the World Cup circuit.

It was also a great weekend for WinSport Academy athletes, including first-place finishes at the Alberta Winter Games in Spruce Grove and Stony Plain. Among them were Connor Skipper (boys 14-16 slopestyle), AJ Cairns (girls 11-13 slopestyle) and Jack Collins (boys 11-13 slopestyle). WinSport Freeskiers also reached the top of the podium, including Maddi Russell-Cowie (women’s moguls), Janelle Yip (women’s slopestyle) and Emerson Padley (men’s slopestyle).

Canada’s Amy Gough shared the third spot on the medal podium on Thursday at WinSport Canada’s sliding track in Calgary, making the most of home ice advantage in the final stop of the World Cup circuit this season.

The world championships are next weekend in Lake Placid, N.Y.

“I felt really good today,” said Gough, who clocked a two-run time of one minute 56.57 seconds to share bronze with Britain’s Shelley Rudman. “I had good pushes and was really calm and confident. It was so nice to be racing at home.”

Britain’s Elizabeth Yarnold took gold in 1:55.93, while Germany’s Anja Huber was second in 1:56.47.

“We haven’t been sliding in Calgary since October so it was a tough week of training for the Canadians,” said Gough. “We’ve slid here a lot so we got up to speed quickly. I really like Calgary and today just feels really good.”

Gough picked up $5,000 from WinSport Canada as part of WinSport’s newly created Sarah Burke Performance Award, which dishes out $5K to any Canadian athlete reaching the podium at a senior World Cup event at WinSport’s facilities at Canada Olympic Park.

Mellisa Hollingsworth of Eckville, Alta., was fifth, while Sarah Reid finished seventh.

In the men’s event Thursday, Eric Neilson climbed to sixth place after clocking the second-fastest time in the second heat.

“That was my personal best so I’m very happy,” said Neilson. “That was very sweet redemption after last week, and a great way to end off the World Cup season heading into world championships. It has been a roller-coaster year with lots of ups and downs, but it’s a long journey, and you have to be patient with it.”

Latvia’s Martins Dukurs clinched the overall World Cup title with his seventh victory of the season, while Russia’s Alexander Tretiakov claimed was second and Germany’s Frank Rommel was third.

Calgary’s John Fairbairn was 13th, while Toronto’s Mike Douglas was 18th.

That total includes 10 goals, six silver and seven bronze from Thursday through Sunday.

Many of those athletes have ties to WinSport Canada, including skeleton gold medallist Mellisa Hollingsworth and bobsleigh medallists Kaillie Humphries (gold), Helen Upperton (bronze) and the dynamic duo of Lyndon Rush and Jesse Lumsden (gold) who train at WinSport’s sliding track at Calgary’s Canada Olympic Park. Lumsden and Rush joined forces with Cody Sorensen and Neville Wright to take third in the two-man bobsleigh event.

Jan Hudec, another Calgarian who is a poster boy for WinSport’s ‘I train here’ campaign stood atop the podium at a World Cup downhill race on Saturday in Chamonix, France. Cross-country skier Devon Kershaw, who makes his training home at WinSport’s Nordic centre in Canmore, Alta., had a gold and bronze during the weekend in Russia.

Below is a complete list of results

February 5, 2012

World Cup alpine skiing

(at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany)

Marie-Pier Prefontaine 16th women’s super-G

Larisa Yurkiw      36^th women’s super-G

Kelly Vanderbeek            38^th women’s super-G

World Cup short track speed skating (at Moscow)

Olivier Jean         1^st men’s 500 metre

Liam McFarlane                2^nd men’s 500 metre

Charles Hamelin               3^rd men’s 500 metre

Francois-Louis Tremblay               8^th men’s 1,500 metre

Remi Beaulieu   12^th men’s 1,500 metre

Guillaume Gastille           14^th men’s 1,500 metre

Men’s relay team            1^st overall

Marianne St. Gelais         4^th women’s 500 metre

Caroline Truchon              7^th women’s 500 metre

Gabrielle Waddell            13^th women’s 500 metre

Marie-Eve Drolet             5^th women’s 1,500 metre

Valerie Maltais  9^th women’s 1,500 metre

Jessica Hewitt    16^th women’s 1,500 metre

Women’s relay team      4^th overall

World Cup Biathlon (At Oslo, Norway)

Brendan Green 10^th men’s mass start

Jean-Philippe Le Guellec 12^th men’s mass start

Zina Kocher        29^th women’s mass start

World Cup Cross-country (at Rybinsk, Russia)

Devon Kershaw                6^th men’s skiathlon

Alex Harvey        8^th men’s skiathlon

Ivan Babikov      19^th men’s skiathlon

February 4, 2012

World Cup bobsleigh (at Whistler, B.C.)

Lyndon Rush, Jesse Lumsden, Cody Sorensen, Neville Wright3rd men’s four-man

Justin Kripps, Tim Randall James McNaughton, Derek Plug            12^th men’s four-man

Cross-country (At Rybinsk, Russia)

1. Devon Kershaw         15km mass start

5. Alex Harvey   15 km mass start

17 Ivan Babikov            15 km mass start

Biathlon World Cup (at Oslo, Norway)

Brendan Green 13^th men’s 12.5km pursuit

Jean-Philippe Le Guellec               26^th men’s 12.5km pursuit

Scott Perras        33^rd men’s 12.5km pursuit

Zina Kocher        29^th women’s 10km pursuit

Megan Imrie      41^st women’s 10km pursuit

World Cup alpine (at Chamonix, France)

Jan Hudec           1^st men’s downhill

Erik Guay             3^rd men’s downhill

Ben Thomsen 5^th men’s downhill

World Cup alpine skiing

(at Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany)

Kelly Vanderbeek            46^th women’s downhill

World Cup freestyle skiing (at Deer Valley, Utah)

Mikael Kingsbury             2^nd men’s dual moguls

Alex Bilodeau    5^th men’s dual moguls

Marc-Antoine Gagnon   7^th men’s dual moguls

Cedric Rochon   9^th men’s dual moguls

Eddie Hicks         17^th men’s dual moguls

Philippe Marquis              19^th men’s dual moguls

Justine Dufour-Lapointe 2^nd women’s dual moguls

Chloe Dufour-Lapointe  6^th women’s dual moguls

Audrey Robichaud           10^th women’s dual moguls

Chelsea Henitiuk              13^th women’s dual moguls

Maxime Dufour-Lapointe             17^th women’s dual moguls

World Cup short track speed skating (at Moscow)

Valerie Maltais  3^rd women’s 1,500m

Marie-Eve Drolet             9^th women’s 1,500m

Gabrielle Waddell            13^th women’s 1,500m

Olivier Jean         4^th men’s 1,000m

Guillaume Bastille            7^th men’s 1,000m

Liam McFarlane                10^th men’s 1,000m

Francois-Louis Tremblay 7^th men’s 1,500m

Remi Beaulieu 8^th men’s 1,500m

Jessica Hewitt    8^th women’s 1,000m

Marianne St. Gelais         10^th women’s 1,000m

Caroline Truchon              11^th women’s 1,000m

February 3, 2012

World Cup bobsleigh (at Whistler, B.C.)

Lyndon Rush/Jesse Lumsden     1^st men’s two-man

Justin Kripps/Tim Randall              14^th men’s two-man

World Cup skeleton (at Whistler, B.C.)

John Fairbairn    8^th men

Mike Douglas     11^th men

Eric Neilson         19^th men

World Cup ski cross (at Blue Mountain, Ont.)

Marielle Thompson         1^st women

Brady Leman      1^st men

Chris Del Bosco 2^nd men

Dave Duncan     7^th men

Nik Zoricic            15^th men

Tristan Trafel      16^th men

World Cup alpine (at Chamonix, France)

Erik Guay             4th men’s downhill

Jan Hudec           6th men’s downhill

Ben Thomsen 11^th men’s downhill

World Cup freestyle skiing (at Deer Valley, Utah)

Olivier Rochon   3^rd men’s aerials

Jean-Christophe Andre 17^th men’s aerials

February 2, 2012

World Cup skeleton (at Whistler, B.C.)

Mellisa Hollingsworth     1^st women

Sarah Reid           6^th women

Amy Gough        7^th women

World Cup bobsleigh (at Whistler, B.C.)

Kallie Humphries/Emily Baadsvik               1^st women

Helen Upperton/Shelley-Ann Brown      3^rd women

Jenny Ciochetti/Marquise Brisebois        12^th women

World Cup freestyle skiing (at Deer Valley, Utah)

Mikael Kingsbury             1^st men’s moguls

Alex Bilodeau    2^nd men’s moguls

Marc-Antoine Gagnon   5^th men’s moguls

Cedric Rochon   9^th men’s moguls

Philippe Marquis              11^th men’s moguls

Eddie Hicks         18^th men’s moguls

Alexandre Rousseau      41^st men’s moguls

Chloe Dufour-Lapointe  5^th women’s moguls

Audrey Robichaud           7^th women’s moguls

Chelsea Henitiuk              8^th women’s moguls

Maxime Dufour-Lapointe             14^th women’s moguls

Justine Dufour-Lapointe               23^rd women’s moguls

Cross-Country World Cup (at Moscow)

Devon Kershaw                3^rd men’s skate-ski sprint

Alex Harvey        9^th men’s skate-ski sprint

Len Valjas            12^th men’s skate-ski sprint

Daria Gaiazova  22^nd women’s sprint

Perianne Jones 24^th women’s sprint

Chandra Crawford           36^th women’s sprint

Biathlon World Cup (at Oslo, Norway)

Brendan Green 9^th men’s 10km sprint

Jean-Philippe Le Guellec               20^th men’s 10km sprint

Scott Perras        27^th men’s 10km sprint

Megan Imrie      17^th women’s 7.5km pursuit

Zina Kocher        25^th women’s 7.5km pursuit

IPC World Cup cross-country

Chris Klebl           2^nd men’s 10km sit-ski

Sebastien Fortier             14^th men’s 10km sit-ski

Yves Bourques                  19^th men’s 10km sit-ski

Colette Bourgonje           6th women’s 5.2km sit-ski

Christine Gauthier           9^th women’s 5.2km sit-ski

Louis Fortin 21^st men’s 18km standing

Caroline Bisson 5^th women’s 12km standing

Erica Noon          6^th women’s 12km standing

Margarita Gorbounova  6^th women’s 12km visually impaired

Calgary’s Brady Leman led the way in the men’s event, with Chris Del Bosco of Montreal finishing in second place. Marielle Thompson of Whistler, B.C., landed on the top step of the podium for the first time in her World Cup career.

“I hope we put on a good show – it sure seemed like it to me. To clean up here is great,” said Leman. “Having the hometown crowd here was awesome. I couldn’t be more happy.”

Mellisa Hollingsworth won gold in the women’s skeleton race, while Kaillie Humphries and Emily Baadsvik were first in women’s bobsleigh. Helen Upperton and Shelley-Ann Brown joined forces to win bronze.

“It’s a super emotional day,” said Hollingsworth, who had a disappointing second run in 2010 to fall from second to fifth and out of the medals at the Vancouver Games. “I had to lay this to rest and win this. It’s got to stop haunting me. I think it was one step last year of being on the podium (winning silver) and showing I can be consistent and now it’s showing that this is my home track and I can slide the fastest here. Today was redemption and a sense of relief.”

Hollingsworth finished with a two-run time of one minute 49.79 seconds for her 31st medal of her career.

Australia’s Lucy Chaffer won silver, while Shelley Rudman of Britain took the bronze. Calgary’s Sarah Reid was sixth, while Amy Gough, of Abbotsford,B.C., was seventh.

In bobsleigh, Humphries had a sense of deja vu, after repeating her gold-medal performance of the 2010 Games. The 26-year-old Calgary native teamed up with Baadsvik of St. Stephen, N.B., to clock a time of 1:46.68.

“It definitely feels good to get the gold,” said Humphries, who was third at the 2011 World Cup stop in Whistler. “I made a mistake in corner 7 and 8 last year and in all honesty I was saying ‘just don’t happen again.’ I learned my lesson and it worked out tonight.”

Upperton, a Calgary native, joined with Brown of Pickering, Ont., to win her 19th career World Cup medal and first of the season. Upperton, who has been training at WinSport Canada’s facility at Canada Olympic Park and even doing some driving of public bobsleigh rides, was initially planning to take the year off.

Instead, she’ll take part in two Canadian World Cup stops in preparation for the 2012 world championships in Lake Placid, New York.

“It is bit of a weird start to the season to have my first race in February, but was certainly fun to be back and get on the podium,” said Upperton. “Shelley and I love this place and were really excited to be here racing again.”

The Germany 2 sled of Sandra Kiriasis and Berit Wiacker won the silver.

“Any time you can have two Canadian athletes on the podium it is always great for our program so I’m really happy with how we did here,” said Humphries.”

Montreal’s Marquise Brisebois and Edmonton’s Jenny Ciochetti were 12th.

The men’s two-man bobsleigh and skeleton races are scheduled for Friday, with a four-man bobsleigh race on Saturday. The World Cup circuit heads to Calgary next week at WinSport Canada.

Kingsbury, who won gold last Saturday at a World Cup stop at WinSport’s Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, has now won six straight moguls events.

“I think that was my most satisfying win of my career,” said the 19-year-old after picking up a score of 25.90 on the course that was the site of the 2002 Winter Olympics. “In Deer Valley it’s like the Super Bowl of skiing. It’s a hard course, it’s a night event and there’s a huge crowd. I’m so stoked to win here.”

With six straight World Cup moguls victories, Kingsbury tied the 2005 record set by American Jeremy Bloom.

“Jeremy Bloom was my first ski idol,” said Kingsbury, “so it feels so good to win tonight.”

Alex Bilodeau, the 2010 Olympic champion, won the silver with a score of 25.60.

“With all the new things I’ve been working on in my training; trying to improve my turns and go even faster, I am not feeling 110 per cent comfortable yet,” said Bilodeau, who is only competing in select events this season.

Marc-Antoine Gagnon of Terrebonne, Que., was fifth, while Cedric Rochon of St. Sauveur, Que., was ninth and Quebec City’s Philippe Marquis was 11th. Eddie Hicks of Langley, B.C., was 18th, with Pierre-Alexandre Rousseau of Drummondville, Que., finishing 41st.

In the women’s event, Montreal’s Chloe Dufour-Lapointe led the Canadian contingent with a fifth-place finish. American Hannah Kearney took top spot for her 13th straight World Cup win.

Quebec City’s Audrey Robichaud was seventh, with Chelsea Henitiuk of Spruce Grove, Alta., who was eighth and Montreal’s Maxime Dufour-Lapointe was 14th. Justine Dufour-Lapointe, who was second last weekend in Calgary, was 23rd.

Aerials takes centre stage on Friday, with dual moguls slated for Sunday.