WIN-ter wonderland

March 9, 2020
Sports NewsGeneral
WIN-ter wonderland

The GIST: With all the winning our Canadians are doing in winter sports, we’re not sure we want the season to end (just kidding, we miss the heat!).

Tell me all about it: This weekend, Canadian snowboarding superstar Mark McMorris became the most decorated X Games athlete of all time, winning his 19th medal after claiming gold in the men’s snowboard Big Air event in Norway. The 25-year-old, who once thought he may never return to the sport following a catastrophic accident in 2017, topped American “Flying Tomato” Shaun White on the all-time medal board. Thatta boy!

  • And McMorris wasn’t the only Canadian on the podium. Standing next to him in second place was Max Parrot (pronounced PEH-ROH) — who made his own epic comeback after being diagnosed with cancer in 2018 — and Darcy Sharpe who won bronze to round out the all-Canadian podium. In yesterday’s snowboard slopestyle final, Parrot won gold while McMorris won silver, extending his record to 20 X Games medals. O’ freaking Canada, indeed.

Amazing! Who else won?: Our girl, speed skater Ivanie Blondin, made yet another appearance on the podium (two weeks in a row, NBD), winning the ISU World Cup Mass Start title. And of course the world’s most accomplished moguls skier, Mikael Kingsbury, couldn’t be left out of the fun: this weekend he won his ninth consecutive (!!!) Crystal Globe (the World Cup title for men’s dual moguls). Domination station.

Awesome! Is that all?: No way, Jose! Team Gushue won the Tim Hortons Brier! The men’s Canadian curling championship ended last night with Brad Gushue and the boys from Newfoundland and Labrador facing off against Team Alberta, led by skip Brendan Bottcher. The final ended with a 7–3 win for Gushue, marking the team’s third Brier win in four years. Nice!