Athletes of the Year to be presented with a car from Suzuki Canada
VANCOUVER, B.C. (MARCH 21, 2012) — Canada’s best mogul and aerial skiers will converge on Val Saint-Come, Que. this weekend for the Canada Post National Championships.
Fresh off the FIS World Cup tour, Crystal Globe winners Olivier Rochon (Gatineau, Que.) and Mikael Kingsbury (Deux Montagnes, Que.) will join their teammates and provincial team members in aerial, mogul and dual mogul events at the Freestyle Excellence Centre there.
It’s an opportunity for up-and-coming athletes from across the country to train and compete with their National Team heroes.
It’s also an opportunity for the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association to honor its brightest talent.
Two thousand twelve was a year that saw exceptional performances from the Canadian Freestyle Ski Team, culminating in the wining of the FIS Freestyle Nations Cup for the seventh-straight year.
Other highlights included:
- Crystal Globe wins by mogul skier Mikael Kingsbury and aerialist Olivier Rochon
- Overall World Cup Crystal Globe win by Kingsbury
- 42 FIS World Cup medal wins, including 13 gold, 18 silver and 11 bronze, spread amongst 12 athletes from four disciplines (aerials, moguls, halfpipe and slopestyle)
- 13 National Team members landing in the top ten of the FIS grand prix
- First World Cup wins for four team members: Philippe Marquis, Audrey Robichaud, Olivier Rochon and Kaya Turski
- First World Cup podiums for five team members: Marc-Antoine Gagnon, Noah Bowman, Olivier Rochon, Cedric Rochon and Alex Bellemare
- Five Dew Tour medals and six X Games medals, including X Games double golds by Kaya Turski and Rosalind Groenewoud
- NorAm Cup Grand Prix win by 16-year-old Andi Naude of the BC Team who took home four-straight gold medals in mogul events on that circuit
In recognition of the phenomenal season, CFSA sponsor Suzuki Canada is awarding the male and female athletes of the year with the use of a Suzuki vehicle for 12 months.
This year’s nominees for these prestigious awards, and the fabulous prizes, are:
Female Athlete of the Year nominees:
- Slopestyle skier Kaya Turski who won every event she entered this year, including X Games and Euro X golds
- Mogul skier Justine Dufour-Lapointe who was second overall in the FIS Mogul Grand Prix and took home eight World Cup medals.
- Halfpipe skier Rosalind Groenewoud who earned five medals at AFP platinum-level events, including X Games and Euro X golds
Male Athlete of the Year nominees:
- Mogul skier Mikael Kingsbury who won Crystal Globes as the overall and mogul FIS Freestyle Ski champion and landed on the podium at every event this season with eight wins, four silvers and one bronze
- Aerialist Olivier Rochon who won the Crystal Globe as the FIS WC aerials champion with five World Cup podiums
- Halfpipe skier Noah Bowman who was the Aspen X Games silver medalist and a silver medalist at the US Grand Prix Mammoth World Cup.
Bowman will also take home the trophy for ‘best performance by a newcomer’.
The Canadian Team’s amazing season was marred by the deaths of Halfpipe Team member Sarah Burke and David and Thomas Duffy of the Camp Fortune Freestyle Club. Their contributions to freestyle in Canada will be honored at the annual National Championship banquet to be held on Saturday night.
All media and members of the public are invited to come and watch the action at Val Saint-Come this weekend.
Single moguls runs Friday, March 23; Aerials are on Saturday; and, the competitive season wraps up with Dual Moguls on Sunday.
Full event schedule for the Canada Post National Championships is available at: http://freestyleski.com/wp/schedule/.
The moguls and dual moguls events will be live-streamed at:
For more information contact Canadian Freestyle Ski Association Media Relations Manager Kelley Korbin at: kelleykorbin@freestyleski.com
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Full Canadian Team results from the 2012 season available at: http://freestyleski.com/wp/results/results-by-athlete/
National Team Athletes scheduled to compete at Canada Post National Championships:
Moguls
| Name | Hometown |
| Blanchette Hugo | Ile d’Orleans, Que. |
| Gagné Pascal-Olivier | Montreal, Que. |
| Gagnon Marc-Antoine | Terrebonne, Que. |
| Kingsbury Mikael | Deux-Montagnes, Que. |
| Lemieux Simon | Repentigny, Que. |
| Marquis Philippe | Quebec City |
| Rochon Cédric | St. Sauveur, Que. |
| Bilodeau Béatrice | Rosemère, Que. |
| Dufour-Lapointe Chloé | Montreal, Que. |
| Dufour-Lapointe Justine | Montreal, Que. |
| Dufour-Lapointe Maxime | Montreal, Que. |
| Dufresne Alexandra | Lorraine, Que. |
| Hamel Christel | St. Sauveur, Que. |
| Henitiuk, Chelsea | Spruce Grove, Alta |
| Robichaud Audrey | Quebec City, Que. |
Aerials
| Name | Hometown |
| André, JC | Montreal, Que. |
| Gerrits, Travis | Milton, Ont. |
| Labbé-Giguère, Marc-Antoine | Quebec City |
| Rochon, Olivier | Gatineau, Que. |
| Potvin-Gilbert, Maude | Quebec City |
Read more in our News Archives.
For more information, contact CFSA Media Relations Manager Kelley Korbin.
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About the Canadian Freestyle Ski Association
The Canadian Freestyle Ski Association is the governing body in Canada for the sport of Freestyle Skiing. With the support of its valued corporate partners like Columbia; and, the Government of Canada, the Canadian Olympic Committee and Own the Podium, the CFSA develops Olympic and world champions in all disciplines of the sport. The Canadian Freestyle Ski Association is currently looking to engage corporate partners willing to share in a winning tradition and is currently accepting sponsorship proposals for our 2014 Teams.
For more information about the CFSA, visit us at www.freestyleski.com.
For access to high-resolution photos for editorial purposes, send a request to: aaronrosenberg@freestyleski.com.