Megan Oldham, of Perry Sound, Ontario, stood on the podium of the Snow Rodeo FIS Freeski and Snowboard World Cup, taking place this weekend at the Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, AB. The 18-year old was leading for a large portion of the day, until Mathilde Gremaud (SUI) and Eileen Gu (CHN) overtook her to win silver and gold respectively. Gu, who grew up in San Francisco but competes for China, also won last night’s halfpipe event. It was Oldham’s first podium of the year, which she was delighted with, especially given that she got to perform for her grandparents, who were in attendance.
Two other Canadian female athletes finished in the top 10 in the Snow Rodeo Slopestyle event. Dara Howell, 25, finished 5th, and Olivia Asselin, a NextGen athlete, took 7th. Asselin enjoyed her time competing in Calgary. “My favourite part today was the weather! Beautiful sunshine and soft snow”, she exclaimed.
On the men’s side, Evan McEachran got creative with his second run, which he made up on the fly. “Improvising is so weird, you never know how it might turn out!”. He was narrowly edged off the podium and ultimately finished in 4th position, behind Andri Ragettli (1st, SUI), Colby Stevenson (2nd, USA) and Nicholas Goepper (3rd,USA).
NextGen skier Etienne Geoffroy-Gagnon skied aggressively and finished in 7th place.
OTHER CANADIAN ATHLETES’ PLACINGS:
Mark Hendrickson 13th
Max Moffatt 19th
Alex Beaulieu-Marchand 44th
Teal Harle 45th