麻豆社国产snowboarder Ma毛lle Ricker is entering the Olympics in fine fashion after riding some fine lines: No. 1 in the world.
The 31-year-old won her third World Cup competition of the season at Stoneham, Que. on Jan. 21 to secure the top spot going into the 2010 Winter Games.
However, fellow snowboarder Tom Velisek placed 18th in the men's boardercross, short of the top five result he needed to grasp one of the remaining tickets to the big show. Local ski cross athletes Aleisha Cline and Davey Barr also failed to qualify for Canada's Olympic Team after placing 14th and 25th respectively at a World Cup at Lake Placid on Jan. 24.
So goes the mix of heartbreak and celebration for Squamish's Olympic hopefuls.
Ricker reached the podium four out of five races so far this season and, with women's snowboardcross scheduled for Feb. 16, could very well earn Canada's first ever Olympic gold medal on home soil.
Ricker qualified with the second fastest time before winning all of her elimination rounds by big margins.
"It's nice to win but not when people are falling and probably could get hurt," Ricker said in a release.
"All other heats were really fun to ride. Usually you can hear some noise from the other riders behind you, but today it was just silence."
It was Ricker's 16th career victory and 30th step onto the podium.
Fellow Olympic Team member Dominique Maltais took to the World Cup podium for the first time on Canadian soil, placing third behind Norway's Helene Olafsen. Maltais, who is third overall, won her first two heats before crashing in the final, but Swiss rider Sandra Frei also crashed, allowing Maltais to regain her spot on the podium.
On the men's side, Rob Fagan placed 17th. The result drops him from third to fourth overall on the World Cup standings, but he is still expected to be a hot contender for an Olympic medal when men's snowboardcross hits Cypress Mountain on Feb. 15.
Fagan's Olympic hopes require him to regain the momentum he had earlier in the season when he captured a silver medal. The 33-year-old started the season placing ninth, second and sixth before placing 18th and 17th in his last two competitions.
Velisek's 18th place at Stoneham, his second best World Cup result this season, was not enough to qualify him for the Olympic Snowboard Team over fellow Canadian snowboardcross athletes Fagan, Fran莽ois Boivin, Drew Neilson or Mike Robertson.
Velisek had two top five results last year, including a fourth place at the World Championships, but did not break the top 15 in five races this season. His best result was 17th place.
"There are definitely a lot of factors in boardercross," said Velisek. "You have to try to do your thing with three other guys next to you. But it just didn't seem to be my year. It has been the worst year I've ever had on tour and it sucks that it had to happen right before the Olympics."
