By: Eva Zhu
It is no surprise that Canada dominates at the Winter Olympics. We are consistently ranked top five in medal count and send hundreds of our best athletes to compete. This year — at the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang — is no exception. 225 athletes were sent to the games, with 30 of them from British Columbia, and 63 having trained in this province at one point or another.
ViaSport, a non-profit organization funded by the provincial government, has and still is funding athletes who dream of playing their sports professionally. They have access to more than 70 BC sports organizations that deliver sport programs and services daily and gain access to coaching resources and information. The organization has world class programs and facilities which provide a daily training environment for athletes competing on the national and international stage. Here are the 30 athletes from BC competing at the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics, celebrating the excellence that has come out of BC on the world stage.
After not making the 2014 games at Sochi for freestyle skiing, Naude swore to work harder than ever to make the 2018 games (her hard work paid off!) She earned her first medal (bronze) at the 2015 World Cup in Lake Placid and since then she has added to her medal count, now boasting nine in her career. She was born in Saskatchewan, but now lives in Penticton, BC.
Sharpe is a real threat on the international freestyle skiing stage. She won silver at the 2015 World Ski Championships, and just weeks later, won gold at the World Cup in France. In 2016, she won gold at the Oslo Winter X Games while wearing a back brace and won gold again at the 2017 World Cup with a badly broken thumb. To top her amazing string of victories together, she just won gold in PyeongChang at the women’s ski halfpipe event!
Morrison is a long track speed skating Olympic veteran having competed at Turin 2006, Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014, and PyeongChang 2018. He also has an impressive amount of hardware, winning silver at Turin, gold at Vancouver, and silver and bronze at Sochi. He was born in Chetwynd, BC and grew up in Fort St. John.
Born and raised in Cranbrook, BC, Sherret went to the 2012 Winter Youth Olympic Games representing Canada, finishing a commendable fourth place. In 2015, she was the world junior champion in ski cross. However, not everything was going well in her life, as she suffered from bulimia nervosa for four years. After taking the 2015–16 season away from skiing to treat the disorder, she returned to skiing in 2017. In January of 2018, she finally made the World Cup podium with a bronze.
Although short track speed skater Macdonald lives in Montreal, she grew up in Fort St. John, BC. She made her World Cup debut in 2015, winning silver in the 3,000 m relay and in 2016, she took home an individual bronze medal at the World Cup in Dordrecht. She didn’t stop there, because in the 2016–17 season, she won five World Cup medals. At the PyeongChang selection trials, she finished second overall.
Before competing on the world stage in skeleton racing, Channell was a varsity sprinter for Simon Fraser University. After graduating in 2011, she moved to Whistler to train full time. She stood on her first World Cup podium in December 2015 with a bronze medal. In January 2016, she upped that to a silver and matched that in the 2017 World Cup.
Long track speed skater Morrison has competed in multiple international championships, failing to medal until November 2017 when she took home World Cup bronze in the team pursuit. However, in 2011, she took home gold at the Canada Winter Games in Halifax. PyeongChang is her first Olympic games.
Former Summerland, BC resident Kripps is also a veteran on the Olympic stage, having competed at Vancouver 2010, Sochi 2014, and now PyeongChang 2018. Him and bobsleigh teammade Jesse Lumsden won the two-man silver at the 2017 World Championships. His Olympic experience has been rocky, finishing last at Sochi. He redeemed himself by winning gold at PyeongChang!
After multiple serious injuries, freestyle skier Serwa stood on the podium at Sochi with a silver medal, after fellow Canadian gold medalist Marielle Thompson. From 2011–15, she tore her anterior cruciate ligament twice and had to undergo surgery, which forced her to take time off. She began the 2017–18 season with a third place finish at the World Cup season-opener for her 19th World Cup medal. Adding to her success, Serwa won gold at the women’s ski cross event at PyeongChang.
Hill, a Vernon, BC native, dominated the snowboard cross event at the 2015 World Championships and won silver. A week later, he kept that winning streak going, receiving another silver at the Winter X Games in Aspen. In December 2013, he placed third in his first World Cup podium. He placed eighth at Sochi, and is currently competing in PyeongChang.
At Sochi, Whistler resident Thompson fought hard to make sure the women’s Olympic ski cross gold medal was won by Canada, which it was! Thompson won gold over teammate Kelsey Serwa for a 1–2 finish on the podium. After making her World Cup debut in 2010, Thompson won her first gold medal at age 19 in 2012. She ended that season with six World Cup podiums, with three golds. She became the first Canadian ski cross racer to win a Crystal Globe.
D’Artois made history when he became the first Canadian man to win the ski halfpipe event at the 2015 Winter X Games. He then made his first World Cup podium finish in 2017, placing third. He was born in North Vancouver, but now lives in Whistler.
At age 15, O’Brien switched from snowboard halfpipe to slopestyle when her local mountain stopped building the pipe. The switch paid off, as she won bronze at the 2008 Winter X Games in Aspen and then silver in 2009. She medaled once again in the X Games and in 2013, she won gold at her first World Cup championships. After taking a break after being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, she went back to the world stage in 2016, capturing gold at the 2016 Winter X Games. She competed in Sochi, making PyeongChang her second Olympic games.
List of Athletes
