November 26, 2017 - 8:33 AM
Canada's Evan McEachran won silver in the men's slopestyle on Sunday at the freestyle skiing World Cup in Stubai, Austria.
It was the first World Cup medal for the 20-year-old from Oakville, Ont.
"It's been a pretty amazing weekend, to say the least," said McEachran. "It's a huge weight off of my shoulders, especially being an Olympic qualifying year it's really stressful to get a podium. This is my first podium in four years (on the national team) so it feels insane and I am just excited to go ski for myself. I think I'll be able to put down much better runs in the coming events."
Alex Bellemare, from St-Boniface, Que., was the only other Canadian athlete in the finals. He finished eighth.
On the women's side, Elena Gaskell of Vernon, B.C., was ninth while Kim Lamarre of Lac-Beauport, Que., admitted she was somewhat disappointed with her 10th-place showing, but said she came away with the good elements she will capitalize on in the next competition.
"It's not what I wanted, but it's still a good result for my Olympic qualification. I'm in a better position than I was before the Stubai event," said Lamarre. "I made a few mistakes in my runs. Without those I would have made the final lineup. But I'm okay with the result and will build on it, because there were lots of positive elements this week."
Quebec City's Alex Beaulieu-Marchand decided it would be prudent to skip the World Cup in Stubai and take a few days off before the Dew Tour to rest a sore knee.
"I hurt my knee last summer in New Zealand, but just two weeks before the World Cup I was still trying to ski at 100 per cent," he said. "Then I realized that my knee pain was keeping me from skiing my best. I thought it would be a good idea to rest so that I can fully recover in time for the next competition."
A second skier, 2014 Olympic gold medallist Dara Howell, from Huntsville, Ont., also withdrew from this first event of the season after a minor injury sustained during training in Stubai.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2017