World Cup triumph for Canada’s Maxence Parrot
Maxence Parrot of Bromont, Que., hopes his first career World Cup win on Sunday is enough to put him on the Olympic team. The 19-year-old rider delivered a first place finish in the men’s slopestyle event to conclude the Mazda Snowboard Jamboree.
Parrot, the top qualifier on Friday, earned 94.50 points in the final. Niklas Mattsson of Sweden was second at 87.50 and Torgeir Bergrem of Norway third at 83.00. Charles Reid of Tremblant, Que., was fifth at 80.50.
“There were three Canadians in the final and I absolutely had to be in the top-two to better my chances to go to the Olympics,” said Parrot. “I definitely had an advantage being the top qualifier. I was able to watch the others and I decided to put in my big run that I had been practicing all week.”
Conditions were a factor on Sunday with a steady snowfall and foggy conditions on the hills north of Quebec City.
“I really like riding when it snows a lot, I’m able to focus better,” said Parrot, now with three World Cup medals – one of each colour. “Still the level of competition will be higher at the Games and I’ll have to prepare for that hopefully.’’
Reid was also delighted with his result.
‘’I’ve worked so hard to get to this point,’’ he said. ‘’I hope my dream becomes a reality on Tuesday.’’
The World Cup halfpipe and slopestyle events here were the last opportunity for Canadians to reach their standards for the Sochi Olympics. Riders in those events are to be announced Tuesday.
Matts Kulisek of St-Sauveur, Que., was 11th, Jonathan Versteeg of Vernon, B.C., 18th, Darcy Sharpe of Comox, B.C., 20th and Tyler Nicholson of North Bay, Ont., 26th.
In women’s slopestyle, Brooke Voigt of Fort McMurray, Alta., took sixth spot in the women’s final. It was her best result this season.
‘’I really needed to come up with a big result,’’ she said. ‘’Making finals is pretty good. Hopefully it’s enough to go to Sochi, but everything is still undecided right now.’’
Christy Prior of New Zealand won the gold medal with 89.75 points followed by Cheryl Maas of the Netherlands at 85.25 third at 84.25. Voigt earned 37.00 points on her second run in the final.