Canadian Olympic gold medallist Therese Brisson of Dollard-des-Ormeaux, Quebec has been named the president of Alpine Canada according to Donna Spencer of the Canadian Press. However, one should realize that Brisson was never a skier as an athlete, but was a hockey player, and won the gold medal for Canada in women’s hockey at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City.
Choosing a high-performance athlete outside of the skiing world is an interesting concept for Alpine Canada. As an athlete, Brisson played 41 games for Team Canada at either the Olympic Winter Games or the International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Hockey Championships, and had 10 goals and 21 assists for 31 points. When Team Canada won the gold medal at the Olympic Winter Games in 2002, Brisson had two goals and three assists for five points in five games. In addition to her Olympic gold medal, Brisson won an Olympic silver medal at the 1998 Olympic Winter Games in Nagano, and six gold medals at the Women’s World Hockey Championships.
As Brisson takes over Alpine Canada, one must realize that ski cross is part of Alpine Canada, even though it is part of freestyle skiing at the Olympic Winter Games. At the 2018 Olympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, Team Canada came away with three medals in ski cross. Brady Leman of Calgary, Alberta won the gold medal in men’s ski cross, while Kelsey Serwa of Kelowna, British Columbia, and Brittany Phelan of Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts, Quebec won gold and silver respectively in women’s ski cross.
Serwa has since retired, and the Canadian ski cross team is led by Canadian Olympic gold medalist and reigning world champion Marielle Thompson of North Vancouver, British Columbia. Thompson won the gold medal for Canada in women’s ski cross at the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
