Two Canadians won a combined total of three World Cup snowboarding medals over the weekend. Canadian Olympic silver medalist Eliot Grondin of Saint-Marie, Quebec won a gold medal on Saturday and a bronze medal on Sunday in separate World Cup snowboardcross events in Mount St. Anne, Quebec. Meanwhile on Sunday in Silvaplana, Switzerland, Liam Brearley of Gravenhurst, Ontario won the silver medal in a World Cup slopestyle snowboarding event.
In the World Cup snowboard cross on Saturday, Grondin beat Austrian silver medalist Jakob Dusek in a photo finish. Lucas Eguibar of Spain won the bronze medal. Grondin won the first first round heat, and the first quarterfinal heat, before finishing second in the first semifinal heat behind Eguibar.
In the World Cup snowboard cross on Sunday, Grondin finished behind gold medalist Martin Noerl of Germany and silver medalist Jake Vedder of the United States. Grondin won the fifth first round heat, won the third quarterfinal heat and was second behind Vedder in the second semifinal heat. In the World Cup men’s snowboardcross standings, Grondin, who won a silver medal in men’s snowboardcross at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing, finished third with 399 points. Noerl was the World Cup champion with 510 points and Eguibar was second with 436 points.
In the World Cup men’s slopestyle snowboarding on Sunday, Brearley had 89 points. Taiga Hasegawa of Japan won the gold medal with 92 points. Sven Thorgren of Sweden won the bronze medal with 85 points. Brearley reached the podium by 9.5 points over fellow Canadian Cameron Spalding of Mount St. Louis Moonstone, Ontario, who was in fourth place with 79.5 points. In the World Cup men’s slopestyle snowboarding standings, Brearley finished in fourth place with 144 points. Dusty Henricksen of the United States was the World Cup champion in men’s slopestyle snowboarding with 296 points. The medals for Grondin and Brearley will give them confidence as they prepare for the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan/Cortina d’Ampezzo.
