The freestyle world has been put on notice. There is another razor-Sharpe performer out of Comox.
Darcy Sharpe continued emerging out of the long shadow cast by his ski half-pipe Olympic gold- and silver-medallist older sister, Cassie Sharpe, by winning the men’s slopestyle snowboard gold at the World Cup event Sunday in Calgary.
“A first career World Cup gold medal in slopestyle on home snow in front of family and friends … this is one I will remember forever,” said Sharpe, in an interview with the sa国际传媒.
“It was really a great emotional high feeling.”
The Islander’s impressive second-run score of 88.85 pretty much put it out of reach, meaning he could more-or-less relax for this third and final run.
“I felt I was in a good state of mind all weekend,” said the 27-year-old.
“I knew there were a lot of rails on this course, and that would be a big factor, and I managed them.”
It was Sharpe’s second career World Cup gold medal following a victory in big air in 2015. He is also an X Games gold medallist and three-time X Games silver medallist and world championship silver medallist. Sharpe has said of his approach: “[Freestyler attitude] helps me deal with the pressure. I’m never super-nervous when that clicks in and I get into that flow-state. It’s the art of not giving a damn.”
Dusty Henricksen of the U.S. placed second in the World Cup in Calgary with a best score of 82.66 and Canadian Cameron Spalding from Ontario was third at 77.33 for his first career World Cup medal.
American Julia Marino won the women’s gold in the World Cup event with Laurie Blouin of Quebec City the silver medallist and Jasmine Baird of Georgetown, Ont., the bronze medallist.
Sharpe is now off to film a sa国际传媒 back-country ski movie “pending the avalanche situation” and will bypass the FIS freestyle world championships this month in Bakuriani, Georgia, but will compete in the upcoming Dew Tour in Colorado. He’s a tough and resilient competitor. A broken ankle kept Sharpe out of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Games and he overcame a torn ACL to make his Olympic debut at Beijing in 2022, saying it was special to compete alongside his sister Cassie, and he is committed to the 2026 Winter Games in Milan-Cortina, Italy.
His is the latest triumph for Mount Washington-produced skiers and boarders, several of whom performed in the 2018 Pyeongchang and 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
“I loved growing up there. Mount Washington groomed us,” said Sharpe, ahead of Beijing.
“We would spend all day on the Mount Washington slopes. I looked up to my older brother, Douglas, and fell in with the trouble-making boarder crowd while Cassie stuck to skiing. It took over our DNA. We have so much love and passion for what we do. Cassie pushes me. What she has accomplished is incredible.”
What Darcy is accomplishing isn’t proving too shabby, either.
FREESTYLE NOTES: Two-time Olympian Teal Harle of Campbell River, in slopestyle and big air, and Dillan Glennie of Courtenay, in half-pipe, have been named to the 26-member Canadian ski team for the 2023 FIS world freestyle championships this coming weekend in Bakuriani, Georgia.
“The worlds prove an important marker on our pathway to the next Winter Olympic Games in Milano-Cortina in 2026,” Freestyle sa国际传媒 CEO Peter Judge said in a statement.
