It was a superlative start for Canada at the FIS World Freestyle Ski Championships Monday, as ski cross competitor Ashleigh McIvor captured the gold medal and Davey Barr collected a bronze.
McIvor did the unthinkable by winning the gold medal despite being the 28th and final qualifier for the ski-cross heats. “I don’t know how I did this,” said McIvor, 25. “Even to qualify I had to hike two minutes back up the mountain because I’d hooked a gate and wouldn’t have qualified if I hadn’t.”
Her poor qualification position meant that in every heat of the finals she had the worst start position, but she worked with her coach, Eric Archer, to find a good line through the course and that, combined with a lot of hard word and a little luck, edged her past the competition round after round.
In the final heat she was quick off the start and took a temporary lead, but lost it shortly afterward, then regained it for good. “It hasn’t really hit me,” said a beaming McIvor. “All I want to do is jump up and down.”
Coupled with a silver medal in the FIS Canada Post World Cup at Cypress earlier this season, McIvor’s win here gives her an excellent shot at a berth on the 2010 Canadian Olympic squad.
