SNOWBOARDING:

Maltais, Ricker target hardware as potent SBX team heads to worlds

Jan. 13, 2011 — Canada Snowboard

Canada Snowboard has announced its roster for the snowboardcross discipline of the 2011 FIS Snowboard World Championships in La Molina, Spain, from Jan. 14-22. More than 370 athletes from 44 countries are expected to partake in this most important event outside of the Olympic Games.

Canada will be represented by six riders in the Olympic discipline of snowboardcross, highlighted by the powerful duo of current World Cup leader Dominique Maltais of Petite-Rivière St-Francois, Que., and Olympic champion Maëlle Ricker of Squamish, B.C.

“It’s been an exceptional start to the 2011 season. I feel in the greatest shape of my career, as focused as ever on winning. Both Maëlle and I are riding strong, and we intend to deliver our best performances at the worlds.” said Dominique Maltais, the current World Cup leader in women’s snowboard cross.

Ricker and Maltais have been sharing the top spot of the World Cup standing since September 2009. Maltais is leading the World Cup tour rankings, having won all three races so far this season.

The men’s team will be comprised of a mix of veterans and some new faces to World Championships competition. Veterans François Boivin of Jonquière, Que., and Tom Velisek of Squamish will be leading the men’s crew, joined by the defending Canadian champion Kevin Hill of Vernon, B.C., and Dan Csokonay of Calgary.

Both Hill and Csokonay will be making their first World Championships appearance.

The team will be led by head coach Marcel Mathieu of Whistler and assistant coach René Brunner of Austria. Technical coach Drew Neilson of North Vancouver will be attending the Nor-Am events in Big White, B.C.

“The women are riding really well this season. We are expecting a great race for both Dominique and Maëlle,” said Mathieu, in France preparing the team for the event.

“The men are riding fast in qualifications. We are working closely with them to come up with the required performances when it counts, in the elimination rounds. We have some good, young talent to groom as we move towards 2014 and these World Championships will be a great opportunity for young guys to get the desired international experience.”

The team spent the weekend in Puy St-Vincent, France, where they competed in FIS and Europa Cup races. The Canadian riders clinched five podium performances in two days of competition, a confidence booster before travelling to the World Championships.

2010 Olympic silver medallist Michael Robertson of Canmore will not be competing.

Canada has won a total of three medals in snowboardcross at World Championships, but the gold medal has been eluding Canadian riders. The last time Canada won a snowboardcross medal at this event was in 2005 when Whistler hosted the World Championships. Boivin and Ricker won silver and bronze medals respectively for Canada.

At the 2009 Worlds, both Velisek and Ricker rode their way to the big finals, but had to settle for fourth places. S-Magazine

CANADIAN PODIUMS AT WORLDS – SNOWBOARDCROSS
2005 – BOIVIN, François – SBX – Silver
2005 – RICKER, Maelle – SBX – Bronze
2003 – NEILSON, Drew – SBX – Bronze
2001 – VALLÉE, Dominique – SBX - Bronze

CANADIAN SNOWBOARD TEAM – SNOWBOARDCROSS
WOMEN
MALTAIS, Dominique – Petite-Rivière-St-François, QC
RICKER, Maëlle – Squamish, BC

MEN
BOIVIN, François – Jonquière, QC
CSOKONAY, Daniel – Calgary, AB
HILL, Kevin – Vernon, BC
VELISEK, Tom – Squamish, BC

HIGH-PERFORMANCE STAFF – SNOWBOARDCROSS
MATHIEU, Marcel (Whistler, BC) – Head Coach
BRUNNER, Rene (Austria) – Assistant Coach
NEILSON, Drew (North Vancouver, BC) – Technical Coach
JONCAS, Robert (North Vancouver, BC) – Director, High performance
M’SEFFAR, Nadia (Vancouver, BC) – Manager, High performance