Four East Kootenay athletes and four coaches are among those today nominated for Canada’s alpine skiing and ski cross teams for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

Invermere’s Cassidy Gray and Amelia Smart are among 13 alpine skiers nominated, while Kimberley’s Nick Cooper and Fernie’s Elias Jonsson are nominated as coaches.

Windermere’s Courtney Hoffos is one of eight ski cross athletes nominated to the Olympic Team, while Zoe Chore of Cranbrook is listed as an alternate.

Dave Ellis of Fernie will be High Performance Director and Stanley Hayer of Kimberley will be Lead Coach.

Athletes had to meet Alpine Canada’s robust Olympic team selection criteria and were nominated subject to International Ski Federation (FIS) quotas earned based on Canadian athlete World Cup performance and world rankings.

Between the two disciplines, eight athletes will be making their Olympic debuts, including all of the East Kootenay athletes.

Alpine Canada, in partnership with the Canadian Olympic Committee, have nominated 13 alpine skiers and eight ski cross athletes to compete at the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.

The athletes and coaches nominated for alpine skiing are:

James (Jack) Crawford (Toronto, Ont.)
Marie-Michèle Gagnon (Lac Etchemin, Que.)
Cassidy Gray (Invermere, B.C.)
Valérie Grenier (St-Isidore, Ont.)
Ali Nullmeyer (Toronto, Ont.)
Erin Mielzynski (Collingwood, Ont.)
Trevor Philp (Calgary, Alta.)
Erik Read (Canmore, Alta.)
Roni Remme (Collingwood, Ont.)
Brodie Seger (North Vancouver, B.C.)
Amelia Smart (Invermere, B.C..)
Laurence St-Germain (St. Ferréol-les-Neiges, Que.)
Broderick Thompson (Whistler, B.C.)

Alternate:
Jeff Read (Canmore, Alta.)

Phil McNichol (Calgary, Alta.) – High Performance Director
Manuel Gamper (Merano, Italy) – Women’s Lead Coach
Mark Tilston (Pemberton, B.C.) – Men’s Lead Coach
Luca Agazzi (Legnano, Italy) – Coach
Nick Cooper (Kimberley, B.C.) – Coach
Serge Dugas (Magog, Que.) – Coach
Elias Jonsson (Fernie, B.C.) – Coach
John Kucera (Cochrane, Alta.) – Coach
Hansjoerg Plankensteiner (Niederdorf, Italy) – Coach
Chris Powers (Ottawa, Ont.) – Coach
Laurent Praz (La Thuile, Italy) – Coach
Conrad Pridy (Whistler, B.C.) – Coach

The athletes and coaches nominated for ski cross are:

Kevin Drury (Toronto, Ont.)
Courtney Hoffos (Windermere, B.C.)
Reece Howden (Cultus Lake, B.C.)
Brady Leman (Calgary, Alta.)
Brittany Phelan (Mont-Tremblant, Que.)
Hannah Schmidt (Ottawa, Ont.)
Jared Schmidt (Ottawa, Ont.)
Marielle Thompson (Whistler, B.C.)

Alternates:

Zoe Chore (Cranbrook, B.C.)
Chris Del Bosco (Montreal, Que.)
Tiana Gairns (Prince George, B.C.)
Kris Mahler (Canmore, Alta.)

Dave Ellis (Fernie, B.C.) – High Performance Director
Stanley Hayer (Kimberley, B.C,) – Lead Coach
Sead Causevic (Vancouver. B.C.) – Coach
Victor Dockal (Airdrie, Alta) – Coach
Ben Wilkinson (Cochrane, Alta.) – Coach

Team Canada has won 11 Olympic alpine skiing medals, the most recent being a bronze in the men’s super G at Sochi 2014. The alpine ski team will look to add to this, building on this season’s momentum.

On the World Cup circuit, Marie-Michèle Gagnon, Ali Nullmeyer and Jack Crawford have all captured their career-best top-five finishes, while Broderick Thompson won bronze in the first super-G World Cup of the season.

Team Canada won the men’s and women’s ski cross gold medals at PyeongChang 2018, and hopes to defend the titles in Beijing. Canadians have been particularly dominant in women’s ski cross, capturing each Olympic gold medal since the event’s debut at Vancouver 2010.

The ski cross team is entering the Olympic Winter Games off an impressive performance on home soil in Nakiska, Alta., where they claimed three medals (two silvers and a gold).

“It is a tremendous honour and accomplishment to be selected to represent your country at the Olympics,” said Therese Brisson, President & Chief Executive Officer of Alpine Canada.  “We congratulate all 21 athletes on their nomination to the Canadian Olympic Team and will join with Alpine Ski and Ski Cross fans from far and wide to cheer on the team with pride as we watch Canada compete in Beijing.”

Alpine skiing events will take place February 6 to February 19 (Days 2 to 15) at the Yanqing Alpine Skiing Centre.

Ski cross events will take place February 17 and 18 (Days 13 and 14) at the Genting Snow Park in Zhangjiakou.

Prior to being named to Team Canada, all nominations are subject to approval by the Canadian Olympic Committee’s Team Selection Committee following its receipt of nominations by all National Sport Organizations.

The latest Team Canada Beijing 2022 roster can be found here and the qualification tracker can be found here.

Lead image: Cassidy Gray. All photos property of Alpine Canada Alpin

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